Mars Compilation
From Esoteric Astrology, by Alice A. BaileySee Michael Robbins' Tapestry of the Gods, Volume III
1. Mars and the Induction of Sixth Ray Qualities:
Idealism or Devotion, via Mars which rules Aries and is the double ruler of Scorpio. This produces the fanaticism and unreasoning devotion and blind acceptance of conditions… (DN 78)2. Mars in Relation to the Wrong Application of the Sixth Ray:
The influence of the sixth ray, coming via Mars, martially applied, and the lack of true spiritual love as it is diverted into sentimental personality devotions, account temporarily for the mass negligence to assert itself on behalf of the oppressed and in the interests of the higher principles. (DN 79)3. Mars in Relation to Kundalini:
The second hint I seek to give lies in the triangle formed by the Earth, Mars and Mercury. In connection with this triangle, the analogy lies in the fact that Mercury and the centre at the base of the spine in the human being are closely allied. Mercury demonstrates kundalini in intelligent activity whilst Mars demonstrates kundalini latent. (TCF 181; EA 664)4. Mars in Relation to the Number Three:
Mars is listed as the third planet, center or scheme. (TCF 369)
5. Mars in Debatable Relation to the Sixth Ray Lord:
This ray force, with the second ray, is a true and vital expression of the divine nature. A militant focussing upon the ideal, a one-pointed devotion to the intent of the life urge, and a divine sincerity are the qualities of this Lord, and set their impress upon all that is found within His body of manifestation. Advanced esotericists debate as to whether Mars is, or is not, the planet through which He manifests. (EP I 25)
6. Assignment of Rays and Planets from Annie Besant:
Ray VI—Devotion-Bhakti Yoga (necessity for an object)—Mars—Rose and Blue (EP I 163)
7. Mars as Co-Ruler of the Animal Kingdom:
The animal kingdom—The Moon and Mars. (EP I 245)8. The Role of Mars at the Third Initiation:
At the third initiation, the Moon and Mars struggle to assume ascendancy, and there is his battle-ground. Hence at the great Transfiguration, the body is ‘transfigured’ as the indication of triumph. (EP 246)9. Mars and the Vegetable Kingdom:
Esoterically speaking, the vegetable kingdom is upon an advanced stage of the path of discipleship, and hence Saturn and Mars are active. The influence of the latter planet is to be seen in the prevalence of the colours red, rose, yellow and orange in the flowers at this time. (EP I 246)10. The Participation of Mars within the Personality of a Stupendous Ray Life
Saturn, Mars and our Earth constitute, in a curious esoteric manner, the personality of a stupendous ray Life, Whose energy is that of the third Ray…The astral body expresses itself through the planet Mars. (EP II 99-100)11. Transcending the Earth, Saturn and Mars State of Consciousness:
There is, finally, the active application and the complete sacrifice of the lower separated self through the power to ‘stand in spiritual being’ which necessarily infers that one has reached that state of consciousness which transcends what may be called, symbolically the ‘Earth, Saturn and Mars’ state of consciousness. (EP II 100)12. Sacrifice Pain and Sorrow Cannot be Eliminated on Mars (or Earth and Saturn):
The Law of Sacrifice, therefore, can never be eliminated in our Earth scheme, as far as the human and subhuman reactions to sorrow and pain are concerned, nor can it be eliminated on the planets Saturn and Mars. (EP II 102)13. The Sense of Hearing in Relation to Mars:
Hearing ... is the keynote of the evolution proceeding at this time on Mars. It is spiritual telepathy and knowledge. (EP II 585)14. The Influence of Mars will Fade in Importance During the Aquarian Age:
Venusian forces of great potency are also playing upon our planet. In this connection, I would suggest that astrologers would be well advised to pay more attention to the activity and the influence of Venus. Much emphasis has been laid upon Saturn and Mars in the charts now considered. In the future, equal emphasis will have to be paid to the planet Venus, which in the Aquarian age will supersede Mars as a basic influence. (EP II 721)15. The Role of Mars in a Cosmic Alignment:
The Seven Solar Systems—Taurus/Scorpio—Mars—The Fixed Cross (EA 50)16. The Five Non-Sacred Planets—Including Mars:
The Sun (veiling a planet)
The Moon (veiling a planet)
The Earth itself
Mars
Pluto (EA 53)17. Mars Helps Relate Cancer and Sagittarius:
Ray 6—Cancer and Sagittarius, through Neptune and Mars. (EA 68)18. The Role of Mars at the Third Initiation:
At the third initiation, the Moon (veiling a hidden planet) and Mars bring about a fearful conflict, but at the end the man is released from personality control. (EA 70-71)19. Mars in Relation to the Sacral Center:
Two of the other non-sacred planets—Mars and Pluto—function in connection with the sacral centre (Mars) and the solar plexus (Pluto). (EA 78)20. Mars in Relation to a Need Purification:
Through the fiery processes of war and strife, brought to the individual through the influence of the planetary ruler, Mars, the God of War, a needed purification takes place.(EA 95-96)21. Mars in Relation to Points of Crisis:
It is interesting here to note also that through the ruling planet, Mars, the average man born in this sign is related to Scorpio, and thus the Cardinal Cross is related to the Fixed Cross. Points of crisis can thus be noted when the horoscope is considered from this angle. (EA 98)22. Mars Embodies Certain Sixth Ray Qualities:
Mars embodies sixth ray force which leads to idealism, destructive fanaticism frequently, struggle, strife, war, effort and evolution. (EA 99)
23. Mars and the Battleground:
In every case, Mars leads to the battleground in Scorpio. (EA 100)
24. Mars Controls Souls until their Point of Reorientation:
Aries, the ‘birthplace of divine Ideas,’ whether these ideas are souls brought into incarnation and controlled by Mars until they reach the point of reorientation and become sensitive to the influence of Mercury, or whether they are the birth of the ideas of God in the form of the hierarchical plans to which the initiate becomes sensitive. (EA 102)25. Mars and Initiation into Hierarchy:
Mars is exceedingly potent in connection with initiation into the life of the Hierarchy. (EA 149)26. The Path of Evolution is Ruled by Mars and Mercury:
Evolution—6 and 4; Mars, Mercury; Aries Gemini Cancer Virgo Scorpio (EA 166)
27. Mars and the Definition of Idealism:
Idealism which is the power to see the vision and to direct one’s course towards it. This is the work of Mars, the expression of the sixth ray. (EA 177)28. Mars in Relation to Devotion and Idealism:
Mars confers the quality of devotion and the capacity to fight for an ideal. This idealistic concept and method of work is always the characteristic of discipleship during the early stages of unfoldment upon the Path. (EA 192)
29. Lines of Influential Energy in Relation to the Path of Discipleship:
Mars and Saturn.—Both these planets are exceedingly potent in connection with initiation into the life of the Hierarchy; Mars is potent in relation to Scorpio and Saturn in relation to Capricorn. This involves the intensified activity of the 6th and the 3rd rays and their energies, and when these are rightly employed there comes liberation from form control and the release of the conscious individual. (EA 199)
30. Mars Controls the Physical Vehicle:
Mars is definitely the planet which rules and controls the physical vehicle. (EA 210)
31. Mars is not a Malefic Factor:
Mars establishes relations between the opposites and is a beneficent and not a malefic factor, as is so often supposed. (EA 211)
32. Mars Rules both the Physical Vehicle and the Personality:
Mars rules not only the physical body but the entire form vehicle, which we call the personality in the three worlds. (EA 210)33. Mars is Related to Sex and the Vitalization of the Blood:
Mars is closely related to sex, which is an aspect of the pairs of opposites, and its effect is also definitely to vitalize the blood stream; it vitalizes, purifies and stimulates all aspects and organisms in the body, via the blood stream. (EA 211)34. Mars and the World Arjuna:
It is Mars who brings the world Arjuna into the active fight. The whole man is then engaged and the quarrel of the sexes is resolved in its highest aspect through the battle between the highly developed personality or form nature and the soul which seeks to be the ultimate controlling factor. (EA 211-212)35. Mars is Red:
The colour assigned to Mars is … red and this is a correspondence to the colour of the blood stream and hence also the association of Mars with passion, with anger and a sense of general opposition. The sense of duality is exceedingly powerful. (EA 212)36. Mars Governs the Senses:
Mars governs the senses which are five in number. These senses are the basis of all human knowledge where that which is tangible and objective is concerned or inferred. (EA 215)37. Mars Rules Science:
Mars therefore rules science and hence the reason in this present era for the fundamental but not permanent materiality of science—a materiality which is rapidly lessening as Mars nears the end of its present cycle of influence. (EA 215)38. Mars in Relation to the Physical Senses and Subtler Senses:
These subtler senses will supersede the physical senses over which Mars has so long had a successful control, and hence again the growth in the world today of the psychic senses and the appearance on every hand of the subtler and more esoteric powers of clair-voyance and clair-audience. This development is inevitable as the influence of Scorpio and of Mars begins to lessen, as is the case today. (EA 216)39. The Objectivity of Mars:
Mars is objective and full of blood. (EA 217)40. Qualities of Mars:
Mars—6th ray—Idealism, Devotion, Struggle (EA 248)
41. Mars Carries War into the Depths:
Mars carries the war into the very depth of circumstances, environment and being, and confers at the same time such devotion to the visioned objective ‑ as seen at any particular point upon the path ‑ that final failure is rendered impossible. (EA 365)42. Mars in Relation to the Energies of the Seven Solar Systems:
Another group of energies can be touched upon though any true elucidation is not possible. They concern the focussed energies of the seven solar systems of which ours is one. These energies (six in number) reach our solar system, via the constellations Taurus and Scorpio and the planet Mars: The Six Systems; Working through Taurus/Scorpio; Mars.Their peculiar nature, objective in evolution and basic purpose is only revealed to initiates above the fifth initiation. They are concerned with the problem of desire (which is to humanity a problem but not in its higher octaves) and with its transmutation into spiritual will and divine purpose. They are the originators of conflict, are closely connected with the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict and are, therefore, in a peculiar relation to the fourth Creative Hierarchy, the human, and to our Earth in this fourth round. (EA 467)
43. Mars within a Triangle Instrumental in the Manifestation of Hierarchy:
We come now to another triangle, the activity of which produces the manifestation of Hierarchy—the intermediary between Shamballa and Humanity: Scorpio, Sirius and Mars. These, in relation to our Earth, produce the four streams of energy (initiating and transmitting) which lead humanity towards discipleship and initiation. (EA 483)44. Mars as the Alter-Ego of Pluto:
You will note that Pluto and not Mars is here mentioned by me as a non-sacred Planet, ruling Scorpio. The reason for this is that there is a relation between Mars and Pluto analogous to that between Venus and the Earth. Esoterically speaking, Mars is the alter ego of Pluto; the activity of Pluto at this time and in this lesser world cycle is very important on account of its esoteric approach to the Earth, impelled thereto by the vivification of its life by a display of Martian energy. The Earth, Mars and Pluto form an interesting triangle with Venus behind the scene acting as the impelling soul acts towards a rapidly integrating personality. This triangle should not be forgotten when casting the horoscope, because it indicates a relation and a possibility which can be (though it often is not) a major determining factor, prior to passing on to the Probationary Path. (EA 507-508)45. Mars is one of the Non-Sacred Planets:
1. Mars;
2. the Earth;
3. Pluto;
4. The Moon, veiling a hidden planet;
5. The Sun, veiling a planet.
(EA 507)46. Mars and Pluto Correspond to the Mental and Astral Bodies—but which?
Our Earth is also a non-sacred planet. You have, therefore, four non-sacred planets, controlling or ruling a fifth non-sacred planet—a correspondence to the four aspects of the lower man. You have there, first the physical outer shell, the etheric or vital body, astral body and the mental body, plus a fusion with the fifth body, the personality. (EA 507) Since Pluto is associated with the solar plexus (EA 78) and Mars with science and the five senses (EA 215), and since Mars is more advanced than Pluto, being its alter ego there is strong possibility that, among the non-sacred planets, Mars corresponds to the mental body.47. Mars in Relation to the Sixth Ray, Aries, the First House and Earth:
I might again point out that Mars is the transmitter of sixth ray force and it is this which makes the first house of action in the physical body that of the devotee who fights for that which he desires or for that to which he aspires. The warrior, devoted to a cause, comes into being upon the field of action, the Earth, which is itself an expression of the third Ray of Intelligent Activity. Aries, the first house, and Mars and the Earth initiate conflict, focussed in a form. (EA 508)
48. Mars in Relation to the Centers of the Average Man:
Solar Plexus Centre—sixth ray—Mars (EA 517)49. Mars Brings Conflict and Death:
Mars … bringing conflict and the death of the form (EA 619)50. Mars in Relation to Ancient Astrological Magic:
Scorpio was Mars-Lupa, or Mars with the female wolf ... (EA 639).51. Mars—within the Lower Triad:
The seven Gods were divided into two triads and the sun. Lower Triad—Mars, Mercury and Venus. (EA 643)52. Mars is Numbered Among those Planets Still Developing the Mind Principle:
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Vulcan are still developing the mind principle. (TCF 403; EA 645)53. Mars in Relation to Selfishness:
Mars governs the selfish faculties. (SD III 463; EA 646)54. Some Correspondences Involving Mars:
Mars—kama-rupa-Red-Tuesday (EA 649)
55. Mars as Commander of the Celestial Armies:
The Pleiades are the supposed wives of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear. They are also the nurses of the God of War, Mars, the commander of the celestial armies. (SD II 579; EA 657)56. Mars in Relation to Two Triangles and Five Planets:
Venus, Jupiter and Saturn might be considered from the standpoint of the present time, as the vehicles of the three super or major principles. Mercury, the Earth and Mars are closely allied to these three but a hidden mystery lies here. (TCF 299; EA 661)57. Mars in Relation to Our System of Worlds:
In answer to the questions: ‘What planets of those known to ordinary science, besides Mercury, belong to our system of world ...’ the reply was Mars and four other planets of which astronomy knows nothing. The inference is that these planets, AB and YZ exist in etheric matter. (SD I 187; EA 661)58. Mars in an Occult Relationship:
As to Mars, Mercury and the ‘four other planets,’ they bear relation to the Earth of which no Master ... will ever speak ... (SD I 187; EA 662)59. Mars in Obscuration:
Mars is in a state of obscuration at present (EA 662)60. Mars and its Two Satellites:
Mars has two satellites to which he has no right. (astral and mental. A.A.B.) (EA 662) [Mars also has two physical satellites which should be considered in relation to this statement.]61. Mars—a Chain:
Mars is a septenary chain. (SD 188-189; EA 662)62. Mars as Lord of Certain Processes:
Mars was the Lord of birth, of death, of generation and destruction. (SD II 410; EA 662)
63. Mars-Six Faces:
Mars was called the six-faced planet. (EA II 399; EA 662)
64. Mars within a Certain Triangle:
There is a ... ‘triangle formed by the Earth, Mars and Mercury. In connection with this triangle the analogy lies in the fact that Mercury and the centre at the base of the spine in the human being are closely allied’. (TCF 181; EA 662)65. Mars Considered as One of Three Etheric Planets of our Chain:
… the three etheric planets of our chain—Earth, Mercury and Mars—form a triangle of rare importance … (TCF 180-182; EA 688)66. Mars is a Dense Physical Planet:
Mars—4th Chain—4th Globe (TCF 373; EA 693)
67. Mars is Home to the School for Warriors:
The School for Warriors, or the open grades for soldiers....Its teachers are spoken of as ‘Graduates of the Ruddy Flame’ and are frequently portrayed as clothed in red robes...They work under the first logoic aspect and train those whose work is along the lines of the destroyer. (EA 694)68. Mars and its Role in Certain Relationship Linked to Personality:
The Personality relates the initiate to the Mind of God, to the intelligence principle of the planetary Life, to humanity as a whole, to Saturn and Mars, and to the physical Sun through its pranic aspect. (R&I 96-97)
A Summary of the Qualities and Processes which Mars Represents
1. As Mars rules and controls the physical body (EA 210), its sign, house position and aspects will have much to say about the general strength and health of this vehicle. Mars can indicate types of bodily areas, parts, organs and systems which are stimulated by personality conditions (ahamkaric, mental, emotional and etheric)—the parts, organs and systems of the individual equipment upon which Martian excitation has its greatest effect. Metaphorically and often quite literally, “blood rushes” to the area indicated by Mars, for Mars rules the blood.
As a further indication of the physicality of Mars, we should note that Mars represents the five physical senses, (EA 215) and the relationship of the person to those senses. The degree to which a person is alive to the senses, and can function with effective strength upon the material plane (which is the plane of the five physical senses) will, in part, be indicated by the sign, house position and aspects of Mars.
2. Mars is closely associated with the dense physical elemental, per se, and does not rule the etheric body specifically (because the vital body is solar—“the etheric body has a unique and curious position, being simply the vehicle for prana or life and the centre which it uses exists in a category by itself.” {R&I 10}), but the sign, house position and aspects of Mars will often tell something important about the amount and quality of prana or vitality available to the person, and in which etheric locations concentrations of energy (with resultant friction and stress) can be found.
3. Mars is one of the principal indicators of the condition, dynamics and orientation of the astral nature, often called the “desire body”. Mars will show, in part, the nature, quality and strength of one’s desires, and the degree to which desire rules, or is ruled by higher energies. Mars also indicates a great deal about the emotional balance of the person—the degree of reactivity or equanimity. The sign, house position and aspects of Mars in the horoscope can indicate where or in relation to which fields of life the principle of desire, Kama, functions most focally and powerfully.
4. Mars is more associated with the mental nature than has, perhaps, been realized. The Tibetan speaks of “The sacral centre—the mental elemental life—Transferred later to the throat centre.” (EP II 304) The fact that Mars rules “science” (EA 215-216) and the “five senses” confirms its importance to mental process. But it will be the more concrete, worldly and sense-engaged aspects of the mind which Mars will represent, and not its higher potentials for expansion and illumination.
5. Really, Mars is closely related, really, to all the vehicles of the personality, and to the personality elemental itself. (cf. R&I 9-10) “Mars rules not only the physical body but the entire form vehicle, which we call the personality in the three worlds.” (EA 210) The general strength and independence of the personality, the degree of its ‘egoity’, separateness (or lower individuality) and the major direction of its efforts in the three worlds will, in part, be indicated by the sign, house position and aspects of Mars. Mars also represents the mobilized and purposefully directed energies of the personality and the personality effort leading to achievement. The sign, position and aspects of Mars can indicate the degree to which such personality effort can be strong, sustained and effective—or the reverse.
6. Mars representing Kama, and ruling, principally, the solar plexus, will indicate something about the astral glamors to which a person or individual may be prone. In addition, personality glamors, mental glamors (illusions) and those mayavic glamors which involve the physical vehicle may well be indicated. Mars, especially in the life of the disciple or aspirant, represents that which is crude, rude, unrefined, or inharmonious in relation to soul purposes, and is thus in need of transmutation and transformation. Certain unredeemed conditions within the personality are vibratorily opposed to the descending energy of the soul. Mars, a planet thus far still less sacred than the Earth, is one of the factors (along with the Moon, Saturn and Pluto) representing conditions which hold the personality back from achieving its own sacredness—i.e., its transfiguration. To speak, however, of transfigurations does not belong to the province of Mars.
7. Mars represents, among other things, sexual energy, and from its sign, position and aspects within the horoscope, the nature of a person’s sexual energy, its strength, the degree to which it is regulated or not, and, in general, the person’s attitude towards sex may be, in part, deduced.
8. Mars is very much involved in the whole question of energy management. Mars, in part, indicates the amount of physical-vital energy available to the personality, and the mode of its management and expenditure (wise or unwise, skillful or the reverse). Thus, Mars can also indicate how energy is wasted, through personality efforts which follow the dictates of desire but not of good sense. There is always a somewhat wasteful of energy before it is properly directed. Mars represents raw force—not the refined energy of Venus.In relation to the use of and response to energy, Mars represents the factor of over-stimulation, the reception of a quantity of energy excessive for the form which receives it. Mars may also contribute to the overstimulation of those whom the person contacts and influences. Impression from the soul requires a somewhat settled condition within the personality; overstimulation unsettles the personality vehicles and, thus, deflects soul impression.
9. The sign, house position and aspects of Mars indicate the nature and degree of courage to be found within the personality. It is the function of the personality to dare, and Mars represents the nature of one’s daring. In the ancient formula—”To Will. To Know. To Dare. To Be Silent”—to dare is the exhortation to the personality, and Mars, from one perspective, represents that personality as a whole. Note: “To Dare. These words give the clue to the subordination of the personality, and have a close connection with the solar plexus, the great clearing house of desire and of the astral forces, and also the main centre of the transmutative work.” (TWM 287)10. Mars represents the quality, degree and intensity of aspiration, which is ‘focused and elevated desire directed towards penetration into higher vibratory states’.
11. It is the nature of Mars to strive towards the Ideal. The nature and quality of idealism in one’s life will, in part, be indicated by Mars. Are one’s ideals worldly or heavenly? Are they practical or the reverse? Which areas of life do they concern? Mars, in the horoscope, will have something to say. “Idealism which is the power to see the vision and to direct one's course towards it. This is the work of Mars, the expression of the sixth ray.” (EA 177)
12. Mars will indicate, in large measure, the major battlefield of one’s life, and one’s readiness and willingness to fight that battle. No life on this planet is free from fight, and the sign, house position and aspects of Mars indicate the specific nature of the battle, its probable outcome, and what may at stake. Mars is also a planet of assertion, and transmits the first ray, the ray of will. The strength and vitality of the will, indicates how vigorously one can fight the battle. In the many conflicts of life, Mars, at first, asserts desire (demanding that it be fulfilled) and, later in the evolutionary process, aids in the assertion of the will (emanating from a source outside the personality altogether).
13. Mars brings the many “pairs of opposites” into relationship, even if it is a conflicted relationship. As regards the relationship between soul and personality, Mars, consequently, represents a potent source of energetic opposition to the soul. Mars is the “rebel”, the temporary adversary, the opponent of so much which the soul seeks to instill within the personality. In the life of the aspirant and average disciple, something of the nature of the struggle between soul and personality—especially as initiated by the personality against soul directives—may be deduced by the position and aspects of Mars.
14. Mars can ‘learn’ to cooperate effectively with the Higher Self, fighting on the side of the soul instead of against it! On the later Mutable Cross and upon the Fixed Cross, Mars can fight for soul values, but Mars, the “fighter”, has to choose sides—which can be done consciously after the reversal of the wheel. Thus, the sign, position and aspects of Mars can indicate the means of fighting the “battle of life” spiritually and on behalf of the soul—and prevailing.15. Mars, although reputedly a malefic factor, is not really so. Mars definitely serves the purposes of spiritual development. In which ways? What value has Mars to the soul and its program?
a. Nothing of lasting value (Venus) is accomplished without strenuous effort (Mars).
b. Lower desires (lower Mars) must be exhausted before they can be seen as relatively worthless and exchanged for aspirations (higher Mars).
c. Aspiration is necessary if transmutation and elevation are to occur; Mars make the achievement of higher objectives possible
d. Fortitude, courage and persistence (Marian virtues) are required for all those who wish to face and conquer the energy/force states which oppose soul influence.
e. Mars forces the personality to confront soul issues, and engage in battles from which soul values are, eventually, destined to emerge—victorious.
