Moon-Mercury-Passive learning

[Venus_Daily]

Although I only have a 135-degree aspect between my Moon and Mercury, less than half an orb from exactitude, I finally realized something odd in my Junior year. I don't learn well from actively studying, I learn from passively absorbing stimuli. I can't sit down with a book, it's rather painful, at least psychologically. I have to sort of passively adapt to the material and let it project onto me. It sounds very characteristic of Moon-Mercury.

[Jim Eshelman]

That's not a bad rendering of the aspect, and there might be something deeper in it to follow up.

What strikes me, though, is that there are two subjects here:

1. You do learn from passively absorbing stimuli.
2. You do not learn well from sitting down with a book (and it's psychologically painful etc.).

These might not be from the same astrological pattern.

I think you're right about Moon-Mercury and the first trait. At the very least, you have the ability to let subconsciousness absorb all the data input around you and synthesize it "behind the scenes." I'd guess you particularly are good at "sleeping on it" - taking input and then going away awhile to let things percolate in the background and deliver a final answer to you. I bet that if you read a book that's difficult, put it down for a month, then read it again, you will suddenly understand all sorts of things you didn't understand the first time, because your mind has been digesting them behind the scenes.

But for number 2 above... well, maybe there's more to it. It sounds to me not so much like a learning style thing as, perhaps, attention deficit. Moon-Mercury certainly can contribute to being a little scattered because it is so responsive to every bit of information that your attention is all over the place, I suspect. You have a Spoke Moon, which adds to "scattered" (though a lot of Sag Moons are quite able to concentrate well). Several things in your chart speak to an academic orientation, but things like the close Mercury-Neptune trine and Mercury-Pluto sextile suggest a more global style of perception and learning.

Does that make sense?

There isn't a lot in your chart that speaks to concentration.If you wanted to gain more of the more data driven style of learning and perception, training yourself in concentrating your mind's attention would be the path to it. You do have a close Sun-Saturn sextile, but you also have the more diffuse factors, and several that indicate impatience (not the least of which is your Mars-Uranus conjunction).

[Venus_Daily]

Your assessment is absolutely correct, I can't concentrate to save my life. Technology has made it way worse. As for the sleeping on problems, yes, I agree. Driving was one of my biggest learning problems, I was a terrible driver a few months ago. I let it go for a few months, came back to it, and it was like second nature. I had the same problem with math; I can panic about it and go over it, but the only way I can understand it is by sleeping on it Sometimes for one night, sometimes several, but it eventually sinks in.
One of the weirdest things happened in 5th grade, the school was handing out a preliminary assessment of state and country capitals, (keep in mind I never studied this), but somehow, I knew them all. The only explanation I can offer is that I watched a wide variety of television shows including news.

[SteveS]

Jim wrote:

….but you also have the more diffuse factors, and several that indicate impatience (not the least of which is your Mars-Uranus conjunction).

I have a good friend with the same “diffused/impatience” situation with a tight Mars-Uranus rotational/mundo square.

https://imgur.com/a/6yCl4

[Arena]

I am not sure why you think this is a Moon-Mercury trade? Moon-Mercury is usually associated with high intelligence and easy/eager learning? Do you associate it with the 135° aspect, or just Moon-Merury in general?

MOON-MERCURY
Intellect fused with the emotions, especially with subconscious patterns; thus, quick at assessment, intuitive, strategic (cagey, deceptive). Personality dominated by intellect & nervous system. Tremendous mental output & capacity to absorb knowledge (apt at languages, good memory). Can seem ‘all business’ in emotional matters & emotionally stubborn in factual ones: Under duress, “reasonableness” competes with reactive emotion.

I have this aspect as a square (dynamic) and it is one of the tighter aspects in my chart (partile).
I can relate to the scattering of attention (but that may have to do with Mars in close vicinity of Mercury), and I sometimes get very bored when I need to study subjects that I am not really into (but who wouldn't?) ... but I can sometimes just go hours and hours or even days and weeks at a time reading something of interest to me (for ex. astrology).

[Venus_Daily]

Because the moon is very flexible, almost too flexible, extending Mercury's attention everywhere. This can make one very impatient because you're so used to multitasking and getting things done very quickly. Mercury is already known for swift cognitive processing, so when you combine that with the moon, there's almost an overreach if your brain is not disciplined. I am actually typing this message and watching/listening to a video for school right now.
Sometimes, I find outward stimuli and the external world too slow.

[Arena]

Ok I see your point of view Venus. But I happen to have this aspect as well and I believe it does not express that way in myself, therefore I asked. I can understand and agree with your point about the extreme flexibility of the Moon and possibly scattered attention. But I myself am not good at multitasking. I can not read when music is on, and I can go crazy when trying to learn/read when there is lots of noise around me. And I find it very hard to watch a video and try to type at the same time. So multitasking is not good for me. I need to concentrate on one thing at a time and dive into it. But I can be fast and I also can see that with many things I can understand them faster than others around me and sometimes I feel like I am capable of grasping knowledge/concepts way ahead of other people and even ahead of my time (but that may be my Uranus effect at play or I may not be right at all). Disciplining myself in learning is not my strength at all, even in spite of the angular Saturn and Saturn-Mercury ecliptic aspect

Let me add a point about Moon-Mercury aspect. I think it may also be indicative of a strong intuition.