posted August 18, 2021 09:04 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by MoonMystic:
Can anyone share how we might see critical thinking, reasoning abilities in a natal chart?

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Hi MM!!

Good question! Hmmmmm.....I have Mercury/Saturn conjunct in Scorpio in the 6th house. I致e always had very strong critical thinking, reasoning and common sense. I feel like I知 swimming in a see of morons 90% of the time haha! No I知 kidding....well, sort of. I知 a natural born problem solver and can get myself out of any pickle.

But I知 pretty air void. Only air placement is my Moon in Aqua in 11th house so maybe that amplifies things? I think having an air moon helps with critical thinking, not really letting emotions get the best of you.

posted August 18, 2021 09:44 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by AmberMoon:
Hi MM!!

Good question! Hmmmmm.....I have Mercury/Saturn conjunct in Scorpio in the 6th house. I致e always had very strong critical thinking, reasoning and common sense. I feel like I知 swimming in a see of morons 90% of the time haha! No I知 kidding....well, sort of. I知 a natural born problem solver and can get myself out of any pickle.

But I知 pretty air void. Only air placement is my Moon in Aqua in 11th house so maybe that amplifies things? I think having an air moon helps with critical thinking, not really letting emotions get the best of you.

Maybe a mixture of Scorpio, positive Saturn & Mercury aspects or earth predominant, and an air moon?

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Hi there AmberMoon. How have you been?
I see you as a sharp student here AM.
I think the whole planet is bonkers tbh. lol

I just wondered if it might be a below/above or Earthly ?Air type involvement. Hope Kannon or Hypatia might chime in. They both understand pretty well this type of astrology quandry.

posted August 18, 2021 09:44 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by teasel:
I know that I possess them... I have Mercury/Saturn, too.

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posted August 18, 2021 10:06 PM            

Pluto and/or Scorpio in relation to Mercury or 3rd can indicate a more probing and questioning mind, but often with a tendency to the over paranoid.

Mercury and Saturn combo's can, but also can be overly fear and cautious prone to the point of over skepticism, bordering on cynicism i.e. a tendency towards a closed mind unless counterbalanced by more intuitive, imaginative, and/or fearless factors.

The ideal condition is simultaneous open mindedness and skepticism. This is the true scientific approach, but few people actually can and do maintain that balance/integration consistently.

There are two main kinds of scientists, and rarely do the twain meet. There is the more Mercury and/or Saturn polarized kind, which are the conservative, play it safe, never truly advance science, but often block new advancements, and then there are the more rare Uranian and/or Jupitarian pioneer type scientists that are more fearless, question more, more imaginative, more daring, and often have intuitive insights into how things really work.

To some extent, the latter does need some of the former to stay balanced and grounded though, and in the best scientists, you do find a combo, like in Einstein, who had Mercury in Aries (Sign of the Head after all) and conjunct Saturn, but also was an imaginative, intuitive Pisces Sun who talked about dreams, philosophy, imagination, played music, etc.

posted August 18, 2021 10:17 PM            

You said " strong Capricorn", which mine is but it (Capricorn) can bring stubborn qualities so I wondered if that could undermine my reasoning/logic? As I said my PR Moon has triggered my questioning of the nature of "reasoning" within us as humankind.

My Mercury is in the Taurus house, which could bring a taste of Venus too? Maybe temperping the stubborn potential? I would think an actual Fixed sign ruling Mercury could make it a stronger mind but maybe more stubborn? Maybe my 2 Earth signs involved could make me pretty head string? Like a goat+bull locking horns.

I am feeling that PR Moon.

My mother always said when it came to trusting rationing of substances to live in a famine etc, I'd be most trusted. Saturn potentially makes me too rigid?

posted August 18, 2021 10:45 PM            

But Mercury is THE symbol of the left brain, analytical, linear logical, critically thinking, more intellectual mind. So strong to very strong Mercury can trump various Signs.

Will give a real world example. I have a friend who has Leo Sun, Cancer Asc, with Moon in Libra conjunct Feminine/Yin Venus in Libra. You would think with that combo, he would be highly emotional and not all that intellect oriented...

But the picture deepens. He also has Cancer Mercury widely conjunct his Asc and in the 1st House, and he is a predominant Mercurian i.e. Mercury is his strongest planet. He is very data driven, very focused on science, and quite intellect oriented.

posted August 19, 2021 12:06 AM            

Perhaps it is cliche or the like, but I really do have a fondness for goats, and so does my partner also, who has Capricorn Asc.

(We have thought about getting some, but due to her travel addiction, probably not a good idea).

With Mercury ruling your Desc, and being in Capricorn, you apparently are fairly attracted to Capricorn energy, or at least a sub tone within a more Gemini and/or Mercurial attunement.

posted August 19, 2021 12:17 AM            

You really got me GCE
Yes! I think I'm weak to Virgo men.
My former love was one. My encounters with them are few though. I had a couple decent good Capricorn Sun bfs but I couldn't
let myself be committed with them.

posted August 19, 2021 06:43 AM            

For me critical thinking is related to going beyond superficial reasoning and actually try to understand why and how something is happening. I would expect Pluto/H8/Scorpio to be involved with Mercury in someway. Also the ability to be able to adjust your point of view based on new information would be very important. This would translate to a Mercury in a mutable sign (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces).

posted August 19, 2021 02:57 PM            

But I'll put a twist in this right off.

Albert Einstein's Mercury was not as strong as you'd assume. Not one of his (three) strongest planets. He was not born with the strongest reasoning capacity. He had to develop it. (Mercury in Aries conjunct and contra-parallel Saturn, quincunx Uranus). He struggled with the advanced math necessary to do what he later accomplished. But his mode of intelligence was imagination/intuition, not conventional cognitive reasoning, which is highly dependent on being fed 'facts' or some kind of information presumed true. Einstein's mind went well outside those kinds of assumptions to ask big questions. Questions induce listening, which is more a mode of intuition than what we'd call critical thinking or reasoning. So we know we cannot reduce one's 'intelligence' to cognition or whatever Mercury does.

In my observations, people with Sun conjunct Mercury tend to be strong minded but over-estimate their reasoning or understanding. They tend to think/communicate forcefully, but the will power of Sun overshadows the function of Mercury.

Similar with Mercury-Mars aspects (conjunct/parallel/square/opposition). I've got Mercury parallel Mars, so I had to learn to apply myself first to learning and critical examination of my mentality, beliefs, and possible assumptions. Still learning to be a better listener. Listening is very important to reasoning and our capacity for critical thinking.

Similar with those aspects of Mercury and Jupiter, a tendency to have big ideas, but to over-estimate the understanding.

Mercury with fire conditions (by strong/challenging aspect or sign) has to be contained and harnessed with discipline to get the best results.

There needs to be conditions with Mercury that show interest and curiosity. If a person doesn't have that, then it is harder to reason through new information or the unfamiliar. I've had to discipline my Mercury parallel Mars tendencies (to jump to conclusions, to argue before listening and learning) in the direction of more applied study and investigation.

Signs like Virgo and Capricorn can help with the 'critical' part, but may veer heavily hesitant or skeptical without some help from Jupiter, the outers, etc.

Mercury is not one of my strongest planets with it in Taurus in the 9th. However, I have Virgo rising with Asc applying 8ｰ to Pluto (in 1st), which is trine Mercury in Taurus. Mercury is also conjunct Venus and parallel Mars.

I had to learn critical thinking. It was not taught in my upbringing in fundamentalist religion. I was taught to read and believe the Bible and distrust anything 'wordly' or secular. So it has come more in my adult years after leaving religion and separating myself from it. I was very prone to black and white thinking in my earlier years. I had to learn nuance along the way, partly through reading and study, partly through writing (poetry) and observing people.

One of the reasons I was so susceptible to misbeliefs and inability to see through them early in life was because of the challenging Neptune aspects in my birth chart. Venus-Mars opposite Neptune. Neptune's challenging aspects, especially to Asc/Sun/Moon or personals, not just Mercury but especially it, set up a strong motivation to believe in something or some source outside oneself for sweeping answers (philosophy, religion, etc).

posted August 19, 2021 03:31 PM            

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Signs like Virgo and Capricorn can help with the 'critical' part, but may veer heavily hesitant or skeptical without some help from Jupiter, the outers, etc.

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