The planet Mercury is a complex and enigmatic planet that has much more to do with our lives than just "communication", like faxes, emails, answering machines, telephones and media.

Mercury in ancient astrology was Winged Messenger of Gods. In Iliad and Odyssey when someone had a bright idea, instead of a lightbulb appearing over their heads, Greeks and Romans sketched in an imaginary god, Mercury, who had just arrived on scene with inspiration from "on high". After all, how could a mere mortal think of some of these brilliant solutions?

MERCURY HAS A CONNECTION WITH WILY ULYSSES

Ulysses in Odyssey, whose familiar epithet was "wily Ulysses" is a typically mercurial character. The Greeks greatly prized qualities of flexibility and ingenuity which Ulysses exhibited. The next time you're in a jam, think of some unusual and clever way out of your circumstance and you are honoring god Mercury. People born in Oriental Year of Monkey are great at this!

The Greeks and Romans, at a different stage of evolution than us, externalized some of their urges, desires and powers which they couldn't explain in ordinary terms. For example, Socrates was depicted with a "daemon" always at his side that spoke to him. His "daemon" was a "gift" he had had since childhood, that acted like a cross between an alter ego and a guide.

SOCRATES' EVIL TWIN WAS A "DAEMON"

Rationalists and academicians can have a terrible time dealing with Socrates' "daemon" precisely because it is so irrational, but that's exactly point. In all of us there is a committee which reaches our decisions for us. There are many voices. Many votes. Some people would like to think we arrive at our decisions through logic but rarely is this case. Certainly any important decisions in life are made based on values, emotions and instincts and then later justified with reason.

Mercury and sign Gemini symbolize duality within us. Sometimes this is experienced as a conflict between our head and our heart, sometimes between our better side and our worse side.

Gemini is sign that deals with "duality" in its most basic terms: good and evil. The humorous statement "my Evil Twin did it" is very close to psychic truth of this sign. Many Geminis keep their evil twin out of view or even their good one, but you can be sure they are at some level mortally engaged in process of reconciling good and evil in world but most of all within themselves.

THE BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL

This battle between good and evil is also characteristic of introvert temperament group which is called infp or Healer. Myers-Briggs and Keirsey Temperament Theory describe characteristics of introverts in 8 different categories that are similar to Jungian personality theories and infp is one of them.) To learn more, visit my website www.theintrovertzcoach.com.

This dialogue between opposite viewpoints and forces of good and evil go on inside all of us at certain times but Geminis and infp's deal with this on a lifelong basis. If you doubt me, find one and ask them about problem of good and evil. They will laugh and have much to say or in case of introverts, much to write!

In ancient times, inspiration from outside self which was very valuable was attributed to god Mercury. This is kind of information that comes from "stepping outside yourself" for a few minutes to get another viewpoint on things.

THE HERM

There is another aspect to Mercury which is less known and actually more important. The god Mercury also ruled crossroads. The Greeks erected little phallic statues (no pun intended) honoring god Mercury along side of road and at crossroads to honor god of travelers.

TRADE ROUTES

There were a few very well known major crossroads or Trade Routes in ancient times. For most part they are clustered around east end of Mediterranean Sea in an area also called Levant.

Let's take a look at them.

The King's Highway was route from Egypt to Euphrates River The Silk Road was route from Baghdad to Kashmir in China The Way of Sea was route through Palestine along coast of Syria The Lower Road was a later version of Royal Road The Amber Road was route from northern Italy through Yugoslavia to Danube in Hungary NOTE: If you'd like to get a real feel for these trade routes, visit a fascinating site which attempts to give you a virtual experience in photos: http://www.ancientroute.com You can see what it is like to really travel one of these routes.

IMAGINARY TRADE ROUTE BETWEEN AMERICA AND RUSSIA

To make it easier to imagine, suppose for a moment that a road could connect America to Russia and that people walked back and forth on it. Sooner or later it would be discovered by people to south and north as well. Eventually there would be crossroads joining this major route with roads leading "up" from Middle East, Italy and Spain and "down" from England and Scandinavia.

The crossroad where Middle East connected would have different energy than one where Italy connected or Spain, England and Scandinavia. People would be differently dressed, riding different animals, speaking different languages and hawking different goods.

Information is exchanged at crossroads as well as language, customs and commodities. People get along well with one another. In ancient times there were often special rules governing "host" and "guest" and giving crossroads people such as ambassadors, messengers, tribunes and native guides safe passage through certain territories. Crossroads people have a flexibility that is often missing in village or city where everyone and everything is same.

LINGUA FRANCA AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Let’s take a brief but loving journey through history of astrology and look at some of key players in development of field. After all, you have to know your players!

Astrology as we know it came into being in ancient Chaldea/Bablyon (roughly modern Iraq) around 1645 BC with first “horoscope” dating around 410 BC. “Astrology as we know it” means procedure of consulting stars to pick favorable times for doing things, answering questions, forecasting mundane events and analyzing individual destiny by a horoscope. Interestingly, Rising Sign was first used for predictions, though sometimes Sun, Moon or Part of Fortune was used as well.

Ptolemy Astrological progress was also made in Egypt, Greece and Rome. Ptolemy (85-165 CE) in Greece was perhaps our first famous unique astrologer and of course he is known for many other things as well.

Copernicus and Galileo Skipping ahead through Dark Ages in Europe, there were two famous men who emerged during Renaissance who practiced astrology, Copernicus (1473-1543) and Galileo (1564-1642). Both these men are famous in scientific field, but at one time there was a comfortable and natural association between astronomy and astrology, exoteric and esoteric of stars, if you will. In 1524 credibility of astrology was severely and permanently affected when predictions about “great conjunction” that year failed to come true.

Oddly, resurgence of interest in astrology today can be dated to birth of England’s Princess Margaret in 1930. That year “London Sunday Express” ran an astrological profile of princess that was so popular, it peaked a general interest in astrology and from this developed your newspaper’s “daily horoscope”, not that daily horoscopes have much to recommend them.

This is a beautiful little bit of circular history (the more things change, more they stay same) because originally astrology was used only for royals. Others like serfs, slaves and peasants did not have much to their “fate” other than a life that was “nasty, brutish and short”. But fate of a nation hung on destiny of its ruler and his or her horoscope was a critical interest to all.

Evangeline Adams The first astrologer of modern interest is very interesting indeed Evangeline Adams (1868?-1933). Adams, who lied about her birth date, was considered “Mother of Modern Astrology”. She was a colorful figure who practiced in New York City during first half of 20th century. Adams became famous because she predicted a hotel would catch fire. When she was put on trial, she insisted that astrology itself be put on trial. Astrology won! Adams asked for horoscope of judge’s son and told him things about his own son that convinced him of veracity of this field. Adams’ life is fascinating and there are many biographies, anecdotes and discussions about her in magazines like “The Mountain Astrologer” and online. Among her clients are reputed to have been John Pierpont Morgan and Enrico Caruso.

Dane Rudhyar Dane Rudhyar (1895-1985), considered by some to be greatest astrologer who ever lived, was a tremendous force in development of humanistic and spiritual astrology in 60s and 70s, beginning interface of astrology with psychology that so enriched our field. Rudhyar’s essays and discussions are well worth reading today. Of particular interest in my opinion are his writings about relationship between Sun and Moon. Rudhyar’s book: “Lunation Cycle: Key to Understanding of Personality” is a classic addition to any astrologer’s library.

Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson An unforgettable force in field of astrology of a very different nature was Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson (1893-1990). With her professional precision and purity, Goldstein-Jacobson restored tools and techniques of modern astrology. Perhaps her most famous book is “Simplified Horary Astrology”.

Reinhold Ebertin Reinhold Ebertin (1901-1988), his mother Elsbeth and his son Baldur, have been a major force in both German and international astrology since beginning of century. Ebertin’s work with midpoints has been influential in developing an understanding of transits and prediction. His book to read is “Combination of Stellar Influences”.