Mercury in Leo

 Image adapted from a photo of a Namibian Lion taken

by yaaaay in July 2004

Mercury enters Leo on Tuesday, June 26th at 2:25 in the morning, UT/+0 time. That this happens to be the exact day between Saturn going direct (on the 25th) and Venus going direct (on the 27th) is something akin to astrological trumpets blaring…blinding lights flashing…

Okay, so it’s not quite earthshaking – we’ll leave that to Saturn. Or better yet, to the concept of these days as a whole.

In general, Mercury entering Leo is a time for one’s mind to either take flight…or when we are challenging ourselves to take on ‘the new’ and – at least mentally - risky. This is a combination which is daring…or which at least dares us to be daring. Yet at the same time, there’s a self-consciousness which goes with Mercury in Leo which for some can be utterly debilitating. We don’t want to be wrong…we would hate to look foolish. What if we give the party and nobody comes? What if we run for office and not a vote is cast in our favor?

What will others think?

To be honest, that last piece is sort of the core of the apple. What will others think is not really about them – it’s about how you would feel if they didn’t approve.

This is Leo’s vulnerability showing through. Leo is a fire sign, enhanced and cursed with the brilliance of imagination. The child who dreams of being a hero, a celebrity, a ruler of nations is our Leo heart – and yes, we all have one! Children and childhood embrace Leo’s most natural expression, though…as poet Ogden Nash observed, the trouble with a kitten is that / eventually it becomes a cat.

That’s right – we grow up. And as we grow up, we lose that childish innocence. (Or at least we’re supposed to!) In its place grows an awareness of others, and how we can maybe entertain them. Or at times, laugh at our own foolishness.

With Mercury in Leo, all that returns. We want to frolic – at least in our minds – like children. We want to do those things which strike us as interesting and exciting. And yet…once we’re not children, we’re…not children anymore.

Thus develops our self-consciousness, a reflexive twinge of wondering what others would do if we actually were childish and bold and excitable and innocent.

As any planet passes through Leo sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And the divider between the two is pretty much always time and place. There’s a time for everything. There’s a place for play, a place for responsibility. And contrary to the imaginative Leo drive, those definitions aren’t ours. They’re defined by life – our life in particular and the lives of those around us.

 Mercury as seen by Messenger in October of 2008

photo credit: NASA-JPL

When Leo does as it darn well pleases, sometimes its tolerated. More often, it comes off as haughty, even selfish and arrogant.

Saturn in Leo is notorious for this hard-headed sort of ‘my way is best!’ sort of stuff. And with Saturn still on station, having gone direct scarcely a day ago, Mercury entering Leo just might pick up some extra I’m-focused-on-me energy as Mercury hits Leo’s fixed sign boundary.

Fortunately, that’s not likely to last long….three, four days at most? Hopefully yes – unless you go bonkers offending people of course! (Then you’re on your own.)

Those who do well at this time will be working on projects or efforts which embrace self-expression but which take others into account. With Mercury in Leo, connectivity counts. It’s okay to shine and ‘do your thing’ so long as you’re not expecting applause. Delight others and you will be delighted by their response – that’s the key.

Mercury’s also entering Leo in some rather interesting company: asteroids Athena and Hera. Athena is always the dispassionate side of intelligence, heightening the need to think about what we’re doing. That we don’t think about is likely to come back to haunt us, especially with Hera around to be in critical mode.

But that’s not the way it has to be. Hera can also represents the nurturing support which is such an essential part of any ‘team’ effort – and here we’re referring to ‘team’ in the most generous of ways. In other words, this doesn’t have to be about a group of people.

It could be you working with an organization of some sort – you doing your part and the company doing it’s part. It could be two people doing two very different things miles apart which at some point will merge and mesh.

Productivity which has a point is one great way to go here. Know why you’re doing what you’re doing and don’t get ahead of yourself. Being that this Mercury ingress is bedded between Saturn and Venus’ turn to direct this is an extraordinary opportunity to do something which will prove beneficial, especially in the long run.

But that’s only one of several themes which can come of Mercury entering Leo in the august company of Saturn and Venus’ stations.

Mercury in Leo having a natural ‘play time’ vibe, if you’re going on a vacation, bon voyage! It would be lovely to have time off now, and all the better if its voluntary. 

There are however, some who will at this point show absolutely signs that they’re in dire need of rest. Venus long retrograde has exacerbated exhaustion and exhausting situations (particularly those which strain the mental capacity to keep up some pace) and its to be anticipated some will now succumb to just that. If so, using the Leo Mercury period as a time to care for yourself is apt.

On a whole other side of the coin (literally) Saturn/Venus together are a signature of business finance. Ordinarily, one would think that the combined turn to direct on the part of these two planets would symbolize business fortune.

However in this case, Saturn is going direct in exact opposition to dwarf planet Eris, an object named for the Roman goddess known as Discordia.

 Every year, the pattern of planetary passages changes.

This year, Mercury enters Leo with the Sun in Cancer - a

combination which asks where we're going and what

we're going to do with our life? That the Sun is in Cancer's

last third as Mercury goes retrograde is a signal to think

twice and aim at things which work all the way around,

not just for us. With much of Mercury's upcoming

retrograde happening with the Sun in Leo, there's a lot

of pressure on everyone. Don't deny it - think about what

it means. You have a chance to build anew, but that means

letting go of old preconceptions and...in particular...those

old stubborn thoughts and patterns you "know" don't

work for you any more, but which you just hate to be

"made" to let go of. That reluctance isn't about what

others say, it's about your fear of change. Try to let go. 

Add to that the fact that Mercury in Leo is notoriously a period of rough financial water and stock market volatility/instability and things look a bit dicey.

Mercury will indeed be going retrograde in Leo come July 15th, and Mercury retrograde in Leo isn’t a positive signature for Things Financial.

But let’s be real here: this is Mercury we’re talking about. So what this is – really – is a crisis of confidence. It’s about human insecurity…remember what we talked about with regards to Leo as a general concept?

So no jumping off buildings, people. Leave that to the experts (the base jumping crowd).

What is all of this about? This is just another ‘shudder’ (speaking of ground shaking) in a universal process meant to shift us from directions we have been headed into directions we will sooner or later adopt as where we’re going. Call it the end of the Mayan creation round, call it the slow evolution out of the astrological Age of Pisces into the Aquarian Age…whatever you call it, it’s some tough, some confusion and in the end, meant to get us to think of life – our life and all of life – as less of a competition, less of an ‘us and them,’ less of a divisionary thing and more of a universal project of building, forming and learning.

The hard part (yes, there is always a hard part) is that we’re so used to the rich and the poor. We’re so used to protecting ourselves instead of using our lives to provide and protect everyone.

It’s the difference between ‘my family’ and the ‘family of mankind.’

The more married we are to the status quo, the harder this Mercury/Leo ingress and the months to come will be. It can’t be our way – it has to be about what works.  

That may require radical changes, most of all in how we think.

But if we don’t consider the possibilities, isn’t that just being…childish? This really is our chance to return to our childhood – life itself is in a sense, starting anew, a process it does every 2,160 (by the astrological clock).

So…Mercury is entering Leo. What are you going to grow yourself into being?