<<CLICK HERE FOR CHINESE TRANSLATION 中文翻译>>
In my previous article about birth charts, we looked at Sun, Moon, and Rising signs. In this article, we’ll take a look at the significance of the Mars, Venus, and Mercury signs.
Let’s recap:
A birth chart (or natal chart) marks the positions where all the planets were when you were born. Their positions indicate your personality, strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for learning, and important seasons of Spiritual evolution.
To calculate your birth chart, you’ll need:
- Place of birth
- Date of birth
- Time of birth
Without a time of birth, you won’t be able to find your ascendant, or rising. Nor will you know which houses the planets in your chart fall in. But no worries – you can still benefit from the wealth of knowledge and insight that your location and date of birth can provide.
As such, our Mars, Venus, and Mercury signs refer to the respective zodiac signs that the aforementioned planets were in the time of our birth.
These three planets, along with the Sun and Moon, form the core of what we call the inner planets: they indicate aspects of our personality, and highlight our strengths and weaknesses.
In a nutshell:
- Mars is the planetary ruler of aggression. It determines our energy levels, career aspirations, conflict styles, and sex drives.
- Venus is the planetary ruler of partnerships and material beauty. It shapes our relationship styles (not only in romance but also family ties, friendships, professional relationships), as well as our ideas of beauty and our approach towards money.
- Mercury is the planetary ruler of thought and communication. It influences how we think, how we solve problems, how we perceive ourselves and the world, how we express our ideas, and how we interact with those around us.
Let’s get to the details!
Your Mars Sign
A lot of your public life – and by that I’m referring to career and physical pursuits, if you’re the outdoorsy sort – will be shaped by your Mars sign. Mars is the ruler of two zodiac signs, Aries (Cardinal Fire) and Scorpio (Fixed Water). Mars is associated with the element of Fire, and with the Greek God of War, Ares.
So as you can tell, your Mars sign influences anything to do with challenge and conquest. This usually points to your career, your energy levels, as well as what triggers your temper (and how you manage your anger). At the personal level, your Mars sign influences how you handle conflict in relationships, as well as your sex drives and preferences.
Case study: let’s talk about Leo Mars (I’m a Leo Mars!). Leo is the celestial Lion and shares the same qualities of pride, generosity, courage, and that elusive X-factor. Leo Mars loves the stage! As such, Leo Mars tends to excel in public professions; many successful performers, politicians, and other public figures are Leo Martians.
If a Leo Mars is offended, most of the time it will be due to an attack on their reputation or sense of pride. Conversely, getting into their good books is also a straightforward matter. Be honest and true (Leo is ruled by the Sun, which emphasises clarity and illumination – you literally CANNOT BE SHADY with them, haha). Also, show appreciation regularly to the Leo Mars in your life for their positive contributions. They’ll eat all that praise up like a kitty licks cream, and give you even more of the good stuff – did I mention Leo is innately generous?
*
Your Venus Sign
Your Venus sign shapes your relationship approach and preferences; it also influences your notions of beauty, as well as material abundance. Venus, like Mars, rules two signs: Taurus (Fixed Earth) and Libra (Cardinal Air). Venus is named after the Greek Goddess of love, and it is said that Her effect on one’s love life is strongest at the point of first meeting. So the Venus sign, not only the Sun sign, is really useful for determining initial compatibility (ie whether they’re worth a first date) – if your heart is captivated by that hot guy/girl across the room and you’d like to break the ice with a conversation starter, maybe talk about Venus signs and see how you both go!
So it’s important to take Venus signs into consideration. Let’s consider a Capricorn Venus, for instance. Capricorn is the sign of the empire builder – as Cardinal Earth, stability, practicality, and long-term value are very important to them. You’ll rarely find a Capricorn Venus dressed outrageously – they prefer classy looks to trendy styles.
Also, Capricorn Venus is interested in the long haul when it comes to both love and money (remember, they build) – to impress one, prove you have big goals, as well as the means of attaining those goals. Have you fallen in love with a Capricorn Venus? If you want to have a relationship with one, show them that you’re loyal, practical, and a beneficial asset to have. It helps if you’re wealthy, or on the way to becoming wealthy. Capricorn Venus tends to crush on workaholic types, including their own bosses or colleagues.
Turn up for your first date with Capricorn Venus wearing something classic and chic: a well-structured little black dress (or dark shirt and trousers) never goes wrong here. Choose a quiet restaurant; check reviews first. You don’t have to spend half your month’s salary on the date, but you have to make sure it feels luxurious. If your Capricorn Venus is a female, she will likely expect you to pay for everything at first (they’re old-school like that).
*
Your Mercury Sign
Your Mercury sign impacts your thinking and communicating styles – so you can see how broadly this influences pretty much every aspect of your life! Like Venus and Mars, Mercury is the ruler of two zodiac signs: Gemini (Mutable Air) and Virgo (Mutable Earth). As the ruler of two Mutable signs, Mercury is a fast talker, a mover and a shaker. Its energies tend to be bright, buzzing, and bountiful. It’s also the planet that notoriously retrogrades about three or four times a year, bringing our issues with communication, technology, and travel to the fore.
When you consider how easily human communication can go awry because we think or perceive things differently, you’ll appreciate the value of knowing someone’s Mercury sign – especially when resolving conflict.
Let’s take a Cancer Mercury person for instance. Now remember that Cancer is the Celestial Crab: like crabs, Cancerians prefer to move sideways, will burrow under the sand when threatened, and can cling on to things forever.
As such, if you need to have a difficult conversation with a Cancer Mercury, be subtle. Use gentle hints, not forceful rhetoric, to get your point across. Nurture when necessary – Cancer Mercury needs to feel safe before they can speak up for themselves, or else they’ll hide their true thoughts. Be careful what words you use because they tend to cling, especially to negative comments.
*
Reading Combinations
So now that we understand the roles of the different planets and how they influence our birth charts, here are some combinations of signs you can be sure to check if you need insight on the following matters. Please note that I’ve left out Sun signs because it’s generally assumed that you’ll check out Sun signs first (and they are still the most influential sign in our birth charts, after all).
Personally, I would check out both Sun and Moon signs before I even consider the others. The catch in checking Moon sign, however, is that it’s best to know the person’s birth time to ensure accuracy.
Here we go:
- Love compatibility: Moon, Venus, Mars
- General compatibility (friends, colleagues etc): Rising, Mercury, Mars
- Career suitability: Moon, Mercury, Mars
- Financial management style: Venus, Mercury, Mars if you’re considering whether to get involved in high-risk investments and/or aggressive wealth accumulation schemes
- Health and wellness: Rising for possible health issues, Venus if you’re planning a beauty, exercise, and/or diet regime
In my next article on birth charts, I discuss the outer planets and the houses in your birth charts, and how they influence not only different aspects of our lives, but even entire generations of people on this planet!
