FULL MOON

The Full Moon on 7 May is in Scorpio, which is the 8th house of the Natural Zodiac and therefore the house of transformations, sex, death, rebirth, debt, and intense experiences. On the mundane scene this certainly fits what the world has been experiencing these past few months with the COVID-19 pandemic. The good news is that a Full Moon typically indicates an ending, culmination, or shift to a new phase. We can certainly hope that is the case and look a bit closer at this lunation for other clues.

The fact that the lunation forms an aspect pattern known as a Triangle of Potential with Neptune (trined by the Moon and sextiled by the Sun) looks promising. While the lunation is in Scorpio, the Sun is in Taurus, the sign that is the zodiacal 2nd house of needs, pleasures, comforts, possessions (including your physical body), income, and anything you value. This, also, fits the pandemic since these are areas that have likewise been affected. Neptune is in Pisces, the natural 12th house, where he is in dignity as its modern ruler. In the usual interpretation of this aspect pattern, the planet at the apex is the driver, which is certainly the case. The 12th house includes anything hidden including enemies, spirituality, inspiration, delusions, dreams, and visions. Besides being representative of the virus itself, it also indicates all the mystery and unreliable information that has added to the general confusion. Thus, this Triangle of Potential does a pretty good job of describing what has been upon us for the past several months.

Mars and Venus have been in a long-term trine for quite a while as well. Venus is in Gemini which helps put some logic behind your needs and perhaps reorder your priorities. Mars is in Aquarius, the sign that presides over friends and networking. Mars is inclined to action, so this hints at friends and coworkers supporting and helping each other out. Some other interesting connections include a semisextile between Mars and both Jupiter and Pluto. This aspects tends to be a cloud with a silver lining. It's initial impression is that of an annoyance or friction that, with effort, can be turned to your advantage. Being connected with Jupiter and Pluto, this implies many of the edicts such as social distancing and masks, which may be annoying but in your best interest.  Venus is semisextile Mercury which implies news or information related to your needs and comforts. Mercury is likewise tied into the Triangle of Potential created by the lunation, suggesting that information will be beneficial as more is uncovered about the situation.

The asteroid, Wuhan, which has clearly had an influence on this situation, at this point is 1:31 degrees away from Saturn. The usual orb (degree difference) for asteroids is 1:30 so we can certainly hope that this is a good indicator for a slowdown in virus transmission. This also fits with predictions that the pandemic will slow down during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere.

NEW MOON

The New Moon on 22 May is in Gemini, the 3rd house of the Natural zodiac which includes siblings, neighbors, thoughts, ideas, and local travel. For those anxious to get back on the road and going to work and other venues, this looks favorable, especially with its trine to Saturn, the planet that presides over responsibilities and obligations.

The asteroid, Wuhan, has moved farther from Saturn, which continues as a good thing. Saturn stationed retrograde on 10 May (more on that below) which looks like a good thing as well. Neptune moves at a snail's pace, perhaps even slower than that. He is at 20 degrees and change of Pisces for the entire month. Venus and Mercury are at 20 degrees Gemini and thus squaring him. This conjunction implies news and information regarding your personal needs that relates to combating the virus. One caveat is that Venus is retrograde as of 13 May (more on that below) which suggests back-tracking, perhaps to where you were previously. Venus RX has some interesting implication on the mundane scene noted below.

Mars has gone into Pisces, which isn't exactly his best placement. He's action oriented but this compares to driving along at a high speed then hitting a huge puddle where you could hydroplane and wind up somewhere you didn't intend, like the bushes, or leave a huge splash that is annoying and ineffective. I see this as the approach many will take toward resuming their lives and all those things that were put off the past few months, especially with his square to the New Moon. It's a new time but impatience (another Mars trait) at getting things moving again isn't going to be simple and should be done carefully and methodically. Mars is sextile Uranus, planet of surprises, disturbances, disruptions, breakthroughs, and innovation. While a sextile is often considered a "favorable" aspect, when Uranus is involved this brings in another huge caveat because much of his domain is far from Utopian. However, with a favorable aspect the final result is often reasonably good, even if it initially comes as a disturbance. The main caution here is to not jump right in too quickly, but by harnessing the Gemini Logic in force from the lunation as well as the presence of Venus and Mercury in that sign. 

OTHER COSMIC EVENTS

 There's a whole lot going astrologically this month which makes up for the past four months. On the other hand, it's not like it's been uneventful by any means. Rather it is an historic time that will be remembered for years to come. If you ever look at the charts that show planetary placement you may have noticed how the zodiac is rather lopsided right now. Except for the Moon's monthly journey, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius have had no planets in residence for a long time. As the inner planets move forward, this will gradually shift things somewhat. One thing that springs to my mind is that a lot has happened since the December Solstice and things will start to shift a bit come the June Solstice, which zodiacally is where all those planets are concentrated.

From 11 January when Uranus stationed direct to 16 February when Mercury stationed retrograde we had a  period of over a month with no retrograde planets. Mercury stationed direct on 10 March which gave us another extended period of all planets direct until Pluto stationed retrograde on 25 April. It's not like this has never happened before, but it's worth noting that we've seen some very interesting, historic times during those periods. Clearly having all the planets direct is not necessarily a good thing. This month Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn all station retrograde. If a few things slow down that will hopefully bring some relief as those planetary energies are internalized.

Just a reminder that Pluto stationed RX last months putting him into what could be considered "roto-rooter" mode where he exposes corruption and effects healing. This would be in both a literal and figurative case, which should bode well for some relief with this pandemic.

As you read the following descriptions, note the dates. All stations occur after the Full Moon and before the New Moon, so bear that in mind that there is a progression of sorts here.

SATURN RETROGRADE 10 May 2020

Saturn retrograde tends to have a couple influences that are not going to be very popular right now. One is to slow things down and the other is to establish boundaries that could take the form of obstacles. Of course if the pandemic's progress slows down, that's a good thing. However, getting back to normal is another story. One favorable thing is that stationing retrograde further widens the gap between Saturn and the ominous asteroid, Wuhan. That is relatively favorable, to say the least. It's not going to last forever, though, so don't get too excited. Wuhan is also going to station retrograde next month, but we can certainly hope that means the virus is winding down. As always, time will tell.

Meanwhile, Mercury and the Sun are in a wide conjunction in Taurus where Mercury is in a condition known as "under the beams." This suggests that any news or information coming out at this time is going to be lost in the Sun's glare, at least in the figurative sense. You're undoubtedly aware how the media directs public attention where it wants. In other words, something else is likely to distract from it. Mercury is trining Pluto so the implications are that this news or information is of the roto-rooter variety, though it could be a bit over-inflated since Jupiter is in there, too. The Capricorn Moon is trining Uranus, suggesting some surprises and possible breakthroughs, which could also be related to this news or information.

Mars is squaring Mercury, suggesting that there will be conflicts related to taking action on the information.

VENUS RETROGRADE 13 May 2020

First, a note on Venus retrograde. This only happens every two years or so, unlike Mercury who slams on the brakes and goes into reverse three times every year (and happens next month so plan accordingly). When Venus goes retrograde she eventually backs up to a zodiacal position before the Sun. This effectively makes her the Morning Star (since she'll rise before the Sun) whereas she is the Evening Star (setting after the Sun) much of the time otherwise. While the Evening Star, she is considered the Goddess of Love. When she's the Morning Star, she's considered the Goddess of War. Let that sink in for a moment. If nothing else, this is when she stops being nice about what she wants, dons her armor, and does whatever it takes to get it. It's also a time when a public figure of some description could take a major tumble. Thus, there's a good chance that much of that corruption being spewed by Pluto is not necessarily about the virus.

Venus stations retrograde a mere three days following Saturn's station, but some planets have changed signs, more specifically Mars, which has gone into Pisces, and Mercury, which has gone into Gemini. Mercury is in Dignity as Gemini's ruler, however, so this gives him an advantage, even though he and Mars are still squared off. Again this is a battle between logic and facts versus impulsive and perhaps ill-advised action. The Moon for this chart is in Aquarius, the sign that relates to friends, goals, networking, hopes and wishes and she's squaring Uranus. This looks like a roadblock regarding sudden breakthroughs or rapid change, which isn't exactly a big surprise, albeit not what we want to here. The rest of the chart is much like the one for Saturn RX, so reinforces it. The primary change is the energy shift as Mars and Mercury change signs and the reversal of Venus' energy from the Goddess of Love to the Goddess of War which will be superimposed on the aspects.

JUPITER RETROGRADE 14 May 2020

Note this occurs the day after Venus stations, again reinforcing many of the same energies of her station as well as Saturn's. So let's look at Jupiter. Jupiter exaggerates and increases what he touches. He has been conjunct Pluto for a long time, which has certainly not been much help with regard to recent world happenings. As noted earlier, Pluto stationed retrograde last month placing him in roto-rooter/let's dig up some dirt mode. Jupiter retrograde is less likely to exaggerate and inflate so much as turn philosophical. Often such things that he relates to are ethics and moral issues. Of course that yields a target-rich environment with even a brief look at the world today. It also suggests that whatever Pluto is digging up is going to relate to those areas.

The chart for this station has a rather subtle closed loop aspect pattern in there worth noting. Pluto, the Moon, and the Sun are all in the same degree of their respective signs. The Sun and Pluto are trined, suggesting an easy flow of information which could well be of the roto-rooter/honey wagon variety. The Aquarius Moon is squaring the Sun, suggesting a conflict or crisis relative to whatever this data happens to be. The Moon is semisextile Pluto, the aspect that signifies an annoyance or friction, so whatever the Sun has to say is not likely to be very popular. However, this aspect is the cloud with the silver lining suggesting that annoyance can be flipped to a positive thing.

It's not very difficult to see these energies playing out in the world today. The challenge of course is to see how they relate to your life at a personal level. Look for the themes (such as Pluto in roto-rooter mode or Venus as the Goddess of War) then see which part of your life the lunations emphasize as shown above. That should yield a few clues at leas

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