Quicksilver: Mercury in the Signs part 2

Mercury is one of the planets that we are most familiar with -- one of the oldest known to astrology, as it can be seen with the naked eye. For those that follow astrology, it governs communication styles, decision making, and the way that people process information. There are many positions of Mercury analyzed in the natal chart -- we have been examining how Mercury affects a personal astrology reading when it falls in a particular sign. You can check out Mercury in Aries through to Leo in our earlier post!

Mercury in Virgo

Virgo is a sign of immense attention to detail, great mental capacity and excellent organization -- and when Mercury appears in Virgo in a natal chart, it means that any communication will be thought out, articulate and carefully considered. These are very practical men and women who have trouble concentrating in the midst of distractions.

Mercury in Libra

Middle ground is important to those with Mercury in Libra in their personal astrology reading. They are very diplomatic ... but underneath all those pleasing words, you'll often find criticism thinly or thickly veiled!

Mercury in Scorpio

Scorpio is a sign of strength, fearlessness, confidence and passion. Mercury in Scorpio creates a communicator who is direct and whose passion for their point of view comes across. They are energetic and look for challenges; they can also be quite suspicious of other people intentions (usually unnecessarily).

Mercury in Sagittarius

Justice and freedom are important to those with Mercury in Sagittarius in their natal chart -- they will always seek fairness in a conversation, and defend the right to free speech vigorously. They are optimistic -- sometimes blindly, but often happily.

Mercury in Capricorn

These people tend to be authoritative, slow to come to decisions, and very well-organized in their thinking -- and also the way they communicate their thoughts. They are born skeptics, and biased towards practical solutions rather than emotional discussion.

Mercury in Aquarius

With this aspect of a natal chart, don’t be surprised if the person in question likes saying things just to shock others, or just because nobody else is saying it ... as little sense as that makes to others sometimes! They are intellectual souls, quick to understand issues and interested in the advancement of humankind.

Mercury in Pisces

Mercury in Pisces in a natal chart usually creates a person with a dreamy communication style -- they are great listeners, but indirect in expressing their own thoughts and with an emotional bias in their understanding of a situation.

Quicksilver: Mercury in the Signs, part 1

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun -- hot, gaseous, inhospitable. It is one of the easiest planets to see with the naked eye, along with Venus, Mars and Jupiter. In astrology, Mercury is the ruler of communication. Your relationship with information, your decision making style, and the way you talk to people is governed by the placement of Mercury in your natal chart, according to astrological principles. Today we are looking at what Mercury means when it pops up in the different signs of the zodiac, and how it might influence your overall personal astrological reading.

Mercury in Aries

People with Mercury in Aries tend to be direct in their communications, and are willing to make leadership decisions. In fact, they prefer making leadership decisions! They can come across as rude, but no offense is meant in most cases.

Mercury in Taurus

These people are placid, practical, and slow to arrive at decisions -- not because they are mentally lacking, but because they like to carefully process all the available information. They tend to inspire people to listen to them, and have practical and considered ideas.

Mercury in Gemini

Those with Mercury in Gemini exhibit the quick-witted, superficial, sociable style of Geminis in their communications. They have a broad, but not a deep knowledge, and while they learn quickly, they also become bored of particular topics quickly. These people are smooth talkers, and their humor can often be misinterpreted as deception. If you have Mercury in Gemini, you probably have a gift with words and an engaging communication style.

Mercury in Cancer

Cancer is a personal, sometimes secretive sign, intimately interested in self-preservation and protection -- they need that shell! If Mercury is in Cancer in your natal chart, you will most likely be reluctant to speak your mind, but have an excellent memory for conversations and events ... although this does tend to be colored by the emotions of the situation.

Mercury in Leo

Pride and a sense of drama are the hallmarks of a Mercury in Leo communication style. They are big-picture decision makers, definitely not detail oriented, and they use creativity to come to their decisions as well as in conveying their points of view. This natal chart configuration can also be stubborn when faced with disagreement, or be extremely sensitive to any mildly negative reactions to what they say.

Celebrity Natal Charts: George W. Bush

Our much maligned past president may have had some funny slips of the tongue in public and created many controversies ... but underneath all that, he is very much human! Today we venture into George W. Bush's natal chart, looking way back to when our nation's former leader came squealing out in the hospital and to what the planets were doing at that time.

George W. Bush was born just a couple of days after our nation's birthday -- his birthday was July 6, 1946, at 7:26 a.m. in New Haven, Connecticut. Here is a selection of his natal chart characteristics and their meanings.

Sun in Cancer

Some of the most telling characteristics of this planetary positioning that we recognize in George W. Bush include:

• Cancer, the crab, has an innate need to protect itself from threats and stabilize its environment -- the hard crab shell means that remarkable self-defense systems are in place.
• A strong attachment to home is a Cancer trait -- which could be interpreted as patriotism.
• A tendency to respond to events and circumstances in the context of your feelings, which can seem vague to other people

Leo Ascendant, Aquarius Descendant

The ascendant in a natal chart is the side of George W. Bush that he shows to the world -- the descendant represents his inner self and mental life. Those with Leo on the ascendant usually have a generous personality that loves a bit of drama and is highly sociable. Leo ascendants often need to find some sort of power to feel that they can release their creative energies, which are vast -- I’d say he found enough power!

The Aquarian descendant in Bush's natal chart shows an underlying desire to fit into a larger society, and means that all that generosity and magnanimity is shadowed by a healthy dose of objectivity and rationality.

Mercury Square Midheaven

Interestingly, this positioning indicates the Bush may have communication troubles, both at work and at home. They could cause misery if left unsolved.

Venus in Leo

This aspect of the natal chart indicates that Bush's style in love is much like his general face for the world -- generous, sociable, creative and very loving. Drama is a theme, and seems to follow George W. Bush ... even be encouraged by him.

When Stars Collide Part 1: How Signs Combine in Love Compatibility Reports

Astrology uses a lot of terms which it has created specificly to use in the discipline of studying how stars affect people's personalities. Sometimes it can be a little difficult to get your head around! Today we are looking at the specific terms for how signs work together, especially in the context of a love compatibility report.

When you get a love compatibility report, you'll find out how each partner's Venus sign intersects with the other's Mars sign. You can either check online to find your Venus sign and Mars sign (there are many simple tables on the net that will tell you where particular planets were on your birth date and time ... providing you know it accurately!), or more usefully, have a personal natal chart made up. Having your own chart made up will tell you where every planet was at the minute of your birth, quickly and easily, and will also give you a context to understand that in (signs and planets don’t act alone in astrology). Once you know both yours and your partner's Venus and Mars signs, here is a detailed explanation of the terms used for expressing how they relate to each other: your Venus to their Mars, and your Mars to their Venus.

Trine signs

When two people's signs in love compatibility are trine, it is believed that their relations will feel easy, natural and essentially compatible. These two people express love in similar ways, so understand each other immediately. If either partner was involved in an unhappy relationship before their current one, the new partner will no doubt sympathize to the core with the other's feelings. Acceptance and harmony are the keywords for a relationship with trine Venus-Mars signs -- there will be no dizzying highs and terrifying lows, but there will be plenty of creamy centers ... life will be like a box of chocolates.

Conjunct signs

This means that your Venus sign is the same as your partner's Mars, or vice versa. As you can imagine, understanding is also a feature of this relationship, as well as instant recognition of the other person's feelings. But remember all those things that you hate about yourself? Sometimes they'll creep, ever so quietly, into your partner's expressions. You may need to step out of yourself at times to make things work in the love compatibility area.

Stay tuned for the next post on love compatibility for your Venus and Mars signs -- we'll check out what sextile, semi-sextile, inconjunct, opposite and square signs mean for you.

A review on retrogrades

Retrogrades are an important phenomenon that is poorly understood by many people, although the name is recognized by many. We recently gave you an introduction to retrogrades in the natal chart and in everyday life, looking at what a retrograde means in general. We are looking at the outermost four planets. Read on to find out what gets turned topsy-turvy when Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto look like they are going backwards!

Saturn in retrograde

Saturn is in retrograde for a good portion of the year -- four-and-half months at a time. If you have Saturn retrograde in your natal chart, you are likely to be in conflict with authority. The conflict can come from either direction -- you may feel that people use their power to abuse you, or you may have a tendency to mismanage your own authority. In general, during a Saturn retrograde event, the rules are questioned, but extra effort and contemplation is put into projects.

Uranus in retrograde

Uranus is known as the wild card among the planets of the solar system. In general, surprises are common and the unexpected is expected when Uranus is in retrograde. If your natal chart identifies that Uranus was in retrograde when you were born, your personality may be notoriously erratic, encompassing different extremes at different times.

Neptune in retrograde

The planet of illusion and make believe has more physical influence on our lives than we might expect, according to belief in astrology readings. A retrograde here tends to make logic secondary to the imagination -- this might foster great creativity or great disasters! A person with Neptune retrograde in their natal chart could have issues with drug and alcohol abuse (escapism and fantasy worlds), or may tend to become deeply involved in stories and games.

Pluto in retrograde

Pluto is the planet of the underworld -- power and personal mastery are associated with it. When it is in retrograde, the things which were buried come to the surface -- the underworld becomes the above world. Fresh starts are possible, and dead ends are encountered. When Pluto was in retrograde in your natal chart, the power aspect is the one which tends to surface. Extreme power and corruption may be features in your life - whether you are on the delivering or receiving end.

Retrogrades in the Natal Chart

The term Mercury in Retrograde has seeped quietly, but comprehensively, into popular culture in recent times. While Mercury is the most well known planet to retrograde (probably because it is one of those that is more visible with the naked eye), it certainly is not the only one to do so. Today we are looking at what happens when a planet is in retrograde in the natal chart, and the specific effects of various retrograde planets.

What does retrograde mean?

Astrologers and astronomers (before they had the benefit of telescopes) both noticed the phenomenon of planets that went retrograde. A planet will sometimes seem to stop, move backwards in the night sky for a period of time (relative to its normal motion), and then regain it's forward motion again. This phenomenon is an illusion, caused by the fact that either the planet, or Earth, completes its orbit faster than the other body. The apparent movement seems to slow down as they approach the same point in their circumference, go backwards while the Earth is passing, and then resume forward motion once the Earth is passed. However, astrologers continue to interpret the effects as if the planet actually was going backwards.

Effect in a chart

A person with a retrograde planet in their natal chart will have certain events in their life delayed due to this action, astrologers believe. The retrograde areas in a natal chart (for example, love if Venus is retrograde, communication if Mercury is retrograde) are usually areas of challenge for the person, but not necessarily weakness. In fact, because so much time is spent on these challenges, they may develop into solid strengths over time.

Retrograde effects in general

In some cases, it may also feel to the person in question that the areas of life the retrograde planet rules simply feel askew. This is probably why the retrograde Mercury has such an effect on our public consciousness; as the planet that rules communication, we notice mishaps and misunderstandings, fights and arguments on a grand scale until Mercury is travelling in its normal direction again.

Mercury: Rules communication -- expect misunderstandings when in retrograde. Goes into retrograde for around three weeks, three times a year.

Venus: Goes into retrograde for around six weeks every 18 months. Affects relationships.

Mars: Goes retrograde for about two and a half months every two years or so. Causes anger to turn inwards.

Jupiter: In retrograde for four months of every year! Said to force spiritual re-examination and questioning of values.

Don't fear a retrograde in a natal chart, or in everyday life for that matter. They bring a necessary balance to every aspect of our lives.

Celebrity Natal Charts: Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is an icon for many across the world -- proof that great things can be achieved by those with ordinary lives, and proof that youth is no barrier to success. Today we are delving a little deeper into the planetary imprints of Tiger Woods' natal chart, seeing what makes the man tick in astrological terms.

Tiger Woods was born in Long Beach, California, at 10:50 p.m., on Tuesday, December 30, 1975.

Sun in Capricorn

The sun was in Capricorn at Tiger Woods' time of birth, making him goal-oriented, ambitious, and giving him a love of money, according to natal chart interpretation guidelines. Tradition is very important with this aspect of a chart, and there is almost no game more traditional than golf! Capricorns tend to use their skills in expedience to initiate a slow rise through the ranks of their chosen profession, and even in relationships. However, a false sense of pride or ego can mar success in these natal charts.

Sun in the Fourth House

Despite the sense of expediency that people with the Sun in Capricorn have, the combination of this with Capricorn in the Fourth house makes family and early relationships very important. This aspect of Tiger Woods natal chart means that inside, he is constantly searching for connections between his past and present life.

Virgo Ascendant, Pisces Descendant

The face that Tiger Woods shows to the World, his Ascendant, is Virgo -- detail oriented, perfectionist, tidy and very self confident. This self confidence could boost his false sense of ego that having the Sun in Capricorn creates. Tiger's perception of the world is mostly mentally based, rather than emotionally based or spiritually based. He is practical and logical.

The Piscean descendant in his natal chart, though, means that underneath all that practicality Tiger Woods definitely has a more spiritual side. The intuition of Pisces helps Tiger Woods understand people and their motivations quite well, and brings a tenderness to his relationships.

Mercury in Capricorn

This positioning in Tiger Woods natal chart creates an easy ability to concentrate and a naturally good memory. The attention to detail of this aspect extends the Virgo ascendant, and adds dignity and earnestness.