A friend of mine has a Mars/Neptune conjunction in a wide square aspect to his Sun.

Most of the time, we get on very well and after many years, I can honestly say that he is a good man.

However, in our more difficult moments, I’ve rightfully called him a bully – one who knows just when I’m feeling down or ill enough for him to get under my skin and take advantage of my (temporary) weakness. Not only is this very hurtful but it’s also very scary. I’ve always thought this poor behaviour had something to do with his Mars/Neptune and after rereading Liz Greene on Neptune, I now know why.

Mars needs to fight. But with Neptune, Mars needs to fight for something more than his personal ego concerns.

Mars/Neptune connects with the collective dream making this the perfect aspect for performers and politicians.  Mars/Neptune works the group energy – hypnotically and rhythmically – folks are mesmerised. But when Mars/Neptune channels his mesmerising energy down darker paths, disaster results. Witness, Charles Manson.

Mars/Neptune are natural enemies. This is because Mars is selfish and Neptune is selfless – clash – conflicting interests!! So when Neptune gets the upper hand (which is inevitable), we can expect feelings of impotence that breeds rage. An impotent Mars behaves ‘badly’ – beating up on Neptunian ‘victims’ – so frightened is he of Neptune’s power. This is the essence of religious fanaticism – unreflective spiritual yearnings get caught up in a good fight. My friend rants and raves about this all the time. He hates anything ‘religious’ with a passion – especially the passionate fervour it can stir up.

It only makes sense that what he finds most disturbing is something already in his psyche. If he didn’t ‘relate’ to whatever it is that he find so disturbing in some meaningful way, he would take little or no notice of it. If I try to explain this to my friend, however, I doubt that I’ll get very far. With Sun in Aquarius, he absolutely refuses to be ‘told’ anything.

Liz suggests that both Saturn and the Sun are the ‘antidotes’ to a poorly behaved Mars/Neptune. Saturn brings much-needed discipline. Because my friend’s Mars is in Scorpio (water), the discipline he needs will be both intellectual and creative. The Sun brings morality and ethics to the table. Archetypal Mars is the ‘henchman’ to the Sun and is hence meant to serve solar values/purposes. Mars without a strong Sun to boss him around runs amok – Mars may be a knight in shining armour but he definitely requires direction.

Certainly, my friend has both intellectual and ethical capacity. After all, this is what Sun in Aquarius is all about. It’s hard to conceive of an amoral Aquarian – even if you don’t agree with his morals. Luckily, my friend’s Aquarius Sun is tied in (by square) to his Mars. This makes him idealistically motivated – good – if not easily frustrated and ‘temperamental’. But his Saturn is in Aries where it is ‘in fall’. This suggests that self- discipline will never come easily. The good news is that he still can learn self-discipline – albeit the ‘hard way’.

Bottom line is that my friend has the capacity to restrain his wayward Mars. His first step is to find a ’cause’ which he can champion – the more Aquarian (forward-thinking and egalitarian) his cause, the better. If he did this, his self-worth would rise immensely in his own eyes. His Sun would amass enough strength to direct his ability to mesmerise for positive change rather taking out his angry impotence on me.

Quite how I can encourage this in someone so ‘willful’, however, I remain at a loss.

Any suggestions and/or ideas?