Mercury dominates astrology for the next several days, symbolizing major topics on your mind. The dominance begins tonight as the Moon enters mercurial Gemini, where it will occult Jupiter Saturday. The theme will continue tomorrow as the Virgo Sun squares Jupiter from the precise degree of Mercury’s exaltation. Finally, the innermost planet will itself be sending a square to Jupiter late Saturday and receiving a conjunction from the Sun early Monday. The Sun, Moon, and Jupiter are major objects in astrology, and Mercury represents your mind.
Among all the planets, Mercury is swiftest. It is also always found near the solar symbol of consciousness. Being swift like thought and inseparable from the Sun is how Mercury comes to represent the mind. The mythology of Mercury represents the mind’s means.
Because Mercury is visible to the unaided eye, our awareness of it, the mythology surrounding it, and its use in astrology evolved together over thousands of years. In the Greco-Roman mythology, Mercury is the messenger god, who facilitated contact between Mount Olympus and the rest of the world. The Vedic mythology has a consistent story, where, as expressed by Vedic astrologer Komilla Sutton, “The birth of Mercury or intellect happens when the pure soul comes into contact with the outside world.” Therefore, Mercury is not only the tiny spark that orbits near the great light of solar consciousness to bring self-awareness, it is also the means by which a sentient mind makes itself known to others.