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Mercury is a benefic planet, so its positioning in the first house or ascendant house (Lagna Sthana) is considered auspicious or benefic for the native or person.

Mercury is known as the prince in Vedic astrology, so if He is situated favourably in the first house (Lagna Sthana) or ascendant house of the native’s chart, then the person will nearly always look younger than his/her age.

The native would also be intellectual by nature and may be more logical and rational than emotional, although a badly placed Moon could wreck their emotions and make them emotionally needy, but the effects would be somewhat offset by a strong Mercury in the Lagna.

Such an individual may also have an early marriage, meaning they will find their life partner in their mid-20s to late-20s in most cases. This is because Mercury would cast its 7^th aspect on the 7^th house of the ascendant chart, which governs marriage and relationships with spouse as well as post-marital happiness, intimacy, finances, etc.

Additionally, a native with Mercury in their ascendant house or Lagna Sthana will be soft-spoken; he/she will know how to convince people easily and will maintain a cool-headedness in most, if not all situations. Such individuals can become excellent speakers, businessmen, traders, etc. as they would know how to address each and every situation more or less.

Mercury in the 1^st house will also impart a religious inclination to the native unless He is afflicted by Rahu, in which case the native or person will become corrupted and may care nothing for religion or Dharma.

However, when unafflicted, Mercury will also give a good age or longevity to the person along with an overall decent immunity against many diseases.

Some considerations to note here are:

• Mercury in exaltation (Virgo) – this is by far the best placement for Mercury in the entire chart; an exalted Mercury in the Kendra bhava, or specifically the Lagna Sthana bestows all of the benefits mentioned above. Furthermore, the native will always be youthful and look much younger than they are. They will also be childish at times, but when they get serious, nobody can match their intellect or cunning – if they so choose to be. Mercury in exaltation (Virgo) or in His own sign (Gemini) in one of the angular houses, including 1^st house, 4^th house, 7^th house, or the 10^th house will create one of the auspicious placements referred to as Bhadra Mahapurusha Yoga, which translates to ‘Noble Great Man Yoga’. Those who are born under the Bhadra Mahapurusha Yoga have strong physical constitution and enjoy a long life along with an overall decent immunity. Bhadra Mahapurusha Yoga is also referred to as Bhadra Raj Yoga. Such individuals can be extremely clever, but they choose not to harm others or exploit others as Mercury generally blesses the person with a caring and affectionate nature and a kind personality towards others. As per the Bhrigu Samhita, the person would also be tall and have a pleasing appearance, is most likely to conduct business, and has the potential to be a great politician. The only downside here is that the person may not be as lucky or fortunate when it comes to their marriage or marital bliss including sexual pleasures from their wife. This may either be because they will be far too engrossed in their work to ever care about trite emotions like love or they may not find a partner who loves them as much in the first place. However, when it comes to professional success and overall life goals, there can be no better placement for Mercury than in its exaltation sign in the Lagna Sthana.
• Mercury in own sign (Gemini) – the results would be nearly identical to Mercury in exaltation; however, Mercury in Gemini will provide the native with more of marital bliss and happiness from their spouse as opposed to Mercury in Virgo which will be more focused on the professional and career aspects of the native’s life. However, the person will regardless enjoy the good health and desirable physical appearance that Mercury would bestow them with. Natives with their Mercury in Gemini will undoubtedly have a much better married life and a more loving partner for certain, but their career prospects may not be as excellent, because there are only 24 hours in a day, and so, it makes sense that a person cannot be equally good at both.

Additionally…

• Mercury in the 1^st house performs in a near perfect fashion when it is posited in the zodiac sign of the Sun, Leo. Mercury when well placed in Leo confers all the benefits and blessings of Mercury that are usually provided by its position in Gemini or Virgo.
• Mercury in the 1^st house performs superbly in the zodiac sign of the Moon, which is Cancer. In this case, Mercury bestows excellent physicality and appearance to the native and they may also earn amazingly well through business and investments.
• Mercury in the 1^st house performs excellently in zodiac signs owned by Venus, including Taurus and Libra. The person gets wealth, a good spouse, pleasing physical appearance, excellent wealth, and career prospects.
• Mercury in the 1^st house performs satisfactorily in zodiac signs owned by Saturn, including Capricorn and Aquarius. However, Mercury in the 1^st house in Capricorn may cause the individual or native to have some diseases related to their skin and the person may not care about sex or sexual pleasures much, which could affect their relations with their spouse post-marriage. In Aquarius, Mercury bestows much of the blessings of itself including a long-life and decent occupational growth, but the physique may not be as handsome or beautiful as is in the case of Venusian signs or Mercury-owned signs.
• Mercury in the 1^st house performs very well in signs owned by Mars, including Aries and Scorpio. The person would have a very excellent physique and also very good income prospects. Mercury in 1^st house Aries bestows general benefits but nothing too particularly prominent.
• Mercury in the 1^st house suffers in Jupiterian signs, including Sagittarius and Pisces. In Sagittarius, Mercury usually performs but suffers loss of sexual pleasure meaning they will not get enough of it from their spouse perhaps and they may not have very good relations with their father. In Pisces, Mercury’s placement weakens the luck of the native towards assets like buildings, lands, etc. and they have to work extra hard to achieve their goals and their marital relations are not as cordial though not too bad either. 

Note that Mercury needs to either:

• Be conjunct with a benefic (Venus, Jupiter, Moon, or Sun), or
• Be aspected by a benefic (Venus, Jupiter, Moon, or Sun), or
• Be situated as the only planet in the house

To be beneficial for the ascendant. If Mercury is either conjunct with a malefic planet or is aspected by one, then it tends to suffer and turn malefic itself, thereby causing problems for the individual. In such a case, the person’s decision-making and intellectual faculties may be affected.