Ares - the Vulnerable Hero

**All the Gods and Goddesses represented should be taken as gender neutral. There is no inherent male or female separation between them as the energies, characteristics and wisdoms discussed are available to all regardless of gender.**

Oh Ares, aren’t you the complicated one?

Ares is the god of war to the ancient Greeks. The Romans called him Mars, but that’s a planet so I like to call him Ares.

Ares is a hot mess. So much rage and destruction. Ares is the king of self-sabotage. Everybody knows this about Ares, but nobody knows why.

You know why. 

Ares is the god of justice. It’s not war and violence and destruction for no reason; it’s the tearing down of those things that no longer serve justice and righteousness. Ares in balance is never indiscriminate about his temper. Ares doesn’t randomly destroy towns and cities for no reason. Ares doesn’t begin wars with peaceful, socially progressive nations.

Ares fights wars with bullies.

Ares fights against those that will dehumanize others and put the free into bondage. Ares fights those who will ignore the principles of rightness and fairness to gain advantage for themselves. 

Ares has never just fought for the sake of fighting. Ares has always been spurred to destroy by his hatred of injustice. If Ares has arrived in your life, it’s never to be more warlike or destructive. Those that need strength and a sword turn to Athena or Kali or Thor. When Ares arrives it is to do the scary and humbling work of being vulnerable in our grief.

This is how Ares gets out of control. This is how Ares sabotages our best plans and grand dreams - by ignoring the grief and pain and skipping into anger. 

Sometimes it works to great affect and the Ares fire can burn a tyrant to the ground. More often though, the fire is misdirected and we unfairly burn a loved one, colleague or friend and add to our grief and vulnerability.

Ares is a fighter and doesn’t do vulnerability well. Ares doesn’t do letting go of control well either. That’s the challenge if Ares has shown up. It’s not to double down on your toughness or your grit or your go-get’emness.

You’ve got that. That’s not what’s required to make the best of your fire. 

The fire of Ares in you, is the energy needed to make big changes - total overhauls. Ares people do this in their own lives, they do it in the businesses that they run and the businesses that they work in. Ares people do this in political and social structures as well. They can destroy everything or they can hone their fire and rework a system to work better for everyone.

When Ares don’t deal with the grief and pain that comes up in their lives - especially around systems of injustice and suffering, they tend to emotionally bypass the sadness and go head first into rage and retaliation.

The rage feels good because it’s the fire that gets things done and it feels powerful to have an objective and make a plan and do something. It’s scary for Ares people to sit in the feelings and be vulnerable and grieve the unfairness and suffering in the world. 

If Ares has shown up in your life, it’s time to let go of the plans and let yourself feel the feelings. The world need the Ares fire to be efficient and directed towards legitimate sources. It’s not productive or useful to strike out at loved ones when you’re really grieving over the injustices in the world. 

You’re already the one fighting for the underdog.

You’re the one in your office that speaks up in defence of the bullied or against an unfair policy. You’re the one that speaks truth to power in your family and friend groups. You’re the one that won’t allow the truth to get covered up or be called something else to make some people more comfortable.

That’s the Ares in you. You are already the brave warrior. We need you to take care of yourself too. 

Give yourself the self-care and the space and support you need to feel the vulnerable feelings of not being in control, not being able to fix it.

Ares like to fix.

Ares goes to battle for the vulnerable and the disenfranchised. They battle for the underdog because each of them have a scared powerless underdog inside them, that they are trying to protect. 

Ares is associated with the Death card of the Tarot deck. Destruction and violence is the energy of Ares. The death when Ares arrives is to stop emotional by-passing into rage. Reclaiming your right to feel and to not have all the answers or know what to do will allow new energies, new ideas and new pathways to be birthed.

It’s okay not to know. Its okay not to have an answer or a plan.

Ares counsels against rashness. Be in doubt for a bit. Not know for awhile.

Let it all simmer.

When we allow ourselves the space to not know it’s like being in a room where all the doors and windows are open. There might even be some other openings revealed that we didn’t even know about because we were willing to sit in the vulnerability of not knowing for awhile. 

There is more being asked of us in this time of change in the world. We’re being asked to step more fully into our whole selves. We are being asked to heal our shit, to stop falling back on destructive and unhelpful patterns and instead, do the hard work of being in discomfort and healing. In this time of human evolution, we need all the people willing to stand up in their wholeness, in their truth and in their authenticity. 

We need the fire of Ares to give us the energy of revolution and change. We need Ares to give us the motivating fire and rage at injustice to do the hard work of changing the systems that benefit only a small portion of the population.

Ares will be integral to anchoring and grounding the spirit of revolution that is growing in the people day by day.

You are responsible for that fire. Ares has arrived to show you how to use it.