The Pond of Misplaced Voices - Bucay’s Story, Mercury Retrograde, and Mars on the South Node

A Poetic Retelling for Mercury Retrograde in Leo

On the cusp of twilight, beneath a leonine sky

where the Sun still burned behind veils of dusk,

two figures arrived at a pool so clear

that it reflected not just faces — but feelings.

One was Anger, bold and brash,

eyes like fire, feet quick with storm.

The other was Sadness, slow and soft,

moving like mist over mourning fields.

Both stepped to the pond —that mirror of Mercury's dance —and shed their cloaks to enter its truth.

Naked, they bathed in the stillness,

their stories dissolving in silver light.

But Mercury, in retrograde stride,

watched from the shadows with a sly smile.

"Let us see," whispered the Messenger,"

what becomes of identity when it is reversed."

Anger, impatient as ever, rose first.

Unwilling to feel, to wait, to look —she reached for the first cloak she saw

and flung it over her blazing bones.

But it was Sadness’s robe, woven from sorrow,

stitched with tears, and heavy with hush.

And thus did Anger go forth, wearing Grief —shouting through sobs she did not recognize.

Sadness lingered, slow to rise,

not noticing the theft of her own skin.

And when she emerged, the air bit cold —and only Anger’s cloak remained.

So Sadness wrapped herself in rage,

and from then on,

she wept through clenched teeth,

while the world mistook her sorrow for fire.

And so it is under Mercury's backward gaze— especially in Leo, where hearts wear crowns —that we too might dress in the wrong emotion.

Our words — reversed.

Our feelings — masked.

Our pride — a theatre hiding the ache.

We say "I'm fine" when we are fracturing.

We shout when we mean to ask,

and stay silent when we long to be seen.

But the pond still waits,

quiet and clear beneath the noise.

If we return — slowly, bravely —we might undress again.

We might see what we’ve worn,

and what we’ve buried.

We might speak, not to perform, but to reveal.

Let Mercury guide us not to trick,

but to tell the truth we forgot we knew.

Let Leo remind us that the brightest light

comes from the heart uncloaked.

“Truth Coming Out of Her Well” by Jean-Léon Gérôme

These days, that old story by Jorge Bucay came to sit beside me like a shadow.

The story of Sadness and Anger, who mixed up their clothes while bathing in a clear pond —a pool like a mirror of the subconscious.

Anger, hasty as always, was the first to emerge from the water. Without seeing clearly, she put on the clothes of Sadness. And ever since, what appears as anger is often sorrow in disguise.

Sadness, slow and shy, came out last. Finding her own clothes gone, she wore those of Anger. And so, at times, sadness is expressed with rage, to hide its naked vulnerability.

I wondered — isn't this image the perfect metaphor for what we experience during Mercury retrograde in Leo?

A time when expression meets misunderstanding, and the ego wears the wrong costume.

Do we even know what we truly feel anymore?

Do we lash out in anger, while something deeper within us weeps?

Are we communicating from a wounded centre, instead of from the heart?

As if that weren’t enough, Mars approaches the South Node of the Moon —an ancient karmic knot that speaks of the past, of warlike habits and defence mechanisms we learned when we were still vulnerable.

Mars on the South Node can bring:

• A battle with the self — with the parts of us that act out of fear, not will.

• A conflict with the Other — where instead of expressing the wound, we draw the sword.

• A need to defend something old, perhaps outdated —a part of our identity that now feels threatened.

  
  

And so, Anger and Sadness get confused once more.

Words turn into arrows. Silence becomes armour. And "I want you to see me" becomes "Get out of my way."

One truth for this moment in time: Mercury retrograde asks us to return to the source of our voice —to rediscover the truth behind the tone, the heart behind the gaze.

Mars calls us to fight —not each other anymore, but the old inner patterns that taught us to hide our sadness behind fire.

✨ So maybe……we can linger a little longer at this pond. Undress with honesty. Leave the wrong costumes by the shore. And speak, if not to others, at least to ourselves —in the language of the heart, not the role.

Imaginarium

Anastasia 19/7/2025