[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":66},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f1rwcg2cpyc5kr":3},{"entry":4,"path":55,"related":56},{"kind":5,"id":6,"status":7,"title":8,"subtitle":9,"intro":10,"seoDescription":11,"steckbrief":12,"relations":28,"sections":32,"faq":45},"planet","mercury","reviewed","Mercury","Thinking · Communication · Learning","Mercury is the messenger of the birth chart: it describes how a person thinks, speaks, learns and connects information. As the innermost and fastest planet it is never far from the Sun – thinking stays close to the essential core.","Mercury describes how you think, speak and learn – including retrograde Mercury, elements and symbolism. Find out where your Mercury is.",[13,16,19,22,25],{"label":14,"value":15},"Symbol","☿ – the caduceus",{"label":17,"value":18},"Rules","Gemini and Virgo",{"label":20,"value":21},"Sign change","roughly every 3–4 weeks",{"label":23,"value":24},"Orbit through the zodiac","roughly 1 year",{"label":26,"value":27},"Retrograde","3–4 times a year for about 3 weeks",{"rules":29},[30,31],"gemini","virgo",[33,36,39,42],{"heading":34,"body":35},"Meaning in the birth chart","Mercury shows the operating mode of the mind: whether someone associates quickly or checks thoroughly, thinks in images or in lists, likes to talk or prefers to write. Its sign describes the style of thinking and communicating, its house the area of life in which mental curiosity is especially active. Mercury is value-neutral – it is the tool, not the goal: a brilliant Mercury can enlighten or manipulate, connect or talk things to death. In interpretation it is worth looking at its interplay with other planets: Mercury–Moon links thinking and feeling, Mercury–Mars makes the tongue quick and sharp.",{"heading":37,"body":38},"Mercury in the elements","In air signs Mercury is in its element: thinking as exchange, fast and networked. In earth signs it thinks practically – knowledge counts when it can be applied. In fire signs it thinks enthusiastically and decisively: the thought wants to become action. In water signs it thinks associatively and empathetically – understanding happens through resonance, not argument. Misunderstandings between people are often Mercury differences: two kinds of mind talk past each other even though both are right.",{"heading":40,"body":41},"Retrograde Mercury","Three to four times a year Mercury appears retrograde as seen from Earth – notorious as a time of misunderstandings and technical hiccups. The more serious astrological reading is as a turning inward of thought: a phase in which rethinking, revising and picking things back up go better than starting afresh. In the birth chart a retrograde Mercury is not a weakness but a trait: such people often think in an inward-turned way, more thoroughly and more originally – they take a little longer to answer, and the answer then carries more weight.",{"heading":43,"body":44},"Symbolism & history","Mercury bears the name of the Roman messenger of the gods (Hermes in Greek): winged sandals, staff, go-between for gods and humans – and, on the side, god of merchants, orators and thieves. Mythology thus paints an honest picture of the mind: agile, witty, boundary-crossing, morally neutral. Its symbol unites circle, half-circle and cross – spirit, soul and matter, joined by the principle of translation. Mercury is the only planet that rules two signs: airy Gemini and earthy Virgo – thinking as networking and thinking as analysis.",[46,49,52],{"q":47,"a":48},"What does my Mercury sign mean?","It describes your style of thinking and communicating: how you learn, argue and express yourself. Since Mercury is never far from the Sun, it always sits in the Sun sign itself or in one of the two neighbouring signs.",{"q":50,"a":51},"Is a retrograde Mercury in the birth chart bad?","No. Roughly one person in five is born with Mercury retrograde – it points to an inward-directed, thorough way of thinking that goes its own way instead of parroting conventions.",{"q":53,"a":54},"Why is Mercury considered a “neutral” planet?","Mercury takes on the colouring of its surroundings: sign, house and aspects determine how its principle – thinking and mediating – is expressed. It is the how of the mind, not the what of convictions.","\u002Fen\u002Fplanets\u002Fmercury\u002F",[57,60,63],{"title":58,"path":59},"Gemini","\u002Fen\u002Fzodiac-signs\u002Fgemini\u002F",{"title":61,"path":62},"Virgo","\u002Fen\u002Fzodiac-signs\u002Fvirgo\u002F",{"title":64,"path":65},"Im Tarot: The Magician","\u002Fen\u002Ftarot\u002Fcards\u002Fthe-magician\u002F",1793051119221]