बुध · Ripu Bhava · Apoklima · Dusthana · Upachaya
Mercury in the 6th house
Mercury in the sixth gives skill in service, routine, litigation and diagnosis. The person is effective at the daily work that others find tedious. The texts note nervous or skin complaints and a mind that can talk itself into anxiety about health.
What it gives
- •Excellent at detailed, routine work
- •Wins arguments and litigation
- •Diagnostic ability; medicine, audit, analysis
What to watch
- •Health anxiety; nervous complaints
- •Disputes conducted in writing
- •Perfectionism about small things
Where Mercury actually is today
Computed at sunrise for the reference place. A planet sits in a given house for exactly one ascendant at a time — the sign it occupies is the 6th house of only one lagna.
Mercury right now
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Who has Mercury in the 6th today
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It depends on your ascendant
The same placement reads differently from each of the twelve ascendants, because the 6th house is a different sign for each — and Mercury is exalted in one sign and debilitated in another. This table is computed from the classical rulership and dignity tables, not written by hand.
| Ascendant | 6th house sign | Sign lord | Mercury’s dignity | Mercury rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Virgo | Mercury(own house) | Exalted | 3rd, 6th |
| Taurus | Libra | Venus | Friend’s sign | 2nd, 5th |
| Gemini | Scorpio | Mars | Neutral | 1st, 4th |
| Cancer | Sagittarius | Jupiter | Neutral | 3rd, 12th |
| Leo | Capricorn | Saturn | Neutral | 2nd, 11th |
| Virgo | Aquarius | Saturn | Neutral | 1st, 10th |
| Libra | Pisces | Jupiter | Debilitated | 9th, 12th |
| Scorpio | Aries | Mars | Neutral | 8th, 11th |
| Sagittarius | Taurus | Venus | Friend’s sign | 7th, 10th |
| Capricorn | Gemini | Mercury(own house) | Own sign | 6th, 9th |
| Aquarius | Cancer | Moon | Enemy’s sign | 5th, 8th |
| Pisces | Leo | Sun | Friend’s sign | 4th, 7th |
Strongest from Aries — Mercury is exalted in Virgo. Weakest from Libra, where it falls in Pisces.
What it aspects from here
From the 6th house, Mercury aspects the 12th houses. Every planet aspects the 7th house from itself; this planet has no special aspects. An aspect carries the planet's nature into those houses, so a placement is never confined to the house it sits in.
The 6th house
The sixth is a dusthana and an upachaya at once — a house of difficulty that rewards those who work at it. It rules enemies, debts, disease and daily service. Malefics here often help: they fight what the house signifies. Benefics can suffer, because there is little for them to protect.
Karaka: Mars, Saturn · Signifies: enemies, competition and litigation; debt and obligations; disease and daily health; service, employees and routine work
Mercury as a planet
Budh is the intellect — analysis, language, calculation, commerce, wit. He takes the colour of whatever he sits with, so he is a benefic in good company and a malefic in bad. Closest to the Sun, he is frequently combust, which is one of the most common and least-noticed conditions in a chart.
Nature: Variable · Karaka of: intellect, speech, trade and analysis · Day: Wednesday
Related placements
FAQ
Mercury in the 6th house — common questions
What does Mercury in the 6th house mean?
Mercury in the sixth gives skill in service, routine, litigation and diagnosis. The person is effective at the daily work that others find tedious. The texts note nervous or skin complaints and a mind that can talk itself into anxiety about health. The 6th house (Ripu Bhava) rules enemies, competition and litigation, debt and obligations, disease and daily health, and Mercury is the karaka of intellect, speech, trade and analysis. Classically it is a apoklima, dusthana, upachaya house, which shapes how a variable planet behaves there.
Is Mercury in the 6th house good or bad?
It depends on the ascendant, and this is where most articles stop. From an Aries ascendant the 6th house is Virgo, where Mercury is exalted. From Libra it is Pisces, where Mercury is debilitated. The table on this page gives the dignity and rulership for all twelve ascendants.
Which houses does Mercury aspect from the 6th house?
The 12th houses. Every planet aspects the 7th house from itself; this planet has no special aspects.
Which ascendant has Mercury in the 6th house right now?
Exactly one at any moment: the sign Mercury currently occupies is the 6th house of a single ascendant. The card on this page computes it from today's ephemeris and says when Mercury moves on. In a birth chart, though, what matters is where Mercury stood at your birth — the free kundli calculator gives that.
Does Mercury in the 6th house affect marriage?
Not directly. Marriage is read from the 7th house, its lord, Venus and the Navamsa. A 6th-house placement matters only through the houses Mercury rules and aspects from there — which this page's table sets out per ascendant.