Mercury in the 1st house
The results given by Mercury in the first house of the horoscope
Mercury in the 1st house is a sign of a clever, talkative, cheerful, amusing person, tidy and well dressed. Such people have many friends, have a flair for business, literary inclinations or a good education. They love variety, act quickly, and their behaviour looks restless. They have skilful hands. They radiate an aura of harmlessness. They may love medicine, astrology, religion or anything that carries a new message. (Tom Hopke)
Mercury in the 1st house: this is an excellent placement, the very best place for Mercury. This is its place of dik-bala — that is, the place where it feels very good. All the ancient authors said that such a person possesses a keen analytical mind. They are very intelligent, well educated, command foreign languages and possess knowledge in many spheres. They speak and write very correctly and competently. They always try to put in all the commas, full stops and other punctuation marks, even when corresponding with people close to them. Their speech charms the public. This is a gentle, calm, cultured, decent, kind, noble person. Pimples appear on their face and body. They look younger than their years even in mature age. If Mercury is in the 1st house in the sign of Gemini or Virgo, a bhadra yoga is formed for the person. Such a yoga makes Mercury stronger, and the person will have a very fortunate life and longevity. Mercury in the 1st house in the sign of Gemini can make the person a sculptor, an artist, a mathematician, and in the sign of Virgo it can make a financier, a businessman. One should remember that the peculiarity of Mercury lies in the fact that it takes on the characteristics of the planets it is with. Therefore its results depend on which planet it is with in the same house, and from whom it receives aspects. It is very good for Mercury to be together with the Sun, Jupiter and Venus.
Mercury in the 1st house can give psychoneurological illnesses and skin diseases if it is with Saturn, Rahu or Ketu. If Mercury is with the lord of the 6th house or with a planet in debilitation, the strength of Mercury is weakened. If Mercury is with benefic planets, the person will certainly achieve great success.
Retrograde Mercury in the 1st house: Here Mercury moves slowly backwards. This can slow down the person's thinking and reaction. It is difficult for them to make quick decisions. They often do not bring the projects they have begun to completion. They need to learn first to think and then to speak, to learn to finish the matters they have started, and also to work for the good of society. (Mahesh Dharmadasa)
Mercury (Buddha) in the 1st house
Eloquence, talkativeness, a cheerful and easy disposition, quickness of understanding, a good education, haste and restlessness. Success in commerce is possible, a literary talent, an inclination towards medicine, astrology, philosophy. (Indubala)
Mercury in the 1st house: excessive mental activity, the person may chatter and argue a great deal, observant, witty, beautiful and competent speech. Such a position affects negatively the significations of those houses that Mercury rules: for example, Mercury as the lord of the 3rd house in the Lagna has a bad influence on the length of life of brothers and sisters. Mercury in the 1st, 4th or 10th house in its own sign makes a person very tactful. Such a person, however, may be insincere. Mercury in the 1st, 2nd, 10th or 11th house indicates the possibility of earning well by managing the finances of transport or trading organisations, educational institutes, neurological hospitals. Mercury is the planet of transport and machine building. (Shri Govind Swarup Agarwal)
“Bhrigu Sutra” 4.1-17
A person who has Mercury in the 1st house of the horoscope will receive a good education, will marry early and will have an inclination towards listening to the sacred scriptures, tantric practices, the repetition of mantras, and he will also be characterised by the mystic power to free people from the influence of evil spirits. He will be sweet-spoken, kind, capable of forgiving offences, and will travel a great deal. In the 27th year of his life he will set out on a pilgrimage to holy places. The owner of the horoscope will become a very rich man and will attain great learning. If Mercury is in conjunction with a malefic planet or in a house belonging to an inauspicious planet, the master of the horoscope will suffer from skin diseases, illnesses of the bile ducts and jaundice. If Mercury is joined with a benefic planet or is in a house belonging to one, the owner of the horoscope will have good health (even his body may radiate a light similar to gold) and will become interested in the study of astrology. But he will be untruthful, hostile towards pious people, may lose a limb and suffer from eye diseases. At 17 he will have disagreements with his brothers. In the case of Mercury being in the sign of exaltation or in its own sign, happiness through brothers may be expected. A person with such a position of Mercury in the horoscope will be pious and will depart to a better world after his death. If Mercury is joined with an inauspicious planet or experiences a negative influence, or is in the sign of its debilitation — Pisces, the owner of the horoscope will fall into a lower world after his death. He will be deprived of enjoyment in sex and will worship lower gods. With a conjunction of Mercury and Saturn the owner of the horoscope may go blind in the left eye or lose it. If Mercury is joined with the lord of the 6th house or with a debilitated planet, then eye diseases will be avoided, but the person himself will have dubious principles and will spend his money on unworthy people. In the case of a conjunction of Mercury with a benefic planet, the owner of the horoscope will undoubtedly be rich and own a large store of grain. He will be endowed with a philosophical cast of mind and good health, will be reputed as an expert in weapons or an expert in logic and mathematics, and will find happiness in his life.
Comments:
The 1st house shows the physical constitution, health and the main direction of life. Mercury becomes a benefic planet when it is not damaged by a conjunction with or an aspect from a malefic planet and is not in dangerous proximity to the Sun. In that case the placement of Mercury in the 1st house will certainly give the good results described by Bhrigu Muni. Besides that, Mercury in the 1st house speaks of pronounced literary inclinations, an oratorical gift, organisational abilities, a quick mind, a good memory, a developed imagination, intelligence, prudence and erudition. “Mercurians” are pleasant people to associate with, of a kind disposition, having many friends. Under the influence of Mercury in the 1st house, the person will also show an interest in all kinds of occult knowledge.
Sutras 5-8 speak of the results of a conjunction of Mercury with a benefic planet or of its being in that planet's house, and besides the beneficial influence on health and the interest in astrology, untruthfulness, defects of a limb (the literal translation is “absence of a limb”), hostility towards pious people and towards one's own brothers, and eye diseases are mentioned. Our opinion is — and practical experience confirms this — that Mercury in the 1st house will undoubtedly manifest these negative qualities, but the matter stands the other way round in the case of some malefic influence or a conjunction with an inauspicious planet or in the signs belonging to those planets. Besides, it causes bewilderment that a conjunction with the lord of the 6th house, the house of illnesses, or with a debilitated planet makes it possible to avoid eye diseases. “Jataka-desha-marga” says that a conjunction with the lords of the 6th, 8th and 12th houses of any planets brings negative fruits not only for the house in which the conjunction takes place, but even for the house whose lord is the planet that has entered the conjunction (see the commentaries to sutras 46-53 of chapter 3).
Mercury is a planet of changeable character, which becomes benefic or malefic depending on the aspects upon it or the conjunctions. Therefore, if a benefic Mercury is in the house of the personality, then the owner of the horoscope will be virtuous and by his deeds will build up good karma, which will allow him to be embodied on the higher planets of the material world, while the owner of an inauspicious Mercury in the 1st house, on the contrary, will be inclined towards deeds the result of which will be embodiment in the lower layers of the Universe. It is precisely in this way that the statement of Bhrigu Muni should be understood, but one should always remember that a person who is aware of his responsibility before God and who strives for spiritual perfection can overcome the negative influences of karma.
When Mercury is in its own sign or in the sign of exaltation in the 1st house or in any other house of a quadrant, bhadra yoga is formed, one of the combinations of the pancha-mahapurusha yogas — the “five yogas of great joy”, the results of which are the following: friendliness, sociability, high intelligence, literary talent, help to relatives. According to the “Brihat Jataka”, the owner of bhadra yoga will have “a lion-like face, a developed chest and a proportionate build”. The “Saravali” describes bhadra yoga in the following way: “A person with such a strong position of Mercury will be handsome, wise, and have knowledge of his country, of poetry, mathematics and the arts. He will be an eloquent and tactful conversationalist and will live a long life”. The words of Bhrigu Muni that “the body will radiate a light similar to gold” can be explained by the fact that a bright yellow colour — the colour of the intellect — will predominate in the aura of the owner of the horoscope.
Other opinions concerning Mercury in the 1st house:
“Brihat Jataka” — a person with Mercury in the 1st house of his horoscope will become a scholar.
“Phaladipika” — the owner of the horoscope will live long, have a good education, and be versed in the sacred scriptures. He will be an eloquent and tactful conversationalist.
“Chamatkar Chintamani” — Mercury in the 1st house will destroy the arishta (the indication of a short life) caused by any other planets in the horoscope. The master of the horoscope will be very intelligent and will earn his living by literary work. He will also be able to become a good physician.
Note: All the treatises note the favourable results of Mercury being in the 1st house. But for the interpretation of a horoscope one should bear in mind that Mercury is a changeable planet and becomes inauspicious if it is in conjunction with or aspected by a malefic planet, and then it gives the bad results noted by Bhrigu Muni.
“Bhrigu Sutra” with commentaries by Indubala
«Jataka Bharanam» 17.37
The results of the placement of Mercury (Buddha) in the 1st house
If at the time of birth Buddha is in the Lagna, then the person is peaceable, courteous, exceedingly generous, of good behaviour, patient, educated and knows the arts.
Comments: Buddha [Mercury] in the Lagna [1st house] possesses directional strength — “Dik-Bala”. He is the Karaka [significator] of craft and art. If Buddha is in a benefic Rashi [sign] or if he is in conjunction with a benefic Graha [planet] or is aspected by one, then he will definitely make the person a master (craftsman) and an artist (a person of art). The Karakatvas [significations] of Buddha also include writing, mathematics, astrology, commerce (business), education (teaching), eloquence, printing (publishing). Therefore if Buddha is endowed with strength, he will also give the person a talent for performing all of this. It is considered that Buddha in the 1st Bhava destroys the misfortunes caused by other Grahas. It is said that if malefic Grahas, situated in malefic, inauspicious Bhavas, form malefic combinations, then Buddha, situated alone in the Lagna Bhava, is able to destroy all the malefic combinations. In other words, Buddha in the Lagna destroys the malefic combinations created by malefic Grahas. Thanks to the position of Buddha in the Bhava of the Lagna the person's body possesses radiance and strength (energy). It is impossible to determine his age from this person's face: he seems younger, since Buddha is the Graha of childhood.