Today, I want to talk about Mercury.
Since this is an Astrology newsletter, you’d assume I’m talking about our quick-witted messenger planet. But before I spoke the language of the stars, I knew it to be something entirely different.
On the wall of my childhood bedroom hung a traditional thermostat. The kind that uses mercury, the chemical element, to tell the temperature. I remember being so mesmerized by the metallic silver goo: “When it’s hot, it goes up; when it’s cold, it goes down.” I remembered being told it was toxic, poisonous — ‘you’d die if even a little got onto you’. Getting a little thrill, of course, with so much Scorpio in me, of getting too close. Knowing that it wouldn’t hurt me, behind that thick wall of glass. But wondering about it all the same.
When my parents got divorced and we lost everything in the house, I thought I’d lost this little piece of my childhood, too. I didn’t expect my dad to hand it to me, 19 years later — covered in a layer of dust, but still entirely functional — when I visited him in August. It now hangs proudly over my bed, an unlikely heirloom. A talisman. The only physical thing connecting me to my family. ︴
Mercury, the planet, moves into Libra ⚖️ today. After 10 long weeks in Virgo, where — despite its lil retrograde stint — it’s exalted and feels super happy, we are now moving more fully into the realm of the scales. With the Sun, Mars (for now) and the South Node here, too, it’s a big Venusian party. 🌸🌞🍒💗⭐️
Mercury is our collective mental faculties: it’s how we communicate, think, and get around. With it geared toward the sign of beauty, peace and harmony from Oct 5—22, relationships will be front and center for us all . . . but the question is, our relationship to what?
✧ ˚ · Scroll to the end for your Mercury in Libra themes! · ✧ ˚
Libra season is a strange one for me, because it lights up my fourth house and my IC. (I made a reel about it a while back that sparked a TON of conversation!) Imum Coeli — also known as the “IC”, or nadir — is the bottom-most angle of our charts. It denotes our ancestry, our roots, and the karma we carry from our families.
I’ve never really had a good relationship to Libra as an archetype, because I’d only ever lived the low road of it — needing to be the mediator, the peacekeeper, the one that has to take all sides of a situation into account because my parents were busy acting like spoiled children. They had a strange preoccupation with image: Libra, being Venus-ruled, always wanting to “present” as good and harmonious, when in reality the shame and half-truths were rotting beneath the surface.
As an astrologer, now, I know different. I know that is only one (dark) side to the Libran coin. Libra, at its core, is beauty — a devotion to making life as beautiful, harmonious and peaceful as possible. As a cardinal sign, it takes action to make it so. Buying flowers for your home. Expressing your style through clothes, textures, colors. Initiating a conversation with a friend so you can hear them out. Libra is the sign that kicks off the second half of the zodiac, shifting from a Me focus to a We. Everything Libra does, ultimately benefits the people around them: their very way of being naturally inspires us to slow down and think about others. How we can move through the world in a more conscious, intentional, balanced way. 💐
Ever since the Sun moved into Libra, I’ve been wanting to enjoy my life more. I’ve been working so hard, for so long — it’s been more than a year since I started my astrology studies, and since then, I haven’t stopped! But Virgo season reminded me how out of balance my life has been when I only focus on my career. All work and no play makes Gwen a dull girl.
Mercury in Libra couldn't have come at a better time, to remind me that beauty is worth investing in, too. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say it’s what makes life worth living for. ⭐️
I just booked the Airbnb for my bestie trip next week. I’ll be taking my first holiday — fully funded by the money I’ve earned all year doing astrology work, including!! paid subs!! 🌞 — roadtripping to the northern part of Malaysia, where there are beaches and culture and good food and gosh, I can’t tell you how much I needed this. A week to let my hair down and soak up an unfamiliar place and spend time with my best friend and not talk about the stars and just be.
Can you think of anything more perfect for Libra season? 🍒
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🍒 ˚ · Your Mercury in Libra themes! · 🍒 ˚
Mercury entered Libra today, ending a prolonged 10-week stay in Virgo. ⚖️ Libra is the sign of relationships — not just human relationships, but also our relationship to particular areas of our life.
These are the areas of life Mercury in Libra will be highlighting to you from Oct 5—22:
♈️ Aries Rising: Your partnerships, commitments, significant other
♉️ Taurus Rising: Your routines, wellness and day-to-day work
♊️ Gemini Rising: Your creativity, joy, pleasure and inner child
♋️ Cancer Rising: Your home, family, ancestry and roots
♌️ Leo Rising: Your communication and self expression
♍️ Virgo Rising: Your self worth, money and values
♎️ Libra Rising: Your ego, identity and sense of self
♏️ Scorpio Rising: Endings, spirituality, and healing
♐️ Sag Rising: Your community, networks and belonging
♑️ Cap Rising: Your career, legacy and professional ambition
♒️ Aqua Rising: Your sense of optimism, faith and adventure
♓️ Pisces Rising: Your mental health, intimacy and vulnerability
✧ ˚ · A few fun ways to work with Mercury in Libra: · ✧ ˚
Have a heart-to-heart with a loved one. You can make it fancy! Wine night, cheese, chocolate-coated strawberries 🍓 . . . hey, you gotta set the mood, right? ;)
Clear the air from an old conflict. We’re officially out of the woods from that Mercury Retrograde in Virgo, but Mercury in Libra is the perfect time to mend any fences that were broken during that time and extend an olive branch!
Reach a compromise on a situation. Maybe you’ve felt stuck and unable to move forward because a decision doesn’t check all your boxes . . . Mercury in Libra is here to help you look at it from ALL perspectives and come up with a new set of priorities. Remember, it’s better to decide and move forward (and possibly fail), than to not commit at all! 🌹
Enjoy the beauty in the small moments. As I was writing this, a follower just DMed me: “I took a big unapologetic mid-day nap with the windows open 🌳🍃 and it was so soothing.” THAT IS THE ENERGY I NEED US TO CULTIVATE FOR THIS SEASON — BIG UNAPOLOGETIC MID-DAY NAPS.
Alright my friends, notice what comes up for you over these next few weeks; if you feel called to, share your theme with me in the comments. This one’s a free one for ya love bugs, so feel free to share it! I’ll do my best to pop in next week ahead of the New Moon Eclipse in Libra, but since I’ll be on holiday… we’ll see 😉 love ya!! 💘
Till the next one,
Gwen
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✺ in case you missed it…
Unapologetic big mid day nap haha! Yes but did i add "after clearing lots of self worth trauma" 😅 A Perfect virgo rising theme for this szn 🌹✨ for sure!
Have a lovely holiday Gwen but don’t stop talking about the stars! I’m sure whoever you’ll be with will appreciate your insights and revelations. And perhaps jot them all down to share with us later. 😉
(My ideal holiday would be one where I can look at and talk about the stars freely all day, all night.😊)
Reading about Mercury in Libra I just realised that although my natal Mercury is in Gemini but it is in the 7th House. I never looked at it that way before. Bring on beauty, balance and harmony in all areas of life!
As a Sagittarius Rising I have already noticed the impact in the areas of my community, networks and belonging. 😊
And those thermostats with real Mercury in them! So fascinating! We did an experience (supervised) in chemistry class when we deliberately broke one and were mesmerised by those little balls of Mercury rolling around seemingly aimlessly before joining back together as one big piece.
Thank you for your story! ❤️