Mercury is in Leo now through August 2nd, so the tone of the messenger planet is colorful, sunny and/or grandiose. Showy word-play is here, both as a way to entertain or throw weight around in a display of power (the Lion). Danielle Radcliffe, the nearly 20-year-old star of "Harry Potter" has this Mercury, aligned with his Sun in Leo (July 23). He's recently revealed his other make-believe identity, as a poet published under the pseudonym, Jacob Gershon. This pen name melds his middle name and the name of his mother, Marsha Gresham Jacobson.
His Mercury is in a square relationship to Pluto (hidden gems), possibly driving this short-lived attempt at "secret verse." And yet, leave it to Mercury in Leo to say, "It's me, it's me! I did it!" He's also got Mars and Venus in Leo! Radcliffe is bookish, a "cool nerd," and by all accounts not a typical troubled child actor. His Mercury Leo is in a happy trine to his natal Moon in Aries, favoring short bursts of exuberant creativity. Radcliffe admits he's got no stamina for longer tomes, preferring poems (the essence) and short stories.
Like a lot of young people today, he's surprisingly self-aware. On the effort to color between the lines by sticking to poetic structure, he writes, "When I don't write in form and metre, I become unbearably self-indulgent. It's what Robert Frost said: free verse is like playing tennis with the net down." He may have the soul of a poet, but one from a birth chart with very little water -- it's got a tone stripped of sentiment. His poem, Away Days, is about a guy with a comb-over, cheating on his wife and taking devilish delight in what he's getting away with. "In every port a new exotic squeeze. And I mean it when I say exotic. My carnal exploits have been quite quixotic." He's already shown he's a risk-taker, and with Jupiter in Gemini also in the mix, perhaps he'll be performing his own words someday soon. Apparently, he talks with lightning speed!
Other famous Mercury in Leos: Sean Penn, Sandra Bullock, Bono, Mick Jagger, Lindsey Lohan, Courtney Love, Ringo Starr, Bill Clinton, Lily Tomlin, Nelson Mandela.
Balancing Me with We:
Mercury in Leo and the roaring of the "Me" will be seen as hot air, if it's not balanced with the current sweeping Aquarian visions of "We." Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, the higher octave of Mercury, and in contrast, any petty tirades or big ego talk will be exposed as lacking. It'll fall short of the collective-mindedness that we're all awakening to. This dynamic is fully on...when Mercury Leo is in opposition to the trio in Aquarius (Neptune-Jupiter-Chiron) at the end of this month (July).