Mars and Mercury

Understanding planetary pairs through the decans and stars

Understanding the planets is the key to understanding astrology. They are the key to accurate predictions, to accessing astrology’s wisdom. Though signs get a lot of attention in our current culture, they really get their power and attributes from the planets that rule and 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:

• Embodying the Moon

• Embodying the Sun

• Embodying Mercury

• Embodying Venus

• Embodying Mars

• Embodying Jupiter

• Embodying Saturn

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 March! Book now to reacquaint yourself with your magic and destiny (no big deal).

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Mars and Mercury: a Summary

Mars and Mercury are a tricky, often maligned combination. My desire today is to help you see all of the potential of this planetary pair and perhaps show you its many sides beyond the difficulty the tradition may present. I aim to provide a wide variety of manifestation of this planetary pair and invite you to take what resonates and leave the rest.

Valens calls the pair “not good,” adding that they “cause hostility, lawsuits, reversals, malice, betrayals, wrongs from superiors or inferiors”. When you break down the core vibe of each planet, this description makes sense. Mars is a malefic, a planet that brings difficulty. Hot and dry, he is the planet of war, contentions, slander, harsh words, and disturbances. Mercury is essentially neutral, neither benefic nor malefic, hot nor cold, though they, like Mars, are also dry. The key feature of Mercury is their changeability, allowing them to take on the characteristics of the planets they touch. As a planet of the mind and speech, when joined with Mars, their words become tricky, enflamed.

You see bonds being broken, words taken back, lies told, legal battles fought, with this combination. As is appropriate, some of the lots formed by Mercury and Mars include the Lots of Dispute, Lawsuits, Theft, Enemies as well as “The Fugitive”: one may contend with the consequences of breaking the law when born with this combination but know that there may also be a calling to test the limits of our systems and find ways around them when necessary. Firmicus tells us these natives will “resort to forgery in order to embezzle, steal, and loot, and having fallen into debt and expenses, they bring on themselves infamy and hot pursuit”. These natives are liable to commit financial crimes, in other words. One potent example is Bernie Madoff who operated one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history defrauding billions of dollars from thousands of investors. He had Mercury and Mars in mutual reception.¹

This example, like the traits listed in Valens, are the more extreme examples of Mars and Mercury in action. Beyond financial crimes, this combination can also indicate facing broken bonds or betrayals in intimate relationships. Firmicus tells us that those with Mercury and Mars in the first house by day “will be condemned either from some experience with women or from illicit loves or secret writings or forgery”. I notice a lot of Mercury-Mars natives, especially if these planets are in the sign ruled by a benefic (i.e. Taurus, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius), have to learn that they can keep things to themselves, even obscure the whole truth, for their own self-preservation. The issue of truth vs lying comes up often for Mercury-Mars people, for these natives may be accused of being untruthful when they simply choose to keep something to themselves. Even when they’re not lying, they may be perceived as untrustworthy or two-faced. Perhaps accepting this projection can help them be private with their thoughts when they need to and understand that what is true and what is false is often a blurry distinction.

But when your planet of speech is connected to the planet of war, don’t be surprised if you must find your voice through voicing your dissent, getting into debates and arguments, or litigating the facts of a situation. This is how Mars acts on Mercury.