Mercury Aspects: 38 Combinations with the Other Nine Planets

Mercury describes how you think and how you speak. It never strays more than about 28° from the Sun, so it is always in your Sun sign or one sign either side. When Mercury forms an aspect with another planet, the two forces have to be read together. Below, a table first lists Mercury’s aspects to the other nine planets with how often each occurs, followed by a one-line reading for every combination; each has its own detailed page.

Mercury aspects table

Percentages are the share of 8,401 charts of people born in Taipei between 1960 and 2005 with random birth times that have the aspect, using this site’s orbs. A dash marks an aspect that cannot occur in the sky.

Mercury can only conjoin the Sun

Mercury never strays far from the Sun in the sky, at most about 28° in our calculations, short of the distance a sextile needs. So the only major aspect between Mercury and the Sun is the conjunction. Mercury and Venus are never more than about 74° from each other, so between them only the conjunction and the sextile occur. With the Moon, and with the seven planets from Mars to Pluto, there is no such limit and all five aspects appear.

When Mercury is unaspected

Now and then Mercury forms no major aspect with any of the other nine planets; it is then called unaspected. In our calculations, Mercury is unaspected in about 4.6% of charts. Tradition holds that an unaspected planet works more on its own: what it stands for may come and go, or only become obvious at a certain stage of life.

Mercury’s aspects to each planet, in one line

Mercury and the Sun

• Sun Conjunct Mercury: With Mercury pressed close to the Sun, what goes on in your head and who you take yourself to be are nearly the same thing. You speak directly and hold firm views, and you find it harder to step outside your own angle.

Mercury and the Moon

• Moon Conjunct Mercury: With the Moon conjunct Mercury, feelings turn into language the moment they arrive. You speak with warmth and remember well, and your mood tends to spin along with your thoughts.
• Moon Sextile Mercury: With the Moon sextile Mercury, two signs apart, what you feel and what you think can help each other. As long as you’re willing to speak up and write, your expression keeps getting more exact.
• Moon Square Mercury: With the Moon square Mercury, what your heart feels and what your head thinks often don’t line up. Your words come out too sharp or too flat, and that pushes you to make your expression more precise.
• Moon Trine Mercury: With the Moon trine Mercury, in signs of the same element, feeling and thinking connect smoothly. You speak naturally and kindly and understand quickly, and because it’s so easy you seldom refine it.
• Moon Opposite Mercury: With the Moon opposite Mercury, feeling and reasoning stand on opposite sides. You often see this tug-of-war in your conversations with others, and it trains you to take another person’s point of view.

Mercury and Venus

• Mercury Conjunct Venus: With Mercury conjunct Venus, your thinking and your tastes are tied together. You speak with tact, your writing has flavor, and you naturally phrase things so they go down easily.
• Mercury Sextile Venus: With Mercury sextile Venus, two signs apart, your ideas and your tastes each keep their own tune yet get along. Put some care into combining them, and your words gain an extra layer of charm.

Mercury and Mars

• Mercury Conjunct Mars: With Mercury conjunct Mars, you think it, say it, and do it. You react fast and speak with force, and you also tend to open your mouth before the thought is finished.
• Mercury Sextile Mars: With Mercury sextile Mars, two signs apart, your mind and your drive each have their own place yet can pass the baton. Use it on purpose, and you become someone who does what they say.
• Mercury Square Mars: With Mercury square Mars, impulse arrives before your thoughts are in order, and your words tend to come out barbed. Honed over time, though, this is a mind built for tough fights.
• Mercury Trine Mars: With Mercury trine Mars, in signs of the same element, thought and action share one natural rhythm. You speak crisply and act decisively, and you tend to take that crispness for granted.
• Mercury Opposite Mars: With Mercury opposite Mars, across the zodiac, the side of you that wants to reason and the side that wants to win pull against each other. You often see your own heat in a war of words with someone else.

Mercury and Jupiter

• Mercury Conjunct Jupiter: With Mercury conjunct Jupiter, your thinking automatically stretches toward the big and the distant. You are optimistic, talkative, and hungry to learn, and you tend to say more than you can deliver.
• Mercury Sextile Jupiter: With Mercury sextile Jupiter, two signs apart, your everyday thinking and your long view answer each other. Be willing to learn and to ask, and your horizons open up step by step.
• Mercury Square Jupiter: With Mercury square Jupiter, your mind keeps throwing off new ideas and grand theories while the details lag behind. Once you learn to rein it in, this is a rare big-picture mind.
• Mercury Trine Jupiter: With Mercury trine Jupiter, in signs of the same element, comprehension and insight connect naturally. You learn with ease and speak with warmth, and because it is so easy, you seldom put in the hard work.
• Mercury Opposite Jupiter: With Mercury opposite Jupiter, across the zodiac, the end that insists on facts and the end that speaks of beliefs pull against each other. You often learn the balance through clashes of viewpoint with others.

Mercury and Saturn

• Mercury Conjunct Saturn: With Mercury conjunct Saturn, your thinking comes with a built-in review. You speak carefully and work methodically, and you often doubt whether you have it right before you even open your mouth.
• Mercury Sextile Saturn: With Mercury sextile Saturn, two signs apart, a nimble mind and steady discipline are willing to cooperate. Put in the work, and you can shape your ideas into results people can rely on.
• Mercury Square Saturn: With Mercury square Saturn, what you want to say is often stopped by self-criticism. You worry easily and fear mistakes, yet once you come through it, you have thinking that stands up to any test.
• Mercury Trine Saturn: With Mercury trine Saturn, in signs of the same element, thought and discipline cooperate naturally. Your head is clear and your words are plain, and you tend to stick with familiar methods and avoid risk.
• Mercury Opposite Saturn: With Mercury opposite Saturn, across the zodiac, the end that wants to speak freely and the end that demands accountability hold each other in check. In other people’s criticism and rules, you meet your own inner strictness.

Mercury and Uranus

• Mercury Conjunct Uranus: With Mercury and Uranus side by side, ideas arrive fast and in leaps. You often see the answer a step ahead of everyone else, and you rarely talk by the usual rules.
• Mercury Sextile Uranus: With Mercury and Uranus two signs apart, your everyday thinking is orderly, yet you can step outside the box when needed. That flexibility only becomes a skill if you put it to use.
• Mercury Square Uranus: With Mercury and Uranus clashing, your mind races and your words come out blunt, so you often rub against the established rules. Over time that friction builds strong independent thinking.
• Mercury Trine Uranus: With Mercury and Uranus in signs of the same element, your thinking is fluent and original. Grasping new things is as natural as breathing, which is why you hardly consider it a talent.
• Mercury Opposite Uranus: With Mercury and Uranus at opposite ends, one side of you wants to sound reasonable and the other wants to overturn convention. You keep meeting people who scramble your train of thought.

Mercury and Neptune

• Mercury Conjunct Neptune: With Mercury and Neptune side by side, you think in images and feelings. Your intuition is sharp and your imagination rich, though telling fact from fancy takes a little extra care.
• Mercury Sextile Neptune: With Mercury and Neptune two signs apart, your reasoning mind and your feeling imagination can work together. With practice, you can put hazy impressions into clear words.
• Mercury Square Neptune: With Mercury and Neptune interfering with each other, a layer of fog gets in the way whenever you try to get things straight. Mix-ups and distraction come easily, yet with real practice your expression becomes unusually moving.
• Mercury Trine Neptune: With Mercury and Neptune in signs of the same element, thought and imagination flow into each other. Your words carry poetry and kindness, and you can easily sink into a world of your own.
• Mercury Opposite Neptune: With Mercury and Neptune facing each other from afar, one end insists on the facts and the other longs for boundless imagination. In what others tell you, the real and the embellished are hard to tell apart.

Mercury and Pluto

• Mercury Conjunct Pluto: With Mercury and Pluto side by side, your thinking is focused and deep. You dig to the root of people and situations, your words carry weight, and views you have settled on are hard to let go.
• Mercury Sextile Pluto: With Mercury and Pluto two signs apart, your everyday thinking is practical, yet you can press deeper when necessary. Use that analytical power often and it becomes your signature skill.
• Mercury Square Pluto: With Mercury and Pluto locked in a contest, your opinions are intense and your words sharp. You fall into must-win arguments and looping thoughts, and with seasoning you become a powerful persuader.
• Mercury Trine Pluto: With Mercury and Pluto in signs of the same element, insight and concentration are inborn. You reach the root of a problem at once, yet often forget this ability could be used for something big.
• Mercury Opposite Pluto: With Mercury and Pluto facing off, part of you wants easy conversation and part wants to control the exchange. You often meet forceful opinions and probing questions in other people.

Other planets: Sun aspects, Moon aspects, Venus aspects, Mars aspects, Jupiter aspects, Saturn aspects, Uranus aspects, Neptune aspects, Pluto aspects · Planet aspects overview