The Manner and Wit of the Native

While the temperament is an internal and largely unchanging aspect of personality that determines character as well as the form of the body itself, the native's manner describes his behavioural traits, those observable characteristics that are visible to others and mark him out as a particular sort of person. Jupiter as the planet ruling his manners and the native might be described as generous and affable; Saturn, austere and serious.

The significators of manners are: the planet or planets in the ascendant, if there are none then the planet or planets joined to the moon or mercury, if there are none then the lord of the ascendant if his dispositor beholds him, otherwise the planet that has the most essential dignities in the place of the moon or mercury.

Wit is a measure of the mental capacity and is determined by considering the relative health of the moon and mercury in the nativity and the relationship between them, as well as planets aspecting (and therefore modifying) them. It may seem odd to include the moon in what appears to be a purely mercurial matter, but the medieval view of the mind was more nuanced and encompassed a wider range of mental, emotional and unconscious processes than what we might refer to as mental capacity today.

In his brilliant essay Moon as Mind, the astrologer John Frawley describes how the luminaries and mercury correspond to the mind. To paraphrase him, the moon is direct perception and the perceptive faculty itself which reflects the revealed knowledge symbolised by the Sun, Mercury is the rational faculty and is associated with articulation (whether by inner self-talk or expressing your thoughts to others) rather than the understanding – Mercury is the messenger, not the message itself.

The relationship between the three can be observed in the process of scientific discovery: the moon is the the engagement with the subject and absorption it, the reflection and contemplation, which rarely follows a completely logical and linear progression; the sun is the sudden insight, the spark of genius and the dawning of a new understanding; mercury is the logical ordering of the non-linear steps that led to the discovery and the articulation of that understanding which allows others to follow your thought.

To have a strong and healthy mind, it is not enough to have an essentially strong mercury. Mercury dignified gives a sharp intellect, but an intellect that can rationalise anything. Afflicted by an ill dignified Lord 5 or planet in the 5^th house and our strong mercury will likely have us completely convinced that our passions and bad habits are actually very good for us. Strong and in the 12^th house and the razor sharp intellect is turned upon us and we are our own judge, jury and executioner. Strong mercury and an ill-dignified moon, we might struggle to use our reason to help ourselves, because the moon is strongly linked to what St Thomas Aquinas called the vegetative and sensitive soul, the unconscious processes that keep us alive, our perceptions, our ability to take in sensory information and react accordingly, to store, process and use the information supplied to us by the senses.

Mercury is traditionally the planet of servants and an untamed reason makes a bad master, or, to quote Frawley, “better a dim servant who does what he is told than a brilliant one who thinks he is his own master!” Ideally we have strong luminaries, an essentially strong mercury, and a friendly aspect between them. That is, our perception is ordered and an accurate reflection of reality, we have access to a source of inner guidance on our journey, and we possess a well-honed reason that helps us on our way.