Mercury

The planet Mercury represents the winged messenger in mythology. In Astrology, its role is quite similar: this speedy planet is the great purveyor of information. Mercury rules all things related to language and data. This includes so many things; ranging from foreign languages to programming, airline schedules to the way the stock market operates. This is why when the planet turns retrograde, things start breaking down and getting mixed up worldwide. You've probably heard someone at some point ask, "nothing went right today - is Mercury retrograde?" Fortunately, the retrograde periods of Mercury are only intermittent; otherwise, nothing would ever get done.

Mercury is a very important planet in one's personal birth chart. It delineates how the mind operates and can also give clues to a person's intellectual ability. When Mercury is afflicted in a natal chart, it can make the native prone to making poor decisions, lack decision-making capacity, suffer from a variety of mental health challenges, and even be subject to depression and anxiety. Mercury's placement is important for dictating how effectively one can achieve their objectives in life through problem-solving and intellectual capacity. A strong Mercury tends to make someone very "cerebral" and rely on their mind to advance them far in life. These people are almost always drawn to careers in IT, data science, law, media, politics, and other intellectual pursuits.

This is not a planet one tends to look at for personal transits to the birth chart often, as it is transient, moves very quickly, and never strays more than a full sign away from the position of the Sun in the sky. Depending on retrograde periods, it will do a complete revolution of all twelve signs of the zodiac in 11 to 13 months each year, dancing a strange, seemingly erratic waltz near the Sun.

Considered to be one of the "personal" planets, understanding Mercury's position is vital for getting a sense of how the rest of the planets in a birth chart can most effectively express themselves. As stated above, someone with an afflicted Mercury may have all the gifts and talents in the world, but they will not have an outlet for the expression of these gifts if they cannot work through the issues surrounding this planet first.

Mercury is ruled by the sign Gemini and feels most at home in the third house.