Aries: Archetype of The Warrior
You know that part of you that is self-centered? I don’t mean that in a bad way either. I know that societally and culturally we use that term as a pejorative, usually pointing out how superior and selfless we supposedly are in comparison. However, all of us have this particular feature in our personality. That drive to do what we want, to take care of our needs, to relentlessly pursue our desires. That part of us that wants to do battle, and win. It has no inkling to follow anybody. Aries leads, others follow.
It sounds obnoxious, however, without it, we would never get anything done or have anything we want. This is motivated energy that gets our asses in gear and moving in a direction we want to head. It provides that need we have to prove ourselves, to be seen as courageous and victorious. And for that, we need something to do battle with.
This is the archetype of The Warrior. Aries is about action, not pondering or thinking. It isn’t really tuned in to feeling and emotion, apart from the thrill of destroying its foes in battle. Proving and demonstrating its fiery courage is all it is concerned with.
Aries is not overly concerned with other people either, unless they want to unquestionably follow as The Warrior leads the way. Aries has no time for your feelings or tough childhood, and it is difficult to care about other people when all you can think of are new warfare and the thrill of the fight. It has shit to do and barriers to destroy.
Remember, this is about traits and characteristics - signs supply the How’s and Why’s of interpreting a chart.
Aries is ruled by the planet Mars which represents the psychological function that is our inner warrior. Our competitive spirit, will to win, temper, assertiveness, and our sexual drive, The planets represent facets of our personality that are then colored by the qualities and tendencies of the signs they are in. Your Inner Warrior (Mars) can take on many forms, archetypal models provided by the signs.
Symbol for the planet Mars, thought to be a combination of a shield and sword, classically used as the male symbol
Aries is symbolized by the Ram.
The glyph for the sign Aries representing a Ram’s head and horns
With The Warrior, “leap-before-you-look” should be its motto. It seeks out crisis and enemies to defeat, obstacles and barriers to reduce to rubble, scraps to join. We all know what the ram is famous for. We even invented a device to break through doors and walls and named it the “battering ram”. Head down, crashing their cement-like skulls into each other is what we think of when imagining the Ram. The goal is victory, not to think about it. Crash, crash, crash, until you defeat the obstacle. Second guess yourself, and you’re done.
When talking about the fire signs, I like to depict them as different kinds of fire. When it comes to Aries, the impulsive Warrior, I describe it as a flamethrower. It is cardinal, direct energy that handles whatever it is aimed at. It blazes a trail through whatever stands in its way, whether it should be incinerated, or not. Those considerations are for later - it’s time to act. “Kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out”, so to speak.
We are all the full collection of these twelve archetypes. Your chart includes all of the signs from Aries to Pisces. Your chart has all ten planets and all twelve houses. Nothing is missing from your personality or your human experience. Some of these archetypes are given more prominence over the others in your profile. Others may be fairly subdued in your personality until certain situations or environments trigger them powerfully and they burst forth to even your surprise. These are all characters lurking inside of us. In each personality, certain archetypes run the show more than others. Some are even at war with each other to a certain extent. We all feel that tension to a certain degree as aspects of our psyche seem to work against each other while others go hand in hand.
This means we all have a level of impulsiveness and a thirst for new experiences and paths. For some, this is their default mode. They just do and say shit. Whatever they want to take place at a given moment happens because they simply head off and tackle it, or open their mouth and say it. For instance, with your Sun, Moon or Ascendant in Aries, this active, self-directed energy is quite prominent in who you are. However, other influences such as Jupiter in Aries or Aries in the tenth house (House of Career & Public Image) can also dial up this energy in your profile. Mars in Aries is also particularly intense, supplying the Inner Warrior with the traits and energy of The Warrior itself (Aries). Contrast this with, say, Mars (Inner Warrior) in the sign of Pisces (The Mystic), and you have a very different expression of the psychological function of your warrior nature. You would be considered more of a spiritual and sensitive warrior, rather than one who burns everything down in the heat of a slew of battles you, yourself, started, as Mars in Aries is prone to.
Maybe you have no planets in Aries. That’s okay, The Warrior is still a part of your personality and it occupies a House. The arena that House represents is where you may find yourself able to be more aggressive and direct. It also tends to be the area you need to engage when you need to get up and make some progress.
Some of the Houses deal with areas that are not the typical battlefield for The Warrior archetype. Aries in the 4th, 8th, or 12th house, for instance. These are watery houses that deal with more intuitive, feely, connective, and spiritual areas. This is not Aries’ jam whatsoever. However, while this might not result in what people would perceive as a particularly Aries-like personality, the traits of the impulsive warrior are still in there, informing how you take care of home and family, or how you face a crisis, or your pursuit of creativity and esoteric knowledge - such as Astrology.
The point is, the Archetype of The Warrior is in your profile somewhere, and it operates within you according to its placement and influence in your chart.
And this energy is meant to be evolved and grown. It is a magnet for crisis, pressure and stress. Sounds scary, right? Well, how else does courage evolve. Nobody is brave in the face of normal shit. Whether it be tackling inner demons, launching a new business, fighting for a cause, running a spiritual retreat center, or meeting stressful deadlines, Aries needs to develop a deeply integral courage. The battlefield doesn’t matter.
Imagine a wise, aging warrior, scarred and battle-hardened from years of warfare. Tired? Sure. Ready for a fight? Always. Afraid? Never. This is the evolutionary path of Aries, The Warrior.
This means maybe you need to stop running from the scary shit that always seems to follow and find you, turn around, and whip its ass. That is what The Warrior does. Maybe you need to connect with it more.
As with all of the archetypes, Aries has its more shadowy qualities and tendencies. And with The Warrior, that darker side comes in the form of fighting the wrong battles and the wrong enemies. Its lust for the heat of battle can have it picking fights and choosing tactics that are inappropriate and unnecessary. Remember, you don’t have to fight just to fight. Sometimes, we all need to calm The Warrior in order to evaluate situations and people, keeping ourselves from committing energetic war crimes. Be aware of these tendencies so you grow this part of you in constructive ways.
Don’t be afraid to release The Warrior, just make sure you choose the battle wisely.
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Heretically yours 😈
