With Mercury currently moving through my 1st House and encouraging me to babble, some observations about Mercury in the natal chart have come to mind. There are several of us in the astro-blogosphere who have Mercury conjunct Mars natally. Mine is in Scorpio sitting on the 12th House side of the Ascendant inconjunct to Uranus in Gemini . . . lots of Mercury action there! One of my favorite astrologer/bloggers, Elsa P of Elsa Elsa.com, has Mars conjunct Mercury in Libra, and we all know what an amazingly prolific writer/blogger she is! Melody Zindell (Astrology and More) has Mercury in Gemini conjunct Mars. I know of several other people who share this astro-signature too. In fact, it’s an example of “affinities” between charts, giving us all a common denominator and a certain assertive turn of mind.

The way Mercury expresses its self in different signs and elements gives us all a decidedly different manner or approach to problem solving. To illustrate this, I will use myself and the young woman who replaced me as an office manager. She has her Mars/Mercury conjunction in Virgo as well as Sun in Virgo. I have an excellent visual memory and have a knack for finding just about anything if I’ve seen it. My organization style falls somewhere between neat & tidy and organized chaos – meaning I keep my work area clear but have vaguely ordered piles of papers, etc., sitting around. I could find things but nobody else could very easily. The first time I went by to help Ms Virgo after she had been there for about a week by herself, I was floored! My casual clutter was gone, replaced by extremely tidy files, all carefully labeled and if there were piles of paper, they were perfectly stacked and aligned. My former boss was thrilled because he shares her taste for what I see as excessive order. They both still call on occasion if they can’t find something . . . and I can usually direct them to its location.

My Aries SO has his Mercury conjunct Jupiter in Aries and is prone to painting a broader picture than I of the same event. One thing I’ve noted about Mercury in the Fire and Air signs is they often will be able to repeat a conversation verbatim. This is astonishing to me because I couldn’t do this to save my soul.

The women in my immediate family all have Mercury in Scorpio though we range from Libra to Sagittarius Suns. We are all good at ferreting out information when we put our minds to it. In fact, my mother and I had this ongoing “game” when I was growing up of her hiding my books and me finding them. She hid some Christmas gifts so well even she couldn’t remember where she put them! It’s tough to keep something hidden from someone with Mercury in Scorpio. =grin=

Mercury can be either Oriental or Occidental is relationship to the Sun. Oriental means it rises ahead of the Sun and in traditional astrology is more powerful; Occidental rises after the Sun. Modern astrologers tend to see Oriental planets as more subjective and vivid in expression and Occidental planets as more objective and cool in nature. My Mercury is Occidental and I know I tend to be quite objective and dispassionate in my thinking . . . unless I’m pissed about something, and then all bets are off because Mars is in charge. For those like me who get confused on what rising ahead of the Sun means, picture a chart with the Sun in the 1st House and Mercury in the 12th House – Mercury crossed the horizon ahead of the Sun meaning it’s Rising or Oriental!

Please feel free to share your thoughts on how you see Mercury operating in your chart or the charts of family and friends. A post on Mercury is a great place for feedback! Posted by Neith.

I ran outside in my birks to get this shot of a winter rainbow . . . too beautiful not to record!