In astrology, the Big Three get a lot of focus. Your sun, moon, and ascendant sign can tell you so much about yourself. From your core personality to your emotional side and the initial impression you make on others, you’re provided with a lot of important insight about yourself. But, as always, there’s more! When you include the impacts of the other three personal planets, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, you add in a strong understanding of communication styles, relationship insights, self-awareness, and your decision-making.
So what exactly makes Mercury, Venus, and Mars be considered our personal planets? Why do these three get more attention than the rest in astrology? Let’s dive in to better understand these three planets’ impact on our personalities!
The Impact of Our Personal Planets on Your Personality
Mercury
Mercury is the planet of the mind! It is responsible for our intellect, communication, thinking, and expressing ourselves. If you’ve ever wondered how we learn, how our thinking processes work, and what our communication styles are, Mercury can help us to understand this.
For instance, Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo; therefore, these two zodiac signs are very strong communicators. More than likely, they enjoy stimulating conversations, are good critical thinkers, and are great at conveying their thoughts and ideas. The difference will be how those signs showcase Mercury’s influence. Being more reserved, Virgos might also be reserved in how they express their opinions, but they’ll express them logically nonetheless. Gemini might be more open and free with their expressions because they’re typically more outgoing.
The strength of the influence of Mercury is all dependent on where it lands in your chart. What is common is that when Mercury is in a good place, most find themselves able to speak for themselves eloquently, but when Mercury goes retrograde, meaning it’s lagging in orbit, we’ll experience miscommunication and technical glitches.
Many focus on Mercury’s communication aspect, but this planet is also responsible for transportation, travel, electricity, books, plans, speech, rules, time management, science, and decision-making. To determine where Mercury is in your birth chart, you must know your birthday and year, as Mercury only spends about three weeks in each sign!
Venus
Venus is the planet of love and beauty, governing our values and emotional experiences. It can help us to understand our capacity for love, affection, and harmony in our relationships. Besides love, this planet can explain your aesthetic values, revealing our appreciation for beauty, art, and personal values.
Venus rules the zodiac signs of Taurus and Libra. Both signs are drawn to the finer things in life, which is where you see the focus on beauty. In relationships, they become deeply invested and seek pleasure and harmony. With Libra, Venus’s influence is seen strongly in how they desire balance and aesthetically pleasing things. For Taurus, it’s influenced by Venus through a strong desire for comfort.
When Venus is in your sign, you’ll probably feel more charming, thinking about attraction and creativity, and enjoying social interactions more than usual. When it’s in a challenging position, you’ll realize it feels harder to harmonize in your relationships and feel less inspired regarding matters of the heart and anything creative.
While Venus, being the planet of love, is typically the focus, Venus is also the planet of your core values: what you think is beautiful and pleasing, your tastes, your style, how you present yourself to the world, and how good you might be at getting what you want! To know where Venus sits in your chart, you need to know your birthday and year, and the exact time you were born.
Mars
Mars, named after the Roman God of war and passion, is the planet of action and drive. It reflects our energy, aggression, and ambition. It also focuses on our capacity for courage, assertiveness, passion, and motivation. You have Mars to thank if you’ve ever wondered what can dictate how we pursue our goals or handle conflicts.
Aries is the only zodiac sign ruled by Mars. Because of Mars, Aries is known to have a fiery, assertive, and competitive nature, along with their high levels of courage and determination. The planet of Mars also influences Aries in how they always want to be first, are quick to think, and are typically impatient. When Mars is in a good spot, it’s common to feel as if you’re ready to tackle any challenge the day throws at you. However, you’ll probably feel extremely impatient and frustrated when stationed poorly.
When people think of Mars in astrology, they typically focus on aggression, but Mars also influences your love of competition and challenges, how you defend yourself, how confident you might be, and how you approach certain tasks and pursue your goals. Mars travels from one sign to another every couple of months or so; therefore, to determine where Mars sits in your chart, you’ll need to know your birthday, time, and location.
Final Thoughts
If you ask me, the more insight one can have into who they are based on where the planets were at the time of their birth. For instance, for me, Mercury is in Scorpio, Venus is in Capricorn, and Mars is in Cancer. With Mercury, this means I’m deeply perceptive and want to investigate everything. When it comes to a partner, I’m drawn to one who is grounded and has long-term plans, as fleeting connections are not for me. Finally, Mars in Cancer makes me highly sensitive, with a strong desire to protect and care for others.
Remember that what houses each planet and sign also matters. You can learn more about the houses of astrology here! Overall, understanding your sun, moon, and ascendant sign is crucial, and the three personal planets are vital to be on your way to having a complete understanding of how the zodiac, the universe, and astrology can impact you and your personality. So what are you waiting for? There are many free birth chart calculators to get you started on the journey to a deeper understanding of yourself!
