Exalted Mars
Mars is exalted in the sign Capricorn where he is dedicated and thorough in crafting a seamless plan to reach the end point of a given goal. In this sign, he is the epitome of self-directed movement and power, trained through rigorous dedication. The Exalted Mars wares are a distillation of this focused fire to be worked when you need dedication, boldness, and courage, to impart the strength of Mars to successfully accomplish any given task, in works of war and protection, in the destruction of one’s enemies, and for communion with our wandering star in all works at his disposal.
These wares were built in a forest that surrounded several sports fields, a place of martial influence, while Mars was in his degree of exaltation. The fire of the wandering star was called down and anchored in several oils and bundles of Mars materia to be included in forthcoming projects. Each oil and bundle holds at its core a six-sided lodestone that was marked on each side with both known and personal seals and glyphs of Mars, fumigated in Frankincense and Mastic. Alongside these lodestones, the common ingredients between each oil and bundle are Goat skin with appropriate images inscribed in prepared red ink, legally obtained corvid feather, bone, and feet, Rattlesnake bone and skin, Gaboon Viper rib bone, Blackthorn, Coffee, soldier-like ants, Pine resin collected during the working, Diamond, Madder, Iron from three blacksmith forges, Iron dug from the earth from a civil-war era forge used to create cannonballs and other weaponry, Slag dug from the earth at this very same forge, Obsidian, Sulphur, and many other bones, stones, plants, and minerals. This served as the base for each oil and bundle created, with further materia added that was appropriate to each oil or bundle.
Both the Civil War era forge iron and slag are extremely exciting to me. Through repeated visits and several offerings laid, I was able to unearth a bucket of large iron chunks, some weighing several pounds, and great amounts of purple and green slag from the mountain-side in which the forge is nestled discreetly amongst the trees behind a winding and babbling brook. The large chunks of iron, several of which adorn my Mars shrine, are remnants of what was used to forge cannonballs and other weaponry, a place of heat and preparation for war. Slag is a byproduct of metal smelting and processing and appears as a blue, purple, or green glass-like stone - it is the product of transformation through heat. Slag itself has been used throughout history to create glassware vessels and jewelry in ancient cultures, though is used today quite heavily in various concrete mixtures used to build bridges and buildings. The addition of slag to these wares adds greatly to their potencies in transforming your life into an image more suitable to you and in building solid foundations beneath that which you seek to build in your life.
Through these wares, Mars imparts the drive of dedication, offering us the strength and determination to perform a task or reach a goal through any means necessary with great precision. This comes as an aid to all, whether you need to dedicate yourself to accomplishing a *thing*, to become rigorous in learning how to do something better, or to learn something new entirely. It is through dedication and constant training of a skill that we become better at the skill. This can be applied to just about anything that one needs to get better at. Mars in Capricorn is a building of power and the proper harnessing of that movement to effectively affect a given change. While working these wares, I noticed an extreme capacity to instill focus, immersing me in a stream of war-like focus within several tasks I was working towards accomplishing.
Mars in Aries is fire-embodied, it is outwardly hot and consuming. In Scorpio, the fire of Mars is directed inward in conquest of challenge. Mars in Capricorn encourages a calm and focused boldness, pushing the limits of your boundaries in expression and action in a balancing of this push and pull. Working these wares, you will move differently through the world. With Mars’ red-stained hands as a guide, your actions will seem more precise, planned, and wholly more effective. In this building of boldness, in the sparking of courage to act, you will seem stronger, and even fearsome. Being a person who can dedicate themselves fully to accomplishing any task, and especially to do it successfully, can be a scary thing for others around you. You will be seen as all-capable, dedicated, strong, and dangerous to those who would go against you. In essence, people will be less inclined to fuck with you.
In the initial launch of Exalted Mars, only the main oil will be available with about 45 bottles in total having been made. Further additions will be added to the collection over the coming months.
