Mercury: your mind and voice
Mercury is the planet of thinking, talking, learning and travel. Its sign in your chart shows how you think and communicate, from quick and witty to careful and deep.
The full deep dive
The planet itself
Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, goes round it in just 88 days. Because it never strays far from the Sun, your Mercury is always in the same sign as your Sun or one either side. Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo.
What it means in your chart
Mercury describes how your mind works: how you take in information, solve problems, speak and write. It also covers short journeys, siblings, neighbours, and buying and selling.
By element
- Fire signs: quick, enthusiastic, decisive thinkers.
- Earth signs: practical, careful, thorough thinkers.
- Air signs: curious, sociable, logical thinkers.
- Water signs: intuitive, imaginative, feeling thinkers.
Good to know
About three times a year Mercury appears to move backwards for around three weeks. See Retrograde planets.
See also The planets in your chart.
Sources and perspectives
- Robert Hand, Planets in Transit
- Stephen Arroyo, Astrology, Psychology and the Four Elements