Buckle your seatbelts folks! May features the start of a Mercury Retrograde in Gemini and a Lunar Eclipse! Also Saturn, planet of self-discipline and steady progress will go retrograde this month. Putting these celestial elements in conscious focus, it is time to accomplish most of what we need to get done this month by May 20^th, if humanly possible.

Saturn is the planet of self-discipline and responsibility. When starting a new enterprise, it’s always best to have Saturn in direct motion. This allows us to get our work accomplished, step-by-step in a steady progressive way. Because it is an outer planet, and its orbit around the Sun is quite long at 28 years, it is retrograde for a good 5 months on average each year. Saturn will go retrograde this year from May 23^rd until October 11^th. If you are starting a new business or major project it’s important to initiate the activity before Saturday the 22nd. Wednesday, the 19^th would actually be the best cut-off date.

Mother’s Day, Sunday May 9th is likely to be a day to initiate a get-together with the Moon in active Aries. This Sunday would be ideal for taking Mom outdoors to enjoy the day together. As the day progresses, the atmosphere mellows as the Moon moves into luxury-loving Taurus. There is a very pleasant Moon in Taurus sextile (or encouraging) Jupiter at 6:50 p.m. EDT. A nice brunch or lunch throughout this afternoon, and especially after 1:30 p.m. EDT, is a great way to show our gratitude. If living at a distance from Mom, show your love with flowers, a card and a pleasant phone call together.

The New Moon arrives on Tuesday, May 11^th at 3 p.m. This New Moon in Taurus features a (challenging) square of the Sun and Moon to Jupiter in Aquarius. But contrary to what we might think of transiting squares, this aspect brings very optimistic good feelings and a philosophical outlook on life. With the New Moon in Taurus we can start new home improvement projects, fix up a home to sell it or find a new home to buy. This is also the perfect week to get out and enjoy nature. Gardening projects get a great boost now too. If you want to promote your business, this is the day to do it! Taurus rules finance and things of value. Overall, this is a great time for improving something you want to sell or for making a major deal.

On Thursday, May 13^th, Jupiter, planet of abundance and expansion moves out of the manifestational and scientific sign of Aquarius into the compassionate and faithful sign of Pisces.^. It will remain in Pisces until July 29. From July it will move through its 4-month retrograde period back into Aquarius. Jupiter will then return to Pisces as of December 30^th of this year to stay in Pisces through May 10^th of 2022. An abundance of compassion and faith (ruled by Pisces) is much needed in our world right now. Jupiter in Aquarius over the past year no doubt played a big part in the very rapid production of the Covid-19 vaccination because Aquarius rules scientific innovation. Jupiter in Pisces could help with compassionate sharing of the vaccine around the world with other nations. The sharing of the vaccine around the world is a very key issue now, as large countries such as India are experiencing the spread of the virus at a crisis level. On a personal level, Jupiter in Pisces can rekindle our faith in our ability to survive and thrive again following Covid. Pisces Sun sign people will be very busy in the coming year due to the influence of Jupiter shaking up their lives! After an initial period of adjustment, Pisces folks will receive an extra boost of faith and hopefully compassion to and from others in the coming year. Virgo Sun sign folks will also be very busy and face challenges in being able to keep their faith intact.

Happy Birthday Gemini! The Sun moves into your sign on Thursday, May 20^th at 3:37 p.m. EDT. Gemini folks will continue to enjoy the conjunction of the North Node to their sign for the remainder of this year until January 19^th, 2022. With the supportive North Node in your Sun sign, this is a year in which you can move strongly toward your goals. Efforts you make to fulfill your work and personal goals will receive a special boost of support from Universal forces. You are at a crossroads this year, If you make the effort to follow your heart, an encouraging amount of success will follow. Jupiter in Pisces, making a square to the Gemini Sun can provide a real opportunity for growth and expansion for Gemini folks from May 13^th of 2021 through May 10^th of 2022. This success is dependent upon your amount of self-discipline and hard work however. Meet challenges as they come up with self-discipline. Don’t become overly self-confident or promise yourself and others too much and you will experience satisfying success.

Our first Lunar Eclipse of the year arrives on Wednesday, May 26^th. Lunar Eclipses take place on a Full Moon date and are known for bringing on very strong emotions. Just as the tides increase at the time of the Full Moon, more water is retained in our bodies at the time of the Full Moon and we fell “full” of emotions. This Lunar Eclipse takes place at 6 degrees Sagittarius. On this day, the newly arrived Jupiter in Pisces makes a challenging square to the eclipse Sun and Moon. A Jupiter square to the Moon brings our emotions front and center, magnifying them. This is a time when we are sentimental about our home and people in our family and it provides us an opportunity to heal old wounds by extending an olive branch of compassion. At the same time, a Jupiter square to the Full Moon/Eclipse emphasizes the need for social and individual justice and the need for freedom. We all need a certain amount of Sagittarian freedom in our lives. This may be a time when relationships can feel smothering and you need your space. Only you can create that space so take this moment to make your needs known. It is very possible that this may be a time of need for justice that inspires great self-righteousness in world events. It is likely that there will be an upsurge in civil rights demonstrations concerning the Black Lives Matter movement and the recent shooting of Andrew Brown in North Carolina on April 23^rd. In our own lives there are likely to be issues of righteousness that come up as well. Avoid getting into direct confrontations and try to avoid being intolerant with family members and relationship partners. The emotional issues sparked by a Lunar Eclipse will be felt anytime between two weeks before the actual eclipse and two weeks after it. The effect of this particular degree of the Eclipse at 6 degrees Sagittarius will last over the next six months until the next Lunar Eclipse on November 19^th, giving us time to work on it. If you have a copy of your astrological birth chart, locate the house that contains 6 degrees Sagittarius to gain more info on how this Eclipse will affect you.

Mercury shifts to retrograde movement on Saturday, May 29^th at 6:34 p.m. EDT. This Mercury retrograde will begin at 25 degrees Gemini. Mercury in Gemini is a double Gemini signature because Mercury is the planet that rules Gemini. All issues concerning communications and transportation will be affected. Communications will seem to take forever or be significantly scrambled. It is always wise to give a Mercury Retrograde a “grace period” surrounding it. You would NOT want to sign an important contract on the day before a Mercury Retrograde for example. You want to allow a good four or five days ahead of the retrograde this month especially because of the Lunar Eclipse on May 26^th. Try to conclude major business transactions by Thursday the 20^th if you can. After the 20^th we are likely to hear about major communications foul ups in the corporate world and the media. There are also likely to be some major transportation accidents or problems during the retrograde as well. Thank goodness the cruise industry is not up and running right now! Mercury will go direct again on Tuesday June 22^nd. At that point Mercury will have returned to 17 degrees Gemini. It will take until July 8^th for Mercury to emerge from its retrograde “shadow.” During the retrograde in late May and June we will experience the Sagittarius Solar Eclipse on May 26^th. And on Thursday, June 10^th the second potent Saturn square to Uranus has the potential to bring more potential demonstrations concerning a civil rights issue. These are both potentially disruptive energies and it is best to hold off on important decisions that you have been involved with since May 17^th until after Mercury goes direct on June 22^nd. If you want to be extra sure you are making the correct decision, wait until after July 8^th to feel certain. On July 8^th Mercury will return to 25 degrees Gemini, the degree at which it went retrograde on May 29^th.