AstroCast: May 3 - 16, 2015

The Moon is one of the triumvirates of the natal chart, along with the Sun and rising sign a dominant natal chart element that reflects the active interior life of our persona.  In the mundane world, Luna’s ability to raise oceanic tides and coax transformational growth out of a seed is well known.  In astrology, the Moon represents our feelings, memory and access to an enigmatic intuition that has the uncanny ability to sense what is imperceptible to our frontal awareness.  The Moon knows you don’t have to see it to believe it.  Symbolically she is the anima to the Sun’s animus. She also represents our comfort zones and because those are such alluring places where fear is kept at bay by routine and familiarity, we frequently and unconsciously live in the safety of our lunar expression rather than solar – the Sun represents the heart and the courage of true unconditioned expression.  Luna’s influence in terms of emotional power is evident for everyone, especially during her full moon phase.  As discussed in the last AstroCast, there is a pronounced shift towards a deeper lunar experience in order to look at how we are moved by the Moon in all her unseen ways.  We’re being encouraged to bring her dominion to conscious awareness.  Over this next integrative year, we have the opportunity to experience the Moon at her highest expression of reflected illumination, to study our emotional nature, our intuitive feelings, and to look within at the memories and conditioning that controls us. Where in our lives are we unconsciously allowing the need for security, for example, to hold us back from living our heart’s desire?  Can we be freed from ancestral conditioning that is more often than not based on fear?  Do we know who we really are?

The Full Moon on May 3rd may provide the opportunity to reveal the deepest fears held in our memories in order that we may de-identify from and therefore diffuse their power.  The Moon at literally and figuratively the most illuminating moment of her cycle is this month in Scorpio, a sign archetypally known for digging deep to find the truth.  Here the Moon loves research, especially forensics, and the occult, what hidden forces are at work all the time beneath our everyday awareness.  All things taboo are comfort zones to the Moon in Scorpio.  Subtly persuading others to reveal secrets is what she does best.  She engenders comforting confidences, except perhaps when it comes to her own darkest hours.  She’d much rather look at the life or death drama in others, as the intensity of her own is too much to bear.  Opposing the Moon is the Sun in Taurus, who prefers to avoid the dramatic in favor of peace, beauty, sensual pleasures and a steady pace.  To him drama is silly and non-productive.  In Taurus, the Sun is the reliable one, practical to his core with a highly refined sense of the value of that which he can experience through the physical senses.  Taurus, like Scorpio, is also a fixed sign, so therefore are his opinions and unwillingness to budge from them unless absolutely convinced to do so, which is rare indeed.

So how can the Sun and Moon in their annual face off in opposing fixed signs find a way to integrate and allow the best of themselves to operate so we may accomplish this admittedly scary prospect of facing our fears?  With a lot of celestial assistance, and they get it in this case from titans of the astral world, Jupiter and Scorpio’s ruler Pluto.  Jupiter in Leo forms a fixed T-square with the Sun and Moon, acting as a confident channel for their polarized energies, generating enough tension that movement is inevitable, even if the parties involved are less than willing.  Jupiter also expands on whatever it touches so already heightened emotional expression may become larger than life, meaning all that emotional intensity is the sum of much more than whatever ends up triggering it.  And that may create a major opportunity – also a Jupiter signature – to observe, retrace the path of origin and see all the markers along the way that make our burdens feel more terrifying than they really are.  Intensifying the whole bundle further, Pluto in Capricorn trines the Sun and sextiles the Moon, infusing the configuration with focused atomic energy that has the potential to break down any wall of resistance.  When that wall finally does give way and the flood of emotion releases, that is the moment to observe.  That is the moment when the thread of fears can be traced to their origins and seen for what they are: feared memories not of the present moment writ large for intimate examination.  Once observed, they are automatically changed forever (double slit experiment anyone?).  If we have a neutral partner to help us through this process, all the better to form a deep bonding experience.

Adding complexity to the Full Moon day, Mercury in chatty Gemini opposes less-is-more Saturn in Sagittarius, which may help to streamline communication by making it crystal clear, and take the Jupiterian excesses down a notch with its no nonsense approach.  However, should insecurity be a factor, the Mercury/Saturn planetary pair could align with the resistance to pressurize the situation even further with its proclivity for stern judgment against the intuitive in favor or rigid scientific methodologies for analysis.

The Sun’s aspects to Jupiter and Pluto continue to build after the Full Moon so the intensity will continue for a few days thereafter.  The Sun’s square to Jupiter, exact on May 4th, has the potential to open hearts with a sense of abundance and a strong faith in the creative spirit inherent in life.  The shadow side of this aspect may exaggerate confidence to the point of not seeing warning signs of the pitfalls ahead.  But hey, if the Sun/Jupiter combo trips and falls, he’ll get right back up and keep going with a smile on his face!  Exact on May 6th, the Sun’s trine to Pluto creates a powerhouse combo of strength and stamina that has the potential to overcome any obstacle.  Knowing how, when and where to appropriately apply that force exemplifies the integrity of this signature.

On May 7th Venus leaves flirty, flighty Gemini for the tribal waters of Cancer.  Family values become her primary focus, gathering those she loves around her in a warm and loving environment.  Anything that keeps the home fires safe is also important to her, including having enough in the bank for any emergency.  She and her family are a package deal when it comes to relationships, but once she feels secure that the love is mutual, her amour is embraced as one of the clan.

The opposition to Saturn is the last aspect Mercury makes before entering the shadow period of his cycle, the beginning of the terrain he will traverse three times due to his pending retrograde, and he stays in orb of Saturn’s influence during much of the retrograde period.  The Mercury/Saturn aura will therefore imprint much of the next month with a laconic approach to communications and a tendency towards strictly rational perceptions.  The consequences of this will likely be revisited during the retrograde period so increased awareness is required to maintain open space for the more compassionate and intuitive vibrations that will be in effect when Mercury moves into a square with Neptune on May 9th.  Networking between Saturn and Neptune, Mercury connects the manifesting principle and the dreamer within.  If his intentions remain clear he just may be able to bring practical form to his visionary ideas.

Another energetic planetary shift happens when Mars enters Gemini on May 11th.  Turning his focus from Taurean sensual pursuits, Mars asserts himself in Gemini by actively connecting the dots between people as well as ideas, flaunting his sexy intellectual muscle enough to be just a little bit dangerous.  The pen, however, is definitely mightier than the sword to Mars in Gemini who would rather write than fight his way out of a threatening situation, or use aggressive speech to get his way.  An opposition between Mars and Saturn has been building for the past week and becomes exact on May 14th putting restraints on self assertion that if bucked could lead to rash behavior, but if taken as a signal that more preparation is required, and integrated into an action plan, then solid accomplishments should follow.

The sweet vibration of romantic love emanates between Venus in Cancer and Neptune in Pisces on May 16th when they form a fluid trine that brings a transcendent quality to our relationships and artistic collaborations.  Lifting our notion of romance out of the physical realms and into the spiritual serves to inspire a sense of purpose in our interactions with others.  The tight bonds of family so important to Venus in Cancer are loosened enough to embrace the family of man.

Here’s the data (using Pacific Time and planetary positions rounded to the nearest whole degree, unless otherwise noted):

May  3rd – Mercury opposite Saturn at 3° Gemini/Sagittarius at 1:35 a.m.

May  3rd – Moon opposite Sun (Full Moon) at 13° Scorpio/Taurus at 8:42 p.m.

May  4th – Sun square Jupiter at 14° Taurus/Leo at 2:02 a.m.

May  6th – Sun trine Pluto at 15° Taurus/Capricorn at 12:08 a.m.

May  7th – Venus at 0° Cancer at 3:52 p.m.

May  9th – Mercury square Neptune at 10° Gemini/Pisces at 9:09 a.m.

May 11th – Mars at 0° Gemini at 7:40 p.m.

May 14th – Mars opposite Saturn at 2° Gemini/Sagittarius at 11:03 p.m.

May 16th – Venus trine Neptune at 10° Cancer/Pisces at 11:49 a.m.