Four faces of mercury

Hi guys! I was studying the "four faces of mercury" which are

1. Promethean-retrograde
2. Promethean-direct
3. Epimethean-direct
4. Epimethean-retrograde

The Four Faces of Mercury The brief look at the Mercury cycle presented above provides the foundation for the four-fold classification of Mercury types: Promethean-Retrograde, Promethean-Direct, Epimethean-Retrograde and Epimethean-Direct. They are Mercury’s four "faces," each representing a particular mental temperament.
It’s easy to determine your Mercury type. First locate the Sun in your birth chart. If Mercury is clockwise from the Sun, it is Promethean. On the other hand, if Mercury is counterclockwise from the Sun, your Mercury type is Epimethean.

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Here are definitions of each "face":

If your Mercury type is Promethean-Retrograde, you possess a mind seeking independence from biological limitations and the dictates of social convention. It does so because it is driven by an intuitive impulse to realize a new quality of being, the full nature of which you may not as yet clearly or fully understand. But independence from natural compulsions and social convention often leads to a more or less violent rebellion against the past and its traditions, or from anything which holds back your mental eagerness.

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If your were born during Mercury’s Promethean-Direct phase, you possess an intuitive mind coupled with effective faculties of communication, enabling you to both convince others of the validity of your ideas and to inspire them with your future-oriented, farseeing vision. If you were born near Mercury’s maximum elongation, you may be so mentally intense and certain that some might find you overwhelming, while others may find you mentally stimulating and inspiring.

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What type of mercury are you and do you think the description matches you?

Further Reading:
http://www.khaldea.com/planets/merc_type.shtml
http://www.mindfire.ca/Astrological%20Aspects/Chapter%20Four%20-%20Conjunctions%20and%20Oppositions.htm

[edited quote over 100 words deleted quotes beyond the 3 quote limit per forum rules - Moderator]

i've been using these phases of Mercury for probably 40 years. They work.

And you can add in many other features of Mercury's motions and relationships to further define or describe what we commonly call "mind".

What is being described by these so-called four faces is the relationship of Sun and Mercury combined with the motion of Mercury.

We can also examine (delineate) such things as combust-free of combustion...at greatest elongation. Or in sign-out of sign with the Sun. Inferior-superior.

And in passing we should note that a superior Mercury is never retrograde. Only an inferior Mercury can be retrograde and this should be a great clue as to the interpretation of inferior-supeior. Superior means external to the Sun's path, infeior means internal to the Sun's path (with reference to Mercury and Venus).

Greatest elongation means being at the greatest possible distance from the Sun. The term is applied only to Mercury and Venus; all the other planets are capable of an actual opposition aspect -- their greatest elongation is 180 degrees [let's keep it simple]. Therefore, the greatest elongation of Mercury or Venus, when it occurs, may carry some of the implications of an "opposition" to Sun. The value of the greatest elongation for Mercury is between 18° and 28°; and for Venus between 45° and 47°. There are two types of elongation -- western (rising before the Sun) and eastern (rising after the Sun). As with all astronomical fact, these conditions can be interpreted in terms of human personality, or mental traits.

roz said:

Hi guys! I was studying the "four faces of mercury" which are

1. Promethean-retrograde
2. Promethean-direct
3. Epimethean-direct
4. Epimethean-retrograde
................................................

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Can you provide a reference for this that IS NOT ON THE INTERNET?

Zarathu said:

Can you provide a reference for this that IS NOT ON THE INTERNET?

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It's a HUMANISTIC ASTROLOGY book
which not unexpectedly is advertised 'on the internet' http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Humanistic-Astrologer-Michael-Meyer-ebook/dp/B005JM583I/khaldea

http://www.khaldea.com/planets/merc_type.shtml



ARTICLE

David McCann outlines the astrological significance of Mercury's movement,
orbit and PHASES http://www.skyscript.co.uk/mercuryorbit.html

Yeah? I've had that book since 1972. Can't say that I was terribly impressed with the presentation by Michael Meyer. Generally the book is pretty good, but he never lived up to the hype as Dane Rudyhar's successor, IMO. He's no Dane Rudyhar.

Meyer donned the mantle of messiah and got lost.

What he wrote in "Handbook" was by and large borrowed -- without credit -- and given a new suit of clothes. Rudhyar coined the terms "Promethean" and "Epimethean".

Yeah I don't know how relevant/trustworthy this is since I only found it online but it sounded interesting to me. I did read that the promethean/epimethean originated from Rudhyar?

greybeard said:

Meyer donned the mantle of messiah and got lost.

What he wrote in "Handbook" was by and large borrowed -- without credit -- and given a new suit of clothes. Rudhyar coined the terms "Promethean" and "Epimethean".

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There is another much more famous astrologer who has done pretty much the same thing. Some of his most famous pronouncements came from obscure articles written by Dane Rudyhar in the 40's and 50's.

The problem with all of us who are writing comprehensive manuals is that almost everything that we include is borrowed from someone else. The key is not extensive footnoting of everything, IMO, but at least noting that the original is from someone else.

That more famous astrologer has a huge section in a book on Solar Arc Directions which is a virtual copy of COSI, and there is almost no mention of the one who originated it. However, I'm not so sure that the originator of COSI was not Reinhold Ebertin, but actually Alfred Witte, and God only knows where he got his stuff from.

rahu said:

I did lose some of my enthusiasm when he offered me a LB of hash for $5000 .
of course that was the 60-70's so I am sure things have changed.

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Probably people provide him with all the grass he wants, while the rest of us wouldn't know where to find it even if we did want it(which I, for one, do not). But then are are all getting to age that we could probalby get medical marijuana, and have the insurance company pay for it.

Were you unhappy about the price or the quality of the hashish?

I am of the “Epimethean” mind-set, said to be the “evolutionary, associative and generalizing aspect" of the mind dominates. It symbolizes a mind in which eagerness and impulsiveness have given way to careful deliberation. It is often seen in the birth charts of gurus, spiritual teachers and religious leaders — transmitters and custodians of the many particular traditions a growing sense of a long-range, objective and historical perspective".

In youth I was eager to meet the future, yet with Mercury in Cancer, I was consistently pulled back to the past, with vivid recall and reminders; only in later life have I been able to objectify my experiences and see them as lessons I was needing to learn to encourage mental development and to make the connection ultimately about how our influences of the past affect the outcomes we see arising in our futures.

Born under the Disseminating Moon, I feel I am a transmitter and distributor of information and knowledge. Also I am of the associative type, highly sensitive to symbols and archetypal connections in life...thus my interest in astrology.

Rudhyar's writing on the four phases can be found somewhere on the Rudhyar Archive site. He looks at whether Mercury is direct or retrograde, and whether it rises before the Sun (Promethean) or behind it (Epimethean). So the phases are: direct Promethean, direct Epimethean, retrograde Promethean and retrograde Epimethean. If anyone finds it, may be they could post a link. If no one can find it I'll have a look.

He looks at Venus in the same way. Its very interesting. Meyers also has essays about this on the same site, because he curates it.