In this post, I discuss the importance of Mars and Mercury in the realm of intelligence, analytical thinking, and investigation. Many astrologers don’t seem to understand the basic difference between these two planets so I illustrate the same with one or two real-world examples.
It is common to think that only mercury is responsible for intellectual dexterity. But I think, astrologers miss the huge role of Mars in that game. When it comes to intellectual dexterity really we can’t separate mars and mercury. In every form, they are connected. In the previous post, while discussing the importance of every planet for an astrologer, I gave an example of subtleties of mercury and mars and their mutual connection in intelligence. In this post, I am going to elaborate a little further on that concept with examples and discussion. I would like to bring attention to the reader that this relationship between Mars and Mercury is very special because Mercury is the only enemy to Mars in the entire planetary cabinet. Whereas Mars is neutral to mercury. So it seems as if Mercury hurts mars if he is directly opposite or conjunct him in the chart (other planetary aspects are also important but not as strong as conjunction or opposition). But when it comes to rasi aspect, if these planets are aspecting each other it does seem to contribute to rapid cognition and quick wits. It is funny that with all astrology aside we seem to already know this colloquially because whenever someone addresses a person’s intelligence, almost always they will use the phrase – “He/She has a sharp intellect”. Sharp objects are ruled by Mars. This is also one of the reasons Mars rules surgeons and chefs who deal with sharp objects. Then the intellect is ruled by Mercury. Also, note that when Mercury analyses the situation he is basically doing an autopsy or tearing into the problem piece by piece. To perform an autopsy we need knife or scalpel which is a sharp object ruled by Mars. To break down the problem into small pieces we also need Mars. Once Mars forms the strategy for solving the problem like a war general, Mercury will execute it with his skills or talents and manage the situation better. Thanks to the effective strategy of Mars, Mercury will look graceful while managing the situation.
So for someone to have a sharp intellect, they have to have both Mercury and Mars well dignified and high shad bala in the chart. Most importantly they have to be connected to each other. In my current opinion, both these planets mutually rasi aspecting is very good combination. The second best combination is when either planet is in each others nakshatras. The nakshatras reveal the growth process of consciousness. The grahas are a conscious part of Maha Vishnu while the rasis are unconscious limbs of Vishnu. The nakshatras particularly allow for the growth of planets consciousness through its respective deity’s energy. So if mars is in mercury’s nakshatra or mercury is in mars’s nakshatra then it will lead to good analytical and logical reasoning capability. Furthermore, if either of these planets are the aatmakaraka or lagna lord or forming the Jaimini intelligence yogas in the chart by association with the 3rd house, the 3rd lord, 5th house, 5th lord, 6th house and 6th lord then there will be triple emphasis. If Mercury is forming a budha-aditya yoga and is not combust and is located in either the 3rd or 5th house and if he is also connected to Mars via his nakshatra’s or rasi aspects then the intellectual dexterity will also be more pronounced. On a side note it is worth mentioning that not all budh-aditya yoga is powerful. Even if it occurs in any other house the strongest houses where the Budh-Aditya yoga will give great results is the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 11th houses as these are houses of intelligence. Mercury should also not be combust in the chart. Lastly, both Mercury and Sun should be endowed with strength in shad bala. Finally one may also confirm the above concepts and combinations in D24 or sidhamasa and D60 or shastiamsa charts.
Before we begin and jump into this discussion. First let us examine the astrological combinations that makes someone a cop, lawyer and judge. The combination that makes some a cop is mars as soul planet (aatmakaraka) or 10th lord or lagna lord or maha dasa lord has to be connected to the 6th house for fighting crime and 9th house for protecting law. The combination that makes someone a lawyer is Mercury as soul planet (aatmakaraka) or 10th lord or lagna lord has to be connected to the 6th house of litigation and court cases and 9th house for protecting law. Lawyers will also have to have strong 3rd house of communication and 8th and 12th lord for research skills to dig up past information. A combination that makes someone a judge is Jupiter as soul planet (aatmakaraka) or 10th lord or lagna lord or maha dasa lord has to be connected to the 6th house for fighting crime and 9th house for protecting law. In the case of a judge, he will also have strong mercury because only after being a lawyer for a long period is when a person becomes a judge. Besides that, the 9th lord will be very strong in the case of Judge and connected to both mercury and Jupiter.
The best example we see of Mercury and Mars in action every day is – A cop and lawyer. It is the job of the cop (Mars) to protect the law. Mercury rules man-made law. Any law has an element of good vs evil. Then in the next step, we have mercury (lawyer) defending the law or his client. Hopefully, if it is good mercury he will be in support of a good cause. But see the catch – to be a lawyer, one needs courage (Mars) and confidence (Sun) for speech. They also need to be good at logical reasoning which is Mars. Moreover, they have to argue and fight for the law or client etc which is in the realm of mars. A lawyer also needs to be quick-witted, have great research skills to dig data/cases up which is in the realm of mercury. Then the lawyer is also a problem solver which is Mars as he solves the problems of other people. Even Donald Trump seems to understand Mars quite well as he boasts of himself as a “Problem solver” (he has Mars as Aaatmakaraka and in Lagna). Now, how much that is true, is a debatable topic 🙂 (joke intended)
Likewise, take a journalist which is a profession ruled by Mercury. We need Mars in that too. Why? Because if a journalist wants to report the truth especially related to crime etc, they put the life in risk and most often receive death threats etc. In fact, many journalists have been killed for reporting some incidents or crime. It really takes courage to do all of that. If a person is passionate, authentic and ideal, they will pursue it which is mars again. The Pen (Mercury) is called mightier than the sword (Mars). The intellect (Mercury) is also mightier than physical brute power (Mars). I don’t know if it is mightier or not but it is at least on power.
Both these planets finally land on Jupiter because he is the high preceptor. In the case of lawyer and cop, it is the judge who finally gives the verdict. Judgement is in the realm of Jupiter. In the cards system, Jupiter rules the number 5 which is related to Judgement (Male power or black 5 of club and 5 of spade )and Justice (Female power red 5 of diamond and 5 of heart ) as shown in figure 1. Together these 3 planets form the “Holy trinity of law” . And here is the interesting part: Mars, Mercury and Jupiter are a sequence in planets but they are very strongly connected than meets the eye.
Figure 1: The Judgement (top) and Justice (bottom) tarot cards related to planet Jupiter’s male and female side respectively.
Mars is number 3, mercury is 4 and Jupiter is 5. But number 5 governs number 3. Mars (soldier or warrior) fights with ideals of Jupiter (Guru). It is the Guru that teaches right vs wrong for the soldier. Finally, Number 4 of mercury governs number 5 of Jupiter. Mercury is man-made law and the rules one has to follow while Jupiter is the higher law and truth and most importantly dharma. So all three numbers 3,4 and 5 are inter-related very strongly.
It is surprising to think that mercury who is neutral can set the rules for good vs evil. But if you contemplate it will make perfect sense as Mercury arrives after Mars. At the stage of Mars there is a competition between good vs bad. So that process has already started. Mercury stabilizes that process by benchmarking the rules of the game as to who is good or who is bad or what is good and what is bad. Co-incidentally, Mercury is the planet that documents everything in the form of data etc (and is related to the Heirphont card figure 2). So all of the documentation processes takes place at mercury stage. Now we have the rules of game. What next? Even until then, Mercury remains neutral in his approach ( just like defending the law and making arguments for the client). Arrive Jupiter who judges and decides what is actually right vs wrong or who is right vs wrong. In a way, Mercury (lawyer) triggers Jupiter (Judge) by appealing for Justice. Even though Mercury is a neutral planet, he does take sides when the laws are broken. Throughout Indian mythological tales, Maha Vishnu who is the avatar of Mercury has done this several dozen times to re-establish Dharma (more on that in this article)
Figure 2: The Heirphont (top) and The High Preistess (bottom) tarot cards related to planet Mercury’s male and female side respectively.
Take another example of a scenario where debate is taking place between two camps of people. What is a debate essentially? Debate is nothing but an organized form of quarreling. Debate is nothing but two camps attacking each other (Mars) with arguments or words (Mercury). In a debate too, there is a competition (Mars) to prove or muscle one’s views on the other. If Mercury is well dignified, he will be able to see the other person’s point of view or else he would totally lack the understanding to do so !
If one thinks that all this happens on material level, what about physical body plane? It is the same story there too. Mars rules the nervous systems and mercury rules the skin. Mars is the electricities and impulses or currents that runs between the neurons. And if you look at a neural network, it resembles the roots of a plant or tree which is responsible for the movement of information (or nutrients in case of plants) etc. Also, note that the skin houses the nervous system just like the neural network houses the connections or electrical impulses.
Some astrologers are of the opinion that Saturn is the judge and it is not Jupiter. I want to state a few things to clear that confusion too. If one were to look at nature and examine the biological needs of human beings it will be very clear who is the judge in that respect. Saturn is the judge when it comes to time and death and movement of soul from one body to another. Whereas, Jupiter is the judge who is in charge of affairs operating in the worldly plane. Just observing the human biological needs will explain that. Jupiter is known as the planet of procreation, children, karaka for D7 and also husband for a woman. Now examine the sexual process to create a child. Essentially during procreation, the process of natural selection and survival of the fittest takes place. But the keyword is Survival of the fittest. What does that mean? who judges someone is fit to go on or not? It is woman or feminine animals that judge which of the male species survives. Among the millions of sperms, only one sperm is responsible for the creation of life. That is judgment in its first form that we encounter as a species! So woman really need to have a good Jupiter if the dynasty or species has to survive and live long. On a side note, anyone who contemplates on that about will know that there is judgment being made on macroscopic and microscopic levels every time and every day by the body with or without our doing. Thus, I conclude that Jupiter is the Judge.
Furthermore, in the natural zodiac, Mars is the main karaka for the 3rd house and 6th house. Both are houses of intelligence and skill and courage. Mercury rules the natural 3rd and 6th house. Mars is the 3rd planet so his connection to 3rd house is direct and makes sense. When we add numbers from 1 to 3, we get 6 which lands in the 6th house again. So even in this respect, there is a strong connection between Mars and Mercury. 6th is the house of enemies and to overcome the enemies we need mars. Mercury is the management and planner among the planets. Mercury cannot do that alone because before planning anything we need to be strategic and logically which is Mars.
On a final note, my favourite example of the Mercury-Mars duo is the great Indian epic, Mahabharatha and particularly the Bhagavad-Gita itself. Anyone who has read it will able to appreciate this combination in every shloka. Even though Sri Krishna astrologically is an avatar of the Moon, he is always an avatar of Vishnu who is Mercury. Arjuna represents the actions and is the Kshatriya warrior who is Mars. Arjuna gave up his fight against the Kauravas because he did not want to fight his own cousins and family. Arjuna essentially displays the traits of a Mars that is debilitated on the battlefield as he gets emotional and wrapped up in it at the time of war. So Arjuna’s logical reasoning gets skewed once he gets emotional. Similarly, there is a Kshuditha or starved avastha attitude displayed by Arjuna. It seems as if Arjuna’s Mars is afflicted by Mercury as he gets lost in the details of the battle. Even though Kauravas rob him and his brothers of their fair share of rights and life, he questions the point of war and the killing of his family instead of choosing the path of Dharma. Sri Krishna in his role as cosmic father and Jagathguru preaches Arjuna the path of yoga and explains to him the reasons he has to fight.
In the end, Sri Krishna doesn’t make the choice for Arjuna and leaves the choice open to Arjuna. That is a great example of Mercury. Not only did Sri Krishna in this role, show a great example of Mercury but also he fulfilled the role of Jupiter as a preacher. Moreover, he re-established DHARMA in the process which is the most important role of Jupiter. So Arujna filled the role of Mars while Sri Krishna filled the role of both Mercury and Jupiter for the sake of SATYA (truth) and DHARMA (path of righteousness).
HARI OM!
OM TAT SAT