What Your Mercury Sign Represents And How To Find Out What It Is

Despite the fact that it still gets knocked down because it seems silly or not based in fact, astrology is a popular way to understand yourself and others. Zodiac signs and your "big three" are prevalent questions when you're getting to know someone, especially in the dating scene. Astrology can predict how a time of year might go for you, or it could give you a better idea of why you conduct yourself the way you do, based on your signs and birth chart.

For example, sun signs, the most popular or well-known parts of someone's birth chart, have usually been all that people know about said natal charts. However, not all Sagittariuses are the same, just like all Geminis aren't, despite popular opinions on these and other signs. Other signs in their chart, such as Venus or Mars, dictate how they conduct themselves in relationships and in conflict, respectively. So a Virgo sun with an air rising is going to be a bit less militantly organized and Type-A than a Virgo sun with an earth rising.

When someone brings up Mercury though, there might be fear involved at first due to a little thing called Mercury Retrograde. However, what does your Mercury sign show about you to other people? Plus, how can you figure out what your Mercury sign even is?

First off, when it comes to Mercury in your natal chart, it's not as bad as what we think of when we think of Mercury retrograde. "In the birth chart, Mercury represents the way you recognize patterns, absorb and process information, and exchange ideas and information with others," Narayana Montúfar, a certified astrologer and the senior astrologer for Horoscope and Astrocenter, told Women's Health. "Mercury dictates how you think, how you write, and talk to yourself and others." You might have already heard that Mercury involves how you communicate, and that's exactly it. And because of this, when someone meets you or chats with you for the first time, they're encountering your Mercury sign, not your sun or rising (aka what some people call your "mask" to the world, although that's been disputed).

Of course, that means something different for everyone because of the 12 different Mercury signs. Just like you can have a Libra sun, you can have a Libra Mercury. And, actually, as New York Post wrote, the possibilities of your Mercury being the same as your sun are high just because of how close Mercury is to the sun. It could either be the same sign or whatever sign comes right before or right after your sun sign in the natal chart.

You can use popular apps like The Pattern and Sanctuary or websites like Cafe Astrology to figure out your full natal chart. Cafe Astrology, though, has a special link just for finding your Mercury sign if you want to get right to the point. Certified astrologer Narayana Montúfar told Women's Health that finding your Mercury can help figure out the pros and cons of that sign's communication set.

Nobody's perfect, and some signs have a harder time conveying their thoughts or needs than others. Overall, Astrology can help understand yourself better, and finding your Mercury sign can help with the way you connect with others. It could explain why someone might close themselves off or why another might dominate a conversation. Whatever it tells you, it can also be a good guide to fixing bad habits, being a better partner, or just having a more fulfilling work life.

Finding out how your sign interacts with a particular retrograde can help combat the wild period of time. Mercury retrograde is when Mercury passes by more slowly, as opposed to its usual fast orbit around the sun, per Today. It comes three to four times a year thanks to its proximity to the sun, according to Vice. Just like the planet rules your communication, Mercury retrograde impacts everyone's communication, such as travel, gossip, technology, and news. Knowing your Mercury sign and natal chart can help you hunker down during this chaotic time.