Mars indicates an area of life that is vitally important to your spiritual growth. Whatever path you choose, this factor will come up again and again, modifying your direction or suggesting a specific focus for your studies. This source of energy and spiritual guidance is a deeply personal and private part of your life. Others will see how it affects you, but they are unlikely to understand the depth of its significance. You yourself may not understand the power of this influence on your life, yet you experience its influence strongly when Mars is inspected by direction or transit.

Mars in the Houses

• Mars in the First House
  Ideally you want to use your energy to move yourself along the spiritual path. Your own evolution is plenty for you to manage, so to some extent you may disregard the needs of others in your haste to progress. At some point you begin to shift your personal desires toward more spiritual aspirations. When this happens you find that movement is faster, detours are fewer, and you generally fell that your spiritual life is more closely aligned with your physical activities.
  
  
• Mars in the Second House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues of giving and receiving. You work hard to learn how to accept gifts from others, and you work even harder to learn how to give the most appropriate gifts to others. The spiritual work here is extremely powerful. You learn that you are giving of the Universe and of yourself, freely and joyously. There is a strong moral sense to your life. You practice your principles each day.
  
  
• Mars in the Third House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues of mind. Your educational zeal provides you with the staying power to delve deeply into subjects that interest you. You may become a writer or teacher because you feel strongly about your interest and want to communicate them effectively. You also are careful in the use of words, as you understand how deeply they affect others. If you can harness your own emotions, you can become an effective negotiator or mediator.
  
  
• Mars in the Fourth House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues of family tradition. You may spend a lot of time sorting out the family beliefs that ring true for you from those that do not. You tend to develop a home environment that is conducive to your spiritual path. Your energy can become scattered when you don’t have a safe harbor in which to develop your spiritual focus. People show you the significance of your values on an energetic level. This could include angry disagreements, body language, or fluctuations on the subtler level of the aura. Their heat can act as a metaphorical barometer of your own intensity.
  
  
• Mars in the Fifth House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues of creativity. Creativity has three parts: creation, recreation, and procreation. Your spiritual path is uniquely tied to these three expressions of your being. Therefore it is important for you to at least consider all three. You may not choose to have children of your own, but you are drawn to activities with young people. You probably will find that all your activities have a creative angle.
  
  
• Mars in the Sixth House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues in the work environment. Wherever you find yourself, you seek the opportunity to provide spiritual sustenance for others, and to work out your own spiritual issues. You take a holistic view of your spirituality. No part of your life is separate from it (this is true for everyone). For you, however, the focus is on making your whole life into a consistent spiritual package. You then seek to help others achieve the same consistency.
  
  
• Mars in the Seventh House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on partnership. From childhood you have placed high value on close relationships. You demand a lot from an intimate partner, and you throw your energy into returning the favor. The partner is a mirror for your spiritual values, your feelings, and your expression. Your devotion to one special partner provides a path to service. Any contact with the general public is seen as a spiritual opportunity.
  
  
• Mars in the Eighth House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues of death and transformation. You seek experiences that help you understand your own life and death cycle, with a desire to help others understand their own. A second issue that affects your path is your own sexuality. Physical desires can be very strong, and you need to develop judgment in this area of your life. Long-term relationships transmute physical sexual drives into spiritually ecstatic experiences that lift you to peak moments of understanding.
  
  
• Mars in the Ninth House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues of education. You may seek to travel and experience the world, or you may pursue other educational objectives. You may eventually become a spiritual teacher. A second very powerful spiritual theme is your devotional path, which may include formal religion, a return to far older traditions, or an eclectic gathering of spiritual experiences that contribute to your expanding consciousness.
  
  Events that point to your transcendent values tend to have a combative component. There is energy to spare and you travel the world to find ways to use it. Desire is what drives you in your search for your unique set of values. You know you are unique, and you want to express that individuality on the spiritual level. The inner struggle is for self-mastery. You seek, beyond all else, to harness your energy for effective action. As you progress through life you find that less constructive traits, such as defiance, combative behavior, and egotism are transmuted into more refined expression of your devotion to your spiritual path, generosity toward others, and determination to make a positive impact in this lifetime.
  
  
• Mars in the Tenth House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues of right livelihood. You will not be satisfied with any career that leads you away from the spiritual path. At the same time you devote your energy and time to becoming successful in your career. In the long run you seek to convert pride in your accomplishments into the achievement of spiritual goals for their own sake. You can become an exemplar of all that is best in your chosen career field.
  
  
• Mars in the Eleventh House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues concerning the group process. You understand the ritual content of human interactions, and you can facilitate meetings by injecting the missing ritual pieces into any situation. You train your enthusiasm to always include tactfulness and kindness. You focus on the power of hope within yourself, and you can engender this emotion in others.
  
  
• Mars in the Twelfth House
  The focus of your spiritual persona is on issues hidden deep in the Collective Unconscious. You experience the upwelling of images that have affected people throughout history, and you seek to fit them into your spiritual perspective. Deeply introspective, you are able to listen to your inner voice and follow its urging. To the extent that you cultivate self-examination, you come to see the world as a container for your life, and not as an enemy to be fought against.

Excerpted from Charting Your Spiritual Path with Astrology by Stephanie Clement