Peaking Beneath the Rug: Mercury Retrograde in Leo (July 18th – August 11th, 2025)

Alexandra
7 hours ago
16 min read

Another Mercury Retrograde is upon us from July 18th to August 11th, 2025: and this one’s happening in the sign of the heart, the ego, our confidence, self-worth, and creative endeavors. Leo is all about celebration… and Mercury is determined to make us dive deeper and reconsider what we thought was true.

In order to analyze this event, we’ll be looking at the dates, covering the larger context, what mercury retrograde even is, hopping into the overall interpretation, and lastly, adding in the sign predictions, and Further Reading.

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Dates:

Mercury enters Retrograde on July 18th,

It ends on August 11th.

Pre-shadow (time when we feel the energy coming/build-up): from June 26th onward.

Post-shadow (the time when we feel the energy dissipate & process it): until September 2nd, 2025.

Taking a Look at the Larger Context

This Mercury Retrograde does not exist in a vacuum. Not only does it anchor in the start of Saturn and Neptune in Aries, it also does two very distinct things:

One: it highlights, amplifies, and activates Pluto in Aquarius. As a quick explanation, Pluto recently started its 20-year-stay in the sign of upheaval, revolution, and inventions. Activated by Mercury Retrograde, we’ll be seeing whistleblowers, people coming to light with information that was once hidden, and extraordinary inventions are either born or brought into the light of the world. We also see the issues on a human/ethical level with specific technologies… and fire hazards due to technology (so protect yourself before you wreck yourself). I have a whole different series of articles on Pluto in Aquarius as well as Pluto transits through your signs here. (They’ll also be linked at the end of the article if you’d like to read them later).

Two: this Mercury Retrograde actually massively impacts Uranus in Gemini. On a very quick-and-dirty level, Uranus in Gemini is all about freeing the voice, massive and rapid-fire changes, again inventions, and surprises that have to do with our minds, consciousness, information, education, travel, and honestly… so much more. It’s a maverick energy that happens every 84 years for 8 years, and we’ve only started this on July 7th of this year. So, this is new. Again, I have an article on Uranus in Gemini for you here that you can read up on… and it’s linked below for your convenience if you’d like to finish this article first.

What this means specifically is that this Mercury Retrograde is practically showing the world where all the proverbial “bugs” are now that Uranus in Gemini updated the world and our personal lives with a whole new energy. Whenever an Outer Planet changes signs, it’s a time of massive upheaval on a world stage and often a sign of personal changes that are felt on an individual level (either right away, or within the first year). Mercury Retrograde moves up the timeline: the changes on a worldwide stage are more prominent – and more focused on “this is how things AREN’T working – and really, haven’t been working for a long while (but now we’re refusing to put the band-aid back on),” while changes in our personal life are amplified, catalyzed, and unavoidable.

The effects of Saturn and Neptune in Aries add to this energy, bringing a theme of agency on our personal levels, inventing new solutions, searching for meaning in a changing world, and finding the true heroes to guide us through this time. Leadership, specifically strong leaders, are going to be revealed under this time… and there’s a strong sense that a right leader will fix it, and that men will rise up to see a challenge through (with and on behalf of women). Before you ask why I’m singling out men, the transits of Saturn and Neptune are going through Aries, a sign that signifies men. The planetary journeys through this sign will correspond with changes around how men are societally perceived and act… but that’s part of a whole slew of different articles. I’d check out this compilation on Neptune and pick out the ones on Aries, or this on Saturn. (Again, this will be linked below.)

But for now… I’ve been talking about “Mercury Retrograde,” without really defining what it is. Which is fine, as most people know by now what happens when “Mercury is in the microwave,” but it’s time to take it a little deeper.

What is a Retrograde?

Retrogrades are a time when anything we consider the “normal state of things” gets turned on its head. In the sky, this means that a planet appears to stop on its progression through the zodiac and actually move backward to where it used to be. Just as we do when we leave the kitchen with a hot drink to get to the living room… only to realize we forgot our phones and a plate of snacks in the kitchen.

In our lives, this means that whatever the planet corresponds with suddenly works differently than usual. In Mercury’s case, one of the things it rules is travel – anything from hopping on a plane to commutes, shipping, and transit. So, under Mercury retrograde, we see lots of hiccups in anything roughly related to that: a train is late, throwing you off and making you late. Your luggage gets lost on flights. Your car suddenly warns you there’s something going on (it may turn out to be a false warning). Your car might actually break down because you THOUGHT the warning lamp was a false alert and it wasn’t. You have to reschedule your trip 10 times. Your shipping gets late or lost or comes in blue when you ordered pink.

Communication is also ruled by Mercury, making us more likely to miscommunicate, use unprecise language, or misunderstand someone… never mind actually forget what it was we needed to say or do or think (remember the example with the living room above? Yes, this happens more often under Mercury retrogrades).

Because of this event, technology tends to be more prone to issues as well – from tools breaking to bugs or harmless issues that are solved by turning your device on and off, to expensive damages. Accidents are also more prone to happening… and, most importantly, we tend to spend a lot of time in our own hands as we reconsider past choices, the states of our lives/relationships, and where we’re going.

In general, what was supposed to be a straightforward thing under Mercury Retrograde becomes about as straightforward as a a bell curve. Great, if you know you’re handling a bell curve… not so great when you don’t know what’s up. But this is why this article exists: knowing what’s coming and how we can work with it is half the proverbial rent and allows us to navigate this time more easily. So, let’s jump into the interpretation!

Mercury Retrograde in Leo: A Mercury Retrograde on Steroids

Getting to the gym and jacked up is the thing to do right now (especially because Neptune in Aries idealizes strength, so we’ll see this trend that was already considerable expand further). But now, Mercury in Leo decided to jump on the bandwagon and become even more gym-bro-strong than usual.

The reason for this isn’t a Leonine desire to “look pretty”, it’s the afore-mentioned Uranus in Gemini.

Mercury Retrogrades are times when new information comes out of the woodwork and when we get massive surprises. Secrets come to the surface, we find something out that makes us reconsider a past choice (or even who we think we are), we blurt out things we truly think but would have never said out loud under normal circumstances, and we have conversations that change our minds, hearts, and the trajectory of our lives or relationships. As my friend Emily would say: “Casual.”

With Uranus, planet of the unexpected and of great changes, entering a sign of communication and information, we’ll be having this ten-fold. And since Mercury is intertwined with this astrological event anyway, this Mercury Retrograde is MUCH more powerful than usual.

But it doesn’t end there: the usual effect of Mercury retrograde on travel (things tend to go wrong) and technology (things tend to go wrong), as well as miscommunications, shipping, and logistics (guess what I’m going to say here…), are also much more prominent.

This is a time to get serious on Mercury Prevention work:

Avoid making purchases that are a) international, b) require shipping, or c) contain you buying new technology. This tends to go very wrong under the three weeks of Mercury Retrograde (you can buy the stuff after August 11th)
Do backups of your devices before the event starts (July 18th). If you’re due for maintenance on technology, vehicles, and travel-related stuff, get it done prior to the event.
If you need to use technology, have a backup plan in case something goes haywire
Don’t sign contracts unless you literally have no other choice. If you do, read the fine print… THOROUGHLY.
Make extra sure you communicate precisely and at a time when the other person a) is capable of listening to you, b) pays attention, and c) has enough time to see whatever it is you want through.
Make sure you really listen to what others are telling you, ESPECIALLY when it activates you emotionally.
Double-check that things like payments, shipping orders (if you have any which I’d suggest you shouldn’t) and other logistical issues are coming through – keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on.
In travel and transit, plan for things to take more time than usual and avoid unnecessary risks.
Schedule ample time for rest and for the unexpected.

Remember, this is just for 3 weeks.

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Lifting the rug

Under Mercury Retrogrades in Leo, we generally start to reevaluate things in our lives as the messages of our hearts become louder than our minds... and force us to confront needs we have and didn’t see through, realize a reality we wanted to avoid or consider a perspective that’s true but we hadn’t seen before. This particular Mercury Retrograde in Leo involves Pluto, the planet that takes everything and deepens it to a primal, primordial level. This is a planet of the deepest, darkest, most secret parts of our psyche. The planet that unearths the truths hidden from us/the truths that scare us, and it’s the planet that puts us in touch with our souls’ paths and nothing short of our purpose. Pluto can also bring up themes around survival and the information necessary for that. It also rules things like mortality, morality, and the underbelly of life.

When Mercury Retrograde in the sign of great courage and the heart activates this planet, it means that we have the bravery to peak under the proverbial rugs in our lives and see what lives there… regardless of whether we’re scared or not. In some cases, the rug will be lifted without your conscious volition. Now, don’t get me wrong: I think we’ll largely be seeing this theme on a worldwide stage. And the potency in our personal lives depends on a) how much we’ve stored under our own proverbial rugs (a.k.a., how much we’ve suppressed/run from the truths), and b) what types of people we’re surrounded by that could have secrets, etc.).

When we don’t want to confront a reality within ourselves or in our lives, this usually has to do with a fear of change and a fear of death – regardless of whether the thing we’re avoiding has an actual impact on our survival or not. A great example is someone who avoids the reality that their partner might be cheating: they absolutely aren’t in danger if it’s true, but a very unconscious part of the psyche tends to equate looking at it with “this might destroy me” and then gets to “my life might be in danger.” It’s just the way the human mind tends to work on its deepest, most unconscious level.

So, specifically the irrational fears that make us want to look away from something get overcome by necessity and/or our own courage… and we look at what we weren’t ready, or able, to see before.

Transformation

This event transforms us from a level of our hearts. It’s almost like our very sense of self and the way we understand and choose to live our purpose in life is up for a giant update. In some cases, this won’t lead to outward changes but an inner resilience born of a foundation strengthened from a process akin to a phoenix’s rising. In other cases, this will lead to changes that will play out for the entire coming year.

What steers you right under this event is listening to your heart as it’s the most attuned to your purpose and what you need… and as it won’t be hijacked by fears.

Other Symptoms:

Disrupted sleep and nightmares, energetic overwhelm and a very strong sense of doom or anxiety, the rising up of repressed emotion and a need for more rest (as well as a conflicting need of just DOING things, regardless of whether they make sense or not), are the common but not universal experiences from this Mercury Retrograde. If you don’t have them – that’s great, and you’ll likely stay fine. If you do, please know that you’ll magically improve once Mercury Retrograde is over. Take care of yourself and have patience.

Now, unto the ways singular signs experience this event…

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In the Signs:

In the sign predictions are generalized interpretations for all people with a Sun or Rising in a specific zodiac sign. Therefore, they’re less precise and nuanced than a birth chart reading would be: please consider booking a reading to get a tailored-to-you analysis of how this might play out.

Shortcuts: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Further Reading.

Aries

This event impacts your hobbies and creative endeavors: Mercury Retrograde is often a time when ideas are born and/or you receive exactly what you need to start a new creative project/continue with one you’ve got going on. It’s also a time when you suddenly wake up with a new project in mind. Go for it – it’s going to be transformational and very healing. When it comes to self-expression, this Mercury Retrograde will aid you in bringing your authentic self to the world, though it will also teach you the skills necessary (some by showing you what DOESN’T work) for being genuinely understood. Lastly, this event impacts children, fertility, and romance: a romantic partner and/or children may be playing a more important role than usual.