How do you communicate in a way that will resonate deeply with your audience? What’s the secret to getting your ideas to spread like a wildfire?
This is the inquiry, invitation and practice as Mercury transits through the sign of Leo.
Mercury’s transit through Leo will be quick: it enters on July 11 (at 12:11 am ET) and leaves on July 28.
Here’s a breakdown of the significations and the invitation of this transit, and how to work with it.
Mercury in Leo
Mercury is the messenger. It rules our thinking and how we communicate our thoughts and ideas with others.
Leo, a fixed fire sign, is bold, passionate, expressive, with a flair for drama. This is the place of our creative self-expression.
This sun-ruled sign turns the spotlight on whatever moves through its domain. In the heat of Leo’s realm there’s no place to hide.
Mercury’s transit through Leo invites us to let our ideas shine.
Here are 5 ways to use this transit to communicate in a way that is more resonant with your audience.
(1) Communicate Boldly and With Authority
As Mercury blazes through the fire sign, it encourages us to communicate boldly and with authority.
Notice where you habitually use language softeners as a form of hedging as you write or speak, and eliminate them.
Softeners are phrases that indicate ambivalence and hesitancy to stand in your ideas. For example:
“I just want to …”
“I think … “
“In my opinion …”
As Mercury transits through Leo, aim to eliminate these hedges from your communication.
As astrologer Chani Nicholas notes, “this transit is a reminder that your thoughts have value, and they deserve an appreciative audience.”
(2) Communicate From the Heart
When the signs of the zodiac are mapped to the body, Leo is mapped to the heart.
In contrast, Mercury was just in Cancer, the domain of emotions.
Although they are often confused, communicating from the heart is different from communicating from emotions.
Emotions ebb and flow like the tides. You might feel sadness one minute and joy the next.
The heart, like a well-tended fire, is steady and true. The heart is our center, where we return to come into alignment.
What does it mean to speak or communicate from your heart?
To speak from the heart means to speak from your place of truth, with a mix of authority and vulnerability.
Watch for the impulse to hide when you feel vulnerable, and question how you might share that vulnerability in a way that boosts your credibility and authority.
(3) Embrace Big-Picture Thinking
Leo is a sign of creativity and self-expression. It is focused on the big picture and grand ideas.
During this transit, embrace your creative ideas and allow yourself to see the grand, big-picture possibilities.
Although Mercury can sometimes get lost in the details, it will have plenty of time for details when it enters Virgo in a couple of weeks.
Its transit through Leo is time for confident, positive, grand-scale ideas.
(4) Tell Stories
One sure way to hook people with your ideas is to tell a good story.
Leo can give us a flair for the dramatic. As Mercury moves through this sign it invites us to convey our ideas by weaving them into stories that will capture attention.
(5) Remain Open-Hearted
Mercury is typically detached and reasonable. This is the planet of logic, information, and analysis.
Leo, however, is a fixed sign and a place where the ego comes into play very strongly. A healthy amount of ego can help us boldly communicate our ideas, but watch out for getting too attached to your way of thinking.
At the extreme, Mercury in Leo can cause us to reflexively dismiss ideas that don’t align with our beliefs or how we see the world. Watch for when you resist messages that aren’t what you want to hear.
A healthy ego has both certainty and humility.
Communicate with authority while also embracing your humility: allow your heart to remain open to new perspectives and possibilities.
If you want your ideas to resonate, you must speak from your heart, with a careful balance of authority and humility.
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