The Mercury archetype
Mercury is the messenger — the principle of mind, perception and exchange. It governs how a person thinks, learns, speaks and writes, and how they connect ideas and people. Nearest to the Sun, it is never far from the ego, translating the self into language and information.
Its archetype is the messenger and the trickster: quick, adaptable, clever, and endlessly curious.
Mercury in the birth chart
Mercury’s sign describes the style of thinking and communicating; its house shows where the mind is most active and articulate; its aspects show how thought is coloured by feeling, will or imagination. Mercury’s three-times-a-year retrograde periods are its most familiar signature — times to review, revise and reconsider.
Rulership and dignity
Mercury uniquely rules two signs: Gemini, where it is oriented to breadth, curiosity and connection, and Virgo, where it turns analytical, discriminating and practical. It is exalted in Virgo and in detriment in Sagittarius and Pisces — the signs of the big picture, where detail can be lost.