Budha - Mercury

“The most excellently formed, of metaphoric speech, and taking pleasure in laughter is Mercury, having Pitta, having Kapha, O’ Twice Born, and of Vata nature.”

The higher Mercury is the God of discrimination, and the capacity of the mind to be fair and balanced. The lower Mercury can drain our mental energy through over stimulation and trivia, leaving us unable to recognize the important details to focus on and strengthen. Mercury is discrimination, for either good or bad. Proper discrimination implies neutrality; such is the nature of Mercury. This neutrality can lead to a disconnected, ungrounded intellect or one prone to bad influences.  His nature is also to play, be curious and experiment, as it is through these activities that we hone our skills and through proper speech and clear communication that we are able to manifest something tangible from them. He governs the detail-oriented nature of the mind. Mercury shows if we will become ensnared in the details or organize them into a paradigm of truth, which leads to our freedom. As the minister, Mercury is the closest advisor to the king.  Mercury is also the planet closest to the Sun and thus, the closest to our deeper soul nature. It is Mercury who interprets and constructs our worldly life experiences into the story of our life and tells the Soul what is happening and why it is happening the way it is. In ancient cultures, the minister was the most important functionary in the kingdom, because it was he who had the king’s ear. This is also true today. (think of the vice president or Karl Rove in our current Government or the most influential political advisor’s in past governments) Thus when Mercury is positively influenced we make decisions that take us closer to truth, when he is negatively influenced we make bad decisions. His flexible and neutral quality is what allows us to stay open minded to things we have not yet considered, and thus evolve beyond our past conditioning and influences, considering new options and possibilities. But this neutrality can be very dangerous if under bad influence, undermining the long term growth in our kingdom.      

Keywords: Speech and communication, skills, intellect, dexterity, equanimity, neutrality, curiosity, playfulness, in-laws

Exalted in Virgo. In the dual earth sign of Virgo, Mercury is best able to express his neutral yet grounded and consistent nature. The most troubling quality of Mercury is his ungroundedness and capacity to live simply for stimulation and play. The serious and practical nature of Virgo aligns the flexible nature of Mercury with a worthy goal and psychology of improvement through responsible action. This elevates Mercury and allows his detail-oriented nature to focus on what is worthy, rather than simply on what is stimulating or fun. 

Debilitated in Pisces. In dual earth Pisces Mercury is in a dreamy, water sign, ungrounded and prone to escapism and fantasy. In this case the details of life become confused. If life is like a business, then Mercury is like the accountant. We want the accountant basing the budget and balancing the books based on numbers only, not on dreams and fantasy projections and hopes. Mercury in Pisces is like the accountant is on drugs, or playing video games, or telling you that there is enough money to pay the bills because he hopes this big thing is going to work out, or just the reverse. In either case, the story becomes unclear, inconsistent and not grounded in tangible reality.       

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