Next on the list after the Moon is Mercury, said to hold sway over the years 7 to 15. It could be said that these are the years of most communication, as a seven-year-old is generally reading well and speaking in complete sentences if not paragraphs. Comprehension of what’s been read is also growing, and vocabulary words may be picked up like so many seashells on the beach.
If Mercury is afflicted by a square, an opposition involving a stern, harsh planet or other challenging aspects, the individual’s education may be disrupted or suddenly halted by circumstances beyond the child’s control. It could also be childhood illness, if the Moon is involved (remember last week’s aspects) and the formerly public school student becomes housebound, taught at home. This, however, is a rare occurrence and not one to fear finding in a chart.
Mercury, as I mentioned previously, shows the beginnings of the child becoming separated as an individual from the parents. The adults in the child’s life gradually become replaced by the peer group (sometimes not so gradually, either) and the child takes giant strides toward adolescence. A fifteen-year-old may be regarded as being in the center of the turbulence of the teen years, as he or she is still too young to partake of the older teens’ world, but considers the childhood world as hopelessly infantile at this stage. Parents. of course, may be regarded as dinosaurs in age and hopelessly out of touch with the current world.
Many changes in the body and the hormones coursing through it can plunge the chart native into depression or over-reacting to any slightest comment. It’s a hard time in life for the young teen and the parents, especially as the parents are often in an age group dealing with many changes themselves – middle age is not for ‘sissies’ either. This may be the time that grandparents or much older siblings, even aunts and uncles can be sought out by the teen for ‘casual’ discussions involving the many topics causing choices and consequences in the new life. The best thing anyone can do for a young adolescent is to listen, without judging and without immediately telling the parents what’s current yet under the surface in the family.
Expect changes in personality, personal habits and mood swings perhaps every hour for a while. (I exaggerate – but not by much.) Try to remember the chart native when he or she was a cuddly wee thing, who looked at you adoringly when you proffered a second cookie. Or look forward to the years, not too far in the future, when college and out-of-state residency appeals mightily. All of yo are likely to survive these years, and may even write a book or poetry or keep a journal during the turbulence. Write it from the heart, and enjoy a bestseller.
Chronocators – another label for a more esoteric interpretation of a branch of astrology. Beats that daily horoscope in the paper for a conversational topic, doesn’t it? – MZ
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