When Mars in the watery, fixed sign of Scorpio, is functioning in a positive manner to other planets in our natal chart, it can help us align our personal will with single minded focus and purpose.  We can tap into our strength, stamina, determination, and discipline, to stay the course, achieve goals and transform negative emotional patterns, which we're ready to leave behind.

When Mars in Scorpio is in a challenging mode, it can be experienced in the guise of power plays, obsessive/compulsive behaviors, out of control bursts of anger, jealousy and even violence. When turned within in a self-destructive manner, we can be confronted with spiraling negative emotions.  It can function in a 'covert' manner, so that we're caught up in dramas whereby things are going on behind our back and hidden from us.  It can trigger control issues, and stubbornness.

When Mars is in the fiery, mutable sign of Sagittarius, and functioning in a positive manner,  we feel the desire for freedom, action and change.  We seek to spread our wings a little, and feel the expansiveness of our spirit.  We may do this through adventure and travel, being more spontaneous in our day to day life, signing up for that which gets us more physically active, and / or spiritually attuned.

When Mars in Sagittarius is in a challenging mode, we may experience impatience, restlessness, haste, along with a tendency to be headstrong, and impulsive.  We may take undue risks, which can sometimes lead to being more accident prone than usual.  This placement can also energize the religious 'evangelist' within us.

The two arenas  ripe for witnessing the play  of 'Mars' energies through Scorpio and Sagittarius this year, is in the global political arena, but perhaps especially within the political scene in the  United States, as we prepare for a national election.  The other area where we'll likely see the influence of Mars, is in growth and expansion of Isis, as a terrorist organization.