by Kimberly Keown ©2006

The common Mercury Glyph looks like this:

My perspective is that the Mercury Glyph looks like a child with horns.

A child often throws temper-tantrums to achieve his goal and relieve his frustrations. Yet Mercury is the 'Messenger of the Zodiac'. Mercury is very social and communication-oriented. So how can the 'Messenger of the Zodiac' be likened to a difficult, argumentative child?

Mercury is the ruler of Gemini, which can be a child-like scatterbrained sign. It's also very intellectual and wordy. It represents the sign of the twins, or duality. In this case, a dual nature. Mercury can be an angel or a devil, depending on his mood and the nature of his message.

With only its horns and without the rest of its body, the Mercury Glyph would be the Taurus Glyph - the universal sign for stubbornness. As Taurus is the zodiac sign associated with the Bull, I feel the horns of Mercury symbolize the headstrong, stubborn, bull-headedness of a Child.

Without its horns, the Mercury Glyph would be the Venus Glyph that almost everyone knows - the universal sign for the Feminine. Venus is the ruler of Taurus (incidentally) and Libra, and symbolizes love. In Taurus, love of material things and creature comforts, living the good life. In Libra, love for people and relationships.

Venus and Mercury have the same objective - building relationships. Venus relates primarily through the heart and focuses on the quality of the relationship. Mercury relates through the head via words and focuses on communication in the relationship. After all, if no mental exchange exists between two parties, they can't relate emotionally either; so there is no relationship.

A child is not always rational, nice, or good-tempered. Adults often communicate on this level, regardless of their age. Mercury represents the child within us all, the one who gets his point across... one way or the other. Mercury is about results, not finesse.

Unlike Venus, who is so focused on preserving relationships that she does not say anything if she can't say something nice, Mercury states his case and delivers his message. It's not about being delicate or repressing what needs to be said. It's about keeping communication going, period. The style of the delivery may leave a lot to be desired... but tact here is superfluous.

It's this basic honesty (albeit at times total lack of respect/rudeness) and results-oriented mindset that gives Mercury the willingness and ability to deliver his message, regardless of circumstances. In ancient times, Kings' Messengers ran for miles to deliver messages during times of war. And like the steadfast mailman - who delivers his mail in wind, hail, sleet, or snow - Mercury delivers his message at any cost, in any environment.

These stubborn, tenacious, steadfast qualities make Mercury the 'Messenger of the Gods'.
And perhaps part of the reason people are inclined to 'kill the messenger'!