When I was first learning astrology, I was told – by someone who should know better – that because my Mercury was so “bad” (yes, the word was used) that I would have had trouble learning as a child, and functioning at any level of seniority in the work place as an adult.

The truth is very different. I had no difficulties at school. I graduated high school with a very respectable ATAR that got me entry into a top Aussie Uni to study Economics and Political Science. I graduated from there with respectable marks.

At the time I was told all of this, I was managing multiple changes, and complex IT and relocation projects. Rather than being unable to deal with responsibility, the way my brain is wired allows me to juggle multiple completely unrelated problems simultaneously.

So was that astrologer wrong? Not necessarily. There’s no denying that my Mercury is, according to the texts, in a pretty crappy state:

• It’s in Pisces- a sign where it is in both its fall and its detriment ie is absoflippinglutely not comfortable. The mode of operation in Pisces is at odds with the way that Mercury prefers to operate.
• It’s in the 12th house – almost like being in Pisces twice over – hidden away, living in its own head.
• It’s retrograde – so almost like being in Pisces three times over.

According to traditional astrology, my crappy Mercury couldn’t get any crappier. Unless, perhaps, if it was in Pisces in the 12th, and also conjunct Saturn. My BMF- who runs an international multi-faceted operation- has that placement and, like me, manages to cope just fine.

What that astrologer told me all those years ago, is a commonly held belief relating to Mercury in Pisces. It’s a belief that many Pisceans will point at and laugh and use as an excuse:

‘Oh, ooops, there were consequences to that?’

‘Oh, ooops, I can’t help it, I have Pisces in Mercury. I can’t be expected to think.’ Cue cute giggle.

Yes, I’ve heard both- and more.

The thing is, I’ve somehow learnt to adapt well to my Mercury – and I’m not alone. Consider all the other successful Pisceans who have done the same. People like Alan Rickman (Sun Pisces), Elton John (Sun Aries), Robbie Williams (Sun Aquarius). And that’s just for starters.

Since meeting that astrologer, who should have known better and will remain forever nameless, I’ve grown to love my Mercury. In fact, with what I do, Mercury is in the best possible placement that it could be. If I was to invent a Mercury placement for a romantic fiction writer, I couldn’t have planned it better. I can segue relatively seamlessly from the heads of my made-up characters to the reality of the office. My characters, once created, take on their own life and are real to me. That’s how my Mercury operates.

Over the years I’ve worked out what suits me and how I need to protect myself and my thoughts from overwhelm:

• I learn best in isolation, I learn best through absorption, I learn best when I allow myself to feel my way and trust my intuition.
• I work best when I have a number of things on the go. My brain doesn’t like to be contained- it needs to wander into possibility and fantasy. It closes down when there’s no escape route in sight.
• I process best when I have a safe place to express emotionally, and the space to do so.
• I schedule time to be away from everyone for short periods of time – it’s too easy for me to absorb the mood of others. The boundaries where you end and I start can be so thin as to be almost invisible. This is why, from time to time, I’ll disappear from Facebook. I absolutely have to.
• When on conference, I try and choose accommodation away from the group and have me time before and after sessions. It’s the only way that I can make sense of what I’ve learnt.
• Left to my own devices I’ll drift from project to project. It’s why I work best to deadline. Even though I self-publish my fiction, I pre-set delivery deadlines with my editor- and make sure that I stick to them.

There is no doubt that Mercury in Pisces works differently to Mercury in other signs. But that’s what it is- different…not better and absolutely not worse.

There’s a lot about us that frustrates those with Mercury in more classic Mercury signs.

• There’s the way we flit from subject to subject and somehow end up where we were in the first place.
• There’s the way we can have conversations with other water Mercuries where very little is said, but much is understood.
• There’s the way we disappear into our own head to the extent that we can play out an entire situation and believe that’s the way that it is.
• There’s the way that we don’t necessarily want to talk about those feelings that are most important to us, because it’s inconceivable to us that you really don’t know how we’re feeling – after all, we probably know how you’re feeling…it’s already become part of us.
• There’s the way that you can hurt us with your “honest” feedback- you may have already forgotten, but it’s now part of us – we can’t separate from the words.
• There’s the way we vacillate or delay when making personal decisions – not because we can’t, but because we’re fighting with what our head says and our heart feels. We could also be struggling to separate what we want from what we’ve absorbed from you.

Other water Mercuries “get” this. Air Mercuries, in particular, struggle with the idea of it – or should that read the no idea of it?

As Mercury moves into Pisces today, we’ll all have to deal with a little of this. My best advice? Don’t fight it, go with the flow. Wherever Pisces is in your chart is where you need to look reality in the eye and then deny its existence.

If you want to know more about Mercury in Pisces, check out this post.

Doing it for yourself…

If you have your chart already, look for the symbol for Pisces – that will tell you what part of life you need to allow your thoughts to drift in whichever direction they choose – even if right now none of it seems rational. For now it’s about imagination and possibility.

If you don’t have your chart, read this post on how to get one.

If you don’t know what the houses mean, check out series 1 of the Toolbox or this post.

If you don’t have any idea about your birth time, or can’t be faffed working it out, you can follow the solar guide. Of course, if you know where Pisces is in your chart, you won’t need this guide:

• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Pisces, Mercury will be transiting your 1st house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Aries, Mercury will be transiting your 12th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Taurus, Mercury will be transiting your 11th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Gemini, Mercury will be transiting your 10th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Cancer, Mercury will be transiting your 9th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Leo, Mercury will be transiting your 8th house.
• If your Sun of Ascendant is in Virgo, Mercury will be transiting your 7th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Libra, Mercury will be transiting your 6th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Scorpio, Mercury will be transiting your 5th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Sagittarius, Mercury will be transiting your 4th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Capricorn, Mercury will be transiting your 3rd house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Aquarius, Mercury will be transiting your 2nd house.