Natal Wheel › Guides › Aspects › Mars and Pallas
Mars and Pallas · strategy before force
Mars in aspect to Pallas
Mars charges and Pallas plans the campaign. It is the classic contact of the tactician: someone who fights, but chooses the ground first. Energy is directed rather than spent, and conflict is entered with a clear idea of what winning would look like. Where the two disagree, the person is fast and badly aimed, or well aimed and permanently about to begin. Where they agree, they are extremely difficult to compete with, because the contest has usually been arranged in advance. Opponents tend to describe the loss as bad luck, which is rarely what it was.
What each body brings
| Mars | drive, desire, conflict |
|---|---|
| Pallas | pattern recognition and strategy |
The soft aspects (trine or sextile)
Trine or sextile, action and planning cooperate cleanly. The person moves decisively on a considered plan, which is an unglamorous and extremely effective combination. They are rarely the loudest in a contest and frequently the one still standing at the end of it. Endurance here is a by-product of preparation rather than a virtue in itself. Preparation is invisible from outside, which is why the wins look like luck.
The hard aspects (square or opposition)
A square or an opposition splits them. Either the plan is abandoned at the first provocation, or so much analysis is done that the opportunity closes. Committing to act on the second-best plan is usually right, since the difference between it and the best one is smaller than the cost of the delay. Perfect information is not coming, and the configuration keeps waiting for it anyway.
The conjunction
Conjunct, will and strategy are one. It makes competitors who win by preparation rather than aggression, and who find brute force embarrassing to watch. The contest is generally decided before it visibly begins, which opponents find difficult to account for. They also tend to withdraw from contests they have worked out they cannot win, which reads as modesty.
Reading it in a chart
The orb settles how strongly this shows: a contact within a degree is a defining feature of a chart, one at the edge of the orb is a colouring. The signs the two planets occupy change the manner, the houses change the arena, and a third planet touching either of them can change the reading entirely.