I'm not keen on discussing generalities and cookbooks like this I prefer specifics, charts. Like I've said many times here, what is the point in just discussing one aspect of a persons chart as we are ALL multi faceted human beings, and that's how it should be.
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I think it is helpful to sometimes focus on one planetary aspect to see the various ways in which a particular planet is expressed through the individual...after all RIR did initiate this thread for that specific purpose...We could all benefit by offering more personal experiences to expand the generalization of how the energies work. It is because Mars is attached to anger issues, which many individuals struggle with, that further investigation is indeed necessary, but it does no harm to know the basic underlying expression of a given planet in a sign...otherwise why is this concept repeteadly emphasized when first learning about the subject?
My daughter has Mars in Cancer in the 12th [emotional repression] which is also configured in a number of significant aspects. Now typically you might think that Mars in Cancer would not express a tendency to be aggressive or overtly angry because of their own sensitivites, and yet she has typically been quite explosive at times because she bottles up her feelings until they reach a max, and then she blows off like a geyser [water] at the slightest hint of controversy. Again she has had problems expressing her emotions for the most part but has gradually learned how to gain greater control as she matures, which is what Moon in Aries is typically about.
I think that in part this is due to the fact that Mars and the Moon in Aries are in mutual reception. This would help to resolve the passive-aggressive tendencies in time, as I am seeing now. Now I might add that in this forum, even when the chart is displayed, the querent is often directed to various outside resources to discover for themselves the various chart factors, but again these computer read-outs seldom take the entire chart as a whole but separates them into distinct, albeit vague, interpretations. Of course we must consider the placement and aspects to determine the greater clarity of why the planet very often does not fit with the typical interpretations...
Example: Robert Hand has this to say about Mars in Cancer in the chart:
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When you are feeling positive and cheerful, you act confidently and assertively. But when you are depressed, you are more retiring and much more irritable.” Still he does not go on to advise how the aspects will alter the pure [archetypal] expression of Mars: he does not go on to explain about the fact that Mars is involved in a t-square configuration with Moon/Jupiter in the 10th opposed by Pluto and Venus in the 4th. These are some very heavy complexities that add to the picture.
In her own past my daughter has always suffered from insecurity and self-defeatist tendencies, thus she seldom has expressed herself as being overly cheerful or confident; in fact she has always been quite dour, self-defensive and emotionally repressed. Then we must consider
why the more positive expression seldom shines through; obviously because of the t-square influences.
Robert Hand also suggests: Sometimes this position of Mars indicates difficulties and disagreements with your family. Don't most people experience this at times?
He goes on to state: “
the possibility that it is likely that anything concerning your family, your family background and heritage inspires in you feelings of great loyalty.” Much too vague for the novice to get much out of it. In this case, because of the afflicting aspects, the familial dissension has always been problematic and at times her own indiscretions have caused her to be very disloyal to the family. Venus and Pluto in the 4th seem to be a testament to that.
I guess I am straddling two issues here: one is that I think it is good for people on the forum to be sharing their personal experiences of their own version of expressing any given planet in any given sign...as such we can then offer expanded explanations about the why and how the modifications come into effect...
secondly, while it is important to be able to view the chart, we can still talk about selective factors so that a basis of understanding can be initiated. Through the aspects we can determine whether the energy of the planet will be supported or challenged for the individual.
