Overview of Mercury Energy

Essential Dignities

Mercury rules two signs – Gemini, its masculine face, and Virgo, its feminine face.

It is the fastest moving planet with the closest proximity to and quickest orbit around the sun – thus it represents the speed of thought. Thoughts move much faster than we can verbalize them, and studies have even shown that most people have over 6,000 separate thoughts per day.

This also means that Mercury goes retrograde more frequently than any other planet (3 – 4 times per year) meaning that it appears, from our perspective here on Earth, to take on a backward motion through the cosmos and backtracks through the sign(s) it most recently traversed. 

Mercury is also known as the messenger of the gods, taking on the archetypes of the teacher and the storyteller – both of which are inextricably intertwined with speaking and language. Mercury is communication. Data in, data out. Processing information and input.

Mercury itself represents a mirror, showing you exactly what is. No bias. No agenda. Just what is. No person is a perfect mirror containing no biases – we can’t help it! That’s because our natal planets are each in signs, and our natal Mercury placement tells us how we pay attention. The sign and house where our natal Mercury is located tells us how, when, and why we are wired to pay attention. Each of us takes in the world through our own unique filter, and Mercury can help us understand that “data in” lens.

Before we speak, we learn. That is the path of Mercury.