Mercury is how we think. Mercury is not "What Mercury Sign is the Smartest?" We can all agree there are different kinds of smarts. This is where Mercury comes into play. It's also how we learn, how we communicate, and how we think.
Mercury-Sun aspects: Please see Sun aspects blog.
Mercury-Moon aspects: Please see the previous "Moon aspects" blogs.
Mercury-Venus aspects: These combine Venus/Love with Mercury/Communication and Learning. In general, these aspects produce someone who is charming, sociable, and idealistic. Sometimes too idealistic, especially with regards to love. These are people who whisper "Sweet Nothings." They are flirts; they like to flirt either via verbally or on Facebook/Twitter/MySpace. ( Who goes on MySpace anymore? ) Think of love letters, poems, love e-mails, expressing their love verbally. They are people who can easily say "I love you." Whether they mean it or not is debatable and depends on the person saying it.
Another way this can manifest is someone who loves to talk. They find beauty in learning and education. They love to learn. They may go to school to become human relations majors. They dislike to argue in friendship and romances. These people are cooperative, right brained, and artistic. In school, they may have liked English ( poetry ), art or anything related to communication or how to relate to other people. They are likable bosses.
Loves to talk during sex. These people are attracted romantically to those who are cooperative, easy going, and intelligent. Or having two of the three qualities. Communication is key to these peoples relations.
Mercury-Mars aspects: These people have sharp tongues, whether they have the soft aspects ( sextile trine ) or the intense aspect ( conj ) or the stressful ones ( square, opp or quincunx ). Mars is quick, action-oriented and driven and Mercury is communication and thinking style.
People with Mercury-Mars aspects are hands on, interactive learners. They do not always learn well by passively listening, UNLESS there are other factors ( like Mercury-Saturn for example ). People with these aspects are quick thinkers, witty and smart, but they might not always have the focus to get good grades in school. They are good debaters and if shy, enjoy debating online where they are anonymous. Teachers with this aspect might get impatient with their students and might assume they learn the material as quickly as they did.
In some cases, this is an indication of quick learning, but also an indication that they may not enjoy long text books, but things that are short and to the point. These people's communication is short and to the point.
Their communication is direct and sometimes they are too blunt. The squares will indicate someone who is not focuses enough and is too blunt to the point of being harsh. The conj has a similar effect, but not necessarily negative. The sextile/trine produces someone who is blunt, but not overtly so.
These are people who do not sugar coat things. They tell it like it is, but how harsh they tell it is depending upon what Mars-Mercury aspect they have and the rest of their charts. Someone with a Mercury-Mars in Libra or Pisces will be honest and to the point, but is a little nicer about it than someone with Sagittarius or Aries.
Mercury-Jupiter aspects: Produces a scholarly person; someone who loves to learn and extending their education. In fact, Jupiter is extention and higher education, and Mercury is learning and communicating. Jupiter expands learning and education. If these people can't go to school, learning is just as good as going to the library and we can not forget all the .org sources we have on the internet. There is always a way to learn. These people are life long learners and they highly value learning and education. They value the seeking of the truth.
In their younger years or in college, they might have issues picking up the details. These people are very broad minded and tolerant; they like to discuss. This is especially true with the square, conj, trine and sextile. WIth the opposition, we have someone who is either detail oriented or broad minded. They can not find a happy medium between the two. The square may produce someone who may not be focused at times and communication/learning is too vague and broad. They have a hard time seeing the details. The sextile and trine produces a broad mind, but there is not a conflict here.
All the aspects might promote someone who is prone to exaggerate just to get a reaction. Not all but some.
Likes to learn about philosophy, sociology, anthropology, foreign cultures, etc. There is an interest in broadening the mind and broadening communication. Their communication is flexible and open minded. They can deal with people of various cultures and backgrounds.
When doing a project or term paper for school, these people do best when they have a broad range of things they can research and talk about. With few limitations.
Mercury-Saturn aspects: This is a good placement for anyone who requires extensive research for school or work. In fact, this is a good placement for anyone who wants to go on and get their Master's or Ph.D. Saturn is all about what is important and it;s all about discipline. You need discipline to get that far in your education.
These are focused thinkers and learners. They are detail oriented and do not like when things get fuzzy. These are the students who like to know WHAT they are learning and WHEN they need to learn it by. They do not like broad projects ( unless they have a Jupiter-Mercury aspect too, or Mercury-Uranus aspect ) where everything is open ended. They need rules and structure to do well in school. These are also the students who are perfectionists in school. They are over-achievers.
These people study hard and are disciplined. Good placement for math and science. This is not a good placement for art in most cases, but if they have a Mercury-Venus aspect, or Moon-Venus aspect, or Neptune-Mercury, or Neptune-Venus, their art work can be more CONCRETE and realistic, or they put a lot of importance to their art work.
Communication is to the point, but they like their words and details. Left brained communicators and thinkers. Not charismatic or lively speakers; they like their facts and figures. Not fond of public speaking, but it is something they can improve.
Mercury-Uranus aspects: Some people say these are the "genius" aspects. I will say that Mercury-Uranus can produce someone who is highly intelligent, but whether there is the drive or focus to do anything concrete or substantial is dependent upon other factors. Mercury-Uranus may show an intellectual, but does not show success academically or in the real world. If you want to look at it from an astrological perspective.
These people love to learn, much like Mercury-Jupiter aspects. In fact, they are open minded about anything they learn. They like to learn anything that is out of the ordinary or things that not many people study. However, with Uranus ( masses ) there could be an interest in Urban Studies, Anthropology, or more importantly, Sociology. These are people who like to "people watch" and analyze people objectively.
Mercury-Uranus is quick-witted, easily learns, and objective, but they are able to think outside of the box and are creative and innovative. Uranus is flexible; there could be interest in math or science, or in the social sciences or arts. Either way, they learn easily and have fun while learning. However, on the downside, Uranus is erratic and these people may not be focused.
The conj, trine and sextile produces someone who is learns easily, intellectual, and objective, but the square and opp might produce someone whose thinking is intellectual, but lazy, erratic and non-focused.
A broad project with few limitations will help these people do the best, like in a paper or anything related to school. Let them brainstorm, instead of giving them fixed rules and regulations.
Mercury-Neptune aspects: These peoples strength comes from creativity. They don't like to be stuck doing a project with rules and regulations; they want to be inspired and do a project with no limitations. ( Similar to Mercury-Jupiter and Mercury-Uranus ). Art projects and creative writing projects are good for these people. Mercury-Neptune aspects are good indication of someone who is good at writing, more specifically poetry or writing fantasy novels. They are highly imaginative and sometimes like to live in their own little worlds. ( This can be problematic in 5th grade math class though ).
It is unwise to say that these people would not be good at math and science. In fact, quite the opposite might be true for many people with Mercury-Neptune aspects. ( Some might be bad at math and others excellent at math ). Neptune does not have boundaries, so you might find someone with any of these aspects who is excellent at math and science, but would prefer ( or has more fun ) writing or drawing. Like Jupiter, Neptune is flexible, and these people might be "jack of all trades but master of none."
The soft aspects indicate someone who is creative, intuitive, and imaginative. They learn best in creative environments. The stressful aspects indicate someone who is still creative and imaginative, but lacks focus, discipline and is too dreamy.
Communication might be vague, so working on the details is probably a good thing.
Mercury-Pluto aspects: With Mercury-Pluto, there is an interest in probing peoples minds and actions. So we can infer there is an interest in psychology, but there could also be an interest in sociology, anthropology, history, ancient cultures, the taboo, sexuality, and crime. Their minds are investigative and know that there are things beneath the surface. They strongly dislike superficial thinking and attitudes.
Good placement for someone who takes their education seriously. Their education and learning is of great importance and they place a value on it. This is not someone who throws in the towel early if they fail Statistics.
Good placement for research or even anything related to Biology or Microbiology. AIDS research. Cancer research.
These people are not fans of small talk. They dislike superficial small talk and would rather have intense conversations relating to the taboo,death, politics, psychology, or people in general. They like to get to the bottom of things. They like to talk about death or religion.
Squares or oppositions can be indicative of someone who is a manipulative and mean communicator. They can be cruel and know how to get what they want from people.
