Mercury Retrograde in Leo: Find Your Authentic Voice

Where do you hold back your voice in deference to someone who you believe is smarter, or has better ideas?

Where do you avoid advocating for yourself or expressing your truth to avoid conflict?

Where do you give up the spotlight or microphone to others?

These are some of the areas that will come up for investigation over the next few weeks as Mercury travels retrograde through the sign of Leo from July 18 to August 11, 2025.

Mercury Retrograde: A Quarterly Review

First, if the words “Mercury retrograde” send you running for cover and dreading what’s to come, it’s time for a reframe.

Mercury is retrograde three to four times a year, for approximately 3 weeks at a time. That’s at least 12 weeks in each calendar year. It’s impractical to shut down your life or hide under the covers for a full 3 months of the year.

Mercury retrograde is an illusion that happens when the planet appears to move backward through the zodiac, in effect “retracing” its steps.

Read: What to Know About Planetary Retrogrades

This gives us a more practical and useful way to think of Mercury retrograde: as a quarterly review of Mercury-related endeavors. Those endeavors include: speaking, writing, learning, teaching, studying, commerce, travel, and technology.

The flavor of each Mercury retrograde review is dictated by the sign where Mercury is moving backward and the area of your life (called a “House” in astrology language) where that sign falls.

Mercury Retrograde in Leo: Where Are You Hiding Your Light in Conversations?

This Mercury retrograde is occurring in the sign of Leo. Leo is a fixed fire sign ruled by the Sun and symbolized by the Lion. In the body, Leo rules the heart.

Leo is independent, bold, brave, courageous, and authentic to itself. The Sun rises every day and shines in the sky. If the clouds are covering it up, it doesn’t matter — the Sun still does it’s thing. It’s consistent and dependable.

Mercury is the communicator, messenger, student, teacher, and salesperson.

When Mercury travels through Leo, we are invited to be bold and courageous in our conversation, messages, and communications.

As it travels backward, it invites us to review where we are not doing this, or where we can be even more brave in how we communicate.

An Opportunity to Retrieve Your Authentic Voice

Think about a time when you started driving somewhere and realized you left something behind. You had to turn around and go back to your house to retrieve it.

Mercury retrogrades are periods when we review where we’ve been and “go back” to retrieve something we left behind.

At some point in your life, you had no hesitation about speaking your mind and shining your light. You spoke your truth without reservation.

Maybe this hasn’t happened since you were very young — before you really knew what you were saying or the impact of your words; before you learned to care about what others think of you; before you worried how others would receive your message.

You acted like the Sun: you showed up and expressed yourself authentically because that’s the only way you knew how to be.

The ways we self-censor and hold back are learned behaviors. We can unlearn them.

We can find our authentic voice and express it.

This Mercury retrograde invites you to retrieve your courage to speak your mind and your confidence to stand behind your words.

Mercury Retrograde in Leo Logistics

If you’re into the details and data, that tracks with Mercury. Here are the key dates to know for Mercury’s retrograde through Leo.

• Monday, June 30: Mercury reached 4º14’ Leo, and entered its pre-retrograde shadow. Look back to this date to note any Mercury-related issues that have popped up. These are likely to arise again during Mercury’s retrograde.
• July 18, 12:45 AM ET: Mercury stations retrograde at 15º34’ Leo. This marks the official start of Mercury’s retrograde and a 3-week process of review. You’ll get a second look at the issues that came up in the shadow period.
• July 31, 7:41 PM ET: Mercury Rx conjunct Sun at 9º00’ Leo. The moment when Mercury meets up with the Sun is called a Mercury cazimi. This marks the midpoint of the Mercury retrograde and a moment of insight.
• August 11, 3:55 AM ET: Mercury stations direct at 4º41’ Leo. Once Mercury stations direct on August 11, you’ll find some clarity on how to resolve your issues.
• August 24, 4:35 AM ET: Mercury reaches 15º34’ Leo again. This marks Mercury’s exit from it’s post-retrograde shadow period, and the end of this Mercury retrograde period.

It’s also worth noting that this Mercury retrograde is covering some of the same ground that Mars covered in its retrograde late last year and earlier this year.

Because Mercury picks up the messages from other planets, it might bring up issues from Mars’ retrograde that you still haven’t integrated.

Journal Prompts for Mercury Retrograde in Leo

Here are some journal prompts to consider as Mercury retrogrades through Leo over the next few weeks.

• Where do you give over the spotlight to others?
• Where do you give up the microphone to someone who you think has better ideas?
• Where do you hold back your voice in deference to someone who you think has a better message?
• Why do you do this, and what’s the impact to you of doing this?
• How does diminishing your voice and ideas also deflate your confidence and courage to speak up when it matters?

May this Mercury retrograde through Leo help you find and express your authentic voice.

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