Astrology has existed for millennia, but interest in the subject has grown within the last decade. While it was once the domain of scholars, mystics, and rulers, modern technologies have made its ideas widely accessible. A quick web search reveals a wealth of information about celestial objects and their positions in our birth charts. It’s not uncommon to read about astrological meanings for the sun, moon, and ascendant points. Yet Mercury, the closest planet to our sun, also lends some key aspects to our personalities and life paths.
Planetary Messenger of the Gods
Mercury is aptly named for the swift-footed Roman messenger deity since it has the shortest orbital period in our solar system. Space.com explains that this ball of rock and metal takes only 88 days to travel around the sun. With a circumference of only 9,525 miles, it’s also the smallest of our inner planets. Surface Fahrenheit temperatures can reach up to 840 degrees and dip down to -275 degrees.
No one knows exactly when our ancient ancestors first observed Mercury, but it is visible to the naked eye in the night skies. The Sumerians and Babylonians associated this planet with Nabu, their god of writing. Their Greek contemporaries knew it by three names: Stilbon, Hermaon, and Hermes. Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first to observe it with a telescope. He documented his findings and published them in a 1610 text titled “The Starry Messenger.”
Mercury in the Houses and Signs
Meanwhile, the Astro Codex discusses Mercury’s deeper meanings within a natal chart. It rules Gemini and Virgo along with both the third and sixth astrological houses. This isn’t surprising, considering that Gemini energies include quick wit and communication. Astrology gifts Virgos with an intelligent, analytical, and practical image. At the same time, the third house handles communication, sibling relationships, schooling, and community. The sixth house deals with health, routines, jobs, service, and responsibilities.
When Mercury is present in a zodiac sign, that sign’s energies may shape the planet’s influence. Mercury in Virgo may create a curious and analytical individual with a knack for research. On the flip side, Mercury in Pisces could produce a daydreamer. This individual would love fantasy, become lost in thought, and be frequently disorganized.
Mercury is also thought to lend mental focus and intellectual investment to a house’s areas of concern. For instance, Astro Codex describes Mercury in the sixth house as making a person eager to learn, adept at brainstorming, and perfectionistic. Impacts of Mercury’s presence in the 12th house, however, can grant an individual with metaphysical gifts and an ability to keep secrets.
What’s the Deal With Retrograde Mercury?
Mercury’s astrological associations include communication, logic, transportation, the media, contracts, and knowledge. A retrograde Mercury is usually blamed for lost mail, bungled messages, and misunderstandings. Time writer Wilder Davies reveals that the planet experiences apparent retrograde motion three or four times per year. Astrologers believe this causes disruptions with the functions and aspects that it rules.
Yet a Mercury retrograde within a person’s birth chart carries a different meaning. Cafe Astrology characterizes such an individual as displaying more acute thinking processes and a quirky sense of humor. This person may also struggle with communication and self-doubt about ideas and perceptions.
Written in the Heavens?
Wilder Davies suggests that our increased interest in astrology may correlate with the advent of social media in the late 2000s. Whatever the reasons, more individuals look to the stars for answers about themselves and their lives. Astrologers propose that the sun, moon, ascendant, and inner planets have the most immediate impacts on a person’s life and personality. With Mercury’s believed influences on communication, logic, and intelligence, people remain fascinated by its presence and meanings even today.