posted August 14, 2011 03:30 PM            

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Mercury in the 12th

Mercury in the 12th doesn't exactly wander into the 12th house - he falls into it. And, like Alice, he finds himself in a strange land, encounterin things that are awesome, helpful and fascinating.

Primarily, a 12th house Mercury attempts to build a bridge betwen the conscious and unconscious minds - to integrate into conscious awareness what is operating in the hidden depths of the psyche. This involves a two-fold process. First, those with this placement venture into the imaginal realms of the unconscious, although if they don't choose to take that initial step, it doesn't matter - what is down there will sooner or later come up to get them. Secondly, once in that realm, they must look around, take notes and then come back up again. If they get stuck down there, forgetting to return up again or unable to do so, then someone else will have to be called in to rescue them.

What does this all mean? Those with Mercury here --- through introspection, soul-searching, psychotherapy, good literature, or dreamwork -- need to explore the unconscious to find out what makes them tick. Depending on the aspects to Mercury, some of what is stored there will be useful and productive and well worth bringing to the surface. However, other stuff may need to be sifted through and sorted out -- especially learned impressions and memories from the past which, consciously remembered or not, distrot and ovscure how informantion received in the present is being interpreted. In order to see what is in front of them more clearly, they will have to clean up some of the early life (or previous life?) debris cluttering their immediate perception and awareness.

After a while uncollectd rubbish stars to stink. If they don't take some of that "garbage" and convert it to compost, then the dissolving action that the 12th house has on any planet in it begins to take effect: in this case the mind (Mercury) breaks down. I mentioned that if Mercury doesn't go down there, what's down ther comes up and gets them. Mercury in the 12th could suffer occassionally from intrusive thoughts of an obsessive or disturbing nature. If difficulty aspected, paranoia and the fear that others are talking or plotting against them could result. Innocent facts and people will be sistorted to give support to these fantasies.

Planets in the 12th house are not sure of their boundaries. The questions for Mercury there is, 'whose mind is it anyway?'. An openness to thought sand undercurrents in the atmosphere makes it difficult to know hwat thoughts are their own and wich belonot other people. In fact, some people with Mercury in the 12th maybe so afraid of 'losing their mind' that they compensate by being super-rational, only believing in what can be statistically proven or tested. This placement also gives a secretive mind, which hides what it is thinking from others. However, if Mercury is not too badly aspected, there are psychic abilities, a vivid imagination and access to the accumulated wisdm of the past.

The imaginative Pulitzer winning author, Ernets Hemingway, was born with Mercury in the Leo inthe 12th ruling Virgo on the Ascedant and Gemini on the cusp of the 10th, the house of career. The film-maker an actor Orson Welles is another brilliant talent with an expansive imagination: he was born with Mercury in Taurus in the 12th exactly sextile Jupiter in Pisces in the 10th. The often divinely inspired actor, Lord Oliver, also has Mercury in the 12th, rulinga Gmeini Ascendant and Virgo on the cusp of the 5th house or creative self-expression.

I have met some people with Mercury in the 12th who are insecure about their mental abilities. It maybe that they understand much more than they are able to put into words, or suffer from learning or education difficulties. Conversely, those with mercury here are sometimes involved in helping others who have problems with speech, reading, hearin gor mobility. Whatever is in the 12th house is not just here for our own consumption -- we can often use these energies to help or serves other people. There may be sacrifices that have to be made for brothers or sisters, or something unusual about the relationship with them.

The 12th house has been referred to as 'the house of self-sustainment or self undoing.'. With Mercury here, negative thinking could be the root of many problems, while learning to use th emind and imagination more positively may be just be needed ingredient to transform obstacles into blessings.

Gemini on the cusp of the 12th warns that clear thinking could be obscured by unconscious emotional complexes wich should be examined. On the positive side, they can usually talk themselves out of difficulties or like Odysseus manoeuvre cleverly thorugh tricky situations. Virgo on the cusp of the 12th is prone to obsessive-compulsive thoughts Stemming froma fear of looking silly or appearing foolish, they maybe be afraid to relax and let go. Often they judge themselves against too rigid ideals of perfection and harbour feeligs of inadequacy. This sensitivity to what is weak or flawed can be turned around and used to help themselves or othes where it needed most.

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