As ever, there is so much happening in the stars, it’s hard to know where to start. But let me say how much I’m looking forward to the highlight transit of May, which is the Mars-Venus conjunction on the 23rd. When masculine Mars and feminine Venus meet at the same degree of the zodiac, we get a beautiful balance of yin/yang. What a relief that will be after the intense overdrive of the Aries-Mars-masculine energy of late.
The killing of Osama bin Laden certainly illustrates the culmination of the line-up of planets in Aries that we’ve been experiencing since 2 April when Mars went into its home sign Aries. The planet of war and action in its own zodiac sign gives it enormous power. On 1 May when Osama bin Laden was killed, Mars had just joined up with Jupiter also in Aries. Jupiter amplified Mars’s energy, boosting its confidence. If Mars is a soldier, Jupiter is the belief system behind the soldier.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll be glad when the Aries emphasis and intensity moves on and the planets start to settle into Taurus, which is a feminine zodiac sign associated with peace and care for all living things. The zodiac energy of Aries on its own might think that war solves problems, but the zodiac energy of Taurus would disagree. Taurus would say, ‘Slow down please. Consider how many more lives might be lost through eye-for-an-eye acts.’
When Mars moves into Taurus on 11 May, the masculine energy that has been amped up since 2 April finally begins to settle. Mars, the archetypal masculine drive, which helps each and every one of us assert and defend ourselves, starts to find other ways to do those things while in Taurus. There is of course nothing wrong with the human need to assert boundaries, say ‘no’ and seek justice. But there are many ways to go about this. I hope that with Uranus in Aries over the next seven years, the Aries archetype will be transformed into something far more life affirming than the current war tit-for-tat paradigms we see expressed.
In your own life, it’s worth considering how April was for you and how things culminated around 1 May, the date Mars aligned with Jupiter (and Osama bin Laden was killed). Was there anything you wanted to ‘kill’, end or separate from so that a fresh phase could be started? Throughout April it’s likely that many feelings came up of battle, anger, stress, or wanting to end things. With such a huge emphasis in Aries, those feelings were meant to come up, so that we would find our own boundaries and get the precious clarity, focus and energy that Aries offers.
A feeling of ‘killing’ is about a need to set a boundary. But do we need to take on a war mentality to do that? Feelings have an exceptionally important role in letting us know where we are at, but it’s behaviours that define us. Saying ‘no’ or saying goodbye doesn’t have to involve violence and destruction. It might involve raw fiery intense energy, but does it need to involve blame and disrespect? If we are able to set boundaries without disrespect, we truly are able to move on and enjoy pursuing personal goals away from the confusion of the goals of others. The gift of the Aries April focus was to get us alone enough and individual enough to hear the beat of our own drums.
The Royal Wedding also happened under the Mars-Jupiter alignment, just two days prior. Jupiter is about celebrating and there’s no doubt millions around the world celebrated the marriage of Kate and William. Around 1 May, like the royal couple before the wedding, you might’ve first felt nervous about a new venture, but then a wonderful sense of exhilaration as you grabbed the wave of amplified Aries energy and rode its inspiration to new beginnings.
We still have a couple of weeks to go until the Aries energy settles down. Mercury will be in Aries until 16 May (Mercury has added to the Aries intensity, having been in Aries from 10 March to 16 May because of its recent Retro phase). Venus also remains in Aries until 16 May and Jupiter’s there until 4 June. So if the 1 May Mars-Jupiter alignment only served to build your frustration and feelings of powerlessness, you’ve got a couple more weeks of being prodded by Aries to hear your inner voice, get your ‘aha’ and work out where you need to be more assertive, more courageous and take more action.
Sometimes we can be too self-sufficient and already too individual and alone, in which case the assertiveness challenge is about reaching out to others. If you felt more alone than usual in the massive Aries month of April, watch you don’t draw your energy deeper into yourself and become even more isolated. Instead stretch towards what you really want. If you can’t have what you want in one place, seek it in another. Or if you can’t have it in that particular minute, wait a bit longer. But do check you’re not looking in the wrong place or asking the wrong person. Until 4 June, Jupiter will keep challenging us to get clearer on our true needs and to practice new skills at asking for them to be met.
On 3 May there was a Taurus New Moon. This New Moon helped us settle into our desires for peace, balance and connections to others, especially stable loving relationships. If we were a bit too rash under all the recent Aries energy, we might’ve felt ourselves begin to pull back, calm down and remember not to throw the baby out with the bath water. The Taurus New Moon energy is around all the first week of May, helping us focus our attention on how to create stability, wealth, abundance, material enjoyment and good relationships with love and reverence for Mother Earth and all living creatures. It’s a great New Moon to put out for all your material wishes – e.g. love, money, property, good health – so if you haven’t done so already, be sure to focus your intentions.
From 10 to 14 May (the exact alignment is 12 May), Venus and Mercury join with Jupiter. Mercury is the planet of news and information and Venus is the planet of receiving. So, you could well receive something (Venus) or hear news (Mercury) about something. With Jupiter’s involvement, this could be good news. But Jupiter can just blow up or amplify an already existing problem. If the news you receive is problematic, remember don’t give up. Jupiter in Aries wants us to keep fighting for what we’re after until it shifts into Taurus on 4 June.
The Full Moon in Scorpio on 17 May brings something to our awareness. It could especially reveal the hidden reasons behind our plans not flowing as well as we might wish. Around this time, we’re likely to understand that so-and-so isn’t really on our side, or thinks we owe them something, or… There’s something to face here. Perhaps we really do owe so-and-so something! Whatever the case, we’re not in the dark anymore. We find the problem and can do something about it.
The Full Moon in powerful Scorpio could also bring the culmination of all we’ve been working towards behind the scenes for some time. You might meet a strong financial ally and find yourself freed from debt; you might finally meet your soul mate; you might feel released from a karmic or soul burden. Scorpio is a mysterious zodiac sign. The Full Moon in Scorpio either reveals where more work is to be done, or brings rewards for long hard efforts on your soul path.
As I mentioned right at the start of this forecast, there’s a beautiful get together of Venus and Mars on 23 May. In fact, the whole week from 20 to 27 May is saturated with this influence. Here Mars returns to Venus after all his battles and Venus greets him with a big hug and every creature comfort she can bestow on him. Mars and Venus are both in Taurus by then, the zodiac sign of comfort and rest. Mars has left his home sign, Aries, and Venus is strong in her home sign, Taurus. Here she shows Mars the benefits of peace, going slowly, taking care and enjoying the sensual delights of being human on planet earth.
Needless to say, this is a great week for romance. But Venus and Mars are not only about romance. They’re about how we marry our own inner masculine and feminine. When Venus and Mars come together, we get to test where we are at with our personal balance between giving and receiving. Our inner need to fight and act and do is harmonised with our inner need to rest, relax and receive. All in all, around 23 May the time is ripe for a bit of a break, so consider a holiday, some self-pampering or other indulgence.
June is shaping up to be a huge month. Suffice it to say that the rest and recuperation we receive under Venus and Mars together from 20 to 27 May will be welcome. It’s as if the Aries energy in April and May builds courage for the soul crossroads of June. I say this because there are two eclipses in June plus alignments of Sun, Mercury and Venus with the Nodes. Eclipses often bring destined changes. Alignments with the Nodes also often bring destined changes. Even if we don’t make a change at these times, it will be difficult to ignore the inner soul-choice pressures that lead to change later.
The first eclipse happens right at the start of the month on 2 June. It’s a New Moon Eclipse (Solar) in Gemini. Being the zodiac sign of communication, networking and finding a ‘twin soul’, it’s a good time to get out and about to exchange ideas and meet others. The next eclipse is on 16 June. It’s a Full Moon Eclipse (Lunar) in Sagittarius. This zodiac sign is all about exploring and adventuring. Sagittarius encourages us to go beyond our usual perceived limitations. This could well be the time to take a leap of faith. There’s also a third eclipse (Solar) on 1 July at the New Moon in Cancer, which I’ll discuss in the July/August forecast.
The dates of the planetary alignments with the Nodes (the Axis of Destiny), are: 14 June, Mercury on the South Node; 15 June, Sun on the South Node; 29 June, Venus on the South Node. Allow a window of a few days on either side of those dates for the full effect. To put it descriptively, it’s as if on the 14th, Mercury (planet of communication) brings news or has us talking things through with someone. Then on the 15th, the Sun brings the illumination, awareness or ‘aha’ knowing about our true direction. Finally on 29 June, Venus (planet of relationships) has us saying goodbye to old connections and hello to new ones.
As mentioned earlier, on 4 June, Jupiter moves into Taurus after being in Aries since January (and also between June and September last year). Something we have been courageously asserting or activating since June last year, when Jupiter was first in Aries, finally starts to ground and settle when Jupiter goes into Taurus. While Aries got the motivation up, Taurus will help cultivate and build on whatever we actioned. Jupiter stays in Taurus until June 2012, giving us a whole year to really make a go of solidifying our new starts.
A few planets shift between Retrograde and Direct motion in June. On 3 June, Neptune shifts Retrograde and will stay Retro until November 2011. While Retro, Neptune is likely to unearth the truth beneath more webs of deception that show what ‘higher up’ decisions have been made that breach trust. On 10 June, Chiron also moves Retro until November and joins Neptune in getting us to look back over past choices that might have had wounding results.
Finally, on 13 June, Saturn shifts Direct. Saturn turned Retro in January and will have completed almost 5 months of Retro travel before turning direct on 13 June. With Saturn being in Libra, those 5 months might’ve slowed down anything to do with Libran themes – e.g. relationship and justice decisions. But once Saturn picks up speed, necessary reality checks and consequences start to play out.
For some, it’s been possible over the past 5 months to hold off on leaving a relationship, but once Saturn moves forward, reality is likely to hit and the ending must be faced. For others, over the past 5 months a new relationship might seem to have moved slowly or stalled, but after the 13th Saturn helps commitments fall into place or hard choices be made. With Saturn in the zodiac sign of decisions (Libra) it’s harder to put off pressing choices after the 13th.
All in all, the planetary alignments throughout May and June continue to keep us on our toes. Wishing you well with hearing the deeper voice of your soul to propel you forward with your dreams.