Merc/Scorp 12th house doesn't know what else to do. I'm working on it.

Sometimes I just can't think of what to say, but I never purposely shut him out. I would be devestated!

@caroline my husband and I have gemini moons conj & he also has jupiter in gemini in the 9th.

(((Opal))) geez.

Ah, I see, Jilly. Fun!

Like any other energy, silence can be used for positive purposes or for ill. It can be manipulative and abusive, or it can be the best choice for the time being. It depends on how it's directed and for what purpose, IMO, and several people here have given really understandable and valid reasons for going silent at times. I grew up in a house where we always talked and hashed everything out, so the silent treatment was foreign to me. Having shared a home with someone who'd grown up in a house where silence was used in a less than positive way, was beyond difficult. It felt cruel. Whether that was the intention or not, that was how it felt. I think he just didn't know any better at the time, but yes, I think he also used it as a means of manipulation.

On a side note, I once wrote a paper on the rhetoric of silence. What a great critical thinking exercise that was for me! I ended up realizing a number of things both personally and in a larger sense, how even public policy can be sculpted by silence. Silence, like Shannon said upthread, most definitely is a method of communication.

Anyway, that's my twopence.

The way I understand "the Silent Treatment" is--it's not being silent because you are retreating. It's called 'Treatment' because you are inflicting it upon a person. If it was simply being quiet, it would be called something entirely different.

It often goes hand in hand with one person speaking, and the other acting like the speaking person doesn't exist. I think it's nice people don't want to be mean or freak out, but honestly I think there are less damaging ways to do it, like others have suggested, in saying "Time out, catch you later."