Continuing our discussion from the past five months, the energy of planets in the natal 12th house are often less accessible or more difficult to tap into than other placements.

Mars is the planet that represents how we need to use or apply our energy in order to feel fulfilled.  When Mars is in the 12th house, we may feel a sense of frustration, or even a repressed, seething anger.  

It's as if the normal expression of energy is bottled up in a pressure-cooker-like environment of the 12th house.  

High profile examples of people with Natal Mars in the 12th include:

Some with a definite chip on the shoulder such as with beat poet Alan Ginsberg, mass-murderer Gary Gilmore, Branch Davidian leader David Koresh, and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Dr. Sam Sheppard (whose real-life story inspired The Fugitive)

A behind-the-scenes association with violence as with labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa.

Cause-motivated activism such as with Argentinean revolutionary Che Guevarra.

Helen Reddy,s "I am Woman" became an anthem of women's activists in the 70's.

Bad boys Gary Busey, Johnny Cash, and auto engineer John DeLorean.

Sarcastic comedy seems to be a very effective outlet for Mars in the 12th.  Outspoken comediennes Rosanne Barr and Sandra Bernhard, non-mainstream director Albert Brooks, and political satirist Mark Russell all incorporate a biting, yet humorous view of people and events.  TV personalities include gossip columnist Rona Barrett and talk show hosts Phil Donahue, Conan O'Brien, and Johnny Carson.

Many religious figures, including Pope Alexander VII, Pope Benedetto XV, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Pius IX, and pastor and political lobbyist Jerry Falwell.

Military figures such as Generals Moshe Dayan and Norman Schwarzkopf.

Body-builder, Terminator, and subsequent Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenneger.

The display of a distinct sexual energy as in limit-pushing rockers David Bowie and Mick Jagger, Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, and Britain's sex-scandal participant Christine Keeler, as well as in actresses/performers Bo Derek (10), Jane Russell, Brooke Shields, Britney Spears, and Tuesday Weld.  A very different method of sexual expression of the 12th House Mars is demonstrated by psychosexual therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

I'm perpetually fascinated by actors whose roles echo their natal placements.  A sampling of some that display a distinct Mars in the 12th flavor include actor Tim Curry (as the deranged Dr. Frank N. Furter in Rocky Horror Picture Show), swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and my personal favorite, Kathy Bates (as a stressed out housewife taken to the limits in Fried Green Tomatoes, as a psycho-stalker fan in Stephen King's Misery, and as the frustrated/violent heroine bent on revenge in King's Dolores Claiborne).  Note that macabre author Stephen King also has Natal Mars in the 12th!  Directors John Carpenter (Halloween) and Oliver Stone (Platoon, Scarface, Midnight Express, and Born on the Fourth of July) also share this placement.

* data searches performed using  AstroDatabank  

Next Month:  Natal Jupiter in the 12th