Mercury: From a Mythological and Symbolic Perspective

astrology
Written By Jasmine

As I’ve been on my astrology journey, one of the ways I’ve connected to the planets has been through their mythological and archetypal correspondences, accompanied by the symbolism astrologers use to describe what the planets signify.

With that in mind, this series of posts, where I’ll cover each planet in our solar system (plus Pluto), I’ll write about their mythology, archetypes, and some general symbolism, including my own observations.

In this post, I will focus on Mercury.

[I will add to this post when I broaden my knowledge of myths, deepen my knowledge of the planets, and make new observations concerning them.]

The Mythology of Mercury

Hermes

In Greek mythology, Hermes (also known as Mercury in Roman mythology) was the son of Zeus and the nymph Maia. Hermes shows up in many myths since he “was a messenger god who mediated between heaven and earth as he delivered communications from the gods to humans” (Giesecke 2020). But let’s start from the beginning.

Shortly after his birth, Hermes traveled around until he found a field with a herd of cattle. He drove some of them back to the cave where he had been born. What he didn’t know at the time was that the cattle belonged to Apollo. When news reached Apollo that someone had stolen some of his prized cattle, he set out to find the thief. When Apollo finally reached the cave where Hermes had been born, he heard beautiful music that transfixed him. When he realized that Hermes had been playing the music on a lyre he had made himself from a tortoise shell, curiosity piqued. Hermes then taught Apollo how to play the lyre. And that’s how Hermes became associated with thieves, while Apollo became associated with the lyre. Edith Hamilton even called Hermes “the Master Thief, who started upon his career before he was a day old” (Hamilton 1942).

Hermes wasn’t just associated with thieves, however; he was also “seen as the inventor of fire and of the lyre, but he was also a mischievous trickster” who became the god of conmen, rascals, liars, gamblers, storytellers, jokers, as well as “the protector of travelers, merchants, heralds”, and “of herdsmen, whom he protected, and of their flocks, whose fertility he ensured” (Giesecke 2020).

Hermes was also a guide to the underworld for certain people who had died, “the Divine Herald who led the souls down to their last home” (Hamilton 1942).

The Symbolism of Mercury

General Overview

  • Domicile: Gemini

  • Detriment: Sagittarius

  • Domicile/Exaltation: Virgo

  • Detriment/Fall/Depression: Pisces

  • Joy in the 1st House of the Helm

  • Mercury spends approximately three weeks in each sign when it’s direct.

Symbolism

Mercury is one of those trickster planets that you’re not quite sure whether it’s working for or against you. It’s a planet that’s retrograde around three times per year (for about three weeks at a time) and can cause some turbulence in, especially, communication, since Mercury is connected to communication (both verbal and non-verbal).

Mercury doesn’t just signify communication, however. It’s also connected to writing, education, interpretation, sending messages, etc. So it signifies a lot of communication, use of language, and receiving information. Therefore, it’s also interesting that Mercury rules the hands, the hearing, the windpipe, and the tongue, which are all used for different ways of communication and of hearing what’s being communicated. Its job is basically to transmit and convey information and messages. Whether or not the messages are conveyed in the way that we want to or intended to depends on Mercury’s condition. Whether we are more internal or external with our messages, information, and communication also depends on the condition.

Mercury also has an adaptive quality. It’s a Shapeshifter. It can take on qualities from the planets it has a relationship to, as well as the environment it’s in, which means that it can be both benefic and malefic and everything in between. It can also have yin and yang qualities depending on whether it’s in conjunction with a planet that has a yin or yang quality, or none if it’s alone and unaspected.

The relationship between Mercury and the Sun can also be an indication of how one communicates. The Sun represents the mind and how we think, whereas Mercury is about how we transmit and convey those thoughts and that information. So the relationship between the Sun and Mercury in a chart signifies things like whether the mind and the way of communication are on the same page or not. It can also signify miscommunication and difficulty in communicating the thoughts and ideas of a more erratic mind, just to give a few examples.

Mercury’s adaptability can also show up in the style in which something is communicated. So, for example, if Mercury is in a relationship with Venus, information and the messages can be conveyed through poetry or other artistic fields, whereas a relationship to Mars might transmit the information and messages in a more direct, aggressive, edgy, cutting kind of way.

For as long as I’ve been into astrology, I’ve personally always thought of a direct Mercury to signify “pushing” information out, like speaking or teaching, while Mercury retrograde is more about taking information in, by, for example, researching and learning.

In contrast to Jupiter, Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system, whereas Jupiter is the biggest. So while Jupiter focuses on big, broader, overarching ideas, Mercury focuses on the smaller details and is more methodical in taking in and processing information.

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Sources

Jasmine https://www.themultidisciplinarycreative.com/
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Venus: From a Mythological and Symbolic Perspective
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The Moon: From a Mythological and Symbolic Perspective