Mercury Might Have a Bigger Impact on Your Life Than You Realised

Though studying astrology often starts with an investigation of our sun sign and leads into a deeper look at our moon and rising signs, there's much more to the impact the planets have on our lives than just that. Enter the Mercury sign, which rules over the way we intake and express information, including how we communicate and socialise with others, how and to what extent we go about seeking information, and how we most easily absorb it. The planet spends approximately three weeks in each zodiac (a little longer if it's in retrograde), and its position when we were born can be highly influential in our relationships with others and the world around us. Here's everything you should know about your Mercury sign.

What Does Your Mercury Sign Mean?

Mercury is the planet that rules a lot of our communication processes. Its placement in our charts can dictate how we communicate as well as how we take in, process, and convey information. It makes sense, seeing as Mercury is the Roman messenger god, counterpart to Hermes. Mercury rules over Gemini and has a lot to do with this sign's thirst for knowledge and love for a lively debate, anything that allows them to exercise their wits and learn something new. It is also the fastest moving planet in our solar system and the closest to Earth, which is why it permeates our lives in so many ways and why we feel so off when the planet enters retrograde.

On the receiving end, our Mercury sign explains the lens through which we understand others, how we share, and how we learn. The speed at which we process information and how we are best able to learn stems from it. For example, Virgo Mercuries are detail-oriented and require information to be presented to them in an organised way — a luxury they might not always have. When a lot gets thrown at them at once, they may need to take a few moments to compartmentalize and arrange everything in an orderly fashion or in a way that makes sense to them, but once that is done, they can absorb whatever information they have been given. Those with their Mercury in Pisces, on the other hand, take in information around them more passively. They absorb details of their surroundings naturally and, as the last sign on the zodiac calendar, they tend to let information come to them instead of taking the initiative to seek it out.

Not only does Mercury influence how we receive knowledge and perceive the world, but it influences how we go about connecting to it as well. As the communications planet, our Mercuries can often point to whether we are extroverted or introverted, and the kind of environments that bring out our talkative and shy sides. Aquarius Mercuries like to be creative in how they influence a conversation and will take unique methods to stir the pot, which might drive a Mercury sign like Aries crazy, as they are too impatient to beat around the bush when it comes to making decisions and getting to the point.

We all know how jolting an effect Mercury's retrograde can have, and this is because of the extent to which communication impacts our lives. When Mercury enters retrograde, we are more prone to have miscommunications or mental blocks in learning and conveying information.

How to Find Your Mercury Sign

There are plenty of free birth chart calculators that can tell you all of your planetary alignments, including your Mercury. Knowing more about our birth charts, especially in regards to a highly influential planet like Mercury, can help us learn more about ourselves, and often challenges us to see ourselves from a new perspective.