The text in this section is about the Aries / Mars type, which is not the same as being born in Aries or having Mars in Gauquelin sector. The astrological method for determining your type is described here.

The following brief description of Aries has been inspired by the Danish astrology book ”Astrologiens verden” by Karl Aage Jensen. The text has been chosen for this context, because it is brief and condenses many of the Aries characteristica.

”First me, then myself and then myself!” That is how a person with a lot of Aries in the chart thinks. These people create their self consciousness through energetic activity. The activity level is very high, but the actions are more spontaneous than thought through. There is definitely a lack of patience, and they don’t think before after the action has been carried out. They are always busy with many irons in the fire. They possess a pioneering spirit combined with a desire to create an image of assertiveness. The temper is fast, and they often seem to be harsh and pushy. But they are not as bad as they appear – often it is a matter of ”getting it out in the open” – because these people seldom brood. They often play the role of the person, who brings a breath of fresh air into a stuffy room. Yes, they are selfish, but in the same way as a newborn baby, who isn’t aware of the needs of others, so they are easily forgiven. Most people see the Aries type as impulsive, uncomplicated, brave, eager and engaged with a touch of aggressiveness and pleasure in overcoming resistance.

R. Meredith Belbin (born 1926), a British researcher and management theorist, has created a typology consisting of 9 types or roles and based on observation of human behaviour. His aim was to determine the best possible team composition for business organisations.

One of the roles, the "shaper" stands out as typical for the Aries / Mars type. Here is a short description of the "shaper": Outgoing, highly strung, dynamic and thrives on pressure. Possesses the drive and readyness to overcome obstacles and challenge inertia, ineffectiveness, complacency and self-deception. On the other hand this type is also impatient, easily annoyed, prone to provocation and often offends people's feelings.

Belbin invited business people to participate in his research. He had created a kind of team Monopoly game called "Teamopoly", which simulated business life, where competition plays and important role, and a manager often has to make crucial decisions under time pressure. He then observed the teams in order to identify the most succesful team compositions. The result was 9 different roles. One of the most important observations in Belbin's research work is that a winner team consists of people, who are as different from each other as possible, because such teams avoid unnecessary and fatiguing rivalry.

When Belbin invited business people to participate in his research, the "shapers" never showed up. Nevertheless he observed plenty of succesful "shapers" in real business life. Belbin concluded, that the "shapers" don't care much about teambuilding!

There is a logical explanation for this contradiction: That succesful managers don't care about cooperation. Organisations tend to slow down in a kind of inertia and lack of will to make necessary but unpopular decisions. For example, if corruption or nepotism occurs in an organisation, the organisation will suffer, and the correct thing to do is to ”clean up the mess” by sacking the responsible people. But such a necessary action will not be conducted, if everybody is preoccupied with maintaining a good atmosphere of cooperation - or even worse: If everybody somehow has shares in and is responsible for the lack of productivity and competitiveness. In such a case, which is not uncommon, you need a dynamic leader, who can assess the situation at a glance, and who is not afraid to make the necessary decisions. It is obvious that this kind of business manager is more needed in private businesses and less so in the public sector, because there is more competition in the private organisations than in the public ones.

The typical "shaper" is extroverted, dynamic, energetic and restless. When he / she encounters an obstacle, he / she always finds a way to overcome it - if necessary by breaking written or unwritten rules! The shaper is intuitive and usually understands the problem at hand in a split second. The "shaper" is more opportunistic than conscentious, he / she is fearless and resilient, devoid of any kind of embarrassment or timidity.

The "shapers" exhibit a strong performance need. Such an attitude is both a strength and a weakness. These people are impatient and stubborn, their temper is short, and they are easily provoked. Their aggressiveness often causes others to respond in the same manner, yet they don't give up, instead they persist, as if they enjoyed the fight - which may very well be the case. What they desire above all is to win, and whatever is to be learned from the process is secondary. Only when the game is over they start to pay interest in the wellbeing of others and what can be learned from the experience.

The ”Enneagram of Personality” is another typology with 9 personality types. Just like with Belbin's typology, the enneagram is often used in business life for teambuilding. The system is said to have been derived from Sufi mystics, but this claim is not supported. Instead its creators include such names as Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo G. I. Gurdjieff. Among its 9 types one stands out as identical to the Aries / Mars type: The ”performer” (also called the ”achiever”).

”Being the best at what I do is a strong motivator for me, and I have received a lot of recognition over the years for my accomplishments. I get a lot done, and I am succesful in almost everything I take on. I identify strongly with what I do, because to a large degree I think your value is based on what you accomplish and the recognition you get for it. I always have more to do than will fit into the time available, so I often set aside feelings and self-reflection in order to get things done. Because there is always something to do, I find it hard to just sit and do nothing. I get impatient with people, who don’t use my time well. Sometimes I would rather just take over a project someone is completing too slowly. I like to feel and appear ’on top’ of any situation. While I like to compete, I am also a good team player.” (Quote from ”The Essential Enneagram” by David Daniels and Virginia Price, 2000.)

The most used descriptive words in texts about Aries in astrology books are:

There is one area, where the Mars type dominates without any challenge: Solo sport - as opposed to team sport. Take a look at the following three bar charts:

Just by looking at the bar charts, you can see that male and female solo athletes seem to follow the same astrological laws. This means that male and female solo athletes can be mixed, when they are used as a tool for determining the probability that an input chart belongs to a solo athlete.

However, there is one difference between male and female solo athletes: The columns belonging to the female solo athletes are larger than the ones belonging to the male solo athletes. I assume the reason for this difference is that there are less female athletes than male athletes, i.e. the female athletes are more specialized than the male athletes. This fact may be due to either male chauvinism or the fact that females (still) spend more time taking care of children than men and therefore have less time and energy for training.

Anybody familiar with the Michel Gauquelin's Mars type would know that it includes military officers, physicians and business managers. I have not researched physicians, and the most prominent type among 200 military officers in my system is actually the Scorpio / Pluto type instead of the Mars type.

As for the business managers I found a marked difference between males and females: Among the men, the Mars/Aries type was most prominent, while the Sun/Leo type was most prominent among the females. As you can see from the below bar diagram, the Eris/Taurus type is the second strongest among the males, and the Moon/Cancer type is the third.

Copyright Eskild Rasmussen - Last updated January 10th 2016.