In this article, we’ll give you an idea about how to interpret a natal Mercury in the fourth house.
The fourth house is an angular house. Planets in angular houses tend to manifest in the physical world, thus they become really powerful here!
The two key life areas of the fourth house are family and home. A Mercury in the fourth house suggests that your thinking is highly influenced by your family and your roots.
Keep reading to learn more about what this placement means in astrology!
Meaning of Mercury in Astrology
Mercury is the planet of thinking. It represents your conscious mind, the part of the brain that you use when solving math problems.
Named after the Roman messenger of the gods, Mercury is the bridge between your inner self (represented by the Sun in astrology) and the rest of the world.
Here’s a list of the keywords associated with Mercury in astrology:
- rational thinking
- communication
- reading and writing
- logical thinking
- reasoning abilities
- your cognitive mind
- transportation
- youth
- immediate surroundings
- people who live close to you and who you meet on a daily basis.
Mercury rules two zodiac signs in astrology: both Virgo and Gemini (however, some astrologers disagree about this, and they consider Chiron to be the ruler of Virgo).
If you are curious about Mercury, you don’t want to miss this article on the meaning of Mercury in astrology.
The Fourth House in the Natal Chart
The fourth house begins with the lowest point of the sky, also called Immum coeli or IC for short. This cusp is one of the angles of the natal chart, the opposite point of the Midheaven. The Midheaven shows your public life, and the fourth house is all about privacy.
The main life areas associated with this house are your home and family life. A person with an emphasized fourth house considers their family to be the number one priority in their life.
This is more of a feminine placement. Even males who have Mercury in the fourth house are emotional thinkers and they strive to solve problems with tact rather than a brute force approach or going with their head against the wall. (A Mercury in Aries, however, might give this method a try.)
Some other life areas the fourth house governs include your ancestry, karmic heritage, the house where you live (at any point in your life), real estate and land, but also the end of your life. Even though the eighth house is the house of death, the last years of your life is shown by the fourth house in the natal chart.
The fourth house is a water house, traditionally associated with the zodiac sign Cancer. Cancer is nurturing, gentle and emotional, and this is what your home should be like: a safe and warm place full of love, where you can retreat from the world from time to time and relax with your loved ones.
If you want to learn more about this house, read this article about the fourth house in astrology.
Now that you know a bit about Mercury and the fourth house, it’s time to figure out what a natal Mercury in the fourth house means!
Natal Mercury in the Fourth House
Here, Mercury is in the house of Cancer and the Moon. This placement suggests that your home is full of books and in general, there is an intellectual atmosphere in your home. People who have Mercury in the fourth house often come from well-educated parents, and they usually become well-educated themselves, too.
An emphasized fourth house with planets there suggest that family and home play an important role in your life. You spend more of your energy here than the average person.
This placement also tells that your parents had a big influence over your way of thinking. You hold dear to the traditional values of your family. If Mercury is afflicted, a person’s thinking might be narrow with this placement. The value system of your family affects a lot the decisions you make.
Your work life and home life are often intertwined. With this placement, it’s not unusual that a person takes over the family business or chooses the same career as her parents. Mercury in the fourth house people often even work from home. As this house governs real estate and land, it’s also possible that you become involved with these assets.
This placement talks of rich imagination. Mercury’s sign describes what kind of imagination you have. For example, Mercury in Aquarius has many original and innovative, but sometimes shocking ideas, a Pisces Mercury is more dreamy, while from a Sagittarius Mercury we can expect philosophical or adventurous theories.
Mercury in the Fourth House: A Traditional Attitude
The sign Cancer is caring, intuitive, and emotional. But it’s also moody and dwells on the past when others moved on a long time ago. A Mercury in the house of Cancer also reflects this.
You cling on to the past, people with this placement are not early adapters and lovers of innovations. You are often subjective with this placement, a person who makes decisions based on emotions rather than on arguments. A Mercury in the fourth house is an emotional rather than a rational thinker.
The fourth house is the house of your roots and ancestry. Mercury here suggests that a connection with your predecessors is important to you. You appreciate the customs and traditions of your family and nation. A person with this placement is very proud of their family and culture. Mercury in the fourth house people find it important to keep the tradition alive. They often spend their time on activities that are related to preserving traditions, like folklore or traditional arts and crafts.
A Mercury in the fourth house is fascinated with the past. This placements gifts you with an excellent memory. This is no surprise, knowing that the Moon represents the subconscious and the past in astrology, and Mercury in the natural house of the Moon becomes retentive and loves to wonder about the past.
Mercury in the birth chart also describes what interests you. People who have Mercury in the fourth house are often interested in history and politics, especially if Mercury is in some way connected with Capricorn in their natal chart. However, a need to correct what didn’t function well is also present. If you combine the best of the old world and the modern views, you can have a truly amazing world view that supports a happy life.