Welcome back to *Wreaking More Joy*.

In the last episode, we spent time with Venus and her unique capacity for unapologetic desire. We talked about naming desire without shame, without urgency, without needing to justify ourselves.

Today, we meet her lover, Mars, another planetary ally with a twisted reputation.

To the ancients, Mars was the representation of brutal imperialism, patriarchy, and extraction culture.

The Greeks saw him (in his earlier form, Ares) as a necessary evil. If you’re going to be a colonising power in the Mediterranean, you’re going to have to get a bit nasty, ooops sorry folks.

The Romans took it further and elevated him to senior status deity, because for them military conquest was a pure virtue.

Not one part of that feels remotely comfortable to a modern woman, and many of us have struggled with this planetary ally - and with the part of our psyche that he represents.

But when you strip out all that toxic patriarchy stuff, Mars is revealed as a noble warrior spirit, one who can defend the vulnerable and help us stand our ground.

It’s less Genghis Khan, more Harriet Tubman.

And in the journey of life, which Jung described as ‘the journey back towards the Self’, where we continually yearn to individuate, to free ourselves from unconscious conditioning, Mars is our own internal noble warrior spirit.

He is the part of us which stands its ground and says:

* I will stand up for myself and my journey of life

* I will take a step along this unknown path

* I will move from over here to over there

Mars is not about grinding.

He is not about proving.

He is not about burning yourself out in the name of productivity.

His job is not conquest.

His job is protection of your time, your energy, your values, your creative life.

And his style is all about movement and action.

Venus helps us know what we want and her style is to stay put and allow good things to be delivered to her.

Mars follows that guidance and his style is movement and action, going out into the world to get those things that Venus helped us identify as desires.

And consent matters big time.

Many women’s nervous systems associate action with pressure and urgency.

We were taught that action must hurt to count.

‘Anything worth doing is worth doing well’ can so easily be twisted into ‘everything must be done at 120 percent or you’re not doing it well enough’.

We were taught that if action feels clean or joyful, we must not be working hard enough.

Mars says otherwise.

Clean Mars energy feels:

* clear

* focused

* embodied

* self-trusting

* oddly relieving

It’s the difference between “I should do this” and “This is mine to do.”

All of this matters so much, when the brain weasels start their relentless commentary of who do you think you are, what if you get it wrong, what if this proves you’re not good enough, what if you regret this?

Mars doesn’t debate those voices.

He simply picks up his sword of truth and his shield of justice, and asks ‘What is the next true step?’

Not the whole plan, not the perfect strategy, just the next honest movement in the direction of what matters.

And here’s something crucial. Just like Saturn and Jupiter, the order of planetary allies matters.

If Venus hasn’t named the desire, Mars becomes hustle and busywork.

When Venus has spoken, Mars becomes devotion.

Action without desire is coercion.

Action aligned with desire is liberation.

This is why Mars work can feel so empowering when done well.

You’re no longer forcing yourself forward.

You’re backing yourself.

Mars energy is what allows us to:

* say no without explanation

* stop negotiating with internalised doubt

* protect our creative bandwidth

* take courageous action without self-violence

Mars is also a powerful ally when it comes to our boundaries, though we’re not going down that rabbit hole today. It’s a whole ‘nother conversation (and also, if you want that deep dive, scroll to the end for the PS).

And when Mars is healthy, action doesn’t drain us; it actually stabilises us, because uncertainty is exhausting.

Second-guessing is exhausting. Endless rumination is exhausting.

Sometimes the most compassionate thing you can do is move, which we know from the brain science research.

One of the factors that can make us feel anxious, stuck, burned out or overwhelmed is the very real onslaught of information which tells us that we live in a completely out of control world.

The truth is, we always live in a world we cannot control and we always have.

BUT our brains need to feel some sense of control in order to gain some semblance of feeling safe.

We can use mindfulness techniques to work directly with our brain to put our focus on things we can control, like our breathing.

And we can use Mars-style movement and action to regain a sense of control in a somatic, embodied way. Next time you’re feeling that unsettled stuff, try one of these (or make up your own):

* clean one small section of a kitchen counter or one drawer in your closet

* slowly climb stairs or do squats and feel the huge, powerful muscles in your thighs

* devote a chunk of time to deleting the 257 emails from just one online store (yes, I literally did this just yesterday, and it felt sooooo good)

So here’s a Mars reflection for you.

Think of one thing you want, something Venus has already named.

Now ask ‘What is the very first step I could take, from where I am, with what I have right now?’

No drama, no punishment, no 25-point plan, no big deal - just one clean action step. Maybe it’ is:

* sending an email

* cancelling something

* starting something

* ending something

* announcing something

Mars does not require heroics, even though he is very capable of them. He just requires your willingness to experience action without punishment or pressure, one step at a time.

And when you let action arise from self-trust rather than fear, something extraordinary happens. You feel more free after you move than you did before.

That’s how you know Mars is working for you, helping with the heavy lifting.

Thank you for spending time with me today. I would love to hear about your experiences with your Mars!

PS if you’d like to get Mars on board to help with your boundaries - an essential part of our joy - please check out my standalone course, Boundaries with Love. You’ll meet Mars and Mercury, the two planetary allies who can help most with the heavy lifting here; and your own unique internal ally, one you may not yet have met fully. You can find all the details by clicking here.

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