Rules: Gemini, Virgo
Key words and qualities: Voice, communication, what we think, how we express, the invocative power of language. “What are you a voice for?”
Color: Yellow
Metal: Mercury, quicksilver
Physical body affinities: Lungs, arms, hands, intestines, liver.
Way of honoring: Connecting with the Mercurial element of air, taking an air bath, walking in windy places, breathing deeply. Lightening up. Feeling like a trickster. Being in love with words.
Shadow, when not honored: Being superficial, glib, hyperactive. Believing that talking about something is the same as doing it.
Our magical capacity to manifest through language is so central that we often take it for granted. We run around trying to attain power, when we just need to realize that we are already endowed with an incredible power to remake ourselves and the world and it is constantly replenished as it flows through us in acts of attention.
Mercury has many aliases, one of which is Hermes, The Magician. Hermes presides over magic, education, culture, and the connective language of correspondences in which the world is written: “As above, so below.” Hermes invented the alphabet and all means of communication. All alphabets were originally thought of as magically invocative. Not only words but letters were considered divine.
The Mercury part of us directs the power of vibratory rhythms – the evocative power of chants, mantras, prayers and names. Hermes is also said to have invented the musical scale, astronomy, and alchemy and governs all crafts and the secret societies associated with them, from the Egyptian mystery schools to the Masons.
Mercury is associated with intellect, logic and communication skills. It also rules your nervous and respiratory systems. Mercury represents quick trips, short classes, siblings, and transportation. Mercury, in a natal chart, is very important for understanding how you communicate with others.