Elemental hand shape · also called Mars Mount
Mount of Mars
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Overview
Unlike the single mounts beneath each finger, Mars traditionally occupies two separate positions on the palm: Lower Mars (also called Mars Positive), located between the thumb and the Jupiter mount, and Upper Mars (Mars Negative), located on the opposite edge of the palm between the Mercury mount and the Luna mount. Together, the two Mars mounts are read for courage — but two distinct kinds.
Lower Mars reflects active courage: the willingness to assert yourself, confront conflict directly, and take bold initial action. Upper Mars reflects passive courage: the resilience to endure hardship, stay steady under pressure, and resist rather than retreat.
What it means
A well-developed Lower Mars suggests assertiveness, courage in confrontation, and a readiness to act decisively when challenged. A well-developed Upper Mars suggests endurance, resilience, and the quiet courage to hold steady through prolonged difficulty rather than needing to act immediately.
An excessively developed Lower Mars can tip into aggression or a quick temper, while an excessively developed Upper Mars can suggest stubbornness or a tendency to endure situations (including harmful ones) longer than is actually healthy. Underdeveloped mounts in either position suggest that form of courage is present but less naturally accessible, often improvable with conscious practice.
Variations
Well-developed Lower Mars only: strong active courage and assertiveness, potentially with less natural endurance for prolonged difficulty.
Well-developed Upper Mars only: strong quiet resilience and endurance, potentially with less natural comfort in direct confrontation.
Both well-developed: a fuller range of courage, comfortable both acting decisively and enduring hardship as the situation requires.
Both underdeveloped: courage in either form may take more conscious cultivation, particularly in situations requiring either quick assertiveness or sustained resilience.
Which hand matters
The dominant hand reflects how courage and resilience are currently showing up in your daily life. The non-dominant hand reflects your innate baseline temperament toward assertiveness and endurance before life experience shaped its expression.
How to read it
Locate Lower Mars in the space between your thumb and the base of your index finger (Jupiter mount), just above the life line's start.
Locate Upper Mars on the opposite side of your palm, between the Mercury mount (beneath the pinky) and the Luna mount (lower outer edge of the palm).
Compare the development of each to determine which form of courage — active or enduring — is more naturally prominent for you.
Common misconceptions
"Mars mounts are only about aggression."
This oversimplifies both mounts — Lower Mars reflects healthy assertiveness at its balanced best, not inherent aggression, and Upper Mars reflects resilient endurance, a genuinely different quality from combativeness.
"You only have one Mars mount."
Traditional palmistry maps two distinct Mars positions on the palm, each representing a different form of courage — conflating them into a single mount misses the meaningful distinction between active and enduring courage.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Mount of Mars mean in palmistry?
Traditional palmistry reads two Mars mounts: Lower Mars (near the thumb) for active courage and assertiveness, and Upper Mars (opposite edge of the palm) for enduring resilience and the courage to hold steady under pressure.
Where is the Mount of Mars located?
Lower Mars sits between the thumb and the Jupiter mount (below the index finger); Upper Mars sits on the opposite edge of the palm, between the Mercury mount (below the pinky) and the Luna mount.
Does a strong Mars mount mean someone is aggressive?
Not necessarily — a well-developed Lower Mars reflects healthy assertiveness, and only an excessively developed mount traditionally suggests tipping into aggression or a quick temper.