posted August 20, 2016 08:02 PM              

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Originally posted by Faith:
It helps if Virgo Mercury is in the 12H or aspecting Neptune or Pisces planets though. Otherwise there may be a tendency towards narrow-mindedness, ie, "I can only believe in what is tangible, conventional, and what I am capable of managing." The blinders are not becoming on a planet such as Mercury. The point is not to be a big fish in a little pond, you know?

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posted August 24, 2016 04:27 PM              

For me, I find it odd that people say Mercury is exalted in Virgo. It's DIGNIFIED there, for sure, because Mercury is Virgo's ruler. But, how did it switch from being dignified to exalted?

My view on exalted placements is that they take the planet's function and strengthen it and make it shine in ways that are not entirely conventional, in regards to what the planet stands for. But, in the end, the sign does agree with what the planet wants.

Moon is exalted in Taurus, for example. The Moon is highly emotional and irrational in its symbolism, on its own. But, Taurus is not really emotional. More so peaceful, stable, grounded, easygoing. So, the comfort the Moon looks for finds an unconventional satisfaction through Taurus. This sign also wants comfort. It's not the emotional comfort of Cancer. It's something more stable which, in turn, stabilizes the Moon and makes it happier.

Mercury stands for pure logic that is actually quite conventional. Two + two = four. This is Virgo and also Gemini, as well. These signs are very logical in a straightforward, typical sense. This is why Mercury would be dignified there.

But, think of Aquarius. Yes, it also represents logic but in a way that's intuitive, eccentric, unpredictable, that zigzags around conventional thought. So, like any other exalted placement, it adds another extra oomph to the planet's expression by going against its grain somewhat while also giving it exactly what it needs.

Virgo relies on the tangible facts: through a textbook, a calculator, gathered evidence and details. Aquarius also relies on the facts but in a way you wouldn't expect: through thinking outside of the box. Aquarius' logic doesn't come from a textbook. It comes from an intuitive openness - to collaborating with others, going against convention, looking to the future, engaging in non-mainstream forms of study like astrology - that eventually leads Aquarius to produce facts, as well. But, they are produced in a way that a typical Mercury could not do.

That's why I think Mercury is definitely exalted in Aquarius; no offense to the OP. It does make sense that, with this Mercury, you would try to challenge that conventional thought. Both Mercury in Virgo and Mercury in Aquarius are high intelligence. But, Mercury in Virgo is the class valedictorian while Mercury in Aquarius is the brilliant inventor. That exalts it, in my opinion.

posted August 26, 2016 10:50 PM            

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Originally posted by theunknown:
^^^ you're always so eloquent. A true Virgo Mercury

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posted April 24, 2020 02:52 AM            

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Originally posted by Electro DGX:
I'm surprised as to how many people are disagreeing with my ideas on the exaltion of Mercury. It may be due to how many people like to praise Virgo Mercury as being the best placement for such and my desperate reasoning to figure out why. Of course, if I find evidence enough for me to consider my theory disproved, then I can give Faith her crown back lol.

My reasoning for Mercury being exalted in Virgo was because of Mercury's focus. Virgo brings Mercury down to reality and allows for Mercury to take these ideas and execute them in the most realistic and practical way possible, which is why I think it works best. Aquarius is an Air sign like Gemini, so often the Aquarian may be a genius, but my reasoning for why it wouldn't be exalted in Aquarius is because it gets stuck up in the ideas and may not be able to put them into reality in a practical matter. If consistency between placements of signs is your reasoning, Pluto is supposed to be the higher-octave of Mars and Mars in Scorpio is not exalted, so why would Aqua Mercury be exalted if Uranus is Mercury's higher octave? Keeping consistency between sign placements I feel causes confusion and problems, especially considering Venus in Pisces.

As for theunknown, I feel that the contrast comes from our vastly different views on exaltion in itself. What I keep seeing is that although you say that an exalted placement has the potential to be good, you keep pushing how it struggles more so than the placements of domicile, which I felt Faith argued against with her description of Jupiter (not that she did it directly). Furthermore, the example you used with Jupiter being exalted in Cancer but ruling over two mutable signs doesn't make sense because Saturn's Domicile and Exaltion are both in Cardinal signs (Capricorn and Libra, detriment in Cancer and fall in Aries). The same goes for Uranus, being domicile over Aquarius but being exalted in Scorpio, both fixed signs.

I've always seen exaltion as the placement that nullifies the negative traits the most from those of domicile and can efficiently apply the traits of the planet in the best way possible, considering the planet at hand. Mars is exalted in Capricorn because Saturn's influence gives it control; it knows when to stop using energy on a goal and when to put it to use and keep going. Aries Mars is often too impulsive and has too short of an attention span to stay focused on a long-term goal if results don't turn up, and Mars in Scorpio can be prone to focusing too much energy on something that can be considered "wasteful" in the long-run. MiC, on the other hand, has the ability to differentiate what is worth the energy and what is not, making it the best placement for Mars.

That's how I see it anyway.

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You’re a wonderful writer! I notice talent, lol