The nearest planet to the sun, Mercury is one of the most influential planets to have on your birth astrological chart.

While it's common for most people to know their Sun sign, most people don't pay attention to the dominant planet, the most important planet in an individual chart. However, knowing the dominance of Mercury in a chart can offer a lot of insight into your personal and intellectual characteristics.

People who are born with Mercury as their dominant planet (“Mercurians”) tend to take on some of Mercury's own characteristics. Since Mercury is one of the fastest moving planets, people who are Mercury dominant tend to think and learn quickly. They are highly intuitive, logical and analytical. Mercury is therefore known as the planet of cleverness. Mercury also has a great impact on our communication skills.

People with strong Mercury in their charts enjoy expressing themselves and making their ideas heard. It's not surprising then that many writers, artists, marketing experts, teachers and business people are Mercury dominant.

These strong communication skills, paired with a need to move quickly, makes most Mercurians extroverted by nature. They feel best when they are in large groups of people. They are comfortable moving quickly between friend groups.

Because Mercury dominant people have such a forceful need to use their brain, it's not uncommon for many to continually develop interests in their lives. Mercurians enjoy the process of learning new things and exercising their intellect at any opportunity.

However, some of these positive characteristics of Mercury dominant people can be manifested in negative ways.
Mercurians' intelligence can sometimes come across as being overly critical. Some people can find this characteristic hurtful and unkind in their loved ones.

With such quick wit and a fast sense of humor, Mercurians tend to be extremely sarcastic. While their jokes are usually with good intention, sometimes their humor is quicker than their compassion. Therefore, it's very likely for Mercury dominant people to make hurtful and inappropriate jokes without realising that they are doing so.

Mercurians are known to be great communicators. However, when Mercury is afflicted by conflictual aspects, they do have the reputation to over talk compulsively. When conversing with them, you may find that they spend more time talking about themselves than listening to you.

In Greek mythology, Mercury was known as the God of deception. It's no surprise then that a number of Mercury dominant people count this among their flaws. Also, due to their constant need to move around and change goals, some people can find them to be unreliable.

To discover your dominant planet, go to the Astro Reports section and click on the "Birth chart's answers" box. There are 3 boxes dedicated to your dominant planet with comprehensive interpretations.

See also:

What does your dominant planet say about you?

The Sun as the dominant planet: generosity, charisma, confidence

The Moon as the dominant planet: sensitivity, support, imagination

Venus as the dominant planet: love, harmony and arts

Mars as the dominant planet: action, passion and competition

Jupiter as the dominant planet: expansion, philosophy and generosity

Saturn as the dominant planet: discipline, responsibility, long term planning

Uranus as the dominant planet: freedom, originality and being unconventional