The impressionable Moon and fiery Mars do not make for amiable companions anymore than Saturn though in a different way. The Martian mother is angry, forceful, competitive, not sensitive – and most importantly blocks her child’s will. Mars says ‘I want’, ‘I intend’, ‘I am’ so is integral to a sense of identity. Pushed out of sight by a mother’s narcissism or in some cases the mother’s extreme vulnerability that can’t handle anger in any form, the child becomes a boiling cauldron of unlived assertion, stored up to become compacted anger. Mars is also the god of passion, so sexuality can get blocked as well.
Traditional astrology always said Moon Mars types should avoid alcohol since it takes the inhibitors off and their aggravation explodes likely causing damage to relationships or the furniture. It tends to leave a prickly defensiveness since it is tricky to modulate assertive responses – and they are either resentfully submissive or explosively assertive.
Two Moon square Mars children from fiery mothers who won’t come as a surprise in this context are Lourdes, Madonna’s daughter, with a Scorpio Moon square Mars; and North West Kardashian (Kim’s daughter) with Virgo Moon square Mars.
Shouty, provocative men who equally come as no surprise with Moon Mars are comedian Russell Brand 4 June 1975, with a Moon Mars in Aries conjunction opposition Pluto. And two Moon Mars hard aspects also crop up with argumentative Piers Morgan, and Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair’s erstwhile rottweiler chief aide.
Prince William who has (had) a famously explosive temper has his Cancer Moon square Mars as well admittedly a short-tempered Mars Saturn conjunction. His needy mother used him as a prop when the Royal marriage was in trouble and no doubt expected him to be calm and caring rather than attend to his own needs and give full expression to what suited him.
The classic Aries Moon Mars, along with Russell Brand, is Angelina Jolie born the same day, complicated by having both their Moons also opposition Pluto – a volcanic, emotional shambles.
Lisa Minnelli, see Moon Saturn post below, also has a jumble of emotional turmoil from a Moon Saturn Mars conjunction. In some ways her chart is not dissimilar to Meghan Markle’s with MM’s Moon Saturn square Mars, softened a touch by Jupiter, as indeed is Lisa Minnelli’s. Clearly they had very different upbringing though in both cases it left its mark.
I have a relative who has Mars late degrees Cancer conjunct Jupiter square Moon in Libra, transiting Pluto is triggering the square, further complicated by his Pluto Uranus rising.
I confess I no longer know how to interact with him, I walk on eggshells around him, and the fact he is enormous in girth and height, just adds to his intimidating demeanour. And yes he drinks alot, as did his parents.
And yes his mother was very angry, mainly from the treatment of her husband, also very angry, yet she would not leave him, both having Venus conjuct Pluto in Cancer and Mars in Taurus.
I don’t think anger is something to be feared. It shows that you care. Society is hard on women’s anger. Big boys don’t cry and good girls don’t get angry. Nonsense of course, we have plenty of reasons to be angry.
There are 50 shades of anger ranging from righteous indignation to blind rage. Frustration is mostly what I feel. It’s what you do with it that counts.
My daughter used to accuse me of ‘anger issues’ so I visited a therapist who agreed that there reasons enough to be angry. What changed the dynamic with my daughter was after she talked to my brother, her uncle, who told her it was a long time before he realised that my anger was more directed towards myself than him or anyone else. Since then the relationship between us has changed for the better. I say, “at least you know I care, or would you rather I didn’t?”
My situation: Sun, mars conjunct and Pluto, Moon conjunct, all in Leo. My mother was undiagnosed bipolar who took her own life when I was 15 and my father, a highly respected GP, was a drug addict (like House, the TV character) and a philanderer who had affairs with vulnerable patients. Nowadays he would be struck off. We had a roof over our heads but my brothers and I largely raised ourselves. In my late 30s I joined a program which shone a light on all the inner darkness. Didn’t make it go away but helped me to understand myself (and others) better.
So today I am reading about the 2 young men who have murdered 10 people and injured at least 15 more… a brutal stabbing spree in Saskatchewan, Canada. This type of exploding rage has always been of interest to me…. because I lived with it inside of me as a child. It has been a focus in my life to face this, go through it, and come out the other side.
I have Moon conj Mars in Aries with the S. Node in the middle… opp Jupiter conj Neptune with the N. Node in the middle. Mars square my Sun. Parents Pluto directly conj my Sun. Pluto in the 8th… but thank goodness it is in a close trine to my Moon. I certainly think that has been a saving grace for sure.
It has felt like a “do or die” life for sure. Even as a child, I knew that I had. “Hitler” inside of me, but that I was also a good person. If I did.. then so did everyone else!…. so what do you do with THAT knowledge?
My salvation was discovering all the grimmest Grimm fairy tales. I obsessively consumed them… the more blood the better. They provided a kind of framework of Good vs. Evil … an attempt to understand it.
All this to say that Moon/Mars; Sun/Mars; Venus/Saturn…. Pluto!!… there IS a path through these difficult astrology line-ups. However… I am very, very aware that I could have become a different person… a rage filled, explosive person. I understand these 2 young men in Saskatchewan. And I am so very grateful that something inside of me… a small flame of integrity…. was able to hold on, was able to intuitively find my way to a healed place.
For sure, this astrology points to my family heritage and multigenerational sorrow. At the age of 13, I resolved to not have children… that “the buck stops here”… and that is what I have done. It takes a LOT of effort and I wish I knew how to pass this on to others in the same kind of pain. What is it that made me dive into the centre of this and others not?
ahh… the Mystery of Astrology.. and of Life, eh?
Marjorie… you are such a gift…… I even have tears in my eyes now!!!…. Thank you so much for your words, your humour… your Care and your Heart.
In the end?…. I have had to find my way to Love…. or just to a place of Space!!
You offer that!!
Marjorie would love your take on the Duchess of Cambridge with her Moon square Mars Saturn Pluto
Natal Moon Mars Conjunct in Capricorn (thankfully trine my Virgo sun, which barely tempers my temper). Mom was Aries Sun square Cancer Pluto; Gemini Mars square Pisces Moon. My mom competed with me for my dad’s affection. Everything was a competition. After 23 years of excessive “protection”, I ran away, 2,600 miles, from home. 25 years later I was home and her caretaker. And reconciled to our irritations.
She taught me that you can love someone very much. And not like them at all.
I have Moon Cancer opp Mars Capricorn. I cannot express anger. The rare time I do it scares me cos it is so explosive. I was brought up by a narcissistic mother who would now be diagnosed as having Borderline Personality disorder. She alienated everyone she came into contact with. I cut her out of my life eventually and had no contact the last 12 years of her life. She never loved me. I have a much closer relationship with my own daughter.
I empathize, I’ve worked hard on controlling my temper because it causes instant karma when I lose it. Either by experiencing the pain (and accompanying loss of trust) I caused someone else or actual physical pain when I strike out at inanimate objects which seem to always hit me back.
Very interesting Marjorie. Hope you can do an article on Moon Pluto as well.
I have Scorpio moon trine Mars in Cancer. Admittedly, I was a passive-aggressive kid. It wasn’t safe to be openly angry with my parents. On the plus side, though, are the houses: Mars in 2nd (money) to Moon in 6th (work). I’m a bit of a workaholic, but I made the connection early on that work+money=independence.
I should also mention my Venus is tightly conjunct my moon/Mars trine. Never fell in love with a coworker :-D, but I’ve mostly been lucky to find jobs where people were remarkably pleasant to one another.
Thank you for this fascinating insight, Marjorie. As mentioned yesterday, I have a relative who has her Moon Jupiter in Aries opposite Pluto and the best way I can describe her is combustible. Unsurprisingly, her mother was very narcissistic (Leo sun conjunct Pluto Mercury square Mars). Anyway, this same relative went on to have two daughters herself; one with an Aries moon in the 12th opposite her sun, and the other with a Capricorn moon square Saturn. Both have domineering personalities to put it mildly
I’ve often thought of family dysfunction as an avalanche; it grows with power and weight, taking down successive generations on it’s rush to rock-bottom