Sun Sextile Mars: Strength That Shows Up When You Call on It

With the Sun and Mars two signs apart, will and action cooperate. You can summon drive when it is needed, and if you choose to use it, it becomes dependable follow-through. This page starts from what the Sun governs (self, vitality and who you want to become) and what Mars governs (drive, desire, competition and conflict), then looks at how the sextile makes the two interact, how it tends to show up in everyday life, its strengths and blind spots, and some advice for it.

Sun Sextile Mars at a glance

Percentages are our own calculation from 8,401 charts of people born in Taipei between 1960 and 2005 with random birth times, using the same orbs as our chart calculator.

The core meaning of Sun Sextile Mars

The Sun shows where you want to go, and Mars shows how you take action and go after things. In a sextile the two fall in compatible signs, such as fire paired with air or earth paired with water: different in nature, yet able to help each other. In you there is a clear channel between resolve and action. When you have truly made up your mind, you can deliver, and you gauge your force well. You are unlikely to overdo it, and just as unlikely to think without ever acting.

Compared with the conjunction, the fire of a sextile is smaller, but it takes direction better. People with the conjunction cannot stop; you get to choose when to start. This ability has to be called up by you. When you have a clear goal, when someone invites you to join in, or when you set yourself a deadline, your drive shows up. If there is nothing in your life to strive for, it sits quietly on the shelf. Many people discover how capable they are only after they have taken on some real responsibility.

How it feels inside

You have a grounded confidence in your own strength. Faced with what needs doing, you feel neither much resistance nor much agitation, and you know that once you begin you will finish. When you are angry you can feel it, yet you are able to consider first whether to let it out and how to say it so it does some good. That margin between holding back and letting go means you seldom regret your reactions. What to watch is that without an outside spark your fighting spirit dozes off, and life runs smoothly but lacks anything that excites you.

In love and relationships

In relationships you know how to take just enough initiative. When you like someone you find ways to show it without crowding them; when you disagree you can voice your displeasure without fighting so hard that feelings get hurt. Friends see you as someone who steps up, who does what was agreed and comes forward when somebody has to. You get along especially well with energetic people, and working out or making plans together warms things up. If the other person is more passive, you will need to be the one who extends the invitation.

At work and in getting things done

At work you are someone who turns plans into reality. Given a direction by your manager, you break it into steps you can act on and finish on schedule, and when obstacles come up you are willing to figure out a way through. Competition with your colleagues is mostly the healthy kind: seeing someone else do well makes you want to keep up. To get more from this aspect, go after chances to lead, or take on a task slightly beyond your current ability. You will find you can produce more than you expected.

Strengths

• Well-judged force: You can charge when it is time to charge and pull back when it is time to pull back. You work with energy but without recklessness, and people feel at ease working with you.
• True to your word: What you agree to gets scheduled and done with little delay, and the credibility you build over the years is one of your greatest assets.
• Healthy competitiveness: You want to win but do not need to step on anyone. A rival’s progress reminds you to pick up the pace, so competition is a positive spur for you.

Blind spots

• Needing a nudge: Without a goal or a deadline you tend to slacken. Your drive sits idle, and you often get moving only when something lands on your doorstep.
• Short on ruthlessness: You are used to working hard within reasonable limits, so when a moment calls for burning the boats you sometimes choose the more cautious course.
• Underrating yourself: Because effort comes smoothly, you do not see it as a skill. When a chance appears you do not reach for it, and it goes to someone bolder about speaking up.

Advice for Sun Sextile Mars

Find a goal that demands effort, and say it out loud. Sign up for a race, agree to head a project, or set a regular workout time with a friend. Commitments like these, with another person involved and a deadline attached, are the best way to wake up your drive. Each time you finish one, raise the difficulty a notch. You will get a clearer and clearer sense of how much you are capable of.

What to keep in mind when reading this aspect

1. The tighter the orb, the more it matters. In our calculations, only 13.6% of all major aspects are within 1° of exact, and 41.2% are within 3°. If your Sun sextile Mars is tight, the traits on this page will be more noticeable; if it is close to the 7° limit, they will be much fainter.

2. Applying and separating. An aspect is applying when the two planets are moving toward the exact angle and separating once they have passed it. Tradition holds that an applying aspect is still taking shape and acts more strongly. Our chart calculator marks which one you have.

3. Watch for out-of-sign aspects. Two planets in sextile are usually two signs apart, in compatible elements (fire with air, earth with water), but an aspect is measured by actual distance. In our calculations, 9.5% of sextiles do not match the usual sign relationship (one planet late in a sign, the other early in another). The nature of the aspect is still there; it just shows up in a less typical way.

4. Most people born on the same day share this aspect. The Sun and Mars move only a little in a day. The difference lies in which houses they fall in on your chart, and that depends on your birth time; see Planets in the Houses.

5. Then look at each planet’s own placement. The signs the Sun and Mars are in decide how each one expresses itself; see Planets in the Signs. If either planet has other aspects, read them together. For a complete reading, use the In-Depth Chart Reading.

Other aspects between the Sun and Mars

Conjunction · Sextile · Square · Trine · Opposition

The sextile with other planets

Sun: Sun sextile Moon, Sun sextile Jupiter, Sun sextile Saturn, Sun sextile Uranus, Sun sextile Neptune, Sun sextile Pluto.

Mars: Moon sextile Mars, Mercury sextile Mars, Venus sextile Mars, Mars sextile Jupiter, Mars sextile Saturn, Mars sextile Uranus, Mars sextile Neptune, Mars sextile Pluto.

All Sun aspects · All Mars aspects · Planet aspects overview