Transcript:
0:00
Hi everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology and this is another episode of Planets in Profile. Today we're going to take a look at Mercury in the sign of Libra. So as you've been watching the series, you know that I've taken Mars and Venus to the signs and now I'm taking Mercury through the signs. And I'm usually playing catch up on a certain level. But hopefully this is evergreen content that you can always get something good out of. So in these videos, you can learn basically two things how to interpret Mercury in any given sign or whatever planet we're doing in this series. And also, in even more importantly, how planets interact and behave in relationship to one another. For example, today we're looking at Mercury in the sign of Libra, which is Venus' sign, how does Mercury interact with a relate to Venus, and specifically the libran side of Venus. That's what we're looking at today.
0:45
Alright, so let's begin by a little description of Mercury in Libra. Mercury is sort of neutral in Libra doesn't have any form of rulership or exploitation, or any form of stability such as detriment or fall. In this sign, Mercury is dependent upon Venus and Venus' location, where Venus is at and what Venus is doing. So you always want to look at whenever Mercury is in Libra, you also need to look at Venus in the chart or by transit if you're studying, if you're doing some forecasting or something like that, as Venus goes, so will Mercury when Mercury is in Venus' home.
1:25
Libra is the warm and moist, masculine air sign of Venus. Air can be broken down into the warm and moist qualities. Ancient astrologers did that as at a certain point related the element of air to warmth and moisture. Also, it's considered a masculine or Yang sign. And you can also associated with the element of air, and then it is the temple of Venus, so it's the home of Venus. Now, Mercury is thus going to express itself not only in Venusian ways, but in those particular ways that those in those particular Venusian ways because Venus in Taurus is a lot different than Venus in Libra. So you're getting the expression of a Mercury through the Libra inside of Venus. Now, what does that mean? You kind of have to have a sense of what Libra is all about.
2:17
Let's back up and start with Mercury, just as a refresher. So Mercury is the God of communication and is related to the mind and to speech and to the intellect and to writing is also Mercury is associated with the messenger with busy marketplaces, information and technology. It's a very inventive planet. It's also associated sometimes with thievery and trickery with markets and money exchange, I think I already mentioned that with highways and travel, but also thieves on the highway can be associated with that as well. So those are just a few things that Mercury is associated with. When you're delineating Mercury in a chart, there's sort of a wide range of things that Mercury could end up representing. Mercury was also a key ingredient to the study of temperament, you would look at your Ascendant ruler planets in the first house, the moon and typically Mercury, in order to get a sense of how a person might act and behave, what their personality might be like. So we have to remember that now again, all of those qualities are going to now have to be filtered through the lens of Venus, who is the goddess related to peace, friendship, pleasant or enjoyable things harmony, love, sensuality, femininity, and grace and ease. So as well as romance and of course, kind of the, the erotic or romantic dimensions of relationships, marriage, but also, you know, affairs and affairs of the heart and things like that. So you can also relate Venus to art. So when Mercury is in Venus's sign of Libra, unlike when Venus is in Mercury's sign of Virgo. Mercury can do pretty well with Venus' sign, provided that Venus isn't in a debilitated condition itself in the chart somewhere.
4:12
Remember that Libra is also the exaltation of Saturn. So Libra is the sign in which Saturn is exalted in the sign in which the Sun is in its fall, which means that there is this very interesting way in which the sign of Libra brings out a slightly darker element of Venus. For example, and I'll give lots of chart examples, people famous people who have this placement in their chart, but think for example of the fact that the Sun is essentially going into the basement of the solar year during this during the Libra season. As that's happening, darkness is taking over and so Libra, the fall Equinox has as its symbol, Saturn god of winter, decay, death, judgement as the Sun is entering the underworld. And so, this is a Venus that is interested in beauty and harmonisation, which means that there will be a way in which darkness is harmonised with light. But usually the the the tone of darkness or finality or death or consequence, or a degree of heaviness will be there kind of as an accent for Venus. And so, for example, one of the classic libran beauty or style qualities will be black and white. And the contrast between light and dark, oftentimes with also a way of celebrating the darker, like black and white photography, a black and white photo of two people in, you know, in, like very classy looking clothing kissing out in the rain as they're drenched in New York City or something like that. It's very libran. So think also of this as a not just a sign of Venus, but as a sign that pays close attention to darkness and to Saturn, and to fairness, judgement. And, and, and so it's not just any beauty. There's a kind of tragic autumnal beauty to this particular Venusian expression.
6:19
Okay, and that also means that when Mercury is in Libra, you have to be careful of things that are peddled off to look light, but are dark or things that are dark that are made to look light, or the alternation or play between light and dark, which can be very classy, and can also represent someone who's very poised and sophisticated and sort of serious and mature and that kind of Saturnine way, the exaltation of Saturn, but also very articulate, graceful, stylish, etc. So let me try to give you some examples of how this works. So for example, there are there are people that are going to fit this, really this for the alternation between light and dark. For example, Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie is of course, the famous novelist who writes about darker subjects like murder and mystery. And yet she is this very classy and many of the, the settings of her novels are very sort of classy and sort of socialite in nature. So she has this very refined style and taste. And many of the characters and plots and settings are with people who are wealthy or well to do but then there will be the unveiling of some darkness behind the surface. And that's a classic theme in her literature.
7:51
Sylvia Browne, here's someone who is sort of a psychic medium, and by all accounts is into a cult matters, things that are more hidden, mysterious, etc. But she has this very polished and she's one of the first you know, kind of groundbreaking, famous, like, media personalities. She's very welcomed by mainstream media at a certain time in her career. And so that darkness, that occult quality, but she's also like a media personality, very mercury and Libra.
8:25
You can also think of two children's writers that come to my mind. Jim Henson, if you think about the Dark Crystal and lots of other things that Jim Henson does, there's a quality of light, but also this willingness to explore darkness, but still doing it in a way that's almost childlike, friendly, very classy and poised and like artistically sophisticated. So that's oftentimes you'll see Mercury and Libra as people who have this kind of artistic skill or a gift or some kind of ability to make something a little bit darker, strange, like appealing and beautiful, and that's oftentimes a Mercury in Libra trait. Another example is Roald Dahl. I'm sure you all know Roald Dahl, who wrote strange kids books that are really dark but also he's so artistic and brilliant. Another one that could fit in there though he's not a Mercury in Libra, but similar personality that has similar contrasts in his chart that are that are very much in line with this combination is Tim Burton. So you also have people who have this kind of classy smooth but smoky deep, dark, beautiful quality to their skill as a musician like Harry Connick Jr, or John Coltrane.
9:51
Similarly, you have photographers, famous artists like photographers, Like Linda McCartney, also Mercury in Libra. George Martin and Ursula K. Le Gwyn are two fantasy authors, sci-fi / fantasy authors who both have this amazing artistic sensibility, right? I mean just wordsmiths and just brilliant intellectually, but they have a way of also speaking to human darkness that's quite profound. And that's you're often going to see that in the quality of the writers who have Mercury in Libra, that there is a sensibility and a darkness at once. And oftentimes, you can describe Mercury, a bit like Pluto and Libra to the Pluto and Libra generation, but Mercury in Libra is sort of like the velvet glove for the iron fist, or there's a way of almost adorning or decorating something heavier, darker leaden. And that's the again, that's the Saturn exaltation there.
11:06
There's other people who embody the seriousness as well as the kind of diplomacy grace and beauty in articulate pneus like Barbara Walters, who is one of the kind of one of the groundbreaking female news anchors, I think it was abc news. She was the first on their network or something like that. Which also people like Sophia Loren, another great example of the class, the elegance, the grace, but there's kind of a smoky dark quality that's there as well. Vladimir Putin. He has a very suave presentation. And of course, it glosses over a lot of very dark stuff that he does. But you can also one could make a case, for example, Bill Gates. I'm not into the whole conspiracy thing. But just in terms of being someone who's like a tech billionaire or whatever, who has this interest in philanthropy and has also been associated, even just associated throughout his lifetime, with a lot of controversy, especially, you know, very recently, but I think it's very fascinating that oftentimes. Warren Buffett is another one with Mercury in Libra. Beyonce Knowles is another one. Margaret Thatcher was another one as well, all of them are almost like Emperor's or Empresses, and they have this command. They have such such grace and composure. But at the same time there is this, this kind of dark, heavy, serious quality to their art or to their presidents or, you know, Margaret Thatcher, of course, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, was quite conservative, right.
12:58
Another really good example of Mercury and Libra, in case I'm not getting it across enough would be Leonard Cohen. Dark, heavy, beautiful. So that familiarity with darkness is really, really important. Simon Cowell is another one where there can be this very judgmental and critical quality, like a hyper acute judgmental awareness of what's valuable or what's not valuable, what's beautiful or not. So he's a kind of judge, critic type of character.
13:37
Caitlyn Jenner is another one. Bruce Springsteen. Both I think you could say have like a good contrast between light and dark. Bruce Springsteen in particular comes to my mind, because, you know, when he's young, he's like this. He's like, this young kid muscle cars, cigarettes, knife fights on the jersey boardwalk, tough guy, you know, cocky, sexy, suave, all of it. And as the agency becomes, it becomes something his music becomes more politically active. And also, throughout his life, he talks openly about battling with depression. So he's a he's a complex character that you know, that Mercury in Libra also reflects. Avicii the DJ, I think he passed. But you know, brilliant sort of technicians of art that that can blend the dark and the light.
14:40
Don't pass over Libra when it comes to science fiction either, because science fiction is often very Saturnine. Libra oftentimes, we think about science fiction landscapes, if you ever saw the movie, Solaris or Gattica with Ethan Hawke, some of these landscapes in the future they're very pristine and clean and very well-organised and hyper-controlled and rigid and often involve some kind of authoritarian presence. And there's oftentimes, exploration of beauty and structure and control. Almost like dystopian or post apocalyptic landscapes and the contrast between like destruction and humankind's ability to control and make the most beautiful things, but maybe with some some kind of rigidity involved. Often those themes are present in science fiction. And those are such libran themes.
15:46
Christopher Reeve, if you want to talk about another really interesting Mercury in Libra character. Christopher Reeve becomes a philanthropist after becoming a quadriplegic through a horseback riding accident. He was the original feature length film, Superman, back in like the 80s, maybe. So Christopher Reeve and his wife, Dana become these incredible philanthropists. And they do a lot of good for, especially for stem cell research and things like that. But he was also someone who became really interested in this kind of like, very futuristic technology, right? That could be they could restore or bring people there, bring back the facilities of people who had potentially lost them like himself. There's just a really interesting element of Libra that has to do with the, also the desire to repair or fix things that are broken, or to make something broken, beautiful. Or like, for example, the people who take those broken pieces of a pot, and then they make a new pot with gold, like sealing all the broken pieces together. Or even like, if you think about the artwork where there's like these broken fragments of glass, and you know, you'll see the broken fragments of glass, but inside of them, they're reflecting flowers or something like that. So this real kind of sense of finding or restoring beauty in relation to something that's been lost or something that's dying or dead. And oftentimes, that plays into sci-fi themes in technology in a very interesting way. I'm only just starting to articulate that idea, by the way. So when we get to some transits in Libra, I'll probably bring that back up and keep going with it. Because I've been noticing it for so long. And this is one of my first attempts to ever articulate that part.
18:01
David Copperfield is another example though. He has meMercurycury in Libra. And of course, he's a master magician sleight of hand, but he combines like sexy, dark, mysterious, with all sorts of interesting, weird technology that's such a Mercury in Libra placement. Remember, Mercury is one of the gods of technology as well, so it's why I'm talking about this with regard to Mercury in Libra. James Gandolfini if you guys know him from the Sopranos, you know, that mafioso where there's the appearance of luxury or wealth, but there's this dark underbelly and there's like crime. And so oftentimes, Mercury and Libra can be the appearance of something noble or humanitarian, with underlying selfish interests and things like that. Which is, of course, exactly, I think, why even whether it's true or not why people often suspect Bill Gates, it's because he has that weird like, that weird kind of Iron Man. A little bit similar vibe, but different chart again, is ELon Musk. It's almost like an otherworldly kind of dark mysterious quality, but it's also like very beautiful and polished and progressive and inventive. That's very Mercury in Libra. Different different chart doesn't have that placement. So lots of placements in astrology can speak to some of the same themes because they're, you're essentially combining similar elements.
19:44
Stephen King, very similar. He's very beautiful writer, and he can expose the dark underbelly of like the nice pristine little East Coast town. It's always Castle Rock or whatever it is. Okay, Bernie Sanders. Here's another example where you have people who are truly like advocates for justice or peace or equality or something that's truly humanitarian or whatever, like, you know, people who are interested in equality, you know, and this could be on the right or the left. For example, I think it's who's the Fox guy, Bill O'Reilly or used to be the Fox guy? He has Mercury in Libra, too. Ama is a great example of you know, the, the hugging saint, she has Mercury in Libra. Of course, she's a major global philanthropist as well.
20:40
All right, well, hopefully that gives you some feeling for Mercury in Libra and how to delineate it. Of course, it's always going to matter to look at Venus's position relative to Mercury, because that will add a whole secondary and very important layer to the interpretation. I find that Mercury in Libras best side is usually in the ability to tolerate certain kinds of moral ambiguities and to find beauty in the contrast between light and dark to be able to harmonise elements of light and dark or have complicated themes that would seem antagonistic towards one another. And oftentimes, there is a way of articulating oneself that really speaks to people that's very easy and fluid, and oftentimes for children, which is why I think it's so interesting that Jim Henson and Roald Dahl have Mercury in Libra, where there's just this ability to speak to the contrasts that are so bright and vivid for children, between light and dark. Alright, so do you have Mercury in Libra? I would love to hear from you. If you do and please add your thoughts to this video, or any other interpretations or famous people that you think should have been in this presentation that I might have missed? I'd love to hear from you guys. And then stay tuned because I'll be doing mercury in Scorpio pretty quickly as well. All right. Take care everyone. Bye.
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