Chapter 5

Chapter 5 The intellectual mind (mercury)

Illustration: Tahnee Kelland

The personal planets

The Sun and Moon together with the Ascendant are what we call the Primal Triad in Evolutionary Astrology, making up the internal core of who we are through all planes of existence. The personal planets permeate into our lives in the way we perceive and communicate through Mercury, to experience balance, security and harmony through Venus, and to learn to passionately assert ourselves and pioneer forward through Mars. These three planets, like the Sun and Moon, cycle through the solar system in a steady rhythm, so they can dramatically change depending on when throughout the year we are born. These planets form the steady foundation from which we navigate the greater transformative lessons of the outer planets.

As they are in such close proximity to the Sun (ego), the personal planets fl avour what we bring into our most intimate relationships. They are like a mirror, refl ecting back information about ourselves for our highest evolution, whether the mind considers it good or bad. It starts with the inside, our integration with Self and our place, before we can be of service to others and the collective in the greater sense.

Mercury

As we go about our daily life, the processing of information through the consciousness and within the brain is constant. As long as we exist within the realm of form, we are dancing in a world of information. This part of us, the level of consciousness associated with the logical and intellectual mind, is truly emphasised, researched and harnessed within our modern-day, technology-driven and fast-paced world.

Mercury is the longing to understand something, to process something intellectually and to then have the information. Western schooling systems emphasise the memorisation of facts and information through the brain, over felt and integrated learning experiences through the senses. We must fi rst understand, grasp and know, but then we must also know when to let go of the mind and embody the information on the deepest level for it to become a true part of us. This is why we call it “knowing it by heart”.

Mercury is the ruler of Gemini on the level of the mind and Virgo on the level of everyday structure and rhythm. It is the closest planet to the Sun within

Mercury

Getty Images Illustrations: “The man who thinks that he is receiving a response to his prayers does not know that the fulfi lment comes from his own nature, that he has succeeded by the mental attitude of prayer in waking up a bit of his infi nite power which is coiled up within himself”

— Swami Vivekananda, Raja Yoga.

our solar system, therefore making its rotation the fastest and its emphasis within our lives a constant. No matter what, we must fi rst learn and understand new conceptual knowledge and skill through the mind. The part we most often skip in current times is the embodiment and mastery of the information on the level of the Soul.

By myth, Mercury was the “Messenger of the Gods”. He would travel from one God to the next and pass on information. He was quite the trickster, delighting in delivering twisted messages for his own enjoyment and fun, showing the chatty, fi ckle and mischievous energy of Mercury. With Mercury, we are dealing with our logical mind and the way we perceive, gather and process information. The full integration happens when we also express the information back out again.

It is the unique way we take in any information through learning, talking, teaching, writing, comprehending, networking, transporting and exchanging. We are currently living in a very Mercurial age of the constant processing of information at accelerated speeds. It acts as the constant witness, processing through unfi ltered and raw perception and, therefore, can be felt as quite mechanical by design. Often within our culture, the past is what fi lters our perception as long as we are living in stress and, in turn, closing off from the heart.

Embodiment

Staying in complete awareness of our own perception in a balanced way can occur when we learn to process information in a mind-bodycoherent way. A simple practice to bring into your everyday life is a breathwork technique of slowing and elongating the breath in and out of the nose, while stilling the physical body. We can speed up our vibration through concentrating all attention within and, in turn, become more magnetic to the universe. When we are clear on what it is we deeply want, the mind can work in assistance rather than in the driver’s seat.

While listening to others, going about your daily routine, or sitting at home with a cup of tea, stay with your breath. This will start to bring more awareness to other centres in the body for processing, not only the mind. When we can realise that not every thought is a thought to be true, we are freed from the potential of being enslaved to the fl uctuating mind. Through remaining aware of the rhythm of the breath and how it feels within the body, we can slow thoughts, processing and expressing in a more embodied way.

By sign

Mercury by sign fl avours our learning style, basic perception of life, what we tend to pick up on in the immediate environment and what kinds of concerns may occupy the mind. In air signs, Mercury may express as fl ighty or objective, quick to share what is on the mind. In water signs, there may be a deeper and more mysterious quality where not everything that is running through the mind is shared. Your Mercury sign will either be the same as the sign before or after your Sun sign, because of the close proximity of its transit to the Sun. Once you discover your Mercury sign, I invite you to fl ick back to chapter one and immerse yourself in that archetype, keeping in mind the fl avour of Mercury as the way you communicate with the world around you.

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Thinking and communication style by Mercury sign:

MERCURY IN ARIES Light — high energy, edgy and to the point. Shadow — tendency to be blunt, abrasive and impatient.

MERCURY IN GEMINI Light — creative, versatile in mind and unique. Shadow — fl ighty, superfi cial and too intellectual.

MERCURY IN TAURUS Light — embodied through the senses, practical and deliberate. Shadow — slow moving, stubborn and complacent.

MERCURY IN CANCER Light — gentle, intuitive and sentimental. Shadow — moody, overly sensitive and avoidant (non-confrontational).

MERCURY IN LEO Light — confi dent, creative and heart-centred. Shadow — overly idealistic, dramatic and approval seeking.

MERCURY IN LIBRA Light — kind, harmonising and diplomatic. Shadow — indecisive, fi ckle and lacking in follow-through with relationships.

MERCURY IN SAGITTARIUS Light — optimistic, forward thinking and visionary. Shadow — restless, impatient and painfully strong in beliefs.

MERCURY IN AQUARIUS Light — quick, quirky and radical in mind. Shadow — argumentative, detached and misunderstood.

MERCURY IN VIRGO Light — thorough, reliable and embodied in their sense of direction and rhythm. Shadow — highly strung, Self-critical and perfectionistic toward Self and/or others.

MERCURY IN SCORPIO Light — deep, observant and passionate. Shadow — judgemental, jealous and suspicious.

MERCURY IN CAPRICORN Light — resourceful, dedicated and concise (no frills). Shadow — skeptical, authoritarian and overly infl exible.

MERCURY IN PISCES Light — gentle in communication, poetic and imaginative. Shadow — overly unrealistic, impractical and non-confrontational.

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