The glyph at the centre, the branches of Mars' symbolism around it: gods (gold), archetypes (blue), traditions (green) and narratives (red). Tap a branch and its explanation opens on the right.
AresGreek
Son of Zeus and Hera; the bloody, blind face of war. In Homer Zeus calls him 'most hateful to me of all the Olympians'; he always loses to Athena's strategy. Lover of Aphrodite, father of Deimos (terror) and Phobos (fear). Ares in the Greek family tree →
MarsRoman
In Rome the greatest god after Jupiter; father of Romulus and Remus, lord of the month of March and the campaigning season. Mars Gradivus (the strider) is the soldier, Mars Silvanus the farmer: the power that guards field, herd and border. The wolf and the woodpecker are his animals.
NergalBabylonian
Son of Enlil; war, plague and the scorching summer sun. He descends to the underworld, overpowers Ereshkigal, marries her and becomes king of the dead. In Babylonian astronomy Mars is 'the star of Nergal' (Salbatanu), held to be ill-omened. Nergal in the Mesopotamian family tree →
Seth and MontuEgyptian
Seth is the god of the desert, the storm and chaos; he kills Osiris, yet it is he who spears the chaos serpent Apep from Ra's boat. Montu is the falcon-headed war god of Thebes. The Egyptian name of Mars is 'Horus the Red'. Seth in the Egyptian family tree →
TyrNorse
God of oaths and war; when the wolf Fenrir is bound he places his right hand in the wolf's jaws and loses it. The Romans matched him with Mars: Tuesday is Tyr's day, Martis dies. Courage and its price. Tyr in the Norse family tree →
MangalaHindu
Mars in Vedic astrology: son of the earth mother (Bhumi), red, warlike, identified with six-headed Kartikeya. Kuja dosha (the Mars flaw) is still consulted in marriage matching; Tuesday (Mangalavara) is his day.
Sword and phallusThe piercing, dividing power
The glyph of Mars is a spear; the sword cuts, separates, draws a line. The phallic gods (Min, Priapus, Shiva's lingam) are the generative face of the same power: insemination, seizure, dominion. Mars' energy runs from crude aggression to creative potency.
War heroesPerseus, Jason, Heracles, Siegfried
The hero receives the call, leaves home, fights the monster and returns with the prize. Perseus and Medusa, Heracles and the twelve labours, Jason and the Golden Fleece, Siegfried and the dragon: all are Mars' 'call to adventure'. Campbell's hero's journey is the myth of Mars.
The dragon fightSeparation from the mother
Marduk slays Tiamat, Apollo Python, Sigurd Fafnir, Saint George the dragon. In depth psychology the dragon is the engulfing mother; defeating it is the birth of the individual, the founding of the world. Mars creates by dividing. Marduk and Tiamat →
The knightLancelot, the duel
The medieval knight is Mars tamed: the sword bound to an oath. But Lancelot loves Queen Guinevere and falls into a father-son conflict with Arthur; rivalry, adultery and honour in one story. Mars' discipline is fragile.
SamsonStrength and desire
Samson, whose strength lives in his hair, tears a lion apart with his hands, kills a thousand men with a jawbone and loses his strength in Delilah's lap. Sexual battle, the tension between power and desire: Mars' weakness before Venus.
Fire gods and the smithAgni, Hephaestus
Fire both burns and shapes. The smith forges the sword in fire; the net Hephaestus sets for Ares is the moment the smith defeats the warrior. Mars' fire makes the world (world-maker) and brings it into the body: will becomes action.
The Chariot (Tarot VII)Will, victory
In the tarot the Chariot shows an armoured driver reining in two opposing powers (a black and a white sphinx): will, resolve, victory. In the Golden Dawn it is the card of Cancer, but the driver carries the will of Mars; the Tower (XVI) is Mars' destructive moment.
GeburahKabbalah, the fifth sephira
On the Tree of Life Geburah (Strength, Severity) is the sphere of Mars: judgement, discipline, cutting. Opposite stands Jupiter's Chesed (Mercy); if the two are not held in balance Geburah turns to tyranny and Chesed to laxity.
Iron and sulphurFerrum, alchemical sulphur
Mars' metal is iron: sword, plough, blood (haemoglobin). In alchemy sulphur is the fiery, male, active principle; the lion is the animal of sulphur and of Mars. In the body the muscles, the bile, the head and face belong to Mars.
The animal kingdomLion, wolf, bull
Mars is instinct: hunt, flight, attack. The wolf of Mars in Rome, the lion of Nergal, the strange beast of Seth. The uncivilised, untamed body; adrenaline and reflex.