Mercury conjunct Mars in Pisces

Mercury in Pisces is still the signature of this week as we wind down to the New Moon early Sunday morning — though on a mental/intuitive level, you may feel more like you’re winding up. It has to do with Mercury conjoining Mars in Pisces at 12:57 pm EST on Friday.

Simplified chart section showing Mercury (green glyph with horns) conjunct Mars (red ‘male’ symbol) in Pisces, just past their respective conjunctions to Neptune (blue trident) and approaching Chiron (orange key).

I’ll explain more in a moment, but first wanted to be sure you knew that regular ‘signpost’ events (like the New Moon and Full Moon) as well as rare astrology (like Venus transiting the Sun last June) form the backbone of Eric’s weekly and monthly horoscopes.

The horoscopes are what Planet Waves has been built on for about a decade and a half now, and for good reason: Eric has an almost uncanny ability to interpret both the ‘regular’ astrological events and the ‘super-special’ ones for all 12 signs. He does so in a way that not only makes sense intellectually, but also feels right — to the point that we receive regular comments from readers about how he must be a fly on their wall or read their mail.

Coincidentally, Eric’s uncanny way with astrology can be partly described by his natal conjunction of Mercury and Mars in Pisces — the very aspect giving this week its sense of ‘winding up’ even though we’re approaching a New Moon. In general, a Mercury-Mars conjunction is marked by ‘fast thinking’; Mercury in Pisces is a marriage of mental and intuitive working in tandem; add Mars, and you get some passion and drive of the ‘steam power’ variety, assuming other factors are not dampening Mars down.

It’s not enough to look at one person to see a real pattern with an aspect, though — you have to survey a number of charts. Traditionally, Mercury in Pisces is said to be ‘in detriment’ — that is, in a weak position and unable to fully express itself — in Pisces. Since Mercury rules the mind, communication and writing, one might assume that very few famous people known for writing, thinking and expressing themselves eloquently or powerfully would have this Mercury placement.

But consider this brief list of people with Mercury in Pisces: Alexander Graham Bell, Dane Rudhyar, Irma Bombeck, Kurt Cobain, Emmylou Harris, Victor Hugo, L. Ron Hubbard, Spike Lee and Abraham Lincoln.

Those are some pretty capable (and influential) writers, artists and thinkers. It would take careful study, and a wider survey, to determine if these people had some ‘extra help’ in their charts giving their natal Mercury a boost. But it’s clear enough that a mental/intuitive melding of creative vision and the ability to articulate it is not being hindered in these people.

What happens when we add Mars to Pisces along with Mercury? Then we get Elton John, Johnny Cash, Casanova, Stephen Sondheim, Muddy Waters and Billie Holliday. In fact, Elton John has those planets conjunct within seven degrees; Johnny Cash within six degrees; and Billie Holiday within two degrees.

Casanova is not known for his music making (more like his love-making), but those musicians with Mercury and Mars in Pisces are not just ‘famous’. Their music has been tremendously influential.

So what does this mean for you this week? Maybe you should try making music. Maybe you’re ripe for making love. Maybe you’re not really in a position to do much in either of those realms, in which case, see how finely you can tune your antennae as you listen to others — or to yourself. If a thought arrives with passion, or an intuitive tug is followed immediately by a clear, step-by-step vision of how to make something happen, give yourself permission to follow through. Make it a priority.

Consider it a way of gathering steam, so that after the Aquarius New Moon on Sunday at 2:20 am EST (which we’ll be covering tomorrow, and in Eric’s horoscopes in the premium subscriber issue on Friday) you’ll be ready to start this next cycle with a truly new approach. Who knows — whatever you do might be even be influential.

9 thoughts on “Mercury conjunct Mars in Pisces”

  1. This little stellium is straddling my Ascendant (6 Pisces). I’ve been feeling spaced-out and beat-up all week, although my mind keeps perking along. I’m just trying to breathe on through it.

  2. Thanks for this Amanda. When you added in the Mars factor in Pisces I was struck by the iconic musicians in the list.

    I’m wondering how the Mercury-Mars conjunct plays out in other signs?

    I have Mercury-Mars conjunct in Taurus within 1 degree (20-21 Taurus), with Jupiter within 8 degrees, also in Taurus (12 Taurus), in my 4th house (Gemini sun). Coupling this post with Len’s post on the upcoming New Moon and the North Node/South Node link back to the November 13 2012 eclipse: that was about the time I lost my new website for about a week. Not sure I want to revisit that experience, but I learned a lot from it.

    Maybe Mercury-Mars is about communication in its variety of forms and the house colours how this is expressed? Think about how Eric uses music in his PlanetWaves FM sessions or in the latest 2012 Listen series to add to the experience or atmosphere of his communications. Maybe for the conjunct in Pisces it’s about adding in emotional depth.

    SP

  3. “If a thought arrives with passion, or an intuitive tug is followed immediately by a clear, step-by-step vision of how to make something happen, give yourself permission to follow through. Make it a priority.”

    is it possible for this to happen a week before it was meant to?
    or is my clock running fast
    :p

    i had a similar ‘tug’ – 5 days back, to be exact – and it took on a life of its own. exactly as you describe it, amanda.
    and it is still tugging me on to the road of it becoming real.

    wondering…

  4. KathyC: Please accept my humble service regarding your conjunction question. The word usually used for “how far apart” is “orb”. There are as many answers as there are astrologers, none of them wrong. It is best to allow yourself some flexibility because certain situations call for a wider orb, some more exact. Richard Tarnas, for example, makes a very convincing case for very wide orbs when it comes to the slow-moving outer planets that correlate to eras in history. Also, Mars is known as a premature orb-erator, is often found to be just as evident (or more so) while approaching an aspect as in exact aspect. Compounded aspects, involving more than one planet and more than one angle (such as the Capricorn Solstice yod Eric wrote about) are often held to very tight orbs of a degree or two. In general, most folks consider 10 degrees or less to be close enough for government work when it comes to a conjunction. If William Lilly (one of the codifiers of modern astrology) were alive, i’m sure he would have said of his 5-degree orbs “Come on guys, it was just a guideline.” It’s amazing how often people will take a guideline and make it gospel. Amanda’s blog today exercised perfectly acceptable orbs, reflecting her status as a skilled and eloquent astrologer. Please, does that answer your question in a satisfactory manner? If not, please let me know.

  5. All this action is teetering smack on my midheaven-Chiron conjunction, and all I can think is FALL. I am trying to think POETRY (that really reaches people) instead. So damn foggy! thanks for this–but I am looking forward indeed to the subscriber edition 😉 to glean some insight. It’s times like these…

  6. Reading your post the other day Amanda made me want to say how much I enjoy the lithe way you write. How I appreciate the work that you do. Thank you.

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