Slowing Down to Speak Up: Not All Mercury Retrogrades Are The Same

Everyone’s talking about Mercury retrograde in Leo right now. And yes, it’s a powerful time to pause, reflect, and reconnect to your heart and voice.

But there’s another kind of Mercury retrograde that most people don’t talk about — one that lasts not for 3 weeks, but for 20 years or more!

It’s called Progressed Mercury Retrograde, and I’ve been living it for several years now.

What Progressed Mercury Retrograde Teaches Us About Rewriting Our Story
We all know Mercury retrograde as that infamous three-week cosmic hiccup a few times a year - the time when emails misfire, plans unravel, and the past circles back to tap us on the shoulder. But what many people don’t realize is that Mercury can also go retrograde in your progressed astrology chart - and when it does, it lasts not for weeks… but decades.

This isn't just a technical detail. It’s a transformational cycle.
One I’m currently living through for about the last 6 years.

My progressed Mercury is retrograde in Aries, moving through my 10th House of career, public voice, and legacy. This chapter has been one of the most humbling, clarifying, and slow-burning growth cycles of my life. It's showing me, day by day, how silence, reflection, and intentional speech can become portals for deeper self-leadership and purpose.

Right Timing: Transiting Mercury Retrograde in Leo
Here’s the cosmic twist: right now, transiting Mercury is also retrograde in Leo - the sign of self-expression, truth-telling, and heart-centered creativity.
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This timing feels nothing short of divine because while the world might say “Don’t start anything new during a retrograde,” astrology often says something deeper: Pause, reconnect, and realign before you speak again.

That’s exactly what I’m doing and why this moment feels like the perfect time to begin sharing more personally, both here and on other platforms.

What Is Progressed Mercury Retrograde?
In secondary progressions (a symbolic timing technique in astrology), each day after your birth represents one year of life. So when Mercury stations retrograde shortly after your birth, it will eventually turn retrograde in your progressed chart and stay that way for 20 years or more.

Unlike the frustrating delays of outer Mercury retrogrades, this inward-facing shift is quieter… and more profound.

It’s not about tech glitches or miscommunication. It’s about recalibrating your relationship with your own mind, voice, and truth.

This is a retrograde with depth. A cosmic permission slip to:

• Review the way you speak (to yourself and others)
• Reflect on what you’ve been taught to believe
• Reclaim your inner narrative and direction - especially if it no longer fits who you are becoming

This is not a punishment. It’s a pause with purpose.

When It’s in Aries and the 10th House: A Bold Rebirth of Voice & Vocation
In Aries, Mercury wants to speak fast, move fast, decide fast.
But a retrograde here? It slows the fire down and turns it inward.
It’s been a masterclass in conscious communication. An invitation to unlearn reactive, rushed expression and instead root into truth and clarity before speaking or sharing.

And because this retrograde is playing out in my 10th House, the questions it’s asking are big:

• What is the message I’m really here to share?
• What kind of leader, teacher, and guide do I want to be?
• Am I still chasing an old definition of success, or am I ready to own the voice I’ve earned through lived experience?

This hasn’t been a quick or linear process. There’s no tidy “aha” moment here.
Instead, it feels like tending a long, sacred fire, burning away the noise until only the essence remains.

Why Now Is the Right Time to Speak Again
Transiting Mercury retrograde in Leo is an invitation to reconnect with your heart and with what feels real, alive, and worth sharing. Not to impress others… but to express your truth.

So while I’m still deep in my progressed retrograde cycle, this moment felt like the right time to begin something more personal and intentional - something rooted in reflection, and realigned with purpose.

I’ve begun sharing more of this journey, along with astrology teachings, reflections, and guidance through my new Substack newsletter: The Nurturing Astrology Journal.

📰 If you prefer that platform for reading and connection, you can subscribe and follow me there for deeper content and updates I won’t always post on the blog.
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What This Cycle Has Taught Me So Far

• That less is more. Not everything needs to be said immediately or publicly.
• That wisdom comes with waiting and composting insights until they feel true.
• That real voice doesn’t need to be loud, it needs to be authentic.
• That pauses are not failures, they are sacred recalibrations.

I’m learning to trust the silence.
To honor the pauses in my own process.
To speak only when it feels rooted in heart and clarity, not urgency.

A Journal Prompt, Chart Discovery, and Personal Invitation:
If you’ve felt creatively quiet, mentally scattered, or uncertain in your purpose lately, maybe you’re in your own Progressed Mercury Retrograde season, or maybe you’re simply feeling this current Leo Mercury Retrograde (active until August 11th).

Either way, this is a potent time to ask yourself:
“What parts of my voice or story are ready to be reclaimed or rewritten?”

Curious to see if you have a Progressed Mercury Retrograde?
You can run your own free progressed chart at astro-seek.com. Look for Mercury and whether it's marked as retrograde (℞).

And if you want guidance to go deeper, I’d love to support you. This is the kind of sacred, long-game work I specialize in - whether you're navigating transition, reevaluating your direction, or simply seeking greater alignment.

You can book a personal astrology session with me here at nurturingastrology.com.
Let’s explore what your Mercury, your chart and this moment are really asking of you.

Thank you for reading. If you’re new here, welcome!
I’ll be continuing to share personal insights, lunar guidance, and deeper astrology teachings both here on the blog and on Substack.

📩 If you’d like to follow my newsletter for updates, deeper wisdom and soul-aligned tools, you can subscribe to my mailing list here on the site or on Substack.

Until next time, honor the pause.
And remember this:
You’re not falling behind - you’re falling deeper into your truth.
— Dominique
Astrologer & Cosmic Guide