Mars in the 12th house: You Will Call It Fate
(Beware: tough love ahead)
Mars in the 12th house people are learning how to make the unconscious conscious and tap back into their own agency and will. They may repress or misdirect anger, display great strength in dark times and can help lead others through the darkness They are protective of the sacred, the oppressed, and their own privacy and they often feel disempowered, like their life is not theirs to run, and are intimately aware of the reality that we can’t be entirely in control of our lives. They can be very defensive and have many unconscious motivations, and must learn to open up to others without defense in order to gain important insight into themselves.
Mars in the 12th house
Mars in the 12th house is the ultimate representation of the idea that “until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” (This quote is commonly attributed to Carl Jung, but its source has been contested.)
Mars in the 12th house is usually a tough placement; that must be said. And it’s hard to talk about this placement and its difficulties because unless there are contradicting factors in the chart, this is a placement that does not take criticism well. In particular, y’all tend to be very defensive of the belief that you are destined to be the bastard child of the universe. And you may have been mistreated, misunderstood, manipulated, or deeply hurt by other people and by life itself. I would never deny that. These struggles are real.
12th house Mars people are very intimately aware of the factual reality that none of us is entirely in control of the world around us or what happens to us. This is an undeniable fact that many people do not see from within the confines of the individualistic Western world, but 12th house Mars generally does see this. In many ways, all living beings are always at the mercy of the universe and other people to some extent (and this is of course even more so the case with people who are part of any marginalized group), and compromise is an important part of life too. Mental health can also be a notable challenge for some people with this placement, and that is another thing that we only have so much control over.
But this doesn’t mean that we don’t have any control. One of the biggest struggles of Mars in the 12th lies in how difficult it can be to take control of and responsibility for your own fate, and to use your will effectively. Instead of feeling solidly in control of your life, many 12th house Mars people tend to feel like you are at the mercy of others or the universe at large. You may feel disconnected from your own power, autonomy, and agency, as if these things come from someplace else or like someone else has taken it from you, when it’s actually inside of you.
Mars in the 12th house people need to understand that they are in control of their own life. You have control. You steer the ship. You can steer it out into the wide open sea, you can stay in the harbor, or you can run it right into the ground. But either way, for the most part you are steering the ship. You gotta refine your ability to distinguish between what you are and are not in control of. Once you actually know where your agency ends and where “fate” (AKA the will of others and of nature itself) begins, you can begin to feel your power and agency and stop trying to control things that are not yours to control, and you can begin to feel like your will matters and you are not at the mercy of fate, the universe, god, whatever.
With Mars in the 12th, it can be very hard to take control of your life and to own your mistakes or even your inner “bad guy;” denial is a major defense mechanism, and when that one breaks down, many people with this placement resort to other ways of shutting down the idea that they are in some way bad or wrong. It feels like your inner “bad guy” simply cannot exist so it must be hidden at best and completely cut off and repressed at worst. On a subconscious level (and the 12th house is very subconscious), 12th house Mars people sometimes have a difficult time recognizing that just because they (or someone else) did something wrong doesn’t mean that they themselves are Wrong. It can be very healing and powerful for 12th house Mars people to work with their inner “bad guy” rather than shaming them into hiding. You’re allowed to be human!
12th house Mars often correlates with the sense that it’s not ok to be angry, assert yourself, use your will, lead, or take charge. Perhaps you grew up with people who represented the dangers of Mars in some way (violent, aggressive, dangerous, reckless, etc.) and they scared you out of being connected to that energy. Maybe you have been mistreated, abused, bullied, or shamed for showing anger, passion, enthusiasm or drive, or for your sexuality. One way or another, 12th house Mars people often learn early on that their Martial energy is unwanted and/or bad. It isn’t actually bad, and it’s very important to retrieve these fragmented Martial parts of yourself and bring them back to your conscious mind. Otherwise, Mars in the 12th can show up as some pretty potent self-sabotage, misdirected action or anger, taking your anger out on yourself, not following through, depression, fear, not taking positive action, or not taking charge of your own life.
People with malefics like Mars in the 12th in general also tend to be very protective of the sacred and of those in need. “The sacred” may mean different things to different people. For some, 12th house Mars means a deep, unshakable connection to their spirituality or to the divine. Others are very protective of people who are cast out or somehow exiled from society. Others are deeply protective of their privacy and private inner world, treating these things as sacred. Others still are very concerned with environmental issues, animal rights, children’s rights, and rights of the elderly and disabled people. Generally speaking, 12th house Mars people fight for the underdog and defend the people in need. They make great doctors, activists, lawyers, and mental health professionals.
Mars in the 12th is also very strong in difficult times and can survive an awful lot. You can not only survive the darkness, but you can help lead others through dark and difficult times too. This is a special skill that you can offer to individuals in your life as well as to the collective at large. You of all people have the bravery it takes to go into uncomfortable places or states of being and lead the way into something much better.
The final struggle with Mars in the 12th house is a sense of alienation. It may feel like you are frequently cast out, unwanted, or “meant to” be alone. This is not actually true, and in fact, it’s super important to NOT isolate yourself and instead make a point of seeing yourself in others, seeing yourself through others’ eyes, and allowing others into the private garden of your mind. Y’all are very capable of piercing the veil that lies over others’ unconscious minds and it’s wise to learn how to allow other people into your mind as well. Let others in, soften your defenses with people who love you, and try to trust that when they approach you to talk about issues they’re probably not attacking you (despite how it may feel!) but trying to help you see parts of yourself that may be outside of your field of vision in order to strengthen the relationship between you.
Strengthening & fueling Mars in the 12th house
In addition to all of the above, Mars is also what fuels you, motivates you, and makes you feel alive. It’s important to know what fuels your Mars.
Mars in the 12th house needs to get out of the mundane frequently in order to feel truly alive, to want to live life to the fullest, to bite life on the neck and suck down its nectar. 12th house Mars people don’t feel good when life is nothing but a grind (essentially when they are spending too much time in the opposing house, the 6th house). Your light dims, your inspiration withers, and you forget what all that work is for.
The 12th house is a very liminal place, perhaps the most liminal of the 12 houses. It’s a house of healing but not yet being well; journeying but not quite arriving; resting but not being fully rested yet; the times when we’re not quite awake but not quite asleep either. It’s a weird place, and 12th house Mars people need a good dose of weirdness in their lives. Doing things that are out of the ordinary, embracing in-between states, etc. are important for Mars in the 12th house. People with Mars in the 12th need to get free from the hamster wheel of life. You are fueled in part by getting outside of the mundane.
Many 12th house Mars people often feel like they are in transition, always in-between and never quite arriving at the destination. If this is you, you probably need to truly acknowledge that you do have choice and autonomy, even when you feel like you don’t. You are not stuck in transition. You are, in some ways, standing in your own way or choosing not to move forward. There may be things you need to let go of in order to progress in the ways you want to and that isn’t always fun, but you do have control.
Working with people who are in some way healing or “in transition” in life is a fantastic way to keep your 12th house Mars charged too. Other helpful “recharging ports” for people with Mars in the 12th house may include: traveling, lucid dreaming, occasional intoxication (essentially getting out of your conscious mind for finite lengths of time, so that you can keep yourself running, but absolutely avoid this entirely if you tend toward addictive or escapist behavior), creativity or sports or anything else that puts you in a flow state, meditation, visualization, sex, spiritual retreats, swimming, channeling, silent retreats, silence in general, sitting in darkness, saunas and steam rooms, time spent alone, cold plunges, walking or driving without a destination in mind. I could go on.
Mars in the 12th house people have a lot going on in their unconscious mind. You may believe, for example, that you are not an aggressive person or that you hate conflict and never start conflict… but you do start conflict. Everyone does. There is no way for anyone to actually avoid conflict anyway — you either have the conflict out in the world with the people with whom you have the issue, or you bring the conflict internally and have it with yourself for all of eternity, shoving it down deeper and deeper until eventually it becomes a volcano that leaks out all of the time until it eventually erupts. You may not even realize that your Martial energy (like your anger, in this example) exists, never mind is leaking out, until someone else points it out to you. For this reason, it’s very important that you allow the people who love you to get into the fortress you keep around your mind and let them offer insight into your unconscious behavior – there are probably many things you’re doing that you don’t quite realize you‘re doing. Y’all can be very defensive both in conflict and by simply keeping a fortress around your private mind, and you need to have healthy, trusting relationships in which you can let down your guard and trust that you are not being attacked but simply receiving valuable insight from people who love you.
All in all, 12th house Mars is about getting free from imprisonment, learning about the unconscious mind, and healing yourself and perhaps even others. It’s so important to let down your defenses and allow others to be honest with you, to help you see into your unconscious patterns and behaviors. Unless you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. The path to agency and freedom, for you, is through the unconscious mind, and tapping into your Mars.