When we spend years analysing astrological charts, we see repetition of patterns. One is the strength of the malefic Mars in high-performance athletes. It is worth remembering that Mars signified in antiquity physical force applied essentially to military combat. That martial force was channelled into what the planet signifies best, collision and the annihilation of the other through brute, sharp and sudden force. The same happens in martial arts (precisely derived from the name given to the god and the red planet in the polytheistic cult of Rome), which represent the sublimation of this sudden martial violence into physical practices on the tatami or in the ring.
Today, war is far less prominent. However much television and social media may want us to believe that we live in absolute chaos, on the verge of a Third World War, the world has globally been far more violent and marked by armed conflict than it is today, where a large part of the population lives in relative peace and security, without having to remain constantly vigilant in case they must run into a castle the moment enemy troops begin a siege and start destroying the walls. By the way, this is much behind the symbolism of the Tower in the Tarot, associated with losing that defensive wall, a scenario of terror and absolute vulnerability in the Middle Ages for a population about to be strangled by the enemy. It is also the reason why this card is, in many traditions, associated with Mars.
In our world, fortunately more peaceful and less given to open armed conflict, the forces of Mars do not disappear, but they simply find other conduits. Energy never dies. One of them is sport in its many forms. Not only the martial forms already mentioned above, such as today’s much-known MMA/UFC, but also collective sports and others. And, when we analyse the charts of famous athletes, it is recurrent to find a Mars that is strong, angular and preponderant in the constitution of the individual in question.
Let’s first consider two examples from the NBA. First, LeBron James. The moment we look at his chart we immediately see that Mars is the most preponderant planet. It is angular, in the second house of greatest power of manifestation, the 10th, on the MC and so decisive to destiny, telos, and career. It stands there at the top of the sky and visibility. Even though it has neither domicile nor exaltation in Pisces, it retains the triplicity of Water, so it is functional and capable of fighting precisely for the native’s career, granting him an enormous capacity for struggle and fight in that field.
It is worth remembering that a planet, regardless of whether its nature is benefic or malefic, strives to produce what the house promises. The 10th promises career, destiny, public praxis. This extremely active Mars is an asset for precisely that martial channelling which has given LeBron James an extraordinary and long-lasting career.
Now consider Shaquille O’Neal. Here we have a Mars that is also extremely strong. It is placed in the 1st house, the strongest of the entire zodiac. Its detriment in Taurus is softened by the presence of Venus in the same house in Aries, creating a Venus–Mars mutual reception in the 1st. And, again, by being in that 1st, Mars fights vigorously for vitality, for ingenium, for the constitution of the native. Since the 10th is Capricorn, Mars reinforces its importance because it is exalted in that sign, which establishes an important bridge between incarnation in the 1st and destiny in the 10th.
In OJ Simpson we have the same pattern. The only planet present in the 10th is Mars, once more. Even though peregrine in the sanguine and hermetic Gemini, it is angular and fighting for the athlete’s career, with a redoubled force due to its proximity to the expansive North Node. This also shows us something: regardless of whether it is in detriment, in fall or peregrine, Mars, when placed in a house that is beneficial for the native such as the 1st or the 10th, exercises a tremendous force in the native’s capacity to have an athletic career.
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