IN Aquarius we again find the influence of Saturn decidedly beneficial to Mercury. It is an even better position for the planet than {237} Capricornus, since Aquarius is also air, and does not fix the mind in such stubbornness as the previous sign. We must also reflect upon the good influence of the sign itself. The mind of the native having this position of Mercury tends naturally to science and humanitarianism. Its interests are not so earth-bound and selfish. There is not quite the same faculty of steady application for this very reason. One must not expect any sign to combine all the virtues and exclude all the vices. But the faculty of concentration is admirable, and the mind is ingenious, resourceful, and logical, and that is a much better sense than we found with Capricornus. The logic of Capricornus is too rigid for application to practical affairs. It reigns supreme only in the exact sciences. The native loves truth for its own sake, but more in truth as a quality than in a mere collocation of facts. He understands Newman’s outburst against Huxley, “As if evidence were the test of truth!”
It may be said here that there are two general types of minds among men, and this remark of Newman’s is a very touchstone by which to recognize them. To one class, Newman’s remark appears a triumphant refutation of academic precision and scholastic dullness. The other is absolutely bewildered by such a remark. He cannot conceive of any other test of truth than evidence. To him the sentence appears meaningless. And yet he may be subconsciously distressed by the mere existence of any man who can say such a thing. Now, we should not like to say definitely that Mercury in Aquarius would be violently partisan on either side. On the contrary, it is just these people who understand both positions and lean strongly to neither. The antithesis on this point would be Capricornus and Pisces -- the former understanding nothing that could not be proved in Barbary, the other contemptuous of all such conventional sources of knowledge. This rule will be found practically invaluable.
The native with Mercury in Aquarius is a clever reasoner, but does not altogether disdain sophistry. He consequently makes a dangerous opponent in any argument, but he is amenable to reason and he often pronounces, for the sake of exercising his wits, propositions in which he does not seriously believe. He is usually a good judge of human nature, deriving his conclusions both from intuition {238} and from experience. Where these conflict he is sometimes found at a loss.
The weak point of this sign is the absence of artistic impulse. Even where the power of visualization is great, its expression tends to be commonplace. Compare Swedenborg, who had this position, with Blake, whose Mercury was in Scorpio, the writings of both dealing with visions of a character decidedly similar.
This sign gives a very pronounced tendency to investigations into the occult, but on lines much less mystical than we found in Scorpio. Besides Swedenborg, we have Proclus, Picus de Mirandola, and Swami Vivekananda. All these possessed immense learning, a strong power of vision, and were accurate observers and devoted students, but not one of them possessed the power of imagination in its highest sense.
As common as the capacity for research into these subtler matters of the soul is that for practical invention. In this connection one need only mention the name of Edison.
The following well known persons were born with Mercury in the sign Aquarius:
Thomas Edison
Sir Henry J. Wood
Swedenborg
Algernon Blackwood
Wilson Barrett
Richard Watson Gilder
Dean Cornwell
Horace Greeley
Henry Watterson
George Washington
Luther Burbank
Harriet Stanton Black
Dr. William S. Bainbridge
Colonel George Harvey
Emile Coue
Jack London {239}
For the benefit of those who are not in possession of Raphael’s Ephemeris, or who are not able to interpret the symbols contained therein, the years when Mercury is in the sign Aquarius are as follows:
From February 4th through February 21st 1840
January 27th " February 12th 1841
January 19th " February 5th 1842
January 12th " January 31st 1843
February 10th " March 17th 1843
January 5th " February 8th 1844
February 13th " March 11th 1844
February 13th " March 4th 1845
February 7th " February 25th 1846
February 1st " February 17th 1847
January 24th " February 9th 1848
January 16th " February 1st 1849
March 1st " March 17th 1849
January 8th " March 15th 1850
January 2d " January 23d 1851
February 16th " March 9th 1851
February 12th " March 1st 1852
February 4th " February 21st 1853
January 28th " February 13th 1854
January 21st " February 6th 1855
January 13th " January 31st 1856
February 16th " March 17th 1856
January 5th " March 12th 1857
January 1st " January 10th 1858
February 14th " March 6th 1858
February 9th " February 26th 1859
February 2d " February 18th 1860
January 25th " February 10th 1861
January 17th " February 3d 1862
March 9th " March 14th 1862
January 10th " March 16th 1863
January 3d " January 28th 1864
February 16th " March 9th 1864 {240}
From February 12th through March 2d 1865
February 6th " February 23d 1866
January 29th " February 15th 1867
January 22d " February 7th 1868
January 14th " January 31st 1869
February 20th " March 17th 1869
January 6th " March 14th 1870
January 1st " January 15th 1871
February 15th " March 7th 1871
February 10th " February 28th 1872
February 2d " February 19th 1873
January 26th " February 11th 1874
January 18th " February 4th 1875
January 11th " February 2d 1876
February 6th " March 16th 1876
January 3d " February 2d 1877
February 14th " March 11th 1877
February 13th " March 4th 1878
February 7th " February 24th 1879
January 31st " February 16th 1880
January 22d " February 8th 1881
January 15th " February 1st 1882
February 26th " March 17th 1882
January 8th " March 15th 1883
January 2d " January 20th 1884
February 15th " March 7th 1884
February 10th " February 28th 1885
February 4th " February 20th 1886
January 27th " February 13th 1887
January 20th " February 5th 1888
January 11th " January 30th 1889
February 12th " March 17th 1889
January 5th " March 12th 1890
January 2d " January 6th 1891
February 14th " March 5th 1891
February 8th " February 25th 1892
January 31st " February 17th 1893
January 24th " February 9th 1894 {241}
From January 16th through February 2d 1895
March 4th " March 16th 1895
January 9th " March 15th 1896
January 2d " January 24th 1897
February 15th " March 9th 1897
February 11th " March 1st 1898
February 5th " February 22d 1899
January 29th " February 14th 1900
January 21st " February 6th 1901
January 14th " February 1st 1902
February 18th " March 18th 1902
January 7th " March 14th 1903
January 2d " January 13th 1904
February 15th " March 6th 1904
February 9th " February 27th 1905
February 2d " February 19th 1906
January 26th " February 11th 1907
January 19th " February 4th 1908
January 10th " March 16th 1909
January 4th " January 30th 1910
February 16th " March 11th 1910
February 13th " March 4th 1911
February 7th " February 24th 1912
January 30th " February 15th 1913
January 23d " February 8th 1914
January 15th " February 1st 1915
February 24th " March 18th 1915
January 8th " March 14th 1916
January 2d " January 17th 1917
February 15th " March 8th 1917
February 10th " February 28th 1918
February 4th " February 21st 1919
January 28th " February 13th 1920
January 19th " February 4th 1921
January 12th " February 1st 1922
February 9th " March 17th 1922
January 5th " February 6th 1923
February 14th " March 12th 1923 {242}
From February 14th through March 4th 1924
February 7th " February 25th 1925
January 31st " February 17th 1926
January 24th " February 9th 1927
January 17th " February 2d 1928
February 29th " March 17th 1928
January 8th " March 15th 1929
