Thinking and communication in the natal chart

Thought and speech are linked but not identical. One person thinks for a long time and speaks briefly. Another thinks aloud and arrives at a decision in conversation. The reading separates these sides so as not to mix up “how I think” and “how I am heard”.

• Chapter 3, “Thinking and decision-making”: how a person takes in information, weighs options, what they base a decision on, how much they need a broad view.
• Chapter 4, “Communication and interaction”: the manner of speaking and listening, the exchange of information in the immediate circle, how words combine with feelings, attachments and pressure.

Astrology is a tradition of interpretation, not a science. Both chapters invite you to look at your habits; they do not measure intelligence or communication skills.

There is one Mercury sign, but it is read twice: as a way of thinking and as a way of expressing oneself. In interpretation the ninth house is linked with convictions, learning and a broad view, the third with speech, learning and the immediate circle (more in the article on houses in the natal chart). Mercury retrograde is an apparent backward motion as seen from Earth; its interpretation is covered in the article on retrograde planets.

The Mercury sign sets the general style: quick and mobile or slow and thorough, practical or imaginative. Bodies in the ninth house add to thinking an interest in meanings and distant horizons, and the aspects of Mercury show what supports or hinders clarity. Mercury retrograde is in interpretation linked with a more inward thinking that returns to the same things.

In the fourth chapter the same words are tested in practice: how they sound aloud. Bodies in the third house colour everyday conversation, and three separate links show whose “intonation” mixes into the speech: the Moon’s (feelings), Venus’s (softness and taste) or Mars’s (pressure).

A divergence between the chapters is an ordinary picture. Thinking can be cautious while speech is sharp. Or a person thinks quickly but takes a long time to find words in conversation. Such a contradiction is not called an error: it shows where thought and word go different ways. How different chapters are tied together in the tenth, “Inner contradictions and areas of growth”, is described in the article on aspects in the natal chart.

The example is fictional: the positions are invented to explain the idea, not calculated from anyone’s data.

• Mercury in Scorpio: thinking that probes and is attentive to hidden motives.
• Jupiter in the ninth house: interest in broad ideas, learning, a view “from above”.
• Mercury sextile Saturn: thoroughness, an ability to bring a thought to a clear conclusion.
• Venus in the third house: in everyday conversation, gentleness and a knack for winning people over.
• Mercury square Mars: directness and sharpness when an argument heats up.

The third chapter would describe a deep, structured way of thinking: decisions are not made quickly, but with a well-considered basis. The fourth would show two sides: a pleasant, friendly delivery in ordinary conversation and a sharp tone when convictions are touched. Together they give an observation: for this person, thought is calmer than speech in an argument. For self-observation it is useful to notice the moment at which the tone changes.

This is a hypothesis, not a verdict. What finished chapters look like can be seen in the open sample reading.

The Mercury sign, its aspects and its retrograde status are usually known without the time as well, except in rare cases when one of them changes during the day. Bodies in the third and ninth houses are unknown without the time, and the chapters say nothing about them. So a description remains, but it becomes less detailed. More in the article on a chart without a birth time.

• They do not measure intelligence, memory or ability to learn.
• They do not promise that a decision will be right and will not tell you how to act in a particular situation.
• They do not call either Mercury retrograde or a tense aspect “bad”.
• They do not predict arguments, misunderstandings or successful negotiations in any given period.
• They draw no conclusions from an empty house: it does not mean the person has no convictions or social circle.

• Recall your last important decision. How much of it did you think over alone, and how much did you discuss aloud?
• Write down in which conversations you say exactly what you think, and in which you find the right words only later.
• Ask someone close how you sound in an argument and how that differs from your calm tone.
• Notice what helps you set out a thought clearly: writing it down, a pause, a one-to-one conversation?

To see your Mercury sign, build your chart. The planets as a whole are described in the article on planets in the natal chart, and the general order of reading in the article how to read a natal chart.