Mercury and Mars (Vedic Astrology Part II)

This post is inspired and predominantly contains excerpts from the book – The Astrology of the Seers – A comprehensive guide to Vedic Astrology from David Frawley. I fully recommend the book.

‘Everything that happens at a particular moment shares the quality of the moment. Hence, in the moment of our birth can be read the quality of our life, just as the nature of a tree can be read in the seed from which it comes.

As the lords of time, the planets are the lords of karma or destiny.

The stars form the cosmic man and we as human beings form a solar system within ourselves.

Our own soul is a star, a sun, a point of cosmic light.

The universe becomes a tapestry of thought in which we can play rather than a net of desires in which we are caught.’

Mercury and Mars (Vedic Astrology Part II)

Mercury - Mercury is the planet which represents speech, communication and commerce on all levels. In his lower function he organizes and articulates material resources. On a higher level he connects us with our inner capacities, the powers of the mind. Mercury is the great messenger of the Gods.

Mercury indicates the lower or concrete mind, the intellect or informational mentality. However, Mercury is not limited to this. He also shows the higher mind in its discriminating ability and connects us with the Divine Word or word of truth. Mercury governs names. On a lower level these are the outer appearances of title and personality, which are illusory. On a higher level they are the names of God which connect us to the true reality of things.

Mercury governs writing, education, calculation and thought. Mercury is the fastest moving of the planets and so is indicative of quick comprehension, facility, ease and plasticity in expression. Mercury provides for the quick correlation of ideas, the fast interchange of information or of things of value. He is mental and nervous energy in its articulate activity. He shows our intellectual powers and the degree of mental development in life. Mercury tends to show our outer career in life and how we relate ' to society on a practical level,

Mercury is a child and indicates the state of childhood generally, particularly the period between infancy and adolescence. Afflictions to Mercury may mean health problems in childhood, troubles in the home life, or difficulty at school. The mind and nervous system as well as the lungs may suffer.

As a planet of commerce, Mercury represents trade, or articles of trade, including money. Though not in himself a planet of wealth, he is helpful in both acquiring it and keeping it, as he helps us organize it. He is necessary whenever there is to be an exchange of ideas or commodities. He sees the value of open markets and free communication and is not restricted by boundaries of race, nation, caste or belief, but he can be attached to his own opinion, his calculations, and his own gains and losses.

Mercury breaks down barriers between people and reveals a common humanity and common human needs. As such, he possesses a certain compassion and sense of equality based not so much upon sentiment as upon objectivity and practicality. Afflicted, he is similarly willing to exploit everyone, though he will often improve their outer condition to some degree in the process.

Mercury is an important factor in determining our vocation, for that is what we do in life to communicate with others — our interchange with society. Mercury shows how we appear and how we function in the network of transactions that makes up the world of things and ideas. In this regard, his representation of our education or training in life comes into play. He is the child that is the father of the man.

Mercury is the most mutable of the planets. As such, he easily takes upon himself the nature of the other planets with which he is associated, for good or for ill. He may value communication and public opinion more than truth, and become dependent on and defensive of whatever is the strongest environmental influence. He is the mind which has no real nature of its own but reflects whatever it considers to be the reality, which may be no more than the impressions of the senses.

Mercury makes us rationalize things to suit our purpose. It creates immaturity, naivete and folly. It can create dishonesty and a lack of properly defined boundaries. This may make a person a thief — not because he is cruel, but because he does not respect anything as belonging to another. Such people take what they need according to a childish view of life that the world should provide for them. They have no objective perception and are caught in childish fantasies and may even believe that what they have taken was really given to them or merited by them.

In this regard, Mercury is like the Moon. He is the child of the Moon. He is the mind which does not perceive but can merely organize ideas. If the mind orients' itself towards the perception of truth, the vision of the eternal, then it will see the falseness of the external world and the reality of the inner consciousness. If it orients itself to the images of the senses as reality in itself, then it will see the outer world as real and create a scientific view of life. If, however, it orients itself to our selfish fears and desires as reality, it will create illusion, a neurotic or even schizophrenic view of life. Mercury is the rational conscious mind, which is still only the most articulate part of the subconscious mind (the Moon). True consciousness is not of the mind but transcends thought.

In Sanskrit, Mercury is Budha, meaning “intelligence” or “cognition,” and relates to the Buddhi, the faculty of determination whereby we discern the real from the unreal (fully awakening which one become enlightened, a Buddha). When this faculty judges reality not by appearances but by discerning the transient from the eternal, then it functions rightly and the higher power of Mercury is revealed. When it discriminates names and forms, we become caught in the apparent reality of the external world.

In the higher sense. Mercury is this faculty of truth determination which discriminates the real from the unreal, the pure from the impure, truth from illusion. This is the most precise and perfect functioning of the mind. In this higher activity Mercury, the mind, is Vishnu, the pervasive consciousness. Who is also the Divine son, the guiding cosmic intelligence and source of the great teachers and avatars.

A well-placed Mercury is of great importance in life. Our Mercury establishes our values in life. Material values, prices and standards of measurement, artistic values, as well as spiritual values (like seeing all life as sacred), are different aspects of the value sense of Mercury.

A good Mercury also gives good humor and psychological balance. It imparts a mental adaptability that is also playful. He is the trickster but can become deceptive. When afflicted, Mercury becomes the fool, the idiot. Sometimes, even when wise, he will play the fool to express his adaptability and wit and to learn what would otherwise be hidden from him. Under a strong negative Saturn influence, Mercury can lose its power and show lack of intelligence.

Afflictions to Mercury do not always give lack of intelligence or intellect, however. They may cause some other harm, like speech defects, nervous system disorders or neurosis. Intelligence can be given by other planets, like Jupiter; but without a strong Mercury, there will be difficulty in expressing it, particularly through the written word. Mercury determines our expression in life. Of what value is what we do or who we are if it cannot be in some way communicated or shared?

Mercury is very important in modem culture and one of its most beneficial powers — the need to establish open communication that must lead to a world culture. Telephone, radio, television and computers are products of Mercurial needs aligned with the engineering capacity of Mars. Yet, so far we remain caught in the lower domain of Mercury and are only sharing superficial wealth and information, not communing with our deeper Self. We are swamped with massive and usually trivial data by the development of the lower Mercury principle manifesting through the mass media. ,

Astrology itself requires a strong Mercury for its needs of calculation and communication. As our principle of balance, Mercury is often the point at which we can change our lives for higher purposes.

Mars - Mars is the great planet of energy. Mars relates to our passions, our emotional and vital capacity for self-projection. We could say that Venus governs our incoming emotions, our capacity to receive emotion, whereas Mars rules our outgoing emotions, our capacity to project emotion.

Mars is the male and Venus is the female. They are the positive and negative, the active and passive sides of our feeling. Mars is the planet of emotional excitability, which can become violence.

Whereas the Sun and Moon represent our masculine and feminine natures generally, Mars and Venus do so specifically. They are planets of sexuality, and the relationship between the sexes can be read through them, whereas the luminaries have a parental influence from a more' general male and female nature. When the influence of Mars and Venus combines, particularly in fixed signs, the sexual drive can become very strong and may dominate the nature. When in harmony, Mars is the romantic, giving side to Venus’ desire for fun and to be wanted.

Mars is the significator of brothers, friends and alliances. These include any association of common interest to achieve a common goal.

Mars is the planet of power, strength, courage, and aggression, and measures our ability to project force in life. On the positive side, a strong Mars is necessary to give us the energy, independence, will and self-confidence to carry out our endeavors — qualities it shares with the Sun. He typifies hard work. Without it we have no real interests, passions, and motivations, no determination, no real intensity or ability to carry out anything to the end and really accomplish it.

On the negative side, this same aggression brings about competition, argument, and conflict — and when unchecked by other factors, it causes domination, control, violence, and injury, a placing of our own personal will-to-power over the good of life. As such, Mars has always been well known as the great God of War. He can even be considered by some as satanical, for he can make a person militaristic or violent, turn him into a soldier or general, even a criminal if more malefically disposed.

He can cause us to inflict death, violence, injury and accident onto others and to ourselves, as far as causing our death. The malefic nature of Mars is well known in most instances of violent death, whether accidental or intentional. Mars also can indicate premature death in a chart, as with the loss of the partner (particularly the loss of the husband in the chart of the wife). He is the general significator for injury, accident, conflict and enmity. Mars creates misunderstandings, arguments and litigation. In this regard Mars is the selfish will that does not take into account the views and needs of others. It is always worth remembering Mars likes to win a lot, and can be dominant.

In a more positive light, these difficulties come about because Mars insists upon greater independence, differentiation, and clarity of views. He makes us more certain of who we are and who our friends are. He causes discontent and seeking until we discover the real source of power within us.

In a lower sense, Mars brotherliness can lead to the alliance of soldiers (or lower yet, thieves). The Mars energy of working together in discipline to achieve a common aim is necessary for any common endeavor.

Mars is the leader or the central energy of determination, upon which the right organization of forces depends. All energy requires a focus for its proper application and Mars gives us this direction.

Mars indicates arms and muscles and gives physical prowess. A good Mars is necessary for physical strength, good cordination and athletic performance. He gives sexual vitality to the male. A weak Mars can cause impotence or lack of manly characteristics.

Mars is a critical, perceptive and discriminating planet. His power of argument can, on the positive side, give good skills at speech, oratory and the good logical faculties. The lawyer, the politician and the scientist need such a strong Mars. With logic and science. Mars gives mechanical skills. He is the machinist, the engineer, the miner, the chemist, the electrician. He invents things to help us get things done better. He is practical and laboring. Mars rules tools, weapons, machines and their usage. He is the planet of work, effort, research and development. Mars types like a more dramatic, challenging and daring path in all fields of life.

As giving insight, Mars indicates knowledge and, in the higher sense, can direct us towards a Yoga of knowledge, particularly one that employs much self-discipline or asceticism. A strong and spiritual Mars is good for the practice of rituals and Yogic techniques, methods of directing occult and spiritual energies. We find such a Mars in the charts of those drawn to energetic Yogas or Tantric practices.

Modem culture based upon technology has had a strong Martian influence; hence, our tendency to war and monstrous weapons. Technology and war go together as aspects of Mars energy that we have not yet understood or controlled properly. Mars causes us to develop energy, but it does not necessarily give us the wisdom or love to use it properly.

It is to be noted always that Mars tends to regard power as an end in itself when it is only a means.

Mars is the son of the Earth in Hindu mythology. Hence, he is called Kuja or Bhumija, “the one bom from the Earth.” He is the flame hidden, in matter; his energy demands manifestation in material form. He can also bring out the negative or dark sides of the Earth energy, the titanic primordial powers, the Asuras or demons of the abyss who wish to destroy the creation and bring things back to the state of raw chaos. This inertia or tamasic quality behind Mars energy must not be forgotten.

On the other hand, combined with Jupiter, the positive side of Mars comes out as the capacity to make great achievements in life, in harmony with law and truth. He creates the proverbial good guy who works selflessly for what is right, but who consequently may suffer from self-righteousness. Nice and friendly, hard working men have a strong Mars.

Combined with Saturn, its negative side usually predominates, creating selfish, perverted or criminal tendencies, particularly when there are no balancing factors. Where balancing factors do exist, this combination creates discipline and the capacity for great accomplishments.

Mars is the planet of action. Yet it is not just action for action’s sake; it is the planet of goal-oriented action. As is one’s ultimate goal and highest value in life, so is one’s action.

It is important, therefore, to subordinate our Martian energy, which is indispensable for a creative life, to spiritual principles and to the influence of more spiritual planets. In this way it can give the capacity for the practical application of energy on a spiritual level in Yoga, Samadhi and meditation. It can give capacity for insight and inquiry on an inner as well as outer level.

In short, most of the qualities of Mars relate to his nature as fire. He can bum us or provide us warmth, give us light or create smoke, illumine or disturb us; but unlike the Sun who is self-luminous, he requires some fuel to bum. We must make sure that his fuel is not the life or energy of another nor the more refined aspects of our own being.