Sun Square Mars: Will and Impulse Butting Heads

With the Sun and Mars at odds, the direction you choose and the direction your impulses pull are not the same. There is often an urgency inside you that sparks conflict, and it also forges exceptional fighting strength. 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 square makes the two interact, how it tends to show up in everyday life, its strengths and blind spots, and some advice for it.

Sun Square 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 Square Mars

The Sun is your will and your sense of self; Mars is your action, desire, and anger. In a square the two fall in signs that clash. One may want steadiness while the other wants speed; one stands on principle while the other just wants to act now. So you often find that your mind has picked a direction while your body strains toward another, or that your temper flares first and scatters your original plan. You have a supply of energy you can never use up. It just does not take orders well.

Both aspects are high in energy, but people with the conjunction are one with their fire, while people with the square often feel pushed and prodded by it. You are more prone to frustration and impatience, and more likely to collide with the world outside, especially with people in authority. This aspect is hard going in youth, and most of what it costs you is paid in impulsiveness. That is also where its worth lies. Every collision forces you to learn how to apply your strength, and in the end your ability to handle pressure and difficulty is sturdier than most people’s.

How it feels inside

There is a string inside you that is usually pulled tight. Slow progress, someone in your way, or a performance of your own that falls short will all set you on edge. Your demands on yourself are actually very high, and before you get angry at anyone else you have often already been angry at yourself. The impatience rarely goes away completely. It is more like a sound that is always in the background. When you have something that takes everything you have got, it turns into focus. When you are idle, it goes looking for something to quarrel about.

In love and relationships

Love and friendship are where sparks fly most easily. You are very genuine: when you care, you react, but the reaction often comes out harsher than you meant. An offhand remark can feel like a challenge, and once an argument starts it is hard for you to be the first to back down. You are drawn to people with strong personalities and tempers of their own, and the two of you can bicker constantly and still be inseparable. Early on there may have been a good deal of pushing back against your father or a forceful elder at home. Learn to say “I am really wound up right now” before you blow up, and the other person can take it far better.

At work and in getting things done

At work this aspect is a major asset. Difficulty does not scare you, and the more you are underestimated the more you want to prove people wrong, so in high-pressure, fiercely competitive settings you outlast others. Many athletes, founders, and frontline managers have it. What to guard against is going head-to-head with your manager, and skipping necessary steps because you want to see results quickly. Aim your force at the problem itself and not at the person, and your fighting strength will be read as boldness instead of being hard to work with.

Strengths

• Stronger with every setback: Resistance stirs your fighting spirit. When others want to quit you are still looking for a way, and the hard assignments often get finished in your hands.
• Explosive power: Under pressure you can produce startling strength in a short time, which suits situations that call for a sprint, a race against the clock, or a win on the spot.
• Skill that is earned: Having sparred with your own impatience all along, you gradually learn to control your force, and your actions in maturity have both power and restraint.

Blind spots

• Quick to clash: You react fast and bluntly and often lock horns when there is no need. Afterward it does not seem worth it, but the relationship already carries a sore spot.
• Short on patience: You want results now and get irritated when things drag, which can lead you to drop something that was close to succeeding or to make a hasty decision.
• At odds with authority: You bristle when you are managed or told what to do. Even when the other person has a point, your first move is to push back.

Advice for Sun Square Mars

Some of this energy needs to be burned off every day. Schedule exercise that is intense enough to tire your body a little, and the fire inside will stop hunting for exits. In the heat of anger, do not rush to handle the matter. Leave the scene for a few minutes and come back to talk once your breathing has slowed. Also find yourself a long-term goal with real difficulty in it, so this fighting strength has a legitimate place to go.

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 square Mars is tight, the traits on this page will be more noticeable; if it is close to the 9° 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 square are usually in signs of the same modality (both cardinal, both fixed or both mutable), but an aspect is measured by actual distance. In our calculations, 13% of squares 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 square with other planets

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

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

All Sun aspects · All Mars aspects · Planet aspects overview