Mercurial Ponderings

I've often wondered why Mercury doesn't "rule" or govern all the Air signs - Gemini, Aquarius and Libra. The Air element is thought to be the most mentally related of the four astrological elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air.

In an obtuse version of astrological rulerships, Saturn would rule Earth signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn. Fire signs - Aries, Leo, Sagittarius - would be ruled by Mars. Water signs - Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces - by Venus. But then, what would be left for Jupiter to do? Jupiter would have to rule over-all, in true Jupiterian expansionist fashion. It would be acceptable for Sun and Moon not to have rulerships, they are different from the planets. The outer planets, Uranus Neptune and Pluto, are too far away to rule anything, they simply make themselves felt in transit.

Everything we humans do is initiated in the brain, even what seem like emotional responses, though colored by Moon and the Watery element, actually do begin in the mental realm. We ought to pay more attention to Mercury in the natal chart, in fact as much attention as is paid to Sun, Moon and ascendant. (My personal opinion).

Planet Mercury, ruler of mental processes, really does have influence over everything in human life. It travels so fast, no time to make its individual transits felt, but it very frequently touches everything in the charts of all of us. Mercury's journey around the Sun takes 88 days, whereas Saturn's takes over 29 years.

Mercury's rulership of Gemini could hardly be more fitting. Gemini is known as the consummate communicator, teacher, the all-round information collector. Mercury's rulership of Virgo initially seems to be a rather strange pairing. Strict, structure-loving Saturn would seem more compatible with perfection-seeking Virgo. However, as ruler of Virgo, another side of Mercury is reflected, a less abstract, more tangible side. Virgo seeks and usually achieves near perfection in just about anything undertaken. Gemini roves around in the world of words and ideas, gathering them together, regurgitating them, sometimes in light-weight easily accessible fashion, offering them to an enthusiastic audience. Virgo is quite capable of doing this too, but with a far greater emphasis on extreme accuracy and careful presentation - a serious, in depth, approach.