Follow the Sun
Transforming our Desire Nature
by Jef Bartow
As Venus represents our more feminine emotional nature, Mars represents our more masculine desire nature. Since we all have both masculine and feminine within us, we all exhibit both emotions and desires in life. Mars is a very pivotal part of our personality nature on the Spiritual Path. Without it, spiritual growth would only remain a fantasy.Our desire nature is the primary way that we utilize will to survive, move outward from ourselves and externalize our personal force and energy in the world. Mars represents our urge to act, our urge to improve and shows the characteristics of our ambition. It also represents our mode of action based on what we desire.Transformed, as our desire nature becomes our will and passion in life, our power to start new activities and sustain all spiritual life-activities. Transforming our desire nature requires a complete reorientation from a personal, self-centered and survival instinct to an impersonal, other oriented focus in life and toward all of life. Most would ask: what's the value in that? The simple answer is that our self-centered desire nature is separated from God. The transformation process is how we become intimate co-creators with God in life. And until we do, we remain on the cycle of birth, death and rebirth in matter.Let's learn how we can use our astrology chart to help us identify and transform our desire nature. First, we look to where Mars resides in our birth chart. The house identifies those particular activities and areas of life which we most easily focus our desires. It is where we naturally want to externalize our ambitions, personal force and self. It is also where we like to start things. Even more importantly, it identifies the goal to be accomplished by our Mars desire nature.Our articles are available for reproduction for all members. Please give credit to the author.
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If our natal Mars resides in the second house, we will naturally move out from ourselves based on our resources, talents and where we put our self-esteem and self-worth (all second house areas). On the other hand, if Mars is in our eighth house, we would naturally focus our desires and ambitions in dealing with joint resources, partnerships and our sex life (all eighth house activities). We would also naturally want to externalize our ambitions and personal force in gaining some form of self-mastery (eighth house goal).Images provided by NASA
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In these examples, individuals with Mars in the second house can spiritualize their desire nature through developing their self-worth and personal resources while utilizing them in helping others rather than fulfilling their self-centered focus in life. Mars in the eighth house indicates that focusing one's urge to improve, mode of action and personal energy on regenerating their ego and joint involvements requiring change of personal desires (eight house goals) will transform their Mars desire nature into a spiritual tool for service.Let's put the second house Mars in Capricorn in the birth chart. Since Capricorn is an earth sign, the natural tendency here is to be practical, material oriented, detailed, responsible and persistent in starting new activities based on resources, talents and developing self-esteem. In the eighth house, this Capricorn Mars would display the same tendencies in partnerships, dealing with joint resources and definitely within their sex life. In sex, this would probably mean the individual would make a good lover.Since Capricorn is a Cardinal sign, individuals with Mars in Capricorn will need to focus their ambition, self-improvement, their personal will and energy by being active, dynamic, resourceful, energetic and progressive (all Cardinal qualities). With Mars in the eighth house, these individuals certainly wouldn't become passive partners in a partnership or sex. The second house Mars would need be very dynamic and resourceful regarding their material possessions and in developing their talents and self worth.As we have done in previous articles, looking to the natural home of Mars will also lend more information about the tendencies and needs regarding our desire nature. Mars is the natural ruler of Aries and the first house. Therefore, wherever Aries is in the birth chart represents further activities and areas of life where one would focus their urge to act, move outward from themselves and develop an urge to improve themselves. With Aries on the 11th house cusp at birth, individuals would naturally want to focus starting new activities, externalizing their personal energy and force and develop ambitions regarding participating within groups and associations, activities with friends and those whom they share life goals (all 11th house activities). Some new or first success or destiny would also become a goal for these individuals.
As the natural ruler of the first house, it also means that the sign on the ascendant is a powerful indicator of the natural tendencies and needs in expressing our desire nature. With Libra as the ascendant, these individuals would be naturally motivated to act, start new activities and externalize their personal self by being flexible, balanced, versatile, thoughtful and aspiring (all air tendencies). Because Libra is also a Cardinal sign, it would indicate that these individuals would need to also be initiating, resourceful, dynamic, energetic and progressive in fulfilling their desires whether ambitions, natural modes of action or urge to improve/spiritualize.
Doing this in a dependable, determined, reliable, consistent, and methodical way (all qualities of fixed Scorpio) in pursuing the goals of developing our spiritual responsibilities and resolving past karma (12 house goals) will powerfully accelerate transforming a self-centered personal desire nature. Transformed, the individual’s desire will be an other-oriented spiritual force and energy within the personality. This other oriented spiritual force will contribute to fulfilling Mars’s second house goal of developing self-worth and personal talents/resources for spiritual use.
As a further example, my natal Mars is in Taurus in the six house. This indicates that by being dependable, determined, reliable, consistent and methodical (needs of fixed Taurus) in my vocation, executing daily activities and serving others (six house activities) will directly transform my desire nature, as well help fulfill my six house goal of developing a sense of usefulness through self-adjustment.
I accomplished this through becoming successful as a turnaround manager in business and later a successful consultant to entrepreneurs. My success came as I developed a specific focus of not serving myself, but serving the best interests of those companies, managers and employees. My fixed Taurus energy, will and force contributed greatly to my developing a sense of usefulness through self-adjustment and transforming my innate ambition and self-centered drive for success, money and recognition (Mars in Taurus). Since Aries resides on my sixth house cusp natally, my focus and self-adjustment doubly assisted in developing a sense of usefulness in serving others. In addition, my ascendant is Scorpio, so expressing its fixed qualities in starting new projects and externalizing my personal energy and force also contributed in transforming my desire nature. For me, this was by my being dependable, reliable, consistent and methodical with everyone involved in my consulting career. Their trust only developed for me as I demonstrated that my intent was to help them, not get them fired.
With Venus as the ruler of Mars in Taurus residing in my seventh house in Gemini, I could further accelerate the transformation my desire nature by fulfilling its needs and goals. With Gemini as a mutable sign, my Venus needs include being adaptable, versatile, responsive, observant and flexible in one-on-one relationships, working cooperatively with others and with the public in order to objectify myself and balance myself through others (seventh house activities and goals).My challenge as a turnaround consultant included gaining the respect, support and assistance from those who were part of and partly responsible for the distressed situation. My Taurian desire nature would rarely be successful in these situations where needs for change are very time sensitive. Maybe as Attila-the-Hun, but I didn't own the companies. What I did was become as observant, responsive, adaptable and flexible as possible in working with these employees, managers and owners while developing and executing solutions to their needs as well as the needs of the company. Within a few months, these one-on-one relationships became cooperative partnerships for the benefit of all. Their cooperation and assistance accelerated my solutions becoming implemented and successful. As they say, instead of self-centered fighting in the trenches for survival, it became a win-win for all.
I have found that one of the most difficult parts of spiritual growth is a requirement that one move from a personal self-centered orientation to that of objective other orientation. Our desire nature is the pivot upon which this change can take place. Through the science of astrology, Mars represents this pivot we can use to help us identify the most easy and natural way to make this transformation.Even though this is a good starting place, we can gain additional insights into transforming our desire nature through the ruler of the sign in which our Mars resides at birth. In our example with Mars in Capricorn, we look to the ruler of Capricorn (Saturn) and how it fulfills its needs and goals where it resides in the birth chart. Let's say Saturn is in Scorpio in the birth chart. With Mars in Capricorn in the second house, this normally means that Saturn will be in the 12 house in Scorpio.So, by fulfilling the needs and goals of Saturn in Scorpio in the 12 house, this individual will accelerate transforming their desire nature. The needs of Scorpio include uniting one's potentials with others in deep involvements based on mutual respect. Regarding Saturn, this means utilizing our ability to shape and form our conscious ego and utilizing discipline and self-control (all functions of Saturn) while serving those less fortunate than ourselves, overcoming our past karma and doing our spiritual work (all 12 house activities). 
