Mercury Retrograde in Leo: the Inner Fires

Mercury is currently retrograde in Leo, the sign of fixed fire, the performer and even drama queen of the zodiac. Leo is where we connect with our inner child and allow ourselves to shine and so under this retrograde, we may be considering how well we do that. It's a good time for inner child work, for re-connecting with the sources of our inspiration as well as our vision for our life as a whole.

When Mercury goes retrograde in fire signs, there is a dissonance of energy, as the natural extrovert, active nature of fire is muted. Our attention is focused on our inner fires and we may realise how burnt out we are, whether the inner flame is bringing creation or destruction or has even gone out completely. We may find ourselves trying to start projects, only to have the fizzle out almost immediately as we scrabble around trying to find a way forward. In this case, we need to heed the message to slow down, to let go of any conscious purpose and simply allow our inner self to guide to whatever we need to build up the inner fires again.

 At this point, it's good to remind ourselves the Leo is the sign of play, of spontaneity and fun. Are we making space in our lives for play? Our inner child wants us to, even longs for it. So often though we are caught up in our goals and plans, in a perceived need to be an adult and to take life seriously, that we forget to just go where our inspiration leads us. Living a creative life is not just about painting or dancing or making art. It's also about how we are able to respond to a crisis or make a decision. Do we also follow the same path or are we able to take a different approach each time? Mercury retrograde in Leo is a time to experiment - with new ways of being, new ways of understanding ourselves, new ways of relating to our sources of inspiration. Maybe we are finding new sources of inspiration, within ourselves rather than in the world around us. We may be feeling restless, wanting to create and work, but not able to stick with anything. Mercury retrograde in Leo is a creative transition and we need to make space for that. This is Mercury retrograde, and finding the way forward means travelling backwards for a while.