CHAPTER V

THE MENTALITY

   Our  first thought when judging the mental qualities of a patient  is  to find  the position of Mercury.   First note the sign in which it is  placed, then the house,  and thirdly the aspects which this planet of reason is making.

   To  save time and space in these lessons we will not give the effects  of Mercury in the different signs of the zodiac,  but will refer the reader  to THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS,  pages 201 to 207, also pages 549,  550,  where he will find the basic qualities of Mercury in the twelve signs.   These should be studied very carefully,  and this study will give a foundation upon which

to base the judgment.

   The next planet to consider is the moon.   If there is a good aspect  between the moon and Mercury,  especially if these two planets are well placed in  the angles and in signs in which they can express their best  qualities, we  may  expect the patient will be able to cooperate with the  healer.   If Mercury,  however,  is conjunct Saturn,  we find a mind which  is  stubborn, slow,  and  subject  to  melancholia.  When  Mercury  is trine or sextile to Saturn, a well balanced mind with good reasoning qualities will develop, and a  retentive memory is shown.   When Mars or Uranus is in  conjunction  with Mercury,  the  patient is of a high-strung,  emotional,  erratic  type  with little control over the mind;  but should Mars or Uranus be sextile or trine to Mercury, it will have a tendency to quicken the mental faculties,  giving impulse.   If we find Mercury or the moon afflicted by Neptune,  the mind is inclined toward unhealthy and unnatural conditions, obsession, religious mania, mediumship, drink, or drugs.  Observe the house and sign in which these planets are placed to find how they tend to express themselves.  Neptune being the higher octave of Mercury,  this planet has a strong influence on the higher mind.   Neptune when afflicted by Uranus or the moon gives tendencies towards  undesirable experiences in psychism.  When Neptune is afflicted  by Mars,  especially when it is in conjunction with this fiery planet,  the native  is often tempted to use hypnotism or black magic upon others,  and  is himself  prone  to become the victim of those who unscrupulously  use  these dreadful practices on others.

   When  the mental afflictions are in the eighth or the twelfth house  they have  a  more subtle influence than elsewhere.   Afflictions in  the  eighth house  may give the mind suicidal tendencies,  but if in the  twelfth  house being the house of self-undoing, hospitals, prisons and insane asylums, they may cause confinement in some institution.

   We  wish  to impress it very firmly upon the mind of the  reader,  never, never at any time to base a diagnosis on only one or two aspects, but always upon the entire horoscope.   To illustrate the dangers of superficial  judgment we will take the horoscope of a man who had Mercury in Capricorn in the sixth  house,  making only one aspect which was a weak  square  to  Neptune. Judging  the horoscope quickly one would say that he had a  dull  mentality, but as a boy he stood at the head of his class.  In spelling and mathematics he was very bright.  As a man he has reached a high status among his associates.  He is a leader in a line of work which requires executive ability and a keen mentality.  To illustrate our point we will note what the other planets indicated.   He had seven planets in airy signs,  five planets in mental signs,  the moon and Neptune both well aspected and in angles,  the sun  and moon in fixed signs, and fixed and cardinal signs on the four angles.   When summing up the entire horoscope we can well see why this man reached such  a high position in mental work with a weak Mercury.   So we want to impress it firmly upon our readers to use their reasoning powers before giving a  judgment on a horoscope, whether it is for mental, moral, spiritual, or physical qualities.