Current Transits for May 2015 Current Transits for May 2015Here's some of the important astrological news this month ...
Full Moon at 13Sc22
Saturn Trioctile Uranus, 5-4
Mars enters Gemini, 5-11
New Moon at 26Ta55, 5-17
Mercury Retrograde Station at 13Gm08, 5-18
Jupiter Quincunx Pluto, 5-21
An online ephemeris for the month is available.
My first impression of May is that it will be a rough month to get through. We're still experiencing aftershocks from the late, great Uranus-Pluto square, with help from Saturn and Jupiter these days. As if the disruptive influences of Uranus and Pluto weren't harsh enough for us, the role of curmudgeonly Saturn only makes matters more demanding. We're going to see a lot of this group of planets this month. There are two "big aspects" involving planets in this group. Saturn trioctile Saturn is sure to challenge some of the basic patterns or structures in your life, bringing some out of the blue changes that can shake things up. Jupiter quincunx Pluto is less troublesome, but can still ruffle some feathers between friends if egos get in the way. On a different note, we have a Mercury retrograde period coming up starting on the 18th, right after the new moon. It's not a major threat of an influence, despite what most people think, but when Mercury is backing up, it seems the thinking mind goes soft and flabby. Falling in Gemini this time around, communication issues may be problem. Be careful when you are talking with others, as you may believe you are being totally clear in your message, but communicating something else entirely. Misunderstandings are pretty normal during these retrograde periods. Fortunately, they are only 3 weeks long. The biggest burst of energy this month is between the 17th and the 26th, when one of those aftershocks turns into a sizable planetary storm. Life is fast paced and confusing, making it harder to channel these energies into useful activity. It helps to be flexible and ready to change plans. Keep your wits about you and don't let minor setbacks get to you. May is not as bad as it seems on first glance.
There are 2 "big aspects" this month. Mars moves into Gemini and Mercury goes retrograde, as well.
Curious emotions are in the air, most easily seen in the relationship area. The Sun and Moon form a T-Square with Jupiter and Juno. They also are about to aspect Uranus and Pluto. Throw in Mercury opposite Saturn, part of an octile fan with Uranus and Pluto, and you have quite a planetary powerhouse to contend with. Venus, Mars and Neptune are on the sidelines for the most part.
That conjunction of Jupiter and Juno is always a tip off that relationships, particularly lovers or close partners, are in a tizzy. In essence, these planets are playing out the tempestuous relation between Zeus and Hera, the archetypal marriage gone sour. It brings out any areas where trust is lacking, dark emotions are out of control or people give into their baser instincts. Instead of looking out for each other, it's every man for himself. With a Scorpio Moon, it's easy for mistrust and suspicion to get a toehold. Hopefully, the Sun in Taurus can help steady this overactive imagination. The real issues are probably elsewhere, since Uranus and Pluto, both planets of the unconscious, hint that the problems are inward, even if you may be unaware of it yet. Issues of freedom and the need to evolve personally may bump up against the needs of the partnership. The roles one must play to get along with your partner can feel constrictive. Less constructively, there may just be ego games and power plays going on. A good talk could possibly clear the air, but that may difficult now. With Mercury (communications) opposite restrictive Saturn, an honest conversation isn't all that easy to start. And if the problem is inside you, as I suspect, that honesty must also be turned upon yourself, never a pleasant task. Since the last Uranus square Pluto on Mar 16, we've been trying to unravel and resolve all the karma of the last 3 years, a time of tremendous change and overhaul. We've probably got several more months of this clean up work to do before we get distracted by the next big influence. Just realize we are all going through this energy together, making this resolution time a joint effort, not just your own personal chore. It's a time of spiritual growth and rebirth, if you aim that high. These planets have high spiritual potential, but they also can have nasty consequences if you ignore them. Work with the people around you better, talk out the misunderstandings. Life is better for all of us if you do...
Saturn is trioctile Uranus on the 4th. This is the second of 3 such contacts. They met before on 2014-12-3 and will meet for the last time on Oct 22. Here's a face off between two planets that are truly polar opposites. Saturn is a body of form and structure, providing the patterns and solidity of our everyday lives. He gives us a mental outlook or perspective on the world that allows us to respond to circumstances in a fixed or certain manner. He gives us a sense of how we fit in, how we can live in a responsible and honest fashion. He represents our past, our karma, our narrative story, as well as crystalizes our future goals. Uranus is a much more flighty character, a wild and unpredictable force that loves to overturn old patterns and habits and try out new and novel approaches that break with the past. He wants to blow us out of our well-worn ruts that Saturn so lovingly crafted for us. Since the aspect connecting these two is currently a trioctile, there's an element of conflict or contention between these two extreme behaviors. There's a struggle inside us between maintaining the existing status quo and turning it all over for something new and exciting. As is typical in such tug-of-wars, neither extreme is desirable in its pure state. Saturn says to keep everything the same, which simply doesn't work in a world like ours that is constantly changing. Yet unbridled change and overhaul leaves you unanchored in the world and without a core internally, a hostage to constant stimulation and external influences. Not to mention that undiluted Uranus is hell on the nervous system, leading to burnout. The desired goal is to balance these extremes, to change and grow within the bounds inherent in your nature as consciously as possible. Unfortunately, there seems to be an element of unconsciousness or lack of awareness about the trioctile, a tendency to project your inner turmoil onto the world, to see "the problem" as something that is in the outer world, not within yourself. Saturn types see the world as spinning out of control and want it to slow down or revert to "the good old days", while Uranian people are impatient with the pace of change, bemoaning that tomorrow never arrives fast enough. Either type is prone to see "the problem" as belonging to someone else rather than going on within themselves. It's only when you own up to the balancing act as your own issue that you can approach it consciously. One last note. Uranus has a strong affinity with the nervous system. I've noticed that it represents deeper regions of brain function that gather together sense impressions from the world and thoughts and feelings from our inner world and weaves together a sense of reality of what's out there. Uranus is the process of paradigm making itself, rather than any particular belief or outlook. Saturn is the outcome of this process, the final story that you settle on as an explanation or narrative of what is (with help from Mercury). I suspect that this deeper process of reality-creation is undergoing a major change under this aspect. Deep seated paradigms will crumble, if you're being honest with yourself. It's time to crawl out of those ruts.
Mars moves from Taurus into Gemini on the 11th. He'll be in this sign until Jun 24, when he enters Cancer. Mars and Gemini are kind of an odd couple that you wouldn't think are a good match, but in their own quirky way, this placement works somehow. Mars is a gung-ho action figure who wants to dive in and get things done. The more physical, the better, as far as Mars is concerned. Gemini is a light, mental and above all, social sign, lost in thought or light conversation. Put them together, and you get an influence that wants to dive into some kind of light or challenging mental task and see what happens. The job has to be something interesting, fun or "sexy" to keep his attention now. Gemini has a limited attention span, preferring to jump from one task to another when he gets bored, so the job has to be something that can keep his interest. Detective work of some kind, looking for hidden connections and surprising patterns in a mass of data, is the kind of activity that can seem intriguing now. Routine drudge work is not even on the radar screen now. This placement also favors light social interactions, especially if the conversation is fast paced and none too deep. It brings out a flirtatious streak in people as well. After the slow and steady pace of Mars in Taurus, this placement is quicker and more light hearted. Have fun!
The new moon chart has an ominous mood, as if something big is about to break upon the horizon. The new moon point and Mars are opposite Saturn in the octile fan pattern, while Venus is approaching a T-Square with Uranus and Pluto. Throw in Jupiter and Juno for good measure. Mercury is on the edges of this group, but due to its retrograde station tomorrow, it never gets that far. Neptune is also on the fringes, but his meager influence is waning. Keep in mind that we are heading into the big storm of the month this week, even if the waveform is currently rather weak.
One of the first hints that caught my attention about this new moon is that it's very close to the fixed star Algol (25Ta40). Algol has a reputation as one of the nastiest stars in the sky, often involving violence or death -- the Chinese name for this star translates as "piled up corpses". And then there's the octile fan, full of malefic planets like Mars, Saturn, Uranus (on a bad day) and Pluto in stressful aspects to each other. The malefics are the planets astrologers love to blame for everything that goes wrong in our lives, "the usual suspects" as I like to call them. I find it curious how some of the faster moving planets have exchanged places from the full moon to the new moon. There's a link between these two charts and I suspect some situation that's been brewing for a few weeks is finally ready to break loose. The chart is rather weak and scattered, however, so maybe we can avoid the worst case situations that these bodies are known for. Watch the news. Confused or crossed communications may play a role in all this, since Mercury (the talking mind) is standing still in a square to Neptune -- our brains are in mothballs now. You have to be extra careful and aware in your daily life this coming week or two if you want to avoid falling into one of these contentious situations. Patience, too, since people can be on edge emotionally. If you can surf this energy, you can handle pretty much anything, so give it your best. Be completely above boards with the people you interact with on a regular basis, as misunderstandings can fly out of control quickly. It helps to stay calm, not only for the interpersonal situation, but because you need to be quiet inside when dealing with the likes of Uranus and Pluto. Your inner life can be very demanding of your time and attention when the unconscious is as active as this. And as is often the case, if you handle the turmoil on the inner planes, it is less likely to erupt into the outer, material world. You'll know how well you're doing by how much chaos you experience.
Mercury goes retrograde at 13Gm08 on the 18th. He'll be backing up until Jun 11, when he goes direct at 4Gm33. Mercury is the thinking, talking, symbol using part of the psyche, the part that weaves the narrative stories of how the world works, who you are and how you fit into the greater scheme of life. We use these story lines to help us navigate through the situations of ordinary life without having to stop and figure out everything from scratch each time. Normally, this process works quite seamlessly, but when Mercury goes retrograde, the glitches in the process become uncomfortably obvious. A retrograde planet is one where its normal activity seems to go haywire and requires your conscious attention in order to debug it and make it work better. In Mercury's case, your stories fail to match the world adequately. You jump to conclusions about a situation, only to be surprised when the situation zigs when you expect it to zag. Because the world fails to live up to your reasonable expectations, it appears somewhat crazy or out of control to the ego mind. Similarly, when conversing with other people, the difference between what you intended to say and what they actually heard can lead to misunderstandings or confusion ranging from the amusing to the catastrophic. The underlying issue is that rationality, for all its usefulness in understanding the world, is limited and one sided. As a culture, we idealize rationality and ignore these limitations, so when the world ceases to "make sense" in the expected way, we are confused and surprised. The higher spiritual lesson of Mercury retrograde is to stand back and see how our stories can fall on their faces, to realize that there are other parts of the psyche that are equally important in understanding the world and ourselves. As my favorite bumper sticker says, "Don't believe everything you think!" Fortunately, these periods are short-lived. Do your debugging work now, so when Mercury emerges from this time, your thinking mind will be working even better than ever. Muddle through -- this influence isn't the bogeyman that most people imagine.
Jupiter is quincunx Pluto on the 21st. This is the last of 3 such contacts, having met previously on 2014-9-5 and 2015-2-27. Quincunxes represent a kind of mismatch between two planetary energies, causing them to work at cross purposes. Jupiter in Leo tends to puff up the ego and make you wear a festive mask in public, the better to play the social games that make up your daily interactions with people. This placement is expansive, flamboyant and full of "look at me!", but it also gets you off your butt and involved with others. Pluto in Capricorn is quieter and more inward. He's interested in seeing good results in his urge to remake the world and couldn't care less about how he looks in a PR sense. He doesn't care about the masks and the games that pass for social interaction except as tools to achieve his goals. This no nonsense approach is the polar opposite of Jupiter's flashy tendencies. This is the disconnect behind the quincunx. In a sense, this is a challenge in the right use of ego in the world and the roles we play. It's often hard to remember that ego is a tool for navigating the world successfully -- it's not who you are. When you take ego too seriously, forgetting your higher nature, it skews your outlook in some unhealthy directions. A clue to whether you're having trouble with this aspect is if you keep getting into ego battles and power struggles with others. Power issues rarely work out well when Pluto is active anyway. If you try to pull a fast one on other people, quite often it winds up backfiring on you in the end. But if you're on the receiving end of an abusive interaction without standing up for yourself, you may need to find your power and fight back, even if it makes the conflict worse in the short run. Using Jupiter well, applying charm and good will, can make the situation go more smoothly. He's not a "good luck" planet for nothing. This is the final contact of this 8 month long process, so we're winding up this story shortly. Make adjustments to your approach if necessary and prepare to move on.