A few posts ago I wrote about Mars: what a strong Mars is, and what it might look like in images. The movie Avatar provides rich material for a further discussion of Mars, both good and bad. (Actually, we could discuss all of the planets using this great film--but we will focus on Mars for now.)
The movie provides us with an archetypal example of Mars in detriment in the form of the RDA Corporation and its private military force. The story takes place several centuries from now on an exotic, beautiful and lush moon called Pandora in the Alpha-Centauri star system.
Mars is in detriment in the two signs opposite those it rules. Imagining that the RDA is signified by Mars, I see it as Mars in Taurus. Taurus is the fixed Earth sign, ruled by Venus, and symbolizes (among a million other things) earthly riches. This is precisely what RDA covets: an extremely valuable mineral called unobtanium. The corporation can profit hugely by mining this mineral, and it will stop at nothing to get it. This is precisely why Mars is in detriment—this is the wrong thing to do. RDA doesn’t care who it hurts or what it destroys—it just wants those riches!
Of course, the largest deposit of unobtanium is found directly beneath Hometree, the sacred habitat of the Omaticaya clan of the Na’vi, the native population of Pandora. When it becomes clear that it can obtain this mineral no other way, RDA attacks the Omaticaya to clear them from the area by force. They succeed in destroying both the Tree of Voices and Hometree (gut-wrenching scenes in the movie) before turning to attack the Tree of Souls, the clan's most sacred location.
I don’t want to give away too much for those of you who haven’t seen the movie yet! But I must mention that our protagonist, Jake Sully, is at first an agent of RDA and therefore acting as Mars in detriment. However, he undergoes a transformation and becomes a great hero and warrior. Once this happens, I see him as Mars in Aries, both because this transformation is a rebirth for him (Aries is the first sign of the zodiac) and because Mars in Aries exalts the Sun, which is God/Goddess (known as Eywa in the movie). Sully truly becomes a servant of the Goddess as he chooses ‘right action’ and… Well, I encourage you to go see the movie!
Note: The names of the planet, people, etc. come from this link:
http://cinema.theiapolis.com/movie-0BE4/avatar/storyline.html)
Photo Credit: By Rego Korosi, "Avatar Wallpaper" (Flickr: CC licensed)
First published Feb 18, 2010 on silvestreastrology.blogspot.com.