1. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to the Dense Physical Vehicle:
All things being equal (and, of course, depending upon other important indications) Mars in Capricorn will harden or toughen the dense physical form, strengthening its endurance and durability. One thinks of the rigors of mountain climbing, the physical strength needed to counteract gravity. This combination gives the capacity to strain upwards in the fulfillment of difficult physical tasks (and, naturally, there will be psychological correspondences). Mars, in a way, strengthens whatever it touches, but threatens, too. For instance, Mars/Saturn aspects can threaten bones (Saturn) with breaks (Mars), this may be said, too, of Mars in Saturn’s sign, Capricorn. In any case, Mars in Capricorn can be expected to add density to the already dense physical nature, helping it resist environmental impacts, and concentrating physical strength for the performance of difficult tasks.

2. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to the Etheric Vehicle:
This position can be expected to concentrate etheric flows in those areas of the etheric body where great effort must be expended. The etheric body is strengthened and its powers of sustainment increased. The etheric body operates generically under the seventh ray, and Capricorn is a major seventh ray conduit. We can expect concentrated, highly motivated, organized effort impulsed through the etheric body when this combination is focal in the chart of an individual.

3. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to the Astral Vehicle:
In the early days of evolution, Mars in Capricorn will harden desires, making them relentless, difficult to deter. For that matter, Mars in Capricorn may well contribute to the hardening of the entire astral body, rendering it determined but insensitive to the impact of its desires upon other persons, places or things. Thus arises cold-blooded desire. (Mars in the opposite sign , Cancer, because it activates the sensitive, feeling nature, is not so cold-blooded).

Mars is the planet of war and aggression, and unregenerate Capricorn produces people who are, in the words of the Tibetan (EA 169) “hard, materialistic, cruel, proud, selfishly ambitious and egoistic.” An aspect of will will enter the astral body, fortifying the strength that desire gives to intention. To one disciple with a first ray astral body, the Tibetan says the following:

From this citation, we see the power of will entering the astral body. Mars (co-ruler of the astral plane) with is very probable first ray component (cf. TCF 1179), and Capricorn with its definite first ray component, will add to some degree the presence of the will aspect in the astral nature, and may bring about emotional ‘forcing’ and imposition.

When desires are still low and materialistic, their degree of crystallization can present a difficult problem to the soul who seeks to break the crystallizations and redirect desire into aspiration. Later, at a higher point of evolution, Mars in Capricorn will strengthen and fortify the aspirational nature, still promoting an undeterred fixity of desire but, this time, oriented towards spiritual heights which the human soul in incarnation is determined to attain.

4. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to the Concrete Mind:
Capricorn is concrete and Mars definitely is a force contributing to the concrete aspects of the mind. This combination will give an executive practicality to the lower mind, helping it deal effectively with various challenges within the three worlds. The mind is rendered task and achievement oriented. There is a pronounced power to plan what must be done, and the mental strength to stay with mentally formulated intentions for the duration of their execution. The scientific capacities of the mind, depending upon clear and realistic observation of sensory reality, are also strengthened. Mars in Capricorn makes the mind the ally of the personality will and later of the spiritual will, as that will seeks to be practically effective in the three lower worlds.

5. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to the Personality as a Whole:
Mars rules the entire personality in terms of the direction it chooses, prompted by selfishness, for “Mars governs the selfish faculties” (EA 646) The personality is, by definition, ‘self-ish’, until the time of reorientation comes (through the reversal of the wheel). Capricorn, too, symbolizes the personality (as a definite egoistic structure).

During these pre-spiritual days upon the Mutable Cross, Mars in Capricorn drives the personality forward in the fulfillment of its ambitions which are largely materialistic ambitions, directed to satisfactions within the three lower worlds. The personality becomes strong, definite, and (upon the later Mutable Cross) strongly directed towards self-chosen goals. Mars in Capricorn is ever ready to “fight its way to the top”. But what is that “top”? For most of the human evolutionary period, the “top” simply represents a “peak of achievement” which is strictly personal. Later, Mars in Capricorn, helps the personality “fight its way to the top” of the Mountain of Initiation.

6. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to Glamor and Necessary Transmutations and Transformations:
Personality glamors (illusions and ‘mayas’) may well relate to materialism and the hardened pursuit of low desire. This combination can become so worldly, that “the World, the Flesh and the Devil” are every-day companions. In the early days, dense, unconscionable materiality conditions the consciousness, and higher values are thought to be unreal and unworthy of consideration.

Clearly, a ‘de-materialization’ (hence, spiritualization) of values is required. There are dense and set habit patterns (responsive to materialistic desire) which have to be broken or dissolved and then elevated, for Mars in Capricorn can be a coarsening influence. The density of early Capricorn pulls desire down; this weighted condition must be lightened. Something of the higher nature must “get through” to such a hardened person, breaking the desirous preoccupation with worldliness.

7. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to Sex:
For the advanced man, Mars in Capricorn can represent discipline. Mars represents (among other things) sexual energy, and Capricorn brings in the ‘cold’ of discipline and impersonality. But, for the normal person upon the Mutable Cross, it is not so, and Capricorn can strengthen the materialism of sexual desire, physicalizing it entirely. In the worst case, there will be satyriasis—the obsessive (heartless and evil) sexual behavior of the mythical satyr. Of course, such exaggerations are not the norm, but Mars in Capricorn is powerful, and always needs careful handling regardless of the area in which it focuses. No heart-line rays come through Capricorn (constellationally) and Mars is found upon the sixth ray (which is advised to “love more your fellowmen”). Will sex, cynically, be considered simply a material appetite, or will it be connected to the love energy? This is a question to be solved by those who possess this initially materialistic combination.

8. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to the Management and Expenditure of Energy:
Capricorn (like Cancer) is closely related to the Law of Economy (which expresses through the third and seventh rays). Capricorn inclines towards a hatred of waste and mismanagement. Energetic Mars, exalted in Capricorn, is purposefully directed in this sign—whether for good or ill. If there is waste of energy, it will not be unconscious, but in relation to the definitely conscious pursuit of those objectives which have no lasting value. As evolution proceeds, desires are redirected, and there develops a tremendously economical use of energies and forces for the sake of the realization of soul objectives within the personality.

9. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to Courage:
Indeed, there is courage, but it will not be foolhardy—as one might expect with Mars in Aries or Sagittarius. Capricorn adds calculation to the Martian tendency to confront; such an individual, therefore, will take calculated risks. Mars in Capricorn is determined to win, and will do whatever is necessary to ensure victory. When the enemy is truly dangerous, exalted Mars in Capricorn can face that enemy more effectively than Mars in any other sign. This is also true when that enemy is the entire “Dweller on the Threshold” who blocks the “portal of initiation” and must be challenged.

10. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to Aspiration:
At first there may be no aspiration at all—at least not for higher things, because of the dense materialism of Mars in Capricorn. But Capricorn also rules the overcoming of materialism, and this requires a powerful aspiration, for aspiration elevates the entire system, and there is no sign more elevating than Capricorn.

11. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to Idealism:
From the perspective of the personality, what could be a more ideal state than the “light supernal” towards which Capricorn ever strives and which it is destined to achieve. The goal is the highest possible, but the means to achieve it are ever practical and mindful of the material world. Mars in Capricorn contributes towards the appearance of the practical idealist (or practical mystic), and is not interested in lofty but unachievable possibilities. This realistic idealism is far more than a dream, and leads to sound results.

12. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation Life’s Battlefield and to the Readiness and Willingness to Fight:
Capricorn leads the fight “with the forces native to the underworld” (EA 159), and Mars is the planet of the warrior. In early days, Mars in Capricorn is the aggressive fight to fulfill personal desire (most often, materialistic desire). Hardened and determined, it fights for the “things of this world”. Upon the Fixed Cross, Mars in Capricorn fights not because it wants to fight, but because it is necessary to fight if purpose is to be fulfilled. Will takes the place of desire. The Tibetan told His disciples, “see that you battle” (DINA I 101); there is no way to be the “triumphant disciple” and , later, the initiate, without “fighting the good fight”. Under Mars in Capricorn this fight will inevitably be fought—skillfully fought with focussed will and endurance.

In Scorpio, the battle was with the individual heads of the Hydra and, to a degree, with the Hydra as a whole. But the battle does not end in Scorpio, for in Capricorn the entire personality (in its guise of “Dweller on the Threshold”—of initiation) must be faced and conquered. Mars in Scorpio is powerful and ‘lethal for the right’; Mars in Capricorn is masterful. The energetic forces, which triumph in Scorpio freed from vitiating vice, must be utilized to create powerful virtues in service to the soul. Can the energy liberated in Scorpio be used with great skill and power—masterfully? This is the challenge of Mars in Capricorn—to do the good as well as it can be done. The battlefield concerns the mastery of liberated forces for the sake of the good.

13. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to the Nature of Personality Rebellion against the Soul:
The ancient power structure (long entrenched) and representing the power of the third aspect of divinity, stands opposed to the love which seeks to penetrate from soul realms. Mars in Capricorn can contribute to the willful refusal to recognize or follow those higher influences. The man wants what “the World, the Flesh and the Devil” can offer, and does not value the “treasures in Heaven” offered by the soul. We have learned that the personality elemental drives energy into the lower centers, feeding them, strengthening them, and thus, strengthening the lower human energy system in its resistance to soul impression (cf. R&I 100-101). In many ways, Mars is that elemental life or, at least, its forcing nature. With Mars in Capricorn, the power of the dominant lunar elemental to keep the energies down is greatly strengthened. The soul has a hardened opponent.

There can also be difficulties with this position after the reversal of the wheel, for in the interim period before real spiritual achievement, there may be a powerful spiritual ambition. The goal is in sight, but the personality is not transmuted and transformed, and appropriates to itself the prerogatives of the soul. Pride enters in, and an unwillingness to see true status, what has yet to be achieved within the personality before it is ready to enter the fifth kingdom. In the stage of spiritual ambition, identification is still as a personality, and the achievement sought is still personality achievement (however well disguised as soul achievement).

14. Mars (in Capricorn) in Relation to Personality Cooperation with the Soul:
Energy used for evil can be used for good. The reversal of the wheel means the reversal of the Martian forces of desire, transforming desire into aspiration. The Solar Angels are ruled by Capricorn. They are, literally, the triumphant “Sun-gods”, “returning nirvanis” (EP II 92) determined to master the personality which they project in their efforts to assist the human Monads. They utilize the Capricorn force to initiate the human unit under their supervision. When that human unit can also utilize the Capricorn force—purified and reoriented—then a powerful team is created, and the will of the Solar Angel can be powerfully brought into manifestation. When Mars in Capricorn helps the personality to know what its Angel seeks to accomplish, true and lasting spiritual achievement is at hand.

15. Upwardly mobile.

16. Egoistic desire.

A Few Miscellaneous Meanings of Mars in Capricorn