Transit Forecast May 2020
All right we made it to May, and through the first of this year’s three Jupiter/Pluto conjunctions. Now in our fifth month of the year 2020 there is no denying we are creating a radically different world. And again, I want to harp on the main theme of the year – letting go. Letting go of all those things from the last 37 years that no longer serve a positive purpose. If it denies life, or liberty, or the pursuit of happiness, chuck it on the cosmic compost pile and be done with it. We are in a better position this year to incite change, to catalyze new systems and patterns, to make a mark on our New World, than any other time since Pluto’s seduction and impregnation of the Earth back in the late 80’s when Pluto came as close to the Sun as it can in its 248 year solar orbital cycle. Which, by the way, will not repeat again until the 23rd century. Gaia is now feeling the birth pangs of that tryst and we are the midwives. It is up to all of us to help deliver, and then rear, the fruits of her labors. And with Venus getting ready to spend the next four months in Gemini, we are going to have issues with our current children of the Earth feeling jealous that there are new contenders for Mom’s love. “I was here first.” “Why do I have to help take care of the baby?” and “It’s not fair” will be heard wide and far these next few months. I may be mixing my metaphors, although I am pretty sure you get where I am going with this. It is up to ALL of us to care for the little ones who come into our lives right now, be they actual persons, cultural concepts, or planetary circumstances. There will be a 400% increase in our abilities to “love the little ones” over these next few months. Put it to good use. Be a good big brother or big sister to the many, many young souls and situations that are presented to us these next 18 weeks. To tweak a recent political campaign slogan, it takes a cosmic village.
So, the big astrological event of May is what is called a “Venus retrograde”, an integral part of every Sun/Venus synodic cycle. The retrograde period of the cycle only happens about once every year and a half, for about 8 weeks at a time. This time around Venus retrogrades fully within the sign of Gemini from May 12th to June 24th and will stay in the sign of Gemini from April 3rd until August 7th. Normally Venus spends about 4 weeks in any one sign, but when you have a retrograde Venus, she can stay in one sign for up to 4 months. Venus is the power we have within us to love. To love our selves. To love others. It indicates our abilities to be in loving relationships and to value ourselves well enough to be able to hold our own within these relationships and attract that which we truly want to have and hold in our lives.
Gemini is the attitude of wanting to know as much as possible. To learn. To travel and learn. And then to do something with all that information and data. I love the symbol of the honeybee for the attitude of Gemini. Flitting from one flower to the next, hardly ever resting. Gathering all those little golden bits and pieces, and then creating the “sweetest bounty for the tongue”.
It is an attitude of life that can get bored very easily. The attitude present within the Geminian archetype needs constant stimuli or they will be on to the next lovely distraction or “flower”. As long as you keep their attention, you have their love and vibrancy. Reminds me of those intense stares my dog used to give me when he knew I had a treat for him. Would not even blink. But, as soon as another dog got his attention, off he went. So, with Venus in Gemini for the next 4 months it is NOT a time to be taking any of our loving relationships for granted. If we do not want them flirting with change, we all better step up to the plate and show our affections and our love in very obvious and catchy ways. And with Venus in Gemini it is much more about intellectual attraction than it is about physical attraction, so you beasts out there may very well land your beauties. Just be sure you can back up your rhetoric with action. Remember, Geminis, on the negative side of the equation, are not the best at fact-checking their statements and can easily “parrot” whatever they just heard. If a loved one says something like “we need to talk” or “how was your day?” or even “I don’t want to talk about it right now”, you better sit up straight and respond with the truth, not some platitude or typical comment. Choose your words wisely. Your relationship itself may depend on how you answer them.
Oh, and if any old flames appear on the horizon think very carefully about what you remember to be true, especially since during this Venus retrograde cycle she will square Neptune three times (May 2nd, May 20th, and July 27th. Three squares from the planet of love to the planet of higher love can really mess with our memories…and our fantasies. How do we integrate Eros and Agape’? Where is the middle ground between divine love and physical love? On one side we have Mother Theresa, on the other Marilyn Monroe.
In astrology, square aspects (when two planets are 90 degrees apart from each other) force us to integrate those things that usually do not want to be integrated. Squares between Venus and Neptune gives us the dichotomy of the divine prostitute. The mother and the lover. The healer and the harlot. The wash woman or the witchy woman. This transit can really blur the lines. For men, they may find it hard to “relate” to one woman being both/all things. Women may really have to decide how much time and energy they want to spend on either/or. And the same goes vice versa. If you really want to deepen the intimacy in your relationships this month try reversing your typical roles and responsibilities…and then talk about what you perceive.
Another transit to talk about this month is Mercury spending over half the month also in the sign of Gemini, entering on the 10th and exiting on the 27th. Coupled with Venus in Gemini this is going to make for some very loose lips. Lips that should have “thunk” a bit before speaking. The Gemini influence will again bring up issues around children, the media, transportation, social media interactions (or non-interactions, read censorship), and the ability to learn and think for ourselves. Even more so once the Sun joins Mercury and Venus in Gemini on the 20th. Mercury, the power to perceive and communicate our perceptions is at home with the Geminian attitude to learn and absorb. Again, the issue is more about ascertaining the validity of WHAT we are perceiving so that what we then re-communicate to others is based on real facts not stories spun of someone’s fantastic visions. And yes, certain visions can become reality or I wouldn’t be in the field I am. And then there are the “induced” visions, impressed upon us by those who care not for what we need only what they can extract from us. The razor’s edge in May involves separating the two.
Something else to consider here is that Mercury will reach the Superior conjunction to the Sun on May 4th. This is when Mercury is on the far side of the Sun from Earth and astrologically this is the culmination of our recent Mercury cycle that included the Mercury retrograde period back in the last two weeks of February and the first week of March. Now, in early May, especially on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, we will see the fruits of our efforts and struggles which we were presented with back then. Harvest them well and be sure to categorize them in a way that you will be able to reference them easily over the next two months. There was important information and lessons learned that must be integrated and not forgotten or shoved back out of our consciousness due to all the myriad of facts and figures that will be thrown at us in May. HERE is a light-hearted example of what I mean.
May 2020 brings us our annual Full Moon in Scorpio on May 6th, which I find to be one of the best healing periods of the year. Especially this year as the Full Moon occurs within minutes of a Mercury, Neptune sextile. The opportunity to perceive and express divine love for healing. For you Shamans out there the plant world is teaching us now. Will you sign up for the class? Will you be in a state to ingest what the earth is telling us now? The May full moon is when we should all be doing a global meditation!!
This month we also see the turnings of Saturn, on the 10th, and Jupiter, on the 14th, to retrograde motion, which now makes all three of the major planetary influencers for 2020 in retrograde motion. (Pluto went retrograde in April.) Now we will see plenty of examples wherein those issues and projects that were pushed during the direct motion conjunction of January and April, begin to be reformulated, especially as we hit the second Jupiter/Pluto conjunction at the end of June. May is a month where we as a people get to go back and Renegotiate, Re-adjudicate, Repeal and Reject those things that went too far during the first few months of 2020.
The basic principle here is this. The outer planets tend to form three synodic conjunctions in a row when they are near their retrograde period: the first with the faster of the two planets in direct motion, the second conjunction when one or both planets are retrograde, and the third when the faster planet is in direct motion again. I call this the “Goldilocks” effect. The first pass we bite off more than we can chew, the second we adjust our actions, and the third is just right. For us in 2020 this translates to early April, late June, and mid-November.
Like in April, all the weekends in May look great. All except, this time, the first weekend when we see the first Venus/Neptune square, exact on Sunday the 3rd. Fortunately a Virgo Moon at the time, and the next day’s Superior conjunction of the Sun and Mercury will soften the dichotomy inherent in any hard aspects to Venus and Neptune. This first weekend in May stick to the small stuff. Do not try and tackle the big issues, especially in relationships.
Not too many harsh days in May. Although there are a few irritants, notably early on the 11th, all day on the 20th, early morning on the 22nd, early on the 26th and late afternoon on the 29th. And even these dates are not major irritants, just days to watch yourself and your feelings and do some personal adjustments. My best pick of days for May are the 4th, 9th, 10th, 12th, late on the 21st and the whole Memorial Day weekend except late on the 24th. You may want to plan something special with your loved ones this second weekend in May or the first and third day of our three-day Memorial Day weekend.
Now I left Mars entering Pisces on May 12th until June 27th as the last thing to talk about this month due to Pisces being the ruling sign of Neptune. First off, the vast waters of Pisces really put a damper on the fire of Mars, so our physical energy levels the second half of the month will not be anywhere near as amped up as our mental levels. This can be an all talk and no walk scenario. And since we have Neptune in a precarious situation with Venus, and Mars in Pisces goading Neptune, it is extremely important to get through all your own personal emotional imbalances before you go and take it out on someone else. In this instance think music. It soothes the savage beast within. Make music this May, with your voices and your hearts. Duets are the best.
And to get a jump on June, please note the Solar Eclipse at zero degrees of Cancer right as we move into Father’s Day. This year ditch the typical power tools or ties and such and treat your Dad to some real mothering. It will be worth the extra effort. Bye for now….