Jupiter and Mercury
Understanding planetary pairs through the decans and stars
Understanding the planets is the key to understanding astrology. Though signs get a lot of attention in our current culture, they really get their power and attributes from the planets that rule them, fuel them, shape them. I wrote my series on Embodying the Planets to help people bring that information into their bodies through ritual activities and what I saw as the most important attributes of each planet.
If you don’t know the basic attributes of the 7 visible planets, start there:
But here’s the thing: in charts and in our lives, planets rarely show up by themselves. A rose, for example, may be of the nature of Venus for its color, smell and association with love buts its thorns are of the nature of Mars. You may have a really sweet Cancer Moon, natally or by transit, but if it’s opposed by Saturn, you can’t get the nurturing, protecting qualities of Luna without the scarcity and struggle of Saturn.
Again and again in client consults, I find that by solely talking about the planetary combinations in someone’s chart, you can get to the heart of the foundational dynamics of their heart. And if you start looking around, you see planetary duos, specifically between two planets, show up all over astrology. Lots, or calculated points of fate, are determined via the relationship between two planets in your chart. Signs are defined by both their domicile and exaltation rulers. All fixed stars are assigned a planetary duo that reflects their nature.
By beginning to understand what it means when two planets come together, you see the relationships between them and the common ways they manifest in our mixed-up, varied lives.
In our charts, a planet is considered in combination with another when they are in the same sign, in opposing signs, or in mutual reception (a swapping of rulerships, i.e. when the Moon is in Leo and the Sun is in Cancer. Terms, exaltations and decans count here too).
So today, I begin a series exploring these planetary combinations in part because I find them so interesting. This work is heavily inspired by Austin Coppock’s “36 Dramas: Essential Planetary Relationships” Lecture from NORWAC 2022, so please check that out if you want to learn more! Going beyond his wonderful starting point, I will also include information on the decans, each of which have two planetary rulers when you consider both the Chaldean and Triplicity system, as their dynamics do a great job demonstrating what the planetary combinations look like in action. We will also be examining the fixed stars that share the same nature as this planetary combination to further our understanding.
Other uses for these combinations:
understanding mixed planetary correspondences
determining which herbs may help you if they have more than one ruler
connecting with your holy guardian angel (who is classically of the nature of two planets)
seeing your chart more clearly
attuning yourself to both planetary days and hours
P.S. If you want help understanding your own planetary combinations, my books are open for August! Book now to reacquaint yourself with your magic and destiny (no big deal).
Jupiter and Mercury: Summary
Both Jupiter and Mercury are planets of knowledge— how do we think about and gather information from the world around us? What do we do with this information and in what matter? The Yavanajataka tells us this combination “[produces] an intelligent person who constantly knows the truth about crafts, sacred traditions (sruti), and sciences and is clever at speaking” who is “distinguished for the good qualities of his mind”.1 There is a variety of skills and fields of study that a Mercury-Jupiter individual will be drawn towards, both technical and poetic. With Jupiter’s beneficence, there’s also the chance for recognition for one’s knowledge when these two interact.
In some ways, though, these two planets represent opposing epistemological approaches. Mercury moves quickly and likes to take whatever route is clever to find and use their information. Jupiter, on the other hand, moves quite slowly and is much more concerned with ethics when it comes to informational exchanges. While Jupiter prefers the official, institutional mode of learning, Mercury will pick whatever lock is necessary to get the information they seek. While Jupiter is the credentialed professor, Mercury is the autodidact who figures things out their own way.