Backstage with Mercury
Mercury stations retrograde Leo 15°34'
We are now in it.
Mercury has stationed retrograde.
Our cosmic messenger and magician
appears to move in reverse through Leo,
retracing the path from 15°34 back to 4°14’
between now and August 111.
And then Mercury will journey forward again.
A story reviewed, revised, and retold.
In Leo, Mercury wants to express,
to create, to proclaim:
I am here,
I am radiant,
I matter.
But retrograde motion pulls us inward.
We turn from spotlight to mirror.
We review how we’ve shown up.
What we said.
What we didn’t.
What felt like success
and what burned too quickly.
There’s a moment in the story
when you are lifted up—
praised, recognized, admired.
But there’s another moment that follows
when comparison creeps in,
when the need to win unsettles the joy,
when the crowd becomes competition.
And maybe
we remember
that the soul doesn’t want to compete.
The soul wants to connect.
To create.
To feel the warmth of authenticity,
not just the heat of performance.
Mercury’s retrograde through Leo
is an unraveling of false light
so you can reclaim the real thing.
And today,
there is a gift.
The first major aspect Mercury makes while retrograde
is a sweet sextile to Venus.
Venus in Gemini offers him
a glinting vial of local honey
with words that soothe,
stories that shimmer,
laughter that heals
for the jaunted journey.
This is a sweetening.
A reminder that
you don’t have to roar to be heard.
You don’t have to prove to belong.
Speak kindly.
Write from wonder.
Let curiosity soften the edge.
Meanwhile,
the Moon has moved into Taurus.
Earth calls us home to the body.
To stillness.
To simplicity.
Let the day be slow.
Let the senses guide you.
Let the nervous system downshift
into safety, into trust.
Mercury may be rewriting the lines,
but the Moon in Taurus
is side stage.
No need to rush the monologue.
No need to force applause.
The words will return.
The light will return.
The show will go on.
If you’d like to travel together through this retrograde,
we’ll be gathering on our live paid subscriber call tomorrow at noon ET
to preview Leo season and begin this reflective revision together.
Some questions we’ll be holding:
Where have I equated visibility with success?
What does it feel like to shine without performance?
What story is rising beneath the noise?
This Mercury retrograde journey, including its post-shadow, carries us all the way to Virgo season.
We are the editors of our stories.
Let’s make it true.
The script begins:
June 30 – Mercury enters the pre-retrograde shadow
1:54 am ET | 4°14 Leo
The reversal begins:
July 18 – Mercury stations retrograde
12:45 am ET | 15°34 Leo
The climactic revelation
July 31 – Mercury cazimi (conjunct the Sun)
7:41 pm ET | 9°00 Leo
The flashbacks wrap:
August 11 – Mercury stations direct
3:29 am ET | 4°14 Leo
The curtain closes:
August 25 – Mercury leaves the post-retrograde shadow
4:37 am ET | 15°34 Leo