Mars is the planet of willpower, energy, sexual drive, and aggressive behavior. Expressed in its positive form, Mars gives a person great energy, the will to carry out daunting tasks, endurance, a strong sexual drive, an adventurous nature, and an independent-minded and assertive personality. Expressed in its negative form, Mars instills recklessness, impatience, a quick temper, and an argumentative and overly aggressive personality.

Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, was named after the Roman god of war. Mars has two small moons called Phobos and Deimos. Orbiting the Sun every 1.88 years, Mars is roughly 142 million miles from the sun (or 53 percent further from the sun than the earth). The temperature on its surface ranges from -189 to 63 degrees Fahrenheit.

At its closes approach to the earth (34 million miles), Mars is the brightest object in the night sky after Venus. Its distinctly reddish color results from its heavily oxidized surface. Its thin atmosphere (the pressure is only 0.6 percent of earth's) is comprised mainly of carbon dioxide with small amounts of nitrogen, argon, and oxygen.

Mars's poles are covered with ice. The northern hemisphere is less cratered than the southern hemisphere, leading scientists to believe that its surface is younger (consisting of relatively recent lava flows). Mount Olympus is the largest volcanic structure on Mars (or anywhere else in the solar system), jutting 15.5 miles (82,000 feet) above the surface. Several American Mariner spacecraft have explored Mars; in 1976 two Viking lander crafts even landed on the surface.

In Roman mythology, Mars was the god of war and the son of Jupiter (king of the gods). Since Mars fathered Romulus (the legendary founder of Rome), he was generally regarded as the father of the Roman people.

  The symbol of Mars is formed by the circle of spirit surmounted by the arrow which represents the masculin aspect of the life force.  This Martian glyph is used in biology to represent the male.

Mars is the red planet and that is the colour which signifies the life force.  The Neolithic people buried their dead smeared in red ochre in the belief that this symbolic color of the life force ensured that the soul of the dead person would be reborn into another body.

In ancient times blood was regarded as sacred because of its color and the practice of making sacrifices to appease the Divine originated in the belief that blood transmitted the life force.  In our enlightened age we know that sacrificial offerings are cruel and unnecessary;  the only true sacrifice is that made by the enlightened soul incarnating on the altar of material existence.

In some respects the Martian planetary influence is the opposite to the Venusian.  In ancient mythology Mars was the god of war and within this martial image is hidden great truths.  If things stagnate and degenerate they must be swept away if any progress is to be made.  In this sense the planetary energy of Mars respresents the destroyer who cleanses and purifies do that a new beginning or cycle can commence.

Sacrifice on its highest spiritual level is the transmutation of energy into a different form.  Following the occult path the aspiring magician may be called upon by the powers~that~be to make a number of sacrifices, some of which may be small but others will test the character and individual strength of the seeker.

How the individual reacts to such situations will determine how he/she will progress on the magical path.  Whatever happens, the magician will be changed by the experience which is the transmutation of the sacrificial act.  In some way the planetary energy of Mars is a blind force, yet it cannot escape being the instrument of the powerful destiny that is the controlling influence in the universe.

The Martian force can be invoked by the magician who lacks the energy or motivation to act decisively on a situation.  The planetary for of Mars provides the magician with hidden reserves of physical, mental and spiritual energy.