In any natal chart, because Mercury and Venus are so close to the Sun, Mercury is always either in the same zodiac sign as the Sun, or no more than one sign away before or after (28 degrees). Venus can be in the same sign as the Sun or no more than 2 signs away (47 degrees). There could be rare instances where these rules appear not to apply, but they must be few and far between.
So....for example, in my own chart Sun is in Aquarius, Mercury is in Capricorn and Venus is in Sagittarius. In my husband's Sun is Aries, Mercury Pisces, Venus in Taurus. Some of my husband's immediate family have Sun, Mercury and Venus all in the same sign.
So what do I find so significant about this? I suppose it's that quite a large part of anyone's personality is defined by this mix of up to 3 consecutive zodiac signs.
One quarter of the zodiac. This must produce defineable groups. One could look on each group's similarities as the melody being played, whilst the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn play their own solo improvisations.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto being the bass beat, the generational flavour. The melody, though, is most memorable for listeners and to the player, and therefore very important.
I am not sufficiently mathematically adept to be able to calculate how many variations (groups) of Sun/Mercury/Venus there can be. It would be interesting to study examples of each type, ignoring all other components of the charts.
Some astrologers find significance in what order the Sun, Mercury and Venus rise. I do not find their theories on this too persuasive, however - but it does relate back to my own thoughts in one way.
Would an Aquarius Sun with Mercury and Venus both in Aquarius be more Aquarian than me - yes, of course! Most cook-book interpretations of an Aquarian would be likely to apply to that person. Would an Aquarian with both Mercury and Venus in Capricorn be less adventurous, restless, or prone to travel than me? Probably. How about an Aquarian with Mercury and Venus in Pisces ? A different animal altogether - more overtly mystic and dreamy, less organised. There must be dozens of combinations of just these 3 components, with their related elements and modalities.
Complexity upon complexity - and that's a VERY basic beginning.
2 comments:
The cases where these rules “appear not to apply” occur when Mercury and Venus are three signs apart. Since they do not have to be on the same side of the Sun, Mercury and Venus can be up to 75 degrees apart. In some cases, a 75 degree separation will of course encompass two complete signs.
However, because of the high eccentricity of Mercury’s orbit, the maximum distance (“elongation” in astronomical jargon) Mercury can be from the Sun actually varies quite widely.
When Mercury is at aphelion, it can be up to 28 degrees from the Sun, but at its closest point to the Sun (perihelion) it can be no more than 18 degrees from the Sun.
Because at perihelion Mercury’s heliocentric longitude corresponds to tropical Gemini, that means that the narrowest maximum elongations occur when Mercury is closer to Gemini than the Sun, and the farthest when Mercury is closer to Sagittarius than the Sun.
Thus, when the Sun is in Leo or Virgo, Mercury can be 28 degrees ahead of the Sun but no more than 18 degrees behind it, whereas with the Sun in Aquarius or Pisces Mercury can be 28 degrees behind the Sun but never more than 18 degrees ahead. These facts mean Mercury can be three signs from a Venus in Taurus, Gemini or Cancer but essentially no more than two from a Venus in Sagittarius.
In the Astrotheme database, 634 celebrities out of 48,197 (one in 76) had their natal Mercury and Venus separated by two complete signs. Only 39 of those – all in ten different years – had Venus in Scorpio, Sagittarius or Capricorn. In contrast, one-fifth of the 634 with Mercury and Venus three signs apart had Venus in Gemini alone and 301 (almost half) in Taurus or Gemini or Cancer.
jpbenney~ Hi! Thank you for this additional information - much appreciated.
I have updated this 2006 post, twice in fact. The most recent re-airing, in 2014 is here:
http://twilightstarsong.blogspot.com/2014/04/three-important-pieces-of-astrological.html
I should add a link there to this old post and draw attention to your comment.
Thanks again. :-)
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