In the eyes of astrology, we’re living in a Mercurial world—i.e., Mercury, the planet of communication, rules everything around us. We’re constantly scrolling through Insta, writing emails, and sliding into our crush’s DMs (get yours, boo). That’s why it’s more important than ever to understand the position of Mercury in your birth chart: It can literally unlock everything you need to know about how you communicate and why you catastrophically clash over texting styles with the people you love sometimes.
With Mercury Retrograde happening right now, you should rip off the Band-Aid and find out what your worst texting habit is based on the Mercury placement. That way, you can prevent a total communication meltdown (especially if you’re hitting up your ex).
Aries: Marathon Texting
As the first sign of the zodiac, you have a fiery, competitive streak that’s impossible to extinguish. While that’s great, you probably don’t need to send your crush 46 texts at 2 a.m.
Try this:
Patience takes practice, so while you’re working on this skill, you may want to have a friend hold your phone. Literally. Back-to-back messages in ALL CAPS aren’t cute in the light of day. You’ll thank your bestie later no matter how painful it is now.
Taurus, the first earth sign, is obsessed with physical manifestations of beauty and comfort. Y’all like nice things. So in a Mercury placement, Taurus turns every conversation into material things—like plans to go to a $$ bar or blasting invites to a show until one of your contacts says yes.
Try this:
Text for a whole week without it being a means to a money-spending end. Ask your friends how they are, even if it feels a little stilted at first. There’s so much more to life than just planning!
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Gemini: Writing Emoji Sentences
Everyone loves sprinkling some emojis into their messages, but you, like, REALLY love them. You compose the majority of your texts in emojis and GIFs, and while this language is universal, people need to understand what you’re saying, hun.
Try this:
Intersperse a few more written details in your texts so your friends can actually follow your thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, a few explanatory messages would actually improve your interpersonal dynamics. In other words: 🤦🙅📵📴.
Cancer: Time-Stamp Police
Symbolized by the crab—the crustacean with the hard shell and soft interior—you try to protect your heart at all costs. This defensiveness can be a bit problematic, especially when it comes to texting. Rather than respond to messages as you receive them, you bust out a calculator to figure out how long they’ve been f*cking you over (in minutes *and* seconds). Ultimately, this leaves you feeling frustrated, disappointed, and totally distracted.
Try this:
Drop the math and start messaging from the heart. You don’t need to play this petty game! Trust that your closest companions are always doing the best they can. Relationships can’t be measured in time stamps, babe!
I know you have an incredible collection of selfies, but that doesn’t mean you should use them on every platform and in every message! The group chat doesn’t have to vote on your best OOTD pic every single day.
Try this:
Have a convo without plugging your personal brand. Instead, ask your friends how *they’re* doing and feeling for once! Save your self-portraits for the ’gram.
Virgo: Overthinking People’s Mistakes
Virgo is governed by Mercury, so this placement is known to be extremely organized, detail-oriented, and precise. Unfortunately, all other placements aren’t as meticulous with their texts, which leads to misunderstandings (and hella judgment re: any misspellings) via text.
Try this:
Don’t take everything so personally! Sloppy texts aren’t a reflection of lack of interest. Using the wrong “to” doesn’t mean your new boo doesn’t care. They’re just too distracted to notice.
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Libra: Giving Vague Answers
Libra energy always wants to keep the peace, which is why your texting style is defined by your vague answers. Ranging from “k” to “cool” (and everything in between), your innate desire to be nonconfrontational often leaves people scratching their heads, wondering WTF you actually mean.
Try this:
Be direct with your communication from the beginning, babe. Speak your mind and say what you mean. No one will think you’re being difficult—in fact, they’ll actually appreciate your honesty. Believe it or not, your up-front responses will help you avoid conflict down the road.
Scorpio: Screenshotting Evidence
This placement loves to be a secret agent. In fact, Mercury in Scorpio’s texting buds may not realize that every message they send is being logged, documented, and stored as evidence.
Try this:
Scale back on your screen grabbing. Not every message needs to be catalogued. But when you absolutely *need* to share a juicy DM with your besties, delete it immediately after you send it. Nothing is more incriminating than a phone riddled with screenshots.