Mars

Where the name comes from

Mars is named for the Roman god of war, and the reason is simply its colour. To the naked eye it glows a dull red, the colour people associated with blood and fire, so culture after culture tied it to conflict and war gods.

Why it is actually red

The honest version is less dramatic and more interesting. Mars is red because its surface is coated in iron dust that has rusted, the same chemistry as a rusty nail. It is a whole planet gone the colour of rust, and that is all the red once read as an omen of war.

The wanderer that puzzled everyone

Mars moves oddly against the stars, sometimes appearing to stop and loop backwards. Explaining that strange motion drove centuries of astronomy, and it was Mars, more than any other planet, that finally revealed that the planets orbit the Sun in ellipses rather than perfect circles. Johannes Kepler worked out his laws of planetary motion from careful records of Mars made by Tycho Brahe.

Mars in a birth chart

Astrologers read Mars as the engine. It covers drive, desire, anger, competition, physical energy, sex, and the nerve to start a fight or finish one. Traditionally it rules Aries and Scorpio, and it was called the lesser malefic, the planet of cuts, heat and conflict, though modern readers treat it as the courage every chart needs. Its sign describes how you go after things, head first in Aries, slowly and stubbornly in Taurus, and its house shows where you fight hardest.

How to find yours

Unlike Mercury and Venus, Mars is not tied to the Sun, so it can be in any sign, whatever your birthday. Hali’s daily positions from 1900 to 2100 show it does not share its time evenly. It spends 10.1 percent of days in Virgo and 10 percent in Leo, but only 6.8 percent in Aquarius, because its uneven orbit makes it move faster on one side of the zodiac. The Mars sign calculator finds yours, and the guides start with Mars in Aries.

Retrograde

Mars is retrograde 9.5 percent of the time, once every two years or so for around two and a half months. Its next retrograde begins in Virgo on 12 January 2027 and ends on 3 April 2027. Being born during one is often read as anger that turns inward first, or drive that takes its time to find a target.

Common confusions

A strong Mars does not make someone violent, and a weak one does not make them a pushover. Mars is also not only about men or masculinity, whatever older books say. Every chart has one, and it describes how that person gets moving.