the inner path
eight
our emotional INTELLIGENCE
conscious mars
We are still moving through the pathway of our intelligence, finding the sweet spot between intellect + emotions. You may have noticed, from the previous module, that our intellect was tied to our Conscious Venus, while here, our emotions are tied to our Conscious Mars. This may seem funny given everything we’ve heard around “men are from Mars, women are from Venus”, and the masculine + feminine archetypes, one might think it would be the opposite. But, I actually love this. Like the Yin Yang symbol above, we remember that they each contain the other, as we all do.
We want to find the balance between the mind + the emotions, something we also often look at in astrology as the balance between intellect (Sun) + emotions (Moon) so that we can communicate clearly (Mercury) which is at the heart of healthy relationships. While we often parse these archetypes out to explore on a deeper level you can see from the few examples in the prior sentence how intricately it is all intertwined and how we want to think about all of these elements holistically, in their relationship to each other + in their relationship to other. Our true intelligence, both intellectually + emotionally, is really rooted in the interaction between our aura and another, which is why our relationships are still at the forefront when it comes to this energy as well.
In this module we are visiting the energy of our Conscious Mars. You can scroll down to see where to locate it on your bodygraph and then find the gate description here + read the key in the Gene Keys book (if you have it).
In addition to the specific thematics we are looking at below, Mars in your Human Design represents energy dynamics, how we deal with life, where we might be most impulsive. Awareness is helpful b/c when you operate correctly, your Mars energy will mature over time. So look at the Gate with all of this in mind.
shadow
The Shadow here is about the ways in which we are DEFENSIVE, the energies that hinder us from speaking openly, vulnerably, respectfully + effectively. The goal is to bring awareness so that we catch ourselves before we act from Shadow, or can take accountability when we do, rather than being a victim of our own default settings. We can catch ourselves before old patterns close our heart.
I read recently from The Holistic Psychologist that couples goals should include “you are helping me heal”. When one of us is unwilling to look at our patterns and to constructively work together to facilitate change, both in each other and the energy of the relationship created, there is nowhere to go.
These shadows reveal the inner work we will repeat over and over until we have fully integrated and accepted it. This comes from fully opening our heart to this challenge. Every time we recognize and become aware of a Shadow and we accept and embrace it, we unlock another gift within our DNA.
This isn’t something to be fixed and then move on. These are the challenges we face over and over in our life. The healing that isn’t linear but a spiral, we circle back around, heal on a deeper level, unlock another gift. The more we continue to open and accept, the deeper we go and the more shadows and gifts we are able to reach.
This is the embodiment of as below, so above; as within, so without. The internal unpacking is represented in our outer reality.
gift
As you work with your Shadow, it is important to hold its Gift (and Highest Vibration) in the same container.
We can up-level in a pretty big way when we transmute the Shadow here, heal the wound, and lean into the Gift. We do this by bringing awareness through contemplation, getting honest, as well as feeling our feelings rather than repressing or stuffing them away. The Gifts here connect you to your inner child-like wonderment, to play, to simple joys, to lightness of being.
The HIGHEST VIBRATION is essentially attained enlightenment. It is said that the act of seeking enlightenment is still a form of shadow. I touch briefly on the highest vibration b/c I think it’s a seed we plant toward spiritual realization. It’s not something we try to attain. When we reach for it, we are playing into Shadow.
With this energy you move toward the highest vibration through SILENCE + holding space for this manner of magnificence that resides inside you.
This is, in essence, your relationships as Divine paths, as a place of devotion, and of emotion as poetry connected to depths beyond.
Lines
The line for this energy is the number after the decimal point of the gate. So if the number in the eighth box down on the black right column says 44.2, then your Mars is in gate 44, line 2. The corresponding line colors your inner narrative. These lines inform + motivate your psychology and in their Shadow qualities undermine your stability. You would read the line here and the line associated with your Gate.
Line 1
Key characteristics: self esteem, humility
Shadow: undermining yourself + self (and relational) sabotage
Practice: re-parent yourself, the Throat Toolbox for stronger listening + communication skills, empathy
Lean into: pause before you react, express honestly to the other what they did/said that triggered your wound, allow time + space alone to come back into alignment before communicating, the gifts + highest vibration (Siddhi) of your Gate
Line 2
Key characteristics: passion with consideration + respect
Shadow: aggression, lack of control with ones emotional impulses, attack as defense mechanism
Practice: processing + expressing anger, channel your passion and inner fire in healthy ways, pause before expressing from a place of reaction
Lean into: express your feelings intentionally with respect and awareness, your gift for raising others self esteem, the gifts + highest vibration (Siddhi) of your Gate
Line 3
Key characteristics: sympathy
Shadow: suspicion, detachment, apathy, self-obsession
Practice: true sympathy through vulnerability (and without getting lost in your own emotions)
Lean into: your gift to comfort others and understand the full spectrum of human emotions, staying open rather than shutting down, feeling your feelings to their core (not just on the surface) rather than turning away or deflecting, sympathy, the gifts + highest vibration (Siddhi) of your Gate
Line 4
Key characteristics: kindness
Shadow: being mean to mask low self-esteem or to reject out of fear of rejection, manipulation, indirect/passive/behind the back meanness
Practice: loving kindness + metta, heart toolbox
Lean into: the gifts + highest vibration (Siddhi) of your Gate, making others feel good, “if you can’t say something nice…”, kindness, the gifts + highest vibration (Siddhi) of your Gate
Line 5
Key characteristics: respect
Shadow: disrespect whether directed inward or projected outward manifested as ingratitude, selfishness, cynicism, or negative influence
Practice: getting to the bottom of the deeper feelings and perspectives beneath your patterns, respect yourself before you can expect others to do the same, know your own Shadows (your Gates + the ones you inherently know to be true)
Lean into: humbling yourself, relaxing the need for power, humility, the gifts + highest vibration (Siddhi) of your Gate, using your radiance + magnetism for good
Line 6
Key characteristics: a mutable emotional journey to greater self discovery + new ways of understanding our emotions as a humanity, reverence for the wide angle, long-term view
Shadow: alienation
Practice: know the obstacles + trials you face are part of your journey to greater wisdom, patience, heart toolbox
Lean into: feeling the full range of emotions available, self-compassion, moving through the natural phases of your journey, hunt for beauty
*Regardless of what Line you carry in your definition, you will most likely find wisdom in each of these aspects. Think of them as petals on the same flower. They all vary but they are part of the whole. Each one can offer you perspective + insight into the qualities we want to lean into (and out of).
THE HOUSE
Locate what house Mars resides in in your natal chart and then visit here.
Prompts
Look at your relationships. What might they be here to teach you in relation to these energies?
Where might you be projecting your hurt onto another? Blaming others for the problem(s)? Where do you need to take responsibility?
Meditate on these energies. Sit and breathe. Let it roll around in your mind like a marble.
Get creative. Write a story or poem, collage, sing, choreograph, dance, cook, daydream, walk in nature, sit with the trees, start a convo, paint, create from this energetic space.
It is said that this energy is imprinted in the 7 year cycle age 8-14. If you’d like you can look back and recall what was going on then or how this theme may have been present or introduced around that time. What tone may have been set in the ways you think and process? What attitudes were formed during this time about the inherent safety of your world?
ADDITIONAL support
If the Solar Plexus Center teaches us anything it is to pause before reacting. When we react from intense feelings in the moment rather than giving ourselves time to process, to feel, to move through potentially on our own without needing to address it, or at least the time to settle and come from a place that is thoughtful and considerate of the feelings of all involved before confronting the issue, we do ourselves and the relationship a disservice. It is not about suppressing feelings but taking a pause and giving them room to breathe for a moment.
Processing healthy aggression
We can drop our defenses while still maintaining healthy energetic boundaries.
Feelings can get more intense before unwinding as we bring our awareness and attention to them. Support + resource yourself, find resonant allies + practices when and where needed. Be patient and gentle with yourself as you move through, rise up, plunge down and rise again through your own emotional ripples + waves. Flow with them.
Dance + bring more play to your life!! Do what brings you joy.
PRACTICE
Visit Deconditioning Support
Read over this and your gates info multiple times, contemplate the information here and there. What does it mean to you? How does the Shadow show up in your life? The gifts? How can you hold space for the highest vibration?
Get clear on your Shadows here through the tools in Cultivate Awareness in the Shadow module.
Explore other potential Shadows in the center where this gate stems from in Shadow in Your Definition.
Bring them through Decondition + Rewire, EFT and/or through addiction meditation here.
What other energetics and support are specific to your gate? What chakra would this energy be associated with? What energetic body? Do you need support with Boundaries? Seek the other ways you can align and nourish.
Know that this is ongoing exploration that will serve you again and again. You’re not meant to figure it all out right now. Sit with it, ponder, marinate, ask questions, notice how it shows up in your life, put it down, come back to it, dig deeper, peel back another layer. These elements will continue to unfold if you allow them. Keep moving toward the gift and high vibrations of the energy.
Take good care of yourself. Take a break, take a nap, take a holiday, take a day in nature.
ADDITIONAL READING
