Star Powered®- Astrology for Changemakers with Leslie Tagorda

Mercury Retrograde gets blamed for confusion and chaos, but what if it is actually asking you to come home to yourself? In this episode, I am taking you inside a live Star Powered community masterclass on Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio, and the invitation goes deeper than you might expect. With Venus also retrograde in Scorpio, we are in the middle of an inner planet dance, and both planets are asking the same thing: stop leaking your power. I break down the three sneaky ways leaders give their power away every single day through dismissing ("anyone could do this"), deflecting ("oh, it was nothing"), and devaluing ("I could have done better"). You will learn how to identify the core beliefs and mindset patterns underneath each one, how to read your body's red flags and green flags as a tool for self-trust, and how to use this retrograde cycle's six invitations to re-focus, re-empower, and re-appreciate your true power from the inside out.

Midlife can feel like everything is dissolving at once, and your birth chart has a lot to say about why. In this conversation, business astrologer Leslie Tagorda and Indigenous medicine woman Asha Frost explore the midlife awakening transits of Pluto, Chiron, and Saturn and what they ask of you between about 38 and 60. Asha shares the heart of her new book, Inner Winter, including how hustle culture, perimenopause, menopause, and grief can pull us into a season of wintering. You'll hear how to listen to your body, honor your capacity, and find the medicine in a dark night of the soul. Leslie and Asha also introduce Butterfly Elder, a four-week experience that blends astrology and elder medicine for your midlife transition.

The Libra New Moon on October 10, 2026 at 8:50 a.m. PT / 11:50 a.m. ET lands at 17°22' Libra while Venus is retrograde in Scorpio, and it's asking you to strip away the masks. In this episode, I break down why this lunation isn't about setting fresh intentions, but about getting radically honest about which of your committed relationships are truly reciprocal, authentic, and worth doubling down on. Libra wants to bond and keep the peace, but Venus retrograde in Scorpio demands depth and trust. I cover what that tension means for your partnerships, with clients, collaborators, contractors, and besties, plus journaling questions and three steps to Reevaluate, Recalibrate, and Reappreciate the relationships in your business and life. Use this ritual to get clear on who you're showing up as, and who you actually are.

Venus stations retrograde on October 3, 2026 at 8 degrees Scorpio and moves direct on November 13 at 22 degrees Libra, giving you a six week window to reevaluate your relationships, your money, and what you actually value. This is the same degree range Venus touched back in October 2018, so old patterns around love, worth, and cash flow are likely resurfacing for a reason. In this episode, you'll learn the exact dates of Venus Retrograde 2026, what Venus in Scorpio and Venus in Libra means for your business and leadership, and four ways to recalibrate your power of attraction in your relationships, your pricing, your community, and your finances. If you're a business owner or leader wondering why the same money or relationship pattern keeps showing up, this breakdown helps you see what's actually being asked of you this season. You'll also get simple realignment practices for each phase of the retrograde so you come out clearer on your worth and your next move.

The Libra Equinox is knocking on our door, arriving September 22, with equilibrium being the keyword. Venus, Libra's ruler, is already in her retro shade and getting ready to retrograde in Scorpio, and this balance that Libra so desperately wants has everything to do with realigning your reciprocal relationships, committed, equitable, and shared results, in your leadership and beyond.

In this episode I'm diving into all things Libra, all things Equinox, and how to harness this energy through the Capricorn Solstice in your luminary leadership. I'll walk you through the astrology of the Libra ingress, what Venus in Scorpio and the Moon in Aquarius are asking of your one to one relationships and your larger communities, and the three things I want you to take stock of this season: your relationships, your reciprocity, and your social networks.

I also share a little bit about coming back from the United Astrology Conference in Chicago, the launch of my new book Astrology for Changemakers, and what it means to be teaching live again after my cancer and book journey.

What if astrology was colonized too? In this episode I trace colonial mentality back to my Ilocano grandmother in Hawaii, the plantation caste system, and the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, then connect it to the real history of Johannes Kepler and Galileo as court astrologers before what I call the Great Separation. I get into why astrology got pushed out because it was bad for business, not because it was wrong, and I share the eight ways I decolonize how I practice and teach astrology today. If you have ever felt like parts of your chart were "in fault," this one is for you.

On July 26, the lunar nodes shift signs for the first time since 2020. The North Node moves into Aquarius, the South Node into Leo, and I sit down with business astrologer Sheri Moise to break down what this means for your leadership, your business, and the next two years. We trace this shift back to 2007-2009, when social media exploded and Bitcoin was born, and we look at what history tells us about where we are headed this time. Sheri shares her financial cycle research and explains why decentralization keeps showing up at these moments. We talk about what it takes to move from seeking applause to contributing to the collective. This is one of the biggest astrological shifts of the decade, and I think every changemaker needs to understand it.

This Cancer New Moon lands inside a Mercury retrograde and a rare planetary pattern I call the cosmic cradle, and it is asking every leader to do something we do not usually associate with power: soften. In this episode, I break down why Cancer's real power is not the power to protect, it is the power to feel safe enough to actually feel. I map the astrology behind why this quiet New Moon is anything but, and I go sign by sign through what this New Moon is asking each of you to plant, now that the guard is finally down.

I sit down with Dr. Sarah Webb, founder of Colorism Healing and an internationally recognized expert on colorism, the day before her brand new book hits shelves. We talk about colorism as more than a social issue. To Sarah, it is soul work, ancestral work, the kind of healing that runs through generations. I pull up her natal chart and we trace her Chiron placement, the wounded healer, and how the very thing she struggled with most became the foundation of her life's purpose.

We get into the courage it took for her to publish her very first blog post, the morning she woke up and finally heard "I love you" instead of fear, and the difference between fitting in and truly belonging. Sarah shares the story behind one of her most viral posts, the one she almost never wrote, and what it taught her about speaking up even when it is uncomfortable.

This conversation moved me deeply, and I think it will move you too. If you have ever felt like the lowest version of yourself trying to fit into a family, a culture, or a community that was never built for your full self, this episode is for you.

Mercury Retrograde in Cancer doesn't happen in a silo. It enters its shadow zone near the Gemini New Moon, stations retrograde on the Capricorn Full Moon, goes combust with the Cancer New Moon, and stations direct the same day the Sun enters Leo. Every cycle is a flower strung onto the one before it and the one after it, like a lei. In this episode, recorded live inside the Star Powered Circle masterclass, Leslie Tagorda strings together how this retrograde connects to Jupiter entering Leo and Venus entering Libra, breaks down what this transit asks of your leadership on a personal, community, and collective level, walks through the exact stations and degrees (and how this cycle compares to the last time Mercury moved through this same stretch of Cancer, back in 2020), and goes house by house through what this retrograde wants you to re-root.