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Zodiac 101: What Your Mercury Sign Says About How To Get Your Voice Heard
Astrologers
By The AstroTwins
Astrologers
Ophira and Tali Edut, known as the AstroTwins, are professional astrologers based out of New York and Seattle. Their work has been featured in The New York Times, Elle Magazine, Vogue and Good Morning America and they are the authors AstroStyle, Love Zodiac, Shoestrology, and Momstrology.
April 11, 2018
Do you get straight to the point—or do you prefer to "workshop" an idea for weeks after opinion-polling all your friends? Are you more productive working solo, or do you need to collaborate? Mercury signs in the chart reveal our mental process, how we digest information, and our most effective ways of communicating. Mercury (along with Venus) also influences your social style, friendships, and the people you click with.
Speedy Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun. It’s the celestial messenger and "news bureau" of the cosmos, breaking down and disseminating solar-powered intel and spreading it through the galaxy. And with Mercury traveling retrograde through brash, me-first Aries from March 22 to April 15, 2018, the trickster planet could mix up our messages—making this as fine a time as any to familiarize ourselves with our communication styles! (Unless Mercury is in a much-hyped retrograde phase, the quicksilver planet usually takes about three to four weeks to travel through a single sign.)
The zodiac sign Mercury was traveling through when you were born is your Mercury sign. Knowing your Mercury sign—and other people’s—can help you express your thoughts in the most digestible way possible. It’s not only WHAT you say but HOW you say it. It can also help you create a work process where you can focus, get in the zone, and create!
Calculate your natal chart to find your Mercury sign. Then read on to learn more about what it means.
Mercury in Aries (or the 1st House):
You tend to:
- Think on the fly, always having "a-ha” moments
- Speak without thinking
- Prefer quick, bite-size ideas
- Be in the moment—you don’t dwell on the past or get nostalgic
- Think independently ("Don’t tell me what to do!")
- Be fearless about expressing unpopular opinions
- Like to be "first"
- Enjoy trends and all things new…but lose interest just as quickly
- Thrive on dopamine-driven challenges
- Interrupt or talk over people, dominate conversations
- Sometimes sound like you’re bragging or being egotistical
- Love pulling off the impossible and proving the haters wrong!
How you might best process information:
- Quick, bite-size bullet points
- With the promise of excitement and adventure ("OMG! You have to hear about this new idea!")
Productivity tips:
- Make projects and goals into challenges to stoke your competitive side.
- Reserve the right to do some part of a project "your way."
- Quickly determine "what’s in it for me?"
- Work in short sprints with a clear win when you complete a task.
- Never do anything out of obligation.
Mercury in Taurus (or the 2nd House):
You tend to:
- Be a common-sense person
- Evaluate ideas for their "return on investment"
- Work best in a predictable, secure environment
- Need proof that an idea will work
- Trust ideas that are time-tested rather than trendy and experimental
- Have a strong innate sense of what will work visually, aesthetically
- Manage people well when there’s a clear system to follow
- Be a little too "just the facts" for some people
- Prefer to talk about your thoughts, not your feelings
- Need to see it to believe it
- Like to have a clear action plan: What do you need to DO?
- Enjoy feeling productive and achieving small tasks and steps that get you to your greatest goal
- Like to systematically work through a to-do list
- Can be resistant to change and new ideas
- Dislike diverging from routine or plan
How you might best process information:
- With clear, step-by-step instructions
- Through concrete evidence (Taurus rules the physical/material world)
- When you understand what the clear desired outcome is
Productivity tips:
- Create an "operations manual" for your work (and life!). Make a binder with step-by-step instructions for how to do essential tasks, operate all the equipment, etc. Put important contact information and logins there. Having it all in one place will make your efficient Mercury swoon.
- Break larger goals into smaller steps and put them on a calendar.
Mercury in Gemini (or the 3rd House):
Mercury is in its "home" sign in Gemini (and Virgo)
You tend to:
- Be a quick talker and thinker
- Speed through books, articles, information; chat and process it in half the time
- Get bored easily
- Crave variety
- Want to know "why" about everything
- Ask lots of questions
- Talk with your hands or be an animated speaker
- Exaggerate or tell colorful stories
- Be a walking Google search engine (trivia and fact machine)
- Be the "talkative one" at the office or the "idea person"
- Learn through interactive or multimedia systems
- Devour media and mini-courses (books, articles, podcasts)
- Be great at small talk, icebreakers, light conversation
- Have a clever and creative use of language
- Lack patience for overly abstract or philosophical ideas
- Can be a great teacher, trainer, or presenter—great at distilling information
How you might best process information:
- Through quick, get-to-the-point bullets
- With clever turns of phrase
- Through multimedia, chat, and text
- Through printed matter: Magazines and books could be your favorite collectible,
Productivity tips:
- Got to frequent classes, workshops, and discussion groups.
- Make learning social and interactive—dinner salon and teach-in, anyone?
- Don't try to turn every hobby or interest into a career—but do cultivate your talents to satisfy your appetite for variety.
- Think in "contrasts" to play to your dual nature—rotate between two projects that use totally different parts of your mind.
- Find your "Twin": Have a study buddy or accountability partner.
Mercury in Cancer (or the 4th House):
You tend to:
- Be sensitive to others' feelings and needs in a group—the office "mom"
- Take things personally
- Have a high emotional intelligence
- Worry and obsess about security
- Be a nurturer who always asks how everyone is doing
- Feel insecure or self-conscious about opening at first
- Treat feelings like facts
- Bond through conversation
- Be interested in people's desires and motives
- Take on too much then bottle up resentment
- Expect people to "just know" how you feel
- Need comfort and reassurance, especially before sharing something personal
- Don’t trust or open up easily
- Lean heavily on family or a small group of lifelong friends
- May be resistant to change and surprising curveballs
How you might best process information:
- When it’s presented with a personal touch—and introduced gently
- Through your emotions and intuition
- In a safe, comfortable space where you feel free to say anything
Productivity tips:
- Keep your "support squad" nearby to cheer you on (and up).
- Have all your creature comforts around—snacks, comfy clothes, tea, music.
- Get up and move! Emotions can get "stuck" in your body, or you may deal with stress by eating heavy foods that make you feel tired and drained. From yoga to short walks to regular workouts, exercise can keep you balanced.
Mercury in Leo (or the 5th House):
You tend to:
- Love big, bold ideas that are delivered with a creative flourish
- Thrive on a challenge, especially if it’s fun
- Have a strong sense of color and design
- Create a sense of camaraderie
- Be the "loud one" in the group
- Need undivided attention when you speak
- Crave the spotlight or an audience
- Unafraid to crow about your accomplishments or share from the heart
- Can move people deeply with your storytelling gifts
- Need to watch a tendency to be self-referencing ("now, back to me…")
- Be fiercely protective of people you love, "roar" on their behalf
- Courageously champion a cause or project you believe in
- Encourage, motivate, and support—you’re the cheerleader of the bunch
- Express ideas through storytelling, artistic flair, putting on a show with all the bells and whistles
- May be drawn to drama—watch that time at the water cooler!
- Unconsciously subject people to loyalty tests
- Get really, REALLY excited about everything at first
How you might best process information:
- When it’s presented with fun and play
- Through storytelling, visuals, and personal examples—especially ones you can relate to yourself
Productivity tips:
- Get regular doses of vitamin F (Fun). Make work into a game to keep yourself motivated. The bigger and bling-ier the prizes, the better!
- Find your "tribe"—like a lion, you need your pride of loyal people who you can champion, protect, and bond with.
- Dodge drama. There’s a fine line between exciting adventures and time-wasting distractions. Watch where you direct your attention, as you can get pulled into soap operas that suck your time and energy.
Mercury in Virgo (or the 6th House):
Mercury is in its "home" sign in Virgo (and Gemini)
You tend to:
- Be a linear or systematic thinker
- Want to plan and schedule everything
- Want to know "how stuff works"
- Be technical or a craftsperson
- Love mastery, will obsess for years to improve your technique
- Be a perfectionist
- Notice every flaw, typo, error (even the subtle ones everyone else misses)
- Want to know "why"
- Crave order and efficiency—everything in its place
- Be super-focused when you’re working
- Love all the tiniest details
- Have a soft spot for animals, plants, nature
- Have an affinity for all things "crunchy"
How you might best process information:
- With data, facts and figures…but also when it relates to human nature
- When it’s simplified and to the point
Productivity tips:
- Geek out! Set up your space with all your materials, tools, books, etc.
- Surround yourself with other smart people—brains equal beauty!
- Always have something to strive for—you love to constantly improve yourself, so having a "stretch goal" keeps you inspired.
Mercury in Libra (or the 7th House):
You tend to:
- Be diplomatic and gracious
- Dislike conflict (and even go to lengths to avoid it)
- Take forever to make a decision or even figure out how you really feel about a topic
- Hate to argue
- Change your mind all the time
- Get a reputation as flaky or indecisive because of it!
- Overschedule and double-book
- Procrastinate while you internally weigh the pros and cons
- Work hard to figure out what everyone needs
- Look for the common victory and agenda
- Play both sides, try to please everyone
- Be easily influenced by other people’s ideas and opinions
- Need to make sure everyone is "on the same page"
- Crave support and thrive when you have a grounded, sensible person as your sounding board
How you might best process information:
- Through dialogue! In a give-and-take or back-and-forth discussion.
- By understanding how an idea will affect not only you but the other people around you
Productivity tips:
- Think "dynamic duos." Libra rules relationship and pairs, so you thrive using the buddy system.
- Work with a coach or mentor who can keep you on track when you get off-balance.
Mercury in Scorpio (or the 8th House):
You tend to:
- Do nothing halfway
- Deep-dive into concentration and intense bursts of productivity
- Love puzzles, solving problems, figuring out how things work
- Enjoy working behind the scenes
- Need to feel powerful and like you're having an impact
- Come up with deep and transformational ideas
- Want to know the hierarchy and hidden network of relationships in a group
- Sometimes feel like you’re "too much" or "too deep" for people
- Be supersensitive to the energy and unspoken power dynamics in a space—you can "read a room"
- Absorb people’s moods and vibes
- Be drawn to mystical and spiritual topics
- Pick up on subtleties in others’ body language and tone (but can be a little paranoid)
- Be the "intuitive one" or the oracle on the team
- Have a fascination with human development, transformation, psychology, the inner workings of the mind and spirit
- Read people’s minds (and may expect others to read yours)
How you might best process information:
- When left alone to absorb information uninterrupted
- If a little is left to mystery for you to solve or discover
- When you feel like an "insider" getting the secret inside scoop!
Productivity tips:
- Tune out distractions—laserbeam Scorpio needs to focus, so carve out a sacred space where you can work uninterrupted
- Find other obsessive people to work around. Because you dive in so deep, you can get isolated. Having productive energy in your space keeps you flowing and motivated.
- Take breaks. You can easily get lost in your work and forget to come up for air, which can plunge you into dark moods. Force yourself to stop, have fun, and interact!
Mercury in Sagittarius (or the 9th House):
You tend to:
- Love big, bold ideas with a major impact
- Take risks and leaps of faith—but can also leap without looking
- Enjoy multitasking or having a variety of different projects going on
- Be fiercely independent about your opinions and ideas—nobody tells YOU what to think or believe!
- Have a hard time sitting still and concentrating
- Might be interested in learning new languages
- Love grand ideals, world-changing visions, and metaphysical topics
- Get everyone pumped about the grand vision behind your ideas
- Prefer to "beg for forgiveness than ask permission"
- Get really excited about a lot of things, but can "sizzle and fizzle"
- Exaggerate wildly, overpromise, overshoot the mark
- Be funny and may use physical comedy to share an idea
- Have a lot of irons in the fire
- Can be naive, gullible, or too starry-eyed
- Get along with a diverse, eclectic group of people
- Put your foot in your mouth, speak without thinking, blurt tactless comments
- Push the envelope of appropriateness
- Be a great motivational speaker, personal development whiz, or coach
- Love reading, learning, and hearing new ideas
- Be a consummate entrepreneur
How you might best process information:
- When you know what the "big idea" behind it is
- In a "laugh and learn" way—fun and humor must be part of the equation
- When you can do it on your terms, your time, and in YOUR way
Productivity tips:
- Be a lifelong learner: Take lots of classes, join discussion groups, make life into a fun study hall (Sagittarius rules universities and higher learning).
- Travel! With Mercury in this global sign, combine learning with retreats.
- Have a defined purpose. When you know WHY you’re doing something and feel connected to the vision, you’re unstoppable.
Mercury in Capricorn (or the 10th House):
You tend to:
- Like a clear, simple plan without fluff or frills
- Be a get-to-the-point person who likes facts more than feelings
- Process your emotions in a linear way
- Be interested in history and traditions
- Get obsessively ambitious and driven about your goals
- Think, speak, and even act like a CEO or leader—even when you’re starting out as an intern
- Enjoy taking on responsibility and rise through the ranks
- Dislike distractions and divergences from your goals
- Come across as harsh and officious at times, even imperious and condescending
- Prefer to work "alone and in the zone"
- Make everyone else look like slackers
- Play the role of provider, enjoy encouraging and mentoring younger people—you have an eye for that "diamond in the rough"
- Be obsessed with hierarchies and power structures
- Enjoy speaking with older, wiser, and more experienced people
How you might best process information:
- In a linear, structured way that makes sense
- As part of a larger system—how does this fit into the big-picture goal?
- When it’s presented with a long-range view: What’s the five- or 10-year plan?
Productivity tips:
- Identify the big goal and reverse-engineer your action steps. How long will it take, and what do you need to DO to get there?
- Reward yourself. You tend to sacrifice and go, go, go until you burn out. Make it a nonnegotiable to treat yourself to some earthly pleasures as a payoff for your hard work!
- Have a "bucket list" investment—put a portion of your profits or paychecks toward it, whether it’s a dream trip, owning a home, or creating a college fund for the kids.
Mercury in Aquarius (or the 11th House):
You tend to:
- Be witty, entertaining, and the "class clown" type
- …or be the mad-scientist geek of the group with innovative and out-there ideas
- Be social, friendly, and a great team player—collaborations are your jam
- Occasionally shock people with radical views or spontaneous moves
- Work best in groups of open-minded and out-of-the-box thinkers
- Opinion-poll your crew for feedback regularly
- Be a people-pleaser who tries too hard to make everyone happy or create consensus
- Play the role of "mayor" or politician in groups
- Integrate technology into your work and learning process
How you might best process information:
- When you’re able to run it by your trusted circle and get their feedback
- Through multimedia or technology
- When you’re allowed to step back from your emotions and evaluate objectively
- When there’s an idealistic or humanitarian cause attached to it
Productivity tips:
- Create a mastermind! Aquarius is the sign of groups, and you thrive in collaborative settings.
- Incentivize yourself by giving back. Donate a portion of your profits to charity, hire women in developing countries to stimulate the global economy, use ethically sourced materials. When you’re clear that an idea will benefit the world at large, you’ll be extra motivated.
- Get out of isolation. If you’re an entrepreneur, rent space at a co-working office so you can be around people.
Mercury in Pisces (or the 12th House):
You tend to:
- Get absorbed in your thoughts and creativity and lose track of time
- Treat feelings as facts, blur the line between thoughts and emotions
- Meander from the point rather than communicate in a linear, bulleted way
- Be a dreamy, abstract thinker—you may think in visuals or have a hard time articulating ideas verbally
- Need unstructured time for creative visualization and "downloading"
- Rebel against too much rigid scheduling—the quantum field is your playground
- Want to help people
- Have a bleeding heart and get trapped listening to people’s sob stories
- Listen for "How will this benefit the world or someone in need?"
- Absorb other people’s energy and emotion from what they’re saying—clear yourself with sage, crystals, or water
- Lapse into a victim mentality and feel helpless, overwhelmed, or unable to handle it
- Need lots of support and reassurance through your emotional ups and downs
How you might best process information:
- With music, poetry, visuals, and artistic touches
- Working in a beautiful, serene, and spiritual setting—out in nature or in your favorite peaceful sanctuary
- Learning in a safe space where you can ask questions and not be made to feel "stupid" for not getting it right away
Productivity tips:
- Let yourself "sleep on it"—literally! Pisces rules dreams and the subconscious, and your mind will digest and integrate ideas while you rest.
- Meditate, either with a guided recording or in a sacred space you create.
- Make a vision board so you can capture ideas through pictures.
- "Show, don’t tell"—people may not understand your ideas when you simply talk about them.
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