Am fed up of people quoting Wiki's help again!!! we are only talking about Mercury ruling Gemini and Virgo.....

My interpretation is somewhat different, mercury is primarily communication and how it works in Gemini is totally different than Virgo. and then discuss the house meanings and functions....

Mercury in Gemini
[Pure logical reasoning can be carried to its highest expression.  Versatile   unbiased and impersonal.  You are more concerned with facts than attitudes.  Clarity of expression. Highly sensitive nervous system]

The collection and communication of knowledge is a major priority. These people have clear and logical minds and need mental stimulation. They love debate but their opinions are usually changeable.  Physical exercise is necessary to work off nervous tension.

Here Mercury is placed in one of the signs it rules, ¬strengthening its influence.  It gives a considerable need to exchange ideas and opinions, and generally the subject likes to be heard and really needs to communicate with others   from talking to the next person in a queue to participating in public debates.  He or she is able to think very quickly and be involved in more than one task at a time, perhaps talking on the telephone while making notes on a quite different matter!   Quick decisions will be made, but not necessarily adhered to, for the mind is often changed   sometimes with the individual denying that this has happened.  Facts will be a bore, so in an exam, for instance, there is a tendency to show off opinions at great length without the support of real knowledge or long, hard study.  Often too, there is a flare for selling.  Impatience   especially with people of a slower turn of mind   is common, and the individual will easily be able to talk his way out of tricky situations. Adaptability is a great asset, but at all times superficiality of thought and action must be guarded against.  Look for other elements in the chart to counter such traits. Cunning and craftiness may also be present!

Mercury in Virgo (Dignity and exalted).
[You will have an analytical mind with great practical reasoning ability.  You require accuracy that may appear trivial to others and you will appreciate orderly surroundings and ¬efficient methods of procedure.  Good intelligence]

Pedantic, critical and analytical, these people have no time for frivolous ideas.  The less interesting face of this position is to be found in the bureaucrat, the lover of intellectual order; the more interesting in those who use their minds for the practical good of the world.

This is the second sign that Mercury rules, so its influence is increased. The ability to analyse and critically assess every aspect of a situation or problem is a dominant feature of this placing, which also gives much common sense and a very practical approach   yet this does not usually prevent the individual suffering to a certain extent from worry.  Learning to think for oneself is important as sometimes the organisational ability is undermined, and there is a tendency only to feel totally safe and at one's best when knowing precisely what to do and what is expected. Preoccupation with detail can sometimes mean the overall grasp of a situation is poor, so this trait should be countered. (Often the placing of Jupiter, and its aspects will be helpful). The subject can think practically and constructively, and is very able to cope with demanding intellectual work. There is a great deal of highly charged nervous energy which must be burnt off if stomach upsets, bowel problems or even migraines are to be avoided.

Mercury 3rd House Good intellectual ability in general.  Interests in all forms of communication.  Good writer or speakers.  Short distant traveling. Time spent on telephone or letter writing.  Adept in finding practical solutions to problems.

Mercury 6th House  Interested in acquiring specialised knowledge and skills applicable to the type of work you do.  Methodical and efficient in handling details.  Good house for medicine or ¬engineering. Disorder in your work you will not tolerate.

and then you need to look at HOW mercury is aspected natally, whether it talks too much Mercury square Jupiter, is arguementative mars square mercury or mercury square Uranus. or conj or oppositions

i think gemini and virgo are conjoined because they are like zodiac siblings... and mercury is the 1 brain that operates both of these people. mercury manifests itself in ways different in gemini and virgo, but virtually identically when analyzed! i can see this most clearly with observation of people of these signs; they have a presence similar to the other, and i often myself mistaking a gemini for a virgo or a virgo for a gemini. there are geminis i know who are highly energized and deceptive and scattered, and there are geminis who have these traits repressed and are trying hard to get it right, through detail work and analysis. i also find virgos that are not always studious and responsible, but sometimes highly deceptive and very detached. i think the relationship between gemini, virgo, mercury, and the 3rd and 6th houses is highly visible in the sole fact that mercury rules these both. mercury is the planet of the mind and of intellect and of thinking, and its separate from all the others by a strong sense of communication and logic. the 3rd house of siblings has an emphasis on communication, how well you can relate to your siblings, or if you dont have any siblings, how well you can relate and communicate with yourself. this is something i believe to play a part in gemini duality (hence why gemini is the sign of the twins.. you dont have to be a gemini and a twin, in order to be a gemini who feels the need to "communicate with themselves"). 6th house is about health and organization and reality.. you couldnt rule this house using jupiter, because jupiter has too unrealistic visions in order to accurately take care of his health, or venus, because venus likes sweets too much. mercury with his logical mind isnt afraid to cut down to the nitty gritty and see what really needs to be done in order to keep himself up to speed with reality and to keep himself in good health. you take the house of siblings, the house of health, the house of religion, and the house of fantasy, and group them all together, and you will see that these 4 need to be ruled by mutable signs because they all require adaptation. if you cannot adapt to your siblings or yourself, you will never be able to accept people for who they are and communicate. if you cannot adapt to reality and facts, you will never be right or be able to do the right thing. if you cannot adapt to concepts of higher thinking, you will never develop a faith. if you cannot adapt to the abstractions of fantasy, you will never have a place to escape to. they are all equal and opposite with one another.

mercury manifests itself in ways different in gemini and virgo, but virtually identically when analyzed!
Well you cannot have it both ways. The mercury in Gemini and Virgo are different to the houses explanation.

you say, " i often myself mistaking a gemini for a virgo or a virgo for a gemini. there are geminis i know who are highly energized and deceptive and scattered, and there are geminis who have these traits repressed and are trying hard to get it right, through detail work and analysis. i also find virgos that are not always studious and responsible, but sometimes highly deceptive and very detached"
Are you talking about gemini and virgo sun, think you are, unless you are talking about there mercury in their natal charts, and then you have to look how that mercury is aspected, it may have square to saturn and be studious in either sign but be quiet.

"the 3rd house of siblings has an emphasis on communication, how well you can relate to your siblings, or if you dont have any siblings, how well you can relate and communicate with yourself. this is something i believe to play a part in gemini duality (hence why gemini is the sign of the twins.. you dont have to be a gemini and a twin, in order to be a gemini who feels the need to "communicate with themselves").
3rd house is basic education, think you are getting things out of context here. 3rd house does not represent how well you communicate with yourself, this is a never ending internal process. Mercury describes by sign and house and aspects how well you communicate with others.....

"6th house is about health and organization and reality." Is your daily routines, not just health. It is the type of work you do and how you relate to co-workers.....

"you take the house of siblings, the house of health, the house of religion, and the house of fantasy, and group them all together, and you will see that these 4 need to be ruled by mutable signs because they all require adaptation"

Another big difference between Gemini and Virgo is that Virgo worries, Gemini doesn't is too scattered restless, procrastinating, indecisive. There is nothing indecisive about Virgo...

The way you seem to want to connect these 4houses is silly just cos they are mutuable houses, they are not connected via Mercury.
Mercury is how your think, speak and communicate and the function differently in Gemini and Virgo........simple end of...

12th house of Pisces has nothing to do with communication or Mercury. 12th house is house of secrets the unconscious mind, working in private, isolation. In effect someone NOT talking....

I suggest you stick to the known facts and not let your imagination get too far ahead of you.

Hey Astrologer,
Could you please tell me how to work out when a person will travel (or in my case relocate) accordingto their birth chart?

thanks
Naomi