Rebellion of a Martian by Anamarija Marinović (PhD)

To those who think that certain phenomena get on their nerves

The astrologers say that I have Mars in the first house, the house of personality. To emphasize the strength of their affirmations, they claim that my Mars is positioned on the first degree. I don’t know that. I don’t understand anything about stars, planets, or Astrology. I don’t believe in destiny or horoscope. I am not interested in the influence of the heavenly bodies on human lives. Absolutely not. As to Mars, for me, it is just a planet that we used to paint in red at primary school. Too far away from Sun or the Earth, to be able to generate conditions for life. I know that many researchers disagree with what I am saying and try to demonstrate the opposite, but I am a very rational person (of the sign of Taurus, with the ascendant in Virgo, the astrologers would say again) and I do not believe in the possibility of life on different planets. I don’t even like Science Fiction books or movies that speak of Mars and the little fluorescent green creatures with an outstanding intelligence and the unnatural superpowers. Not even as child I was minimally attracted to this kind of modern fairytales. As a very spiritual person (an Orthodox Christian, I would highlight), I claim that, if life existed elsewhere but on the Earth, we would know it through the Holly Writings. However, I know that I have a strong personality indeed (with or without the help of Mars in my first house). Nevertheless, I hesitate for a moment whether to adopt the form of a Martian to speak of what I want to say in this book, because I intend to tell you an incredible and outrageous story that could only happen on Mars. Or, maybe, in the real life too. I will present you a very interesting gallery of people. They are much more than literary characters. They are people that I have met in real life, that I have seen on TV or listened about. And the situations I will describe are not just caricatures or fantasy. They are real too. That is why I wonder, and maybe I should adopt the form of a Martian to speak about them. The people who deserved to participate in chapters of this book will not look like Teophrast’s Characters, Dvorniković’s Characterology of Yugoslavs or any other scientific list of human types and behaviors. As a Martian, or somebody who has Mars in the first house of personality (on the first degree), I am going to analyze people with a humorous perspective, with a pinch of bitterness, with a bit of intellectual observation, reflections and comparisons, irony, everyday situations, but still, it will not be a Science Fiction, a lie or a fantasy. Among my characters, you will be honored to meet Homo Neandertalis Balcanicus (with a special overview of its Montenegrian subspecies), Mulier Neandertalis Balcanica (with the same origine zone, and with no disrespect for those who are proud to be born or rooted in the strong and beautiful Balkan Peninsula or in the specific region, nowadays recognized as the Republic of Montenegro), a Loser (two Losers indeed, a male and a female), an Exaggerated Patriot, a Saint, a Provincial, a, Spy and Judge of All, a TV Swallower, a Pseudo-Intellectual, a an Eternal Student, a Star(let), A Folk Singer-Criminal, a Frustrated Unhappy Housewife… The only fictive character in this book will be “Loser’s Wife”, and she is in the domain of the imaginary, because he is still not married, and, honestly speaking, I don’t believe he will ever be. Because of one reason or another. Of course, I am sure that the profile of his potential Wife exists among us, and it is easily recognizable, but I will describe her in a more detailed way when the time is right.

Now, the first degree of Mars in my first house of personality dares to say that my soul rebels against injustice, stupidity, petty-bourgeoisie, futility, narrow-mindedness, superficial points of view, mediocrity, false moral principles, retrograde and backward conceptions of the world, hypocrisy. I spit at all that.