Natal Wheel › Guides › Aspects › Mercury and Venus
Mercury and Venus · thought and taste
Mercury in aspect to Venus
Mercury and Venus are never separated by more than about seventy-six degrees, so a square, trine or opposition between them cannot occur; the available contacts are the conjunction, the semisextile and the semisquare. Mercury governs perception and language, Venus governs value and affection, and their proximity means most charts have some relationship between the two. Where it is close, thought is pleasing in its arrangement: speech is graceful, judgement includes an aesthetic dimension, and ideas are weighed partly by how well they sit. Writing, design, diplomacy and any craft where wording matters are natural territory for the pair.
What each planet brings
| Mercury | thinking, speech, learning |
|---|---|
| Venus | love, value, pleasure |
The soft aspects (trine or sextile)
A trine is impossible between these two, and a sextile only occurs at the extreme of their possible separation, which is uncommon. What stands in for a soft contact is the semisextile, one sign apart, giving a mild and pleasant offset between how a person thinks and what that person likes. Ease with words and with beauty is more usually read from the two planets separately.
The hard aspects (square or opposition)
No square or opposition can form here; the geometry does not permit it. The semisquare, at forty-five degrees, is the only hard contact available, and it is slight: a small friction between candour and tact, or between what would be accurate and what would be agreeable. Real difficulty in communication or in relating is described by other aspects entirely.
The conjunction
The conjunction is frequent and gives charm in expression. Speech is well made, manners are considered, and there is usually a real talent for the pleasant phrase, whether in conversation, correspondence or design. Social intelligence is high. The limitation is a preference for the agreeable version of a thought over the exact one, and criticism, when it is warranted, tends to be softened past the point of usefulness.
Reading it in a chart
The orb settles how strongly this shows: a contact within a degree is a defining feature of a chart, one at the edge of the orb is a colouring. The signs the two planets occupy change the manner, the houses change the arena, and a third planet touching either of them can change the reading entirely.