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