It’s Tuesday, so… let’s talk about Mars!
As you may know, our Tuesday is named for Tiwaz, a Germanic god of war — also known as Tiw, Tyr, or Tuisco, depending on which tribe you’re looking at (Norse, Anglo-Saxon, etc). Perhaps best known as the keeper of the great wolf Fenrir, Tiwaz’s straight-shooting courage eventually cost him a hand — pretty rough to give him Two-sday when he’s only got one!
Ahem… moving on, the pattern of associating days with deities of specific domains goes all the way back to ancient Babylon. Their corresponding god was Nergal — also known as Erra — god of death and plague and perhaps best known now as the consort of everyone’s favorite Babylonian underworld queen, Ereshkigal.
Eventually the Greeks followed suit, associating Ares with Tuesday. Ares was the god of war, violence, strife, and anger, and was perhaps the least-loved god of the Greeks. He’s depicted as an over-reacting coward in many of the myths, legends, and epics — in one story he’s trapped in a jar for 13 months during a battle with giants, and in the Iliad he’s wounded and whines so much that Zeus tells him off: “To me you are the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympus.” Rough, Dad.
You may know that the Roman Mars was equated with Ares; but Mars predates the association by quite a bit, and even after the two were syncretized, Mars represented a higher, more dignified manifestation. Whereas Ares is often depicted delighting in violence, Mars was the spirit of overcoming. Beating adversity of any kind, and through that growing stronger.
Mars was so beloved in Rome that he was worked into their creation myth; he gets a bad rep today, largely because of Ares, Nergal, and his astrological associations. In astrology, Mars is the “lesser malefic”, which basically means “not great, but not as bad as Saturn.” (As a fan of Saturn, I think this way of looking at things is limited, but that’s a story for another day).
While we’re on the topic of not-so-favorable associations, Mars was equated with the archangel Samael — who just might be The Devil. That’s a complicated story — explored at length in our forthcoming book, Bound By the Gods — but suffice it to say that being conflated with Samael didn’t do Mars any favors in the transition from antiquity.
Keeping an eye on the seven planetary gods is a great way to add a little myth and magic to your life. When Tuesday comes, I ask myself: what have I done to grow stronger today? Considering statements like “Growth happens through overcoming challenge.” “Making a choice means letting go of the paths you didn’t take.” “Taking the uncomfortable road today so your future self will thank you.” “Everything you want lies on the other side of discomfort,” that kind of crap—it sounds cliche, but that’s the perspective I try to take. I think Ares was damned because he was seen as the spirit of hurting others; Mars was raised because he was the spirit of overcoming the self.
Carl Jung made a point to say that the truly good man is the dangerous man who has control over himself, the man with the capacity to destroy, but who chooses to be good; I see this as a positive manifestation of the Mars principle. Some say that a better translation of the Biblical phrase “the meek shall inherit the earth” might be: “those with the power to keep their swords sheathed shall inherit the earth.”
So the French have Mardi, the Spanish have El Martes, and the Italians have Martedi — all in the name of Mars. But back to Tuesday: Tiwaz/Tyr might be seen as the bravest, most honorable of the Aesir, and an exemplary embodiment of the higher Mars energy. He kept his word to the monster Fenrir, knowing full well it would cost him his hand — and he paid that price willingly, so that Ragnarok might be avoided. Perhaps this is where the identification with Mars comes from: for the sake of a higher principle, he conquered himself.
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Mars is card number XII in our new deck, the PANOPTICON. When Mars comes up in readings, we try to look past literality and convention so that we can interpret this powerful symbol in a balanced way. Give it a try! https://standupforthegods.com
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Leave your favorite Mars, Ares, Tyr, Nergal, Samael stories here! Special shout out to the Egyptian Set, who has some overlap with Mars, but also has his own thing going — more on him soon!
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—John Selig writes about the intersection of myth, magic, and the occult—with an eye toward making life a little more rad for all of us. Follow his strange pursuits at @standupforthegods