There is many a gifted child out there who is outperformed by a kid with less talent who tries hard. Effort trumps aptitude.
All skills degrade if you don’t use them. If you’re a weightlifter and you quit lifting weights for a year, those weights are going to be very heavy when you try to pick them back up. I read charts every day, seven days a week. I am on top this stuff.
I associate training with Mars. People train to be the best. They train to be effective. You can use your Mars energy to get what you want in any area of life but you’ll most definitely see it play in the house where it’s placed, and in tandem (for good or ill) with the planets it aspects.
For example I have Mars conjunct Mercury in the 9th house. I train my mind. I constantly challenge my intellect and yours. I am driven to to learn and push beyond limits to see what is over the horizon.
I also train myself in relationship in that I try to manage my impulsive (Mars) reactions to others (Libra).
As another example, someone with Neptune in aspect to Mars may intend to train but never quite manage. The same Mars Neptune could express in any number of ways. For example my husband told me of a priest he knew who was a boxer. He may have had Mars Neptune or Mars Jupiter, see? Or Mars, Jupiter, Neptune for that matter.
While “training” might come easier or be more palatable to some of us, if you are not training anything, you’re probably divorced from your Mars which is never, ever good.
What are you training for and where is your Mars?
I guess I am training my emotions!
Seriously,what can I do with a heavily afflicted Mars in H/12.Other than what I’ve always done.I’m not asking for advice.Just talking out loud(during a Moon void-of-course no less)!
Wish I could train my social skills!! My mars is in taurus 11th house. It’s not working!!!!
But I remember in the last year of secondary school, half my A’s where for effort not talent. It makes a difference sometimes… At work however it’s counterproductive …do more ,get more work and drown;-P
Mars in cancer in my 1st house conjunct mercury.
I’m always learning(mercury) new ways to nurture (cancer) new beginnings(1st house).
I could figure out how to put that as a “train” statement, but it still sounds ok to me :o)
Angie
my mars in cap is starting to kick me to be a good business woman. right now i’m taking notes on all the ones i admire!
Caroline.. I have a 12th House Mars as well, in Taurus.. meh. I’m just at a loss about it still.
training for a sense of security that is generated from within. mars in 4th square moon.
I am in training with words. Studying what certain words really mean. It all Gemini. The Moon and Mars.
I’m training for life. Mars conj. Sun.
I’m in training for anarchy at it’s finest.Mercury opposite Mars,Aries/Libra.”First know thyself”.
This is a great post, Elsa.
I’m training for world domination. My Mars is in Sagittarius.
😉
yep training for life and it’s hard work!
forgot to say: skills degrade w/o a challenge, when things get too easy. Training has to involve increasing difficulty to keep its edge. mars/saturn 😉
Mars in an almost exact conjunction with Saturn in the 6th….. I live it every day….. don’t know what else there is to do with that pucky. Just gotta love, embrace all of ourselves…..
My Mars in Scorpio is in the 10th house and I am on route to becoming a surgeon if God be willing. Of course I have to be accepted into medical school then a residency of training for surgery. So its not an easy route. But other than the obvious, my Mars is also conjunct Saturn, makes me prudent in attaining this career. And having Mars conjunct Saturn would also make a good surgeon to be careful during surgery. It shows because whenever I had a chance to dissect I was also careful with my specimen 🙂 Unlike the other rascal students who cut it all apart just because it was dead!
mars in scorpio in the 11th: I’m training for psychological insight on humanity. what makes us tick as a society. why we do what we do and say what we say.
Good Luck Victoria!
Mars in Cancer in 9th. Training my Mercury in Aries in 6th to shut up and be patient.
In terms of training to win–repeat repeat repeat.
Talent is great but effort still rules.
Like the client you mentioned Elsa, I’ve been using my Mars to train my psychic ability! My Mars is conjunct Mercury in Pisces trining my Neptune/Moon conjunction. I’m training my ‘mind’ to read and interpret my ‘intuition/feelings’.
Mars in Libra in the 8th house and apparently its playing with everyone else..square Jupiter, trine Saturn and in conjunction with Uranus and Pluto natally. As a matter of fact, my 8th is a pretty busy little sector containing 2 planets (Mars/Uranus) and my sun.
I chose this thread as my lesson for the day and have found various interpretations of what it may or may not mean. My take is two-fold, I’m studying death and resurrection (any coincidence I have a tattoo of a phoenix?? and never really knew why I chose it??) Of course my take on death/resurrection reminds me much of metamorphisis..which isn’t just for butterflies anymore. I kill myself off and force myself back through that portal of re-birth all the time and am continually searching for the next best way to do it.
Another interesting fact that I correlated to this aspect, for 14 years I spent my life helping people deal with death/dying of loved ones and dealing directly with individuals who were actively dying. I was their caretaker physically and many times the only companion they had while they passed over (boy, do I have a plethora of stories from that time period..I would love to go back). Now, I’m a community member and fundraiser for Hospice. Go figure..
Thanks for the topic Elsa
i have to create a sense of responsibility or obligation in order to keep it up. and periodically i need downtime to crash and burn or my whole self rebels against it. generally by getting sick.
i need to build better routines. build the down time into the day to day so i’m never teetering on the edge of implosion the way i have, sometimes.
i also tend to expect to go into a fog during merc Rx. it being my ruling planet, it’s pretty predictable that way. one way or another it ends up happening. usually in some unexpected fashion.
sometimes the fog is very pretty.
the only aspect to my mars is neptune, btw.
i am training for mars in the seventh. in pisces. it’s starting to make sense now. i have had such a hard time putting my finger on the meaning of that placement over the years.
Mars in Pisces square my Moon/Venus Nodes and trine my Uranus/ascendant. I was better off when I was painting, and/or learning something. Also, doing the dishes tends to bring me more answers, and clears my mind, than sitting still and waiting for an answer via meditation.
Mars in the 10th. I’m training to be a grown up.
Mars conjunct Moon in the 3rd in Scorpio. I am training my intuition and insight to be able to communicate it clearly to others – trine to Venus in the 7th. I have also spent many years now training / containing my wayward emotional-victim moon and to harness her abilities into a positive light. And then, of course, I have had to train my mother into having some respect for me and my life by instilling boundaries which she does not really accept, but at least she now knows when she is out of line.
Mars in 7th. I see “Others” training. Me? Dunno. Mm, training to not project that Mars onto others. I ought to start a board thread “owning personal planets in the 7th house”.
8H Mars (Taurus) trine Neptune/Saturn (Cap) both sextile Moon (Pisces).
I am that talented kid that came out on top too easily too many times, taking my talents for granted. I won awards and a year scholarship at an art school. I thought it would be easy, I was arrogant and flat out failed. I didn’t know how to deal with failure, I hadn’t experienced it. I dropped out after the second year and got lost in a fog of what-am-i-going-to-do-now for the next 7 years, trying my hand at many different things that I was good at, but hated. I had turned myself into a jack of all trades, master of none.
A year ago, I was keenly aware that my Saturn return was fast approaching and I didn’t want to fail it. I had seen a lecture by Jordan Peterson on the importance of responsibility and cleaning your room and it resonated. I decided I had to build a routine and sort myself out.
I started drawing again, once a week at first because I was so discouraged by how rusty my skills were from years of disuse, I wanted to quit but instead made a pact with myself that I would show up instead and try, for an hour every day, even if all I managed to get on the page was a single line or a scribble. I did and after a couple of months I saw improvement which invigorated me. I picked up painting as well, which turned out to be an entirely different animal for me and loved it. I learned how to shut the inner critic up, have fun and make a mess. I’m currently working on a portrait book – 30 4×4 portraits painted in 30 days. It’s day 9 and I’m proud of myself for showing up and sticking to it, even if I’d rather be doing something else.
I see and appreciate the value of putting effort into my skills now.
Yes, I wrote this in 2010 but it came up again because a friend of mine told me she was having some difficulty.
I explained that she had just retired (from a very demanding career – forty years). “You no longer converse, I said…”
Point is, this is a lifelong challenge. If you don’t use it, you will lose it. There is no ifs of ands or buts, you will absolutely lose your skills if you don’t maintain them.
And forget about potential! Fulfilling that is an even harder bar to reach.
Mars in Aries 4th house trine Jupiter. My home and family are very important to me I also feel abit like “wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home” as well. I am a doer and I am easily motivated, but then I get lost in my 3rd house Pisces stellium and my 9th house is also busy with three planets. I have great ideas and foresight but all my thinking and dreaming gets nothing accomplished, sigh.
Mars conjuncts Saturn, and Saturn in the 8th House, and Saturn conjuncts Pluto. My training is long-term, deep ancestral roots to survive and thrive now. That conjunction squares a Scorpionic conjunction in the 10th House.
Mars/Venus/Sun trine Pluto I’m doing survival training.
So so true. I was given so many gifts I took for granted when I was young. I have lost all of them because I did not invest in them. Now at 62 I am just a shell of who I once was.
Agreed. In the Army they used to stress that attitude was more important than aptitude.
Mars in Scorpio 6th house. Opposing Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Ceres. Square BML on IC. Trine Uranus & sextile Vesta.
Always in training to advance my knowledge base in my work, and I swim for an hour. Considering I’m Sun, Asc, Venus, Jupiter, & Ceres Taurus, I’m always kind of suprised by that. Works for me on several levels, however.
Mars in Gemini in 11th. I’ve been in communications profession working with external audiences and stakeholders since even during college. Also I have a somewhat busy 3rd house. So that’s that — asked and answered.
Natally also, Mars Pluto square. So brings a sense of fight to my work sometimes, like to deal with issues.
Mars in Scorpio 5th house conjunct (wide) Neptune – I’ve maintained yoga and meditation regimen for 3.5 years now. Saturn is square Mars from 8th house Aquarius which puts the brakes on my energy level methinks, meanwhile quantum leap transformative energy is honing my creativity as I age. I’m finishing my first degree at 54, and coming into my own.
“Effort trumps aptitude”–No, except in Gladwell’s imagination…But effort is always beneficial.
Mars in the 6th square Neptune/Jupiter midpoint in the 8th. I rarely get angry with others (Venus conj Mars) but when I do it’s blown way out of proportion and becomes mythical in proportions! Just standing my ground on an issue becomes a duel, like in a western movie.
Mars in the 9th house…I shied away from teaching. I like to learn & then to share that knowledge. Which really boils down to teaching….?
Training? Ummm….
I have Mars conjuncting my Mercury in Virgo by 2* and in my 7th house. Ummm….
I suppose I should be training my motor mouth to shut the hell up with my critiquing others. Mars is very impulsive and difficult to train. It is so easy for me to get into a heated debate/argument and I must confess that sometimes I actually enjoy it. It is difficult for me to hold my tongue on anything and I am going to add that my Gemini {mouthy} Moon is squaring my Mercury with this and that really does not help me to shut the hell up. Yep, huge flaws here with my mouth.
My MC in Sagittarius adds to this in my opinion and makes it even more difficult to keep my BIG MOUTH SHUT.
I just about have to isolate myself from everyone to keep myself out of trouble.