You’ve probably heard the saying ‘men are from Mars, women are from Venus’. There’s even a whole book about it. It’s a great book actually, I found it particularly helpful in decoding the often mysterious communication gaps between the sexes. But recently, I got to thinking about the astrological element of that statement.

Yes, astrologically speaking, the archetype of Venus is the feminine in all its softness and sensual glory. And Mars is the archetype of the warrior, the masculine principle in action. Venus is receiving, giving and from the heart. Mars is penetrating, sexual energy in motion. So broadly speaking, it’s pretty accurate to say that women embody the Venusian principles and men the Martian ones.

But what about those women who’s astrological charts gear them to be more Martian in their approach? What about the women, who while in their essence they might be Venusian, but the archetype they embody is more Martian? What about the women who are from Mars?

I’ll tell you why I even started thinking about this. I am one of these women. So, first let’s talk about what would make a woman more Martian than Venusian. Throughout the last 30 years of study and observation, I have found certain placements in the chart that indicate the warrior woman.

Of course to begin with, the Martian woman has a strong influence of Mars in her chart. This can show up as a heavily aspected Mars, or a Mars that only has conjunctions, oppositions and squares to it. These aspects are the more challenging aspects in astrology, and challenging aspects to Mars indicates a strong drive that needs to find expression.

Now we have to keep in mind the planets that are touching Mars in the chart. For example, Jupiter squaring Mars will look quite different from Neptune squaring Mars. Neptune squaring Mars can create both a creative soul as well as one who gets confused by their emotions easily. On the other hand, Jupiter expands everything it touches, so a Jupiter square Mars woman will have strong ambitions, a desire to experience growth while at the same time finding challenged in the area of keeping their cool.

This brings me to the key challenge that the Martian woman has to deal with in herself. A challenge that is really a gift when used in the right way - Anger. I capitalized and bolded that word for a reason. Every Martian woman has this cross to bear in one way or another. In some the anger will be on the surface and expressed. For others, the anger may be repressed, buried in the subconscious waiting to be triggered.

Anger by itself is not negative. Anger is a natural response to our boundaries being crossed. The Martian woman however, struggles with anger. This is because Mars is one of the archetypes in the chart that shows our relationship to the masculine. And often Martian women, in one way or another, have difficulties with the masculine principle.

This unhealthy relationship often begins with experiences in childhood where the father or other masculine figures play a key role in shaping the psyche of the Martian woman through repression of their natural outgoing personalities.

This is particularly valid if there is a hard aspect (conjunction, square or opposition) between Mars and Saturn in the chart. Let’s look at the archetypal energies of these two planets to understand how that works.

Mars is the principle of action, assertion and achievement. Mars is our inner warrior. Saturn is the principle of restraint, contraction and duty. Mars is hot, Saturn is cold. Saturn represents the authority figures in our lives. So a hard aspect between Mars and Saturn points to there being an amount of tension that has built up in the psyche that needs to be released. This tension often stems from a challenging relationship with the father figure in our lives.

This can show up in multiple ways. In it’s darkest form, this shows abuse, mental, emotional or physical that creates anger and resentment in the Martian woman’s system. However, it is also possible that the father was either unavailable emotionally or absent already from her life.

All of these situations would in their way create an unhealthy feeling of ‘not-enoughness’ within the Martian woman’s being, resulting in her feeling angry, suppressed and generally not trusting men to live up to her expectations.

Astrologer Hiroki Nizato, calls this aspect the ‘father wound’, which, as someone who has this aspect in her chart, I think is very apt. This wounding can create one pissed off Martian woman. However, as I said, anger is not a negative emotion, and the Martian woman’s greatest challenge can turn into her greatest asset once she learns channel the energy in a proper way.

My anger has been both my greatest ally and worst enemy. Without this ally, I don’t think I would’ve survived growing up as a woman who thinks and acts differently in a society that just wants a woman to shut up. I also would not have looked so hard and deep for answers if the pain caused by my anger wasn’t such a driving force.

The women from Mars are actually powerhouses waiting to be realized. They have the ability to use their Martian warrior archetype as a creative force for good. Having been victimized and ostracized, they can develop compassion and understanding of others who are suffering and thus become champions of the underdog.

Once the Martian woman has surrendered her need to fight with the world around her (something she learns how to do as a form of protection), she will discover that within her angst, there is power. She will also discover that she has the kind of will that can move mountains.

She dances to the beat of her own drum, and her strength lies in not resisting her soft edges, in embracing her vulnerability. She might have been told that she is ‘too much’ by men in her life. When she accepts her own passion, she will find those that can stand near her fire without getting burned.

That’s the beauty of the women from Mars, their fire can warm the coldest hearts with the warmth of their passionate love.