Retrogrades, Nodal Axis Shift, and More... May's Astrology Overview

We’ve reached Beltane in the Northern Hemisphere, the time of year signifying summer’s arrival and providing an opportunity to declare our gratitude. Taurus season is already an invitation to honor and celebrate the sensual, pleasurable, earthy, embodied, and enjoyable in life, and Beltane epitomizes conscious enjoyment. This is also a favorable time for divination and communing with the spirit realm if that’s a practice you have. May will continue to bring interesting astrological events to experience while we’re still sheltered in place and coping with various scenarios in our personal lives, watching the many scenarios unfold in the broader sphere of our communities and countries.

This month brings a wave of retrogrades that will extend through the fall, with Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter all turning retrograde this month, joining Pluto which turned retrograde on April 25. Remember that a retrograde planet typically functions or expresses itself differently during a retrograde cycle, and we are able to deconstruct or review a particular situation or area of life potentially. But these next months will be exceptionally retrograde-heavy, with many planets retrograde all at the same time. This could have the effect of things feeling slow… stalled… or maybe felt deeply internally. It will be something to be aware of.

Venus and Neptune form a square on Sunday, May 3. This aspect could reflect a wide array of potential circumstances; there may be over-idealizations, or overindulgence in fantasy over the reality of a situation, or dreaminess, delusions, or disappointments. Venus is currently in Gemini and Neptune is in Pisces. It could be a good day for imagination, art, the mystical, high romance, or going with whatever flow feels good.

On May 5, the nodal axis shifts: the lunar nodes will exit Cancer and Capricorn and enter Gemini and Sagittarius (until January 2022). The nodes of the Moon are not planets but points - these are places where the orbit of the moon intersects with the ecliptic, and in the natal chart they represent what we bring with us into this lifetime from prior lives and our potential evolutionary trajectory. This shift will bring new themes and lessons for us to understand and work with. With the North Node in Gemini, Mercury will figure prominently into our lives at this time, urging us toward an endless curiosity and openness to new information, conversing and debating with different kinds of people. We will learn and grow through these new experiences and interactions. Mercury is one of the many planets turning retrograde between now and September and there will be much to reflect on during that cycle. Venus also turns retrograde soon, and in the sign of Gemini. Themes of communication and relationships will be reexamined and worked through for a while. The South Node moving into fire sign Sagittarius means that the planet Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius, can provide assistance for working with our past karma and baggage. Sagittarius South Node indicates needing to release patterns and come to terms with issues around faith and belief systems among other things. A big lesson will involve surrendering into uncertainty.

Embracing uncertainty, quelling the need to be in control constantly, will be a major thematic element this year.

Affirmations for May: I embrace my whole self as I am now. I am worthy even when things are hard and I feel unsteady. I am alive and well today.

If you’d like to explore your nodes, or receive an interpretation of your your birthchart from an evolutionary humanistic perspective, sign up on the website or email wildmoonwisdom@gmail.com.

Overview of the Astrology of May: (all times are CA time)
5/3 Venus square Neptune (8:52pm)

5/5 Lunar Nodes change (from Cancer/Cap to Gemini/Sag)

5/7 Full Moon in Scorpio (3:45am)

5/10 Saturn retrograde (9:09pm) until Sept. 28

5/11 Mercury into Gemini (2:58pm)

5/12 Mars into Pisces (9:17pm) + Venus retrograde (11:45pm) until June 24

5/14 Jupiter retrograde (7:32am) until Sept 12

5/20 Sun into Gemini (6:49am) + Venus square Neptune (4:03pm)

5/22 New Moon in Gemini (10:39am)

5/28 Mercury into Cancer (11:09am)

xo

First Eclipse of 2020

There has been an undeniable pressure building since this year began, with visible evidence playing out in major ways seen in world events right now. It’s easy to be overwhelmed and even trepidatious about what is being stirred up and how it will play out, and while I don’t practice or support fear-based astrology (or its opposite of exaggerated positivity), there is a need to pay close attention and increase self-awareness and mindfulness.

On Friday, January 10 we have our first of six eclipses this year, a penumbral lunar eclipse at 20º Cancer visible from almost everywhere except for the Americas. This lunar eclipse is the bookend to the annular solar eclipse at 4º Capricorn that happened on December 25 to open our current eclipse portal. With Friday’s full moon eclipse, this particular eclipse portal closes. These eclipses on the Cancer/Capricorn axis (part of a Saros cycle, a series of eclipses repeating) may have similar themes to major themes of eighteen years ago.
Typically I do not recommend workings of any sort on an eclipse because the energy is electric but too volatile and can be like trying to drink from a fire hydrant of chaos. So not even charging your crystals, altar items, or water on this full moon. There’s a super-charged, unpredictable vibration that is palpable around an eclipse, especially if you’re sensitive. They carry gravitas. They usually usher in changes, beginnings, endings, something initiated and something dissolved, a cycle has reached completion. Everyone’s experience of the eclipse will vary, and while it may be mild for some, it can bring intensity for others, major breakdowns and breakthroughs. Some people may feel lost or uneasy, some may feel an amped up general aggravation. On eclipse day it is usually better to do grounding practices, to smoothe and soothe your nerves and mind, to be in a quiet, private mental space and care for yourself gently.
Look for twenty degrees of Cancer/Capricorn to see where the eclipse lights up your chart. Reparenting and healing generational trauma have seemed to be getting more attention and practice lately and may be appropriate practices to engage with or look into in the months after this eclipse. This Cancer/Capricorn polarity invites us to consider where we feel safest, most secure and at home, as well as our how we empower ourselves out in the world. The Moon now stands opposite the Sun, Mercury, Saturn, and Pluto, all in exacting Capricorn which sounds overwhelming, but being in her home placement of Cancer, and with her North Node also in Cancer, this Full Moon contains a powerful force in her own right. Cardinal signs may be feeling extra sensitive. Many people may feel disturbed or restlessness. Radical Uranus turns direct at 2º of Taurus on the same evening of the eclipse, which could add to the provocation of our psyches and feelings of agitation.
Keep in mind that we have the Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, Ceres and the South Node currently in Capricorn, and the intensification is building as the Saturn/Pluto conjunction approaches (exact this weekend on January 12). These two power planets meet meet up every thirty three to thirty eight years. And this will be the first time in many years that Pluto and Saturn have been conjunct in the sign of Capricorn. Sunday’s Saturn/Pluto alignment happens at 22º Capricorn and is also connects with Mercury. Saturn rules responsibility, tests, endurance, disciplined work, and Pluto’s realm is the Underworld/shadow realm and deals with elimination, transformation, and power.

Care for your nervous system and be easy and gentle on yourself and others if you’re around them. Take some time for a cleansing bath, do a long, supported restorative savasana, even take a nap when needed and if possible today and this weekend. Get some deep rest. Meditate and practice mindfulness moment to moment.
In the coming weeks and months, continue these practices. Go to therapy if you can, or sign up for a one of the behavioral health services apps that bring therapy to you through a phone call or text, or if necessary reach out to one of the free mental health hotlines if you need to talk to someone.

Email wildmoonwisdom@gmail.com for information on charts, Kosmic Koaching, or a tarot reading after the eclipse if necessary.

Full Moon Leo Lunar Eclipse + Sun —> Aquarius

We’ve reached the conclusion of Capricorn season. And just in time. What boundaries, lessons, structures were initiated during the sea goat’s reign, and what hard work did you put in that paid off?
The Sun enters Aquarius on Sunday with quite an accompanying bang.

This year will invite us into a deeper relationship with discipline and freedom. We will build on the Capricorn lessons learned and continue to feel Saturn’s influence strongly throughout the year. We began the year with a solar eclipse, 15º Capricorn (on January 5), and this weekend delivers the counterpart to that, with a lunar eclipse in Leo (0º) opposite the Aquarius Sun. Sunday’s full moon brings us to the final eclipse in this Leo/Aquarius cluster, with the last eclipse along the Leo/Aquarius axis having happened last August 11 at 18º Leo. Reflect on the past two years of growth and evolution, lessons and hardships.
Eclipses light up a sign and its polar opposite sign in groupings, which happen over about a two year period, and reoccur approximately every nine years. This axis was highlighted in 2008-2009, and thinking back to major changes or life event from that time can hint at possible general themes for the current Leo/Aquarius eclipse set. The house that the eclipse falls into reveals more insights into the areas you can expect a shift in. If your lunar nodes are Leo/Aquarius, or if you’re a fixed sun sign (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), this collection of eclipses has likely cleared and cultivated some karmic changes in life. This lunar eclipse is visible in its entirety to North and South America, Europe, and Africa.

An eclipse acts as activator, setting things in motion, but the energies and transformation will unfold over the next six months to year after the actual eclipse. It may not be clear at the time the eclipse hits what exactly will clear or manifest.

We have several eclipses each year, at new or full moons that occur near the nodal axis. The nodes are destiny points, and eclipses tend to initiate or dissolve things, bringing about big change, a new frequency, an ending and beginning. We can usually feel heightened emotions and intensified energy in the time between two eclipses, and many people feel more irritable or sensitive. The best thing to do is stay tethered to your soul’s knowing. And also to pay attention. There are other planets participating in this cosmic eclipse intensification, with the Moon, Mars and Saturn squaring off, plus Uranus, and additionally Venus and Jupiter. Mars and Saturn could fortify your drive to take decisive action on something you’ve been avoiding dealing with. A consideration with Venus and Jupiter’s conjunction is that you may feel more blessed in general, or more optimistic in romance. Revelations and resolutions often accompany an eclipse. If you can wrap yourself in empathy and compassion, steep in self-love, your heart will follow its path, and new levels of opening may begin.
Under the influence of an eclipse cycle, plenty of potential for up-leveling is available.

In your chart, look for 0º Leo and Aquarius, as well as any planets aligned there (like the sun, Venus, Moon…), to determine the potential area of life where change may occur. This will be a more powerful than usual full Moon at 0º Leo, the reset number, the degree of the fertile void. Feel empowered by this cosmic momentum to assist you in clearing what’s no longer useful and in alignment and to invoke your most treasured dream. Leo Full Moon themes generally deal with heart, pleasure, creativity, romance, drama, generosity, self-confidence. Leo reminds the importance of play, self-worth, and genuine joy.

This eclipse may be experienced as a catalyst for evolution, a change agent to shake you out of complacency, the tower card in tarot, an initiation, or an inner revolution.

If you are able, take a social media fast. Unplug. Spend some quality quiet time in contemplation, if not for the day then at least for a period of time. It’s a good time to reset. Listen closely. Hold your awareness on your deep dreams, and what you’re calling in.

Lean into the mystery.

0º

The possibilities are endless….


Happy Aquarius season.