A question that I get asked often has to do with mental illnesses/mental differences, and if I’m able to see things like that in the natal chart. The answer to this particular question is yes and no. The natal chart is like a blueprint of possibilities for the person (and the soul) in this lifetime. Just because something “difficult” shows up in one’s natal chart regarding mental illness (or anything, really) doesn’t necessarily mean that the person will ever manifest that particular difficult energy into reality. Though, if the propensity *is* there for mental illness to occur, whether or not it actually occurs depends on a number of factors (such as biology, environment, and nurturing), as well as heavier transits hitting the aspect in question, thus activating it. Since I am specifically talking about mental illnesses & mental differences, certain aspects made between Mercury and Uranus (specifically the square, opposition and conjunction) seem to cause people some issues in the areas of mental health. The specific types of mental health issues that these hard aspects between Mercury and Uranus tend to produce are anxiety (either full blown or just some general nervousness), ADHD, all the way over to schizophrenia (among other things). This is a trend that I have noticed time and time again, and I suppose the part of me that finds mental health and psychology fascinating wanted to discuss it 🙂
**Just for a bit of reference……Mercury is essentially the mind of the natal chart, where we think and learn in a concrete way, and where we communicate. It is traditionally quick and logical. Uranus goes far beyond the concrete mind and basic logic in a lightening fast, revolutionary, sometimes shocking and universal way. **
***Also, as a disclaimer, I am in no way, shape, or form saying that people automatically have mental issues and differences by default when they have these harder aspects between Mercury and Uranus in their natal charts. I’m only saying that the possibility could exist of, say something like, generalized anxiety disorder occurring in the native’s life if one of these harder Mercury to Uranus aspects is in the natal chart of the person. Just want to make that part really, really clear.***

Mercury and Uranus in a Conjunction: Conjunctions naturally fuse together the energy of two planets, and they don’t usually operate independently of one another, if they are able to operate independently at all. You would be able to tell this from the orb of the conjunction; the tighter it is, the more fused together they are and the less of a possibility of them operating independently. Here you have two planets that actually very much like one another and get along, but they are both vying for the attention of the native, trying to make their independent presence known and express themselves. If any planet wins out in their bid for attention, it is usually Uranus; Uranus likes to shock and stun. There is usually a lot of nervous and anxious energy with this conjunction due to both planets being so quickly mentally inclined. Mercury, while fast, is pushed way beyond its regular quickness capacity with Uranus here. There may even end up being some jumbling and scattering of thought processes at times, and communication could be a little screwy, due to how quickly both think about things, and how quickly they desire to say what they think. The conjunction between Mercury and Uranus is (probably) the easiest of the “harder” aspects to work with. Depending on other factors (such as “positive or negative” aspects to this conjunction) in one’s natal chart, this conjunction could produce someone with a really genius and visionary mind, or someone who is quite genuis and visionary but can’t slow their mind down enough to make sense of their thoughts and communicate them effectively.

Mercury and Uranus in an Opposition: With any opposition aspect, there is a natural “push/pull” or tug-of-war that occurs between the planets. One planet wants to do things it’s way by sign and house, and the other planet wants to do things it’s way by the opposite sign and house. There can be a real frustration here; Since these planets do naturally like each other there can be some irritation between the two with each one trying to get the other to come over to “their” side of things (and not understanding why the other planet won’t play along with them). Both are very quick, so the tug-of-war nature of this aspect can cause the person to feel incredibly mentally scattered, and quite frankly, at times mentally worn out. This can be quite anxiety producing for the native since both planets are so quick. There is a lot of great potential here for the genuis inside the person to emerge if they can learn to balance the energy between Uranus and Mercury in their natal chart. Knowing when to utilize the visionary, off-beat, and mentally light years ahead qualities of Uranus, and when to utilize the concrete mind and effective communication of Mercury. The balance is actually possible here, though it will take a lot of effort (and will be made easier or harder by way of the house and sign that each of the planets fall in). It may even end up feeling like less of a balance between the planets, and more like them “calling a truce.” However you want to think of this, once you acheive this you get both planets to quit their constant back and forth, and shut the fuck up….some of the time, at least.

Mercury and Uranus in a Square: With any square aspect, there is usually nothing but tension. This tension can either serve as a driving force in our lives (as something to overcome), or it can serve as a crippling agent. Mercury square Uranus operates exactly this way. Here you have someone who is unusually smart (possibly even brilliant or genius), but the square causes issues with how the person is able to easily manifest these qualities in reality. On one side of the square you have Uranus in all of its revolutionary glory, with all of its visionary ideas. On the other side you have Mercury trying to communicate and think as clearly and effectively as it can. Oh, and let’s not forget that both planets are trying to do their thing at a rapid pace. With the tension here, it can cause someone to not be able to clearly process their own thoughts and communicate all of their many ideas effectively. This can lead to massive amounts of disorganized, bizarre, and/or scattered thinking, massive amounts of anxiety (in the extreme this anxiety could fall over into the realm of paranoia), and to someone who is just labeled as quite eccentric. How lightly or severely these qualities appear in the life of the native will depend on the rest of their chart. The goal with this particular square aspect is learning how to operate inspite of these differences. The person with this aspect will probably have their own unique way of doing so (and figuring out what works and how easily it works will have a lot to do with easier or harder aspects in the chart made to these particular planets, and the houses and signs they fall under). Once the native release some of this tension by operating inspite of it in a functional way, they are able to really let all their real brilliance shine through.

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