The Mercurian Characteristics

The Mercurian is the strongest in the business world (108).

He has shrewdness, diplomacy, tact, management, influence over people, judgment of human nature, energy, and power of expressing himself, all of which are the very strongest elements one could have for a successful business career.

No better illustration of the success of the Mercurian in the business world can be given than to point to the standing of the Hebrew race in mercantile circles to-day, and to state that a very large percentage of this people are Mercurians.

They are ingenious in their ways of planning new schemes to make money, and original in their manner of putting them into operation.

Mercurians are great imitators, and so clever that they can steal some other man’s idea and pass it as their own. They make good actors and their powers of mimicry and study of nature enable them to create on the stage lifelike and realistic characters.

They make excellent lawyers, having the keenness, the faculty of seeing a question from its many sides, as well as a knowledge of the failings of humanity.

To this add oratory, and it completes an excellent combination for a lawyer. They are excellent teachers, for their grasp of scientific knowledge, backed by an ability to say what they mean gives them a mastery in this field, and being judges of human nature, they know how best to reach each and every pupil.

The good Mercurian is:

• not vicious and criminal.
• shrewd and keen
• even tempered, loves children dearly, is devoted to his family and makes a constant friend.

He is not in any degree a sensualist.

His pleasures are largely mental and, while he is fond of beauty and women, he is not an amorous type. He is nervous and restless, his mind is active and he likes to travel, for changing scenery gives him the recreation and diversity that he needs. He is fond of nature, which appeals to him more strongly than anything artificial.

In the marriage relation the Mercurian is a match-maker. He enjoys the society of his fellows, marries early in life, chooses one of his own age, and very often one of his type. He loves trim, neat, stylish women, full of fire and life, and no type furnishes these elements so well as his own.

He is proud of his wife, likes to see her well dressed, and makes a good husband, provided he represents the good side of the type. In health the Mercurian is nervous; his quickness and energy speak in unmistakable terms of the electric current which is coursing through his nervous system, stimulating it to great activity.

This nervous energy prevents his being lazy, makes him love to travel, and this energy sometimes becomes excessive, so that you will find many Mercurian hands with fluted nails more or less pronounced in development. Be on the lookout with this type for nervous trouble, which interferes with his liver so that he becomes bilious.

His liver trouble differs from that of the Saturnian, for it disappears when the nervous trouble is relieved, as it is not structural difficulty as with the Saturnian. His olive complexion shows a tinge of bile; and stomach trouble, dyspepsia, and kindred disorders are often met.

His activity tends to drive away these difficulties, and his system quickly responds to treatment for them. If he has paralytic trouble it most often attacks his arms and upper extremities. It is often helpful to note the Line of Mercury with this type, for by its wavy or broken course it shows the extent of bilious and stomach trouble.

The Mercurian is a healthy type, so we do not look first for illness with them, hut for peculiar mental characteristics. They have their disorders, however, so be always on your guard that you do not overlook them. The Mount Of Mercury. Part 3 I wish it were possible to say that all Mercurians were good, but unfortunately this cannot be done.

This second bilious type (Saturn being the first) produces members of the criminal fraternity which will be found in many penitentiaries and penal institutions, condemned for all manner of crimes. It also produces a class who have not yet reached the prisons, but who deserve to, even more than many of those who have been convicted.

There is very often an almost imperceptible line which marks the place where shrewdness in business ends and actual dishonesty begins, and the Mercurian seems ever near the line. His natural shrewdness makes it easy for him to outwit his fellowmen, and the temptation for him to do so is great, often so great that he cannot resist it.

The invisible line once crossed and the conscience being quieted, a second slip is easily made. Thus inch by inch even a good Mercnrian often degenerates from a sharp business man to a criminal, a liar, and a thief (109). When this class is engaged in bond speculations, or stock-jobbing enterprises, they are not often made to pay for their knavery by imprisonment; for they are keen enough always to have a loophole ready through which to crawl. When they are merchants, they simply cheat their customers with ease and facility, and talk so glibly that the customer does not realize it.

These high-toned thieves have fine hands, but crooked fingers of Mercury, grilled Mount, or bars on the Mount, cold Head lines, narrow quadrangles, and will often hide the hands from view, or will rub them in the Uriah Heep fashion. When a crooked finger of Mercury is seen on any hand (no) the thought of unusual shrewdness should at once come to the mind, and you should be on your guard and search for everything that will tell whether actual dishonesty exists or not.

Having located a Mercurian subject, and finding a crooked finger of Mercury, be on your guard to investigate at once for actual dishonesty. This applies to whatever station in life your subject may occupy. If his position be high, you know that the temptation to overstep the line of honesty has often been great even though it has been resisted. With this crooked finger and other bad signs, feel sure that he will not resist very stubbornly.

The criminal type of Mercurians are quick, sharp fellows, small in stature with dark complexion, shifting, restless eyes that either cannot face you squarely, or else look at you with a forced, brazen stare. The hair is straight and stiff, seeming to lack vitality.

They are vile and criminal wretches. Gypsies are Mercurians, and usually of the dishonest class who stop at nothing. These bad types have crooked, warped fingers, twisted and bent inward, crooked, claw-like nails, grilled Mount, twisted finger of Mercury, bad or absent Heart line, cold Head line, narrow quadrangle, high, stiff thumb, and often the first knot of the Mercury finger developed. These are the bank robbers, pickpockets (see 109), sneak thieves, confidence sharps, and dishonest gamblers, who run to all kinds of crime and are criminals pure and simple. These people are intensely superstitious.

Thus you will see the great diversity of the Mercurian type. - how good or how intensely evil he may be. The first thing to do on finding a Mercurian subject is to decide to which class or grade he belongs, and what underlying forces he has. Then apply this knowledge to the side of type present, whether it be the oratorical, the scientific, the professional, business, or the criminal. With this type note especially the pose of the hands; if he hides them, deceitfulness is indicated.

The texture of the skin tells of refinement or coarseness. If you see bad signs do not be misled by a fine texture of skin, for you must remember that there are villains who wear fine clothing as well as rags.

It will tell that, if villainy be present, it will be consummate in its skill, and so keen and fine in operation that a subject can go for a lifetime and never be found out.

If it is the scientist, the lawyer, the physician, or the business man that is before you, fine texture of skin will tell of a refined nature that will operate in its special vocation with refinement back of it. Coarse-textured skin tells that coarseness will operate, and no such perfection is possible as with fine texture.

Expect coarse-textured skin in lowcriminals. The consistency of the hand will show the amount of energy, whether laziness and inertia or elastic vigor and intelligence are present.

Flabby hands will ruin all hope of brilliant attainments, and fortunately these are not often fouud. Soft hands will indicate that there is something abnormal about your subject, for energy is a leading characteristic of the Mercurian type.

To find any degree of laziness is unusual, and must be given full weight, as it will ruin the chances of success, whether the subject be lawyer, doctor, scientist, business man, or thief. Elastic consistency shows the normal condition and that the qualities of the subject will be highly developed in whatever direction they may lead him. Hard hands will show a tendency toward coarsening the type, and the keenness natural to it will be lessened, as the brain back of the hard hand does not work so rapidly.

Flexibility of the hands must be noted, for it shows an additional elasticity of the mind which makes these people brilliant subjects. Flexibility will make the doctor keener in his power of diagnosis, more ready to keep up with new remedies, and gives the intuitive faculty which aids so powerfully in estimating his patient. Flexible hands on a lawyer make him unusually shrewd, brilliant, and able to devise many avenues of escape for his clients; and to discover loopholes that a hard-handed lawyer could not see.

The flexible hand on a business man makes him brilliant and keen, bul to be an extremist and extravagant in conducting his business. The stiff hand will take away much of the dash and brilliancy of the type, and is not often found on the best developed specimens. Old-fashioned ways a stingy habits are present when you find The Mount Of Mercury.

The color of the hands will tell much About health and temperament.

White is not not by nature cold. When added to his keenness a very likely to be bad an Pink color gives heat bis keenness makes him a brilliant person. Red color when present will add its pushing qualities to his already quick nature, making him a great worker and a strong force in the community. Yellow color is often seen, for the Mercurian inclines to be bilious. When found it will show a spoiled temper and that the subject will more easily become bad and dishonest, his stomach will likely be out of order, and he will be at cross purposes with his fellows.

The nails must be examined, for if fluted they show that the nervousness which belongs to the type is making rapid headway. If brittle and bending back, the subject must be warned to use his vital energy sparingly. Blue nails will tell of defective circulation, and yellow that the irritating bile is poisoning his blood. Pink nails will tell of a sharp and healthy subject who is a match for most men, and who acts with great quickness and shrewdness.

Short nails will show a critical turn of mind, and in argument or debate no point will be overlooked by this subject in his effort to advance his side of the case. Broad nails will show a strong constitution, narrow nails delicacy, the medium being most often found. Hair on the hands will tell of the iron in his constitution. Black hair is most often to be seen, and is plentifully found on the hands of many Mercurians.

It tells of the fire and vigor of health and the strong tendencies of the type. With black hair there is the suspicion that these subjects have the keenness of the type in full measure, and the crooked finger is often seen. Light hair is not so often met with on this type, though sometimes seen.

When found it makes them more phlegmatic and less volatile than with the black. Red hair gives added electric force to the already great quickness, and would lead to excess. Chestnut hair, which is a medium color, is often found, and tells of an evenly distributed set of Mercurian qualities.

The hand as a whole will tell in which world the subject is strongest, and with this type you nearly always find the middle or business world fully developed, for he is always a good money-getter whether he be orator, doctor, lawyer, or business man. Note carefully if the apex of the Mount lies in the centre or is displaced.

If it is at the outside of the hand, toward the percussion, the subject will employ his aptitudes for his own advantage and be selfishly inclined. If the apex lies in the centre of the Mouut you have the normal development, and the subject will have true Mercurian ideas in whatever sphere in life he is placed.

If the Mount leans toward Apollo, the love of art and beauty will be great, and he will give up part of his Mercurian qualities in order to enjoy them. His life will be less dominated by the shrewdness of the type, and more given over to the Apollonian instincts. If the apex is in the centre and the apices of the other Mounts are pulled toward Mercury, you will have a very strong Mercurian, a “dyed in the wool” kind, who will be typical in whatever he does.

The finger must be carefully noted. First, is it longer than the first knot of the finger of Apollo (111)? If so, the subject is strongly Mercurian; shorter than this is deficiency, in whatever degree the Mount and finger is lacking (112)= if it should be crooked in addition to being long, the type becomes more pronounced, and you must look to grilles, Head line, Heart line, and quadrangle, and see if dishonesty has taken hold of the subject. If the finger is long, note which phalanx is the longest, for the three worlds are most marked in the Mercurian finger.

If the first phalanx is very long, the subject will be expressive, having eloquence and oratorical ability.

• This will enable him to express through writing.
• He will make a good public speaker or writer.

If the second phalanx is long it shows that the scientific side is strong. He will make a good doctor, lawyer, or scientist.

If the third phalanx is long the commercial side is prominent, and he will be an excellent merchant or business man in any capacity. In judging the field of labor in which the subject will best succeed, these phalanges must be your guide.

Note which world of the secondary type is strongest, as this shows the backing the Mercurian aptitudes will have. If the finger of Mercury is long, it may be found that two phalanges will be long and one short. This will show which worlds are strongest and which are deficient. As the Mercurian is a complex type, it will be only by this careful estimate of the finger that you can properly estimate your subject. The tips must be carefully noted.

If the first phalanx of the Mercury finger be long, ability as a speaker is shown. If the tip be pointed, he will be able to draw on his imagination, will indulge flights of fancy, and charm by his oratorical idealism. If the tip be conic he will be artistic and eloquent, with plenty of word painting and mental pictures. If the tip be square he will talk on practical subjects; common sense and reason, facts and figures will be the forces he employs, and logic is his talisman, especially if the second phalanx of the thumb bears this out.

If the tip be spatulate he will be the magnetic speaker whose fiery oratory moves the masses with its vigor, originality, and strength, and he fairly carries his audience off their feet.

If the second phalanx be longest and the tip pointed, the idealism of this tip will permeate his scientific researches. If with the long second phalanx the tip be square, common sense and practical ideas will rule him, and if spatulate he will be active in his search for fresh discoveries in old sciences, and not satisfied to follow in the ruts made by others. If the third phalanx be longest and the tip conic or pointed, the idealism and love of the artistic belonging to this tip will be linked with Mercurian business ability.