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Step 1
Know Mercury's story. Mercury is the Messenger, speedy, on winged feet. Mercury is all about the mind. Mercury fires synapses, clicks along, sending information to the Sun, its galactic neighbor. Speed is a key element when Mercury is in control. There is a downside to Mercury and its quickness can have liability. When large quantities of information come into the mind, it is not possible to have awareness of all that data. You may not be able to develop an understanding of a subject's depth and essence and, therefore, may miss its value. Information is not necessarily awareness.
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Step 2
Ask what kind of data does Mercury provide the Sun? This depends on Mercury's sign. How the Sun process the information given by Mercury is not Mercury's business. If Mercury is in Gemini, the planet will supply a tremendous variety of types of information and will do it with great speed. The Sun sign, houses and aspects will determine how all that raw data is digested or if it is digested at all.
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Step 3
Investigate the areas to which Mercury applies its information and communication skills. Any area that deals with transmitting and receiving information come under Mercury's purview. Speaking, education (teaching and study), writing and reading all relate to Mercury's talents. How well and in what ways you participate depends upon signs, other planets, houses and aspects to Mercury.
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Step 4
Reflect on questions that relate to Mercury's influence in your life, what your strengths and weaknesses are. Are you a gifted speaker, teacher or writer? What communication areas are stronger and which are weaker?
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Step 5
Determine if Mercury is in retrograde, always an area that displays a planet's shadow side, in this case communication. In retrograde, Mercury does present difficulties expressing one's thoughts. This is because the retrograde Mercury mind, generally is self-oriented, rather than Mercury's natural inclination to communicate outwardly. You may have a rich imagination that seeks expression beyond the borders of your solitary mind. When Mercury is in retrograde, look for all kinds of issues around communication, for example, emails failing, fax machines crashing, down phone lines and people just not understanding each other.
