A natal chart in astrology is about far more than one’s personality type, but looking at it can help give us insight about our type and show us more specifically how we are one-sided.

The location of Mercury in the chart is an important placement when considering personality. Mercury is the fastest planet in the solar system and goes into nooks and crannies that the other planets aren’t able to. The Mercury archetype is a messenger and correlates to that which helps us connect the dots and gives us those aha moments.

According to Jungian analyst and astrologer Liz Greene in Relating, Mercury “is a symbol of the way in which we not only perceive, but order our perceptions so that they can be comprehended and communicated.” He is primarily the symbol of the urge to understand, to integrate unconscious motive with conscious recognition.”

Greene also writes: “Mercury’s sign position at birth suggests the way in which the individual learns, how he perceives and categorises or digests what he learns…”

Currently Mercury is in Taurus, so my friend Joni McMillan and I made a video on our Typestrology channel about Mercury in Taurus in the personality. We use Bono, the singer in the band U2, as a celebrity example. Joni has Mercury in Taurus and talks about her personal experience with this placement. (We are newbies at making videos and have been shy about publicizing them, so bear with us as we continue to get better at this. Writing has always been my thing but I figure it’s time to try and get a feel for making videos. Feel free to subscribe to the channel if you’d like).

Taurus is a feminine, fixed, earth sign ruled by Venus. Mercury here is smooth, sturdy, productive, earthy, sensual, practical, and reliable. Because Taurus is a fixed sign, Mercury here tends to speak more slowly and deliberately. Taurus is methodical and measured and also stubborn, yet loyal and reliable. he Taurus symbol is the bull. The bull is slow to get started but once it does, it has great endurance. Taurus, because of its ruler Venus, has a focus on the arts, nature, the environment, food, tactile things, gardening, and/or singing. Mercurial activities are done in this context when someone has Mercury in Taurus in their chart.

For someone with Mercury in Taurus, I think it would be interesting to explore which of the four Beebe personality archetypes it matches up to: Hero, Parent, Child, and Anima/Animus. In Bono’s case, he is widely considered to have ENFJ tendencies. This makes introverted intuition (Ni) his parent function. It’s quite possible to see how Mercury in Taurus for him is used to “parent” others through his singing and philanthropic business activities (Mercury also represents business activities).

Do you have Mercury in Taurus? If so I’d love to hear what it has been like for you.

Sources:

Relating: An Astrological Guide to Living with Others on a Small Planet by Liz Greene

As of this writing there are 56 posts on this blog focused on Jungian personality typology, with a heavy emphasis on John Beebe’s archetypal model. This is a topic I will continue to blog about.

Beginning next week I will start adding posts about astrology and personality types into the mix. This recent Instagram post of mine gives you an idea of what some of those posts will be like (please feel free to follow me on Instagram).

Part of what I want to explore is to see how the planet archetypes in one’s birth chart might match up with the archetypes in Beebe’s personality type model.

I recently completed the year two certification course in Advanced Hellenistic Astrology at Nightlight Astrology, so I feel inclined now to start writing a bit about astrology. In addition to giving readings for people, I want to use my astrological knowledge to enhance my Jungian studies. Insights from astrology can help us more specifically address and become more conscious of the one-sidedness that our personality types make us aware of. Jung used astrology with his clients, as Liz Greene writes about in Jung’s Studies on Astrology.

Speaking of Liz Greene I will draw heavily upon her writings in the astrology and personality posts. She is a Jungian analyst, astrologer, and an academic with a PhD. In time you will probably see her work referenced here as often as I have cited John Beebe’s.

As is always this case with my blog posts here, it is not about me having answers, but exploring and combining the ideas from Jung, Beebe, Greene, and others. I think we need their insights more than ever these days. Thanks for reading!