Mercury in Astrology: the Messenger of the Sky
The planet of communication Mercury governs our mind, thoughts, learning abilities, processing of information, speech, and technology.
Think of Mercury as software to your physical body.
Mercury’s placement in a Birth Chart determines how we express our thoughts and interact with the world.
If we look at the Mythology behind Hermes (Mercury’s counterpart), he had all the knowledge and was the traveller between two worlds.
Mercury takes our internal self and expresses it through writing and speaking.
Our internal, private self is represented mainly by our natal Moon.
The Moon governs our creativity, emotions, and feelings.
Mercury is the messenger who processes and expresses this internal dialogue out into the world.
Mercury Retrograde in a Nutshell
Mercury retrograde is by far the most well know astrological transit out there. Even those who don’t know anything about Astrology have heard of this celestial phenomenon.
Mercury retrogrades are often dreaded and generally have a bad rep within the Astrological community.
Mercury retros are notorious for all sorts of delays and last-minute changes when it comes to travel, meetings and everything to do with communication.
But is there any silver lining?
Mercury retrogrades are great for letting go of certain things, thoughts, limiting beliefs that are no longer relevant and stopping us from living our life to the fullest.
Think of it as a software upgrade process on your smart phone. Just think about how many times you need to upgrade a software on your phone or computer to ensure they perform at their highest capacity.
We are actually doing exactly the same thing when Mercury is in retrograde: we are updating and upgrading our lives so we can function better.
So it is only natural that during Mercury retrogrades things are slowing down. It takes time to upgrade the system to the next level. As with our smart phones, upgrading doesn’t happen instantly.
It is going to take time to complete certain tasks. So it is vital to stay cool, calm and collected during the Mercury retro season.
Don’t be too harsh on yourself or others if things don’t go as smoothly as you have hoped for.
Mercury Retrograde: Survival Guide
Keywords to describe Mercury retrograde: re-evaluate, revisit, rethink, re-do, re-organize, rearrange, re-position, re-launch. So make sure you engage in these activities more often than initiating brand new things.
Be extra cautions when sending texts and emails. They may end up with the wrong person!
It is usually recommended not to plan any long distance travels during this time. You can, however, travel to the destinations you have visited before. At the end of the day, you are re-visiting the place!
I’ve had one of the best holidays during Mercury retrogrades when I travelled to the places I’ve visited before.
Do not put your life on hold during Mercury retrograde!
Just be aware of its influence and use this energy to your advantage. It can be a really productive time that gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate and re-organise certain areas of your life.
Mercury Retrograde in a Birth Chart
Traditionally, Mercury Retro in one’s Birth Chart is considered to be a tricky placement.
It is true to a certain degree. There might be difficulties with learning and processing information, especially when it comes to studying within the traditional educational system.
However, Mercury Retrograde in a Birth Chart can bless the native with unique thinking, super quirky sense of humour, and even make them borderline genius.
So don’t worry if you have this placement in your Natal Chart. Super successful celebrities like Madonna, Prince, Steve Jobs, Hilary Clinton, Adam Levine, Ben Affleck and Lady Gaga were all born during Mercury retro too!
Before we dive it, let’s simplify Birth Chart’s structure:
Planet – a symbolic representation of what is happening (event/ circumstance/personality trait/ relationship)
The sign the planet lands in: how and why this particular event/relationship/personality trait is prominent.
The house the planet lands in: the area of one’s life where this event/ relationship/ personality trait is most evident.
Mercury through 12 Zodiac Houses
Mercury in the 1st house
Those born with Mercury in the 1st house of their birth chart are curious, intelligent and open minded individuals.
This astrological placement gives the ability to learn new skills quickly and adapt to new environments really fast.
This placement is excellent for public speakers, bloggers, writers, podcasters, and social media inflencers.
Mercury in the 1st makes the native a visionary, no matter what profession they occupy.
They can talk themselves out of any situation with ease.
This placement gives the ability to persuade and easily influence others.
Those with Mercury in the 1st are born salesmen!
Mercury in the 2nd house
Those born with their Mercury in the 2nd house have an innate financial intuition so they are likely meant to be bankers, financial advisors, or work in sales.
They are super smart and can easily negotiate the best deal on the market.
Those with Mercury in the 2nd tend to choose their words carefully. Similar to the 1st house placement, it’s excellent for Mercurial professions in general.
Mercury in the house of earned income and possessions gives the ability to earn the living through mercurial professions (writers, bloggers, public speakers, etc).
Mercury in the 3rd house
Awesome placement for writers and broadcasters! Gemini is the natural ruler of this house which makes this placement really strong. It’s all about skilful communication and ability to get your message across to a wide audience in a concise manner.
This cosmic energy is also excellent for science and IT industry (anything to do with coding and programming).
Those with Mercury in the 3rd love to study! They are a forever student type.
Mercury in the 4th house
This placement is excellent for working from home and a home business. It’s excellent for getting involved in the real estate as well. Those with Mercury in the 4th can really excel at selling property and real estate.
It’s very likely they love reading and cuddling up at home with a good book.
Mercury in the 5th house
This placement can affect love life quite a bit.
It can be really chaotic with myriad of partners and love interests.
Those with Mercury in the 5th love nothing more than having engaging conversations with their lovers. They select their partners based on their intellect first and foremost.
It’s an excellent placement for song writing and any type of creative writing.
Overall, this is a very exciting and joyful place to have Mercury!
Mercury in the 6th house
Mercury is the natural ruler of the 6th house, this is the house associated with the Zodiac sign of Virgo. Those with this placement are super intelligent and smart people.
More often than not they have a brilliant, inquisitive mind.
These people have the innate ability to perfect almost anything!
Those with Mercury in the 6th love their work routine and perform very well under pressure. They are ultimate workaholic and can work ridiculous hours.
On the flip side, this placement can cause a lot of anxiety and nervousness.
It’s vital to manage this energy with caution and avoid being too much of a perfectionist.
Mental health and physical fitness are super important for those with this Mercury placement.
Mercury in the 7th house
Those with Mercury in the 7th tend to pick their partners based on their intellect first and foremost.
Legal marriage is important. This placement can indicate multiple (more than one) legal marriages and numerous business partners.
This is an excellent placement for business people. Mercury here is a born salesman and diplomat. You can negotiate almost any deal if you have this placement.
Mercury in the 8th house
This is an excellent placement for any kind of research work. Mercury in the 8th house loves to dig deep and find out the deepest, darkest secrets. It’s a great placement for investigators and researchers of any kind.
Mercury in the 8th is also excellent for trading and investments. Those with this placement possess an innate financial intuition that goes way beyond a logical mind.
Mercury in the 9th house
Mercury is not functioning at its best in the 9th house as it forgets all about details and focuses exclusively on a bigger picture.
Those with this placement are fond of philosophy. They are big thinkers.
They love to communicate ideas and engage in exciting debates on various topics from politics to the latest gadget release.
On a negative side, they can be too self-cantered with narcissistic tendencies. They are extremely outspoken and don’t always hold back which often gets them into trouble.
It’s vital to balance out big ideas with down to earth, realistic plan of action with this placement.
Mercury in the 10th house
This is an excellent placement for public speakers and any profession connected with communication, speaking, and teaching.
Mercury in the 10th is perfect for a career as an youtuber, blogger or podcaster.
There is a great chance you can achieve great success in these new tech fields with this placement.
Mercury in the 11th house
If you have this placement, you are a unique, unconventional thinker. Don’t be afraid of you ideas that don’t seem to fit main stream narrative!
This placement helps to find common ground with lots of people from diverse walks of life.
There is no one you can’t talk to! You are a born social butterfly. Networking seems like a second nature to you.
Mercury in the 11th is also excellent for any type of humanitarian and social work.
Mercury in the 12th house
This is a rather tricky placement that can make you feel nervous and anxious in social settings and big crowds of people.
Engaging in art therapy is one of the best tools to handle social anxiety and desire to escape reality.
This is an excellent placement for writers, poets, and musicians.
Those with this placement need to have music in their lives to feel emotionally balanced and happy.
Make sure to meditate daily to ease anxiety and levels of mental stress.
Use this free Birth Chart calculator to create your Natal Chart in case you haven’t had a chance to get it yet.
N.B.: Remember that it’s ideal to have your EXACT time of birth on hand. Use 12 p.m. noon if you have no way to get this information. The best option, of course, is to get a personal reading with a professional astrologer who can provide birth-time rectification. Birth time and birthplace are crucial pieces of information for your Natal Chart, as they determine the unique position of the houses and planets that can help you understand transits and their impact on your personal journey.
