Moon-Mercury Quintile
(Transit Moon → Natal Mercury)
Avesalom Podvodnyi. Aspects
Moon quintile: Bream, pike-perch, and ide are equally necessary for evolution, yet for some reason bream tastes better. This aspect provides inner liveliness and intrinsic interest in the areas governed by the planet, evoking in the individual a genuine emotional response and an impulse toward inner development in a new direction. The Moon’s affliction imparts great vital forces within the planet’s domains, which, however, struggle to manifest outwardly, likely resulting in frustrations akin to a poplar tree whose branches are pruned each spring—and even a good portion of its trunk. If this aspect remains unworked, instinctive vitality degenerates, becoming coarser and even vulgar; an unrefined Moon is a master at profaning anything whatsoever. For example, the Moon-Venus quintile at a high level bestows authentic, living art created instinctively by the individual, essentially an extension of their life; when people encounter this art, on one hand they recognize themselves and the surrounding world, and on the other, they perceive it illuminated by significantly higher vibrations (Venus—of aesthetics), and intuitively (Moon) attuning to this current, they illuminate their inner and outer world, primarily. At a low level, this quintile signifies perceiving any living love and social relationships solely from the standpoint of physiology and self-interest, for instance, an attitude such as: “if a person doesn’t spend money on me and doesn’t desire sex, the relationship is hopeless.” Mercury quintile: Mental flourishing hinders the blossoming of thought. This aspect imparts mental and verbal liveliness in the planet’s spheres, which, if afflicted, may cost the individual dearly, as their words could provoke sharply negative reactions from more backward forms. At a high level, this is the aspect of the satirist; with major harmonious aspects of Mercury, it indicates the humorist, who may not always be particularly humane in expression (“for a sharp word, won’t spare even his father”)—this is how the quintile differs from the decile. Affliction of Mercury brings difficulties in adequately verbalizing the natural mental liveliness, observable in the individual within the planet’s domains; expressed thoughts will initially appear inappropriate or outright foolish, though sometimes unconventional and amusing, which the person will find difficult to endure, even if not necessarily showing it. If the planet itself is afflicted, creating difficulties in its integration, the quintile will carry a heavy burden, and either the individual adapts their lively mind to the planet’s challenging issues and learns to resolve them, or their intellect loses inventiveness, freshness, and natural talent fades. In its harmonious variation, this quintile confers great mental abilities within the planet’s spheres—when the individual chooses to apply them, ingenuity and constructive thinking emerge, yet also a general passivity that will gradually drown them out.
