MARS IN AQUARIUS
“The Sexual Liberator”
Mars in Aquarius Lovers are the least physical of all the Mars types. Of course, these Lovers have all the same sexual juices, physical needs and desires as all of us but with Mars in Aquarius these needs are processed in such an intellectual and objective fashion that sex seldom has the same pressing corporal reality that makes it so problematic for the rest of us. For these Lovers everything important about sex happens inside their heads. In one sense this gives them extraordinary freedom. They can use sex the way a mathematician uses calculus or an artist uses perspective; to achieve a specific goal. These goals can vary a great deal. Some may choose to use it as a source of inspiration and spiritual revitalization; others, as a means of persuasion. Still others will use sex for its shock value and as a way of getting the attention of all those silly people who think sex is so darned important.
This abstracted approach to sex means that Mars in Aquarius Lovers naturally feel free to experiment with their sexuality. The emotional conditions and social restrictions most people place on the sex act mean little to these thoroughly rational and unconventional Lovers. The only restrictions they recognize are those of time and space. At their best, the absolute freedom with which these Lovers approach both sex and love is inspirational. Time spent with them can be a true liberation for us “less adventurous” souls.
It shouldn’t be assumed that Mars in Aquarius Lovers break the rules just for the fun of it.· This daring, experimental approach to sex is always secondary to the notion these Lovers have that sex has to be tied to some larger purpose. This is one of the most idealistic placements of Mars—meaning that for these Lovers, love is understood in terms of ideas—usually big ideas. It is not so much that these people think they can change the world by making love. No, it’s more that the sex act must fit into an overall idealism—into a system of ideas, hopes, and dreams that often has little to do with its simple biological function.
Because of their extreme idealism with regard to sex, Mars in Aquarius Lovers often have an easier time loving “causes” or humanity as a whole than they do loving one individual. Kindness, self-sacrifice, and service come easily to these people but intimacy is always a problem. It is not unusual for those who love Mars in Aquarius individuals to feel distanced and out of touch. No matter how much a Mars in Aquarius Lover may profess to love someone, there is always a sense that he or she could get along just as well alone.
The bottom line here is that the Mars in Aquarius Lover is always inferior to the Mars in Aquarius Friend. These people will always choose the ease and camaraderie of friendship over the intensity and passion of love. This in no way limits their sex lives. As far as these folks are concerned, friendship is a wonderful basis for a sexual relationship. There is warmth and camaraderie but none of that nasty emotional stuff like jealousy or pettiness that often makes love and sex so irrational and dangerous. The Mars in Aquarius Friend is capable of compassion, gentleness and loyalty. They seek to teach, reform, and help the people they care about and they stand by these folks through every kind of trial. In fact, the Mars in Aquarius Friend is so terrific that after a while any partner of a Mars in Aquarius individual may start wondering why they ever wanted a Lover!
CELEBRITY EXAMPLES OF MARS IN AQUARIUS
Among our examples of The Sexual Liberator are many people who were, to say the least, unconventional in their sex lives. We have Isadora Duncan who eschewed marriage until she got the chance to wed a mad Russian poet almost half her age, writer Djuna Barnes, who loved men and women with equal intensity, filmmaker Ed Wood Jr., who was an unabashed cross-dresser and composed Richard Wagner, who openly lived as man and wife with a woman who was legally married to one of his most fervent admirers.
Some of our examples seem to have an overly intellectualized view of sex. The Victorian artist and designer William Morris devoted more time to educating his young wife’s mind than satisfying her sexually and, as a result, he lost her. For others, like Tennessee Williams, sex was a matter of quick anonymous “pick-ups” that provided only a momentary distraction from the more important matters of life.For all these people the idea of sex always out weighs it physical manifestation.
The outstanding example of this is Hugh Hefner who not only devised a powerful conception of sexuality; he sold it to millions and millions of people all across the globe in the form of Playboy Magazine. Certainly some of the countless young women who have passed through Hefner’s life through the years have struck a cord in his heart (after all, he has Venus in Pisces) but none could match the allure to that ideal of well-scrubbed beauty and sexual availability that filled his magazines.
Other example of this quality is Nancy Cunard, who proved to be much more in love with the ideal of the liberation of American blacks than she was with the African-American musician who shared her bed, writer Erskine Caldwell, who fell so much in love with the idea of creative union with the great photographer Margaret Bourke-White that he divorced his wife and Jane Fonda, who has celebrated every major shift in her life’s course by finding a new husband. But not all these stories of sexual idealism are sad ones. Charles Lindbergh found his ideal of an adventurous and intellectually compatible woman in Ann Morrow and he never left her. The same could be said for Richard Wagner and pianist Ignacy Paderewski.
For more information about these· and other examples, see the various Mars/Venus combinations.