Mercury stations direct, Jupiter enters Taurus — it’s time for a change, and fortunately, that’s what the planets are describing.
Dear Friend and Reader:
The next few days are like an astrological turn-around, with a series of rapid shifts in direction and emphasis. This happens in several stages as the Sun makes its way through the last decanate of Taurus and into Gemini on May 21.
The news everyone is waiting for is Mercury stationing direct overnight May 14 to 15 (Sunday to Monday). Mercury’s position has stretched all the way back to early Taurus, and it will start to spring forward in harmony with Saturn and centaur Nessus.
The over-the-top of the events of the past week are likely to vanish into the mists relatively soon. If anyone goes silent, it’s likely due to regretting having overreacted during the conjunction of the Sun and Uranus this past Monday and Tuesday.
Both Saturn and Nessus indicate the ability to make decisions, demonstrate true accountability, and work within a time structure. The whole project of astrology is about using time well, and the Mercury aspect pattern — and Mercury in slow-moving, somewhat meticulous Taurus — wants to pace its moves, and remain aware the flow of events. Awareness is better than control, providing the basis for decisions.
However, be cautious: the Moon is conjunct Neptune at the moment Mercury stations direct, an advisory that says: make sure you have your facts and your perceptions correct. This will require several points of reality-checking, and where Neptune is concerned, there is no validation so good as what’s learned with the passage of time.
The first week after the retrograde should provide enough bandwidth and opportunity to resolve all that has been scattered the past month or so by the retrograde process. Saturn provides the container to pull things back together, take inventory and see what you’re working with. Centaur Nessus provides the motive of personal accountability.
The over-the-top of the events of the past week are likely to vanish into the mists relatively soon. If anyone goes silent, it’s likely due to regretting having overreacted during the conjunction of the Sun and Uranus this past Monday and Tuesday.
Jupiter Ingresses Taurus for One Year and a Week
Next, Jupiter ingresses Taurus on Tuesday, May 16. For a few years, Jupiter has been dancing back and forth between signs, making it difficult to get a grip on its benefits. We are now moving into a different pattern. Jupiter will remain in Taurus until it moves into “forward in all directions” Gemini on May 24, 2024.
Jupiter in Taurus describes an affinity for solid resources, both material and intellectual. The big old gas bubble (1,200 times the size of the Earth) will be tempered and regulated in a practical, grounded sign associated with priorities and values. Taurus has strong “preserver” energy, which will provide the staying power and sustenance to complete many of the tasks commenced with Jupiter in Aries.
Jupiter in Taurus begins its run with a square (90-degree, strong, sparky aspect) to Pluto in the first degree of Aquarius. This will move some energy, though it’s likely to be focused on the level of belief. There is a culty vibe going around the internet, and this aspect will fire it up.
Pay attention to what people try to convince you of, and make sure it’s true. Watch out for the guy who wants you to “ride my camel.” He may be planning to take you across the desert to a perfume shop a mile away.
“The power sought many times is no more than a cover-up for deep feelings of inadequacy. The individual’s outlook is based on instinct rather than intellect.”
Self-Importance with a Touch of the Devious
Isabel Hickey (1903-1980) was one of the early delineators of Pluto aspects. Of Jupiter square Pluto, she explains that while “good critical ability [is] conferred by these two mighty energies, a certain amount of deviousness may be present.”
In this pattern, Pluto is driving a “knowledge is power” ethos. Hickey continues, “The power sought many times is no more than a cover-up for deep feelings of inadequacy. The individual’s outlook is based on instinct rather than intellect.”
So don’t expect a lot of room to reason with anyone who wants you to ride their camel. She says the choice here is destruction versus construction — including of self. People with this natal aspect are “torn between the desire to remake their personal world and all in it or to destroy it.”
Part of this comes from seeing oneself as “the most important figure in the world picture.” This vibe is going around now, as the aspect waxes toward exact next week.
Taurus New Moon
The most recent New Moon was a solar eclipse in the last degree of Aries. The next New Moon, on Friday, May 19, is in the next-to-last degree of Taurus. The aspect pattern is interesting — the Moon-Sun alignment takes place at the midpoint of Mars trine Neptune (working off the hangover with a long walk or yoga on the lawn).
The New Moon is also conjunct a very remote planet called Sedna, which orbits our Sun in 11,408 years — the longest orbit of a named planet. It was last in its current position at the very end of the last ice age. Melanie Reinhart suggests the key phrase, “Keep your heart open in hell.”
It’s a really interesting myth and I’ll talk about it on the Planet Waves FM of Friday the 19th (the season finale).
Sedna is not an “exoplanet” orbiting another star; it is right in our solar system. Well, not right in; right at the edge. It’s been in Taurus since 1967, and is perhaps the last existing holdout of 1960s astrology.
Right after the Taurus New Moon, the Moon enters Gemini, followed by the Sun a day and a half later. That means new players, new game.
Take it slow the next few days — one step, then another. Look where you want to be.
More details in a short STARCAST at the top of this page.
With love,
