As the editor of the Astrology Arizona newsletter, I compose an overview of each month. Today we take a look at the primary factors for the month.

The Overview for May

As the editor of the Astrology Arizona newsletter, I compose an overview of each month. Today we take a look at the primary factors for May 2024.

Before we jump into the overview of the month, I want to welcome all to drop by our Astrology Arizona Facebook page and join the discussions going on there. Please feel free to contribute a topic, ask a question, or anything else related to astrology. See you over there!

I also recommend joining our group and checking out our presentations, as we have some of the best astrologers anywhere giving talks about all kinds of astrological topics. We’ve had “Evolutionary Configurations,” “Using Planetary Hours in Charts,” “Outer Planet Cycles and How the Past Affects the Present,” “How Our Chart Expresses Our Spiritual Potential,” “The Progressed Moon cycles,” and more. Our February talk was about The electability of the different candidates, and the April talk was a special three hour workshop on current and future crises in global and US politics from 2024 through the 2040s.

On May 16, I’m giving a class on Progressions As A Lifelong Inner Unfoldment. This is a deep dive into major progressed events and how they mark important points of inner change. We’ll take a look at Lunations and eclipses before and after birth, the life scan, progressed ingresses and stations, and how all of these affect our inner orientation and show us major points of internal shift. Please consider joining the class, and if you can’t make it, as with all my talks, this will be professionally edited and made available for purchase.

Last year I gave a comprehensive talk on our “Attraction Factor” which influences who we attract and why based in principles in my book The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames. I also gave a class last May on “The Many Factors in Chart Analysis” where I took everyone through 20 important factors in reading a chart, with examples using birth charts. It’s for sale as 9 sound files, $20 for AAZ members, $30 for non-members. You’ll certainly know more about how to read a chart after you hear the class, so consider getting your copy today. You can find how by emailing me. At another talk I offered a comprehensive look at the “Three Crucial Cycles of the Progressed Moon in Chart Analysis.” For those who want to know more about the Progressed Moon and its power to show us how we’re experiencing our Light, our Feelings, and our Self-Image, this talk is for you! It’s $15. If you want a copy email me.

The Overview for May

(This omits the forecast for the second half of the month. Join AAZ and you’ll get the whole thing ahead of time!)

In 2024, the month of May brings the all-important shift of Jupiter leaving Taurus and entering Gemini! This shifts all our Sag and Pisces planets and houses out of the gentle stable Earth sign of Taurus and moves the energies into the active mutable Air sign of Gemini. Still, it’s important to remember that the recent Jupiter conjunct Uranus set a 15 year expansive adventure in originality wherever we have 22 Taurus.

May also brings an end to the last Grand Compression of planets for 300 years! Now that the inner planets are conjuncting Jupiter in late Taurus we’re moving into an expansion where the planets are no longer all within a 109 degree span. During the next 4 to 5 weeks, due to the inner planets and Jupiter moving quickly through Aries and Taurus into Gemini, that’s the specific area of focus in our charts.

You can bet that wherever you have Aries, Taurus, and Gemini you will see a lot of activity in May and June with residual effects in play through the Mars-Uranus conjunction in mid-July. When the inner planets transit Aquarius through Taurus and conjunct the outer planets, it’s time to pull the energies inward, and when they’re between Gemini and Scorpio the energies are more expansive in the outer world.

This month features all the planets in forward motion except Pluto, showing we should be able to make a lot of progress. Having reviewed our Aries sector during the recent Mercury retrograde, we now have a better sense of the role we’re going to be playing for a while with huge opportunities in our late Taurus sector as the inner planets transit the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction point. We all have some sort of “new identity” in our late Aries sector, and remember you now have a “new light on old cherished ideas.”

Remember, the first 7 days of the month are still under the influence of the April 8 New Moon Total Solar Eclipse which began a new influence and will remove all which would prevent our “joining with others to overcome seasonal difficulties” for years to come. The conjunction with Chiron promises old mentors will pass and new ones will come to the fore. It can show the end of old ways of healing and being healed, and with Mercury retrograde it could 1) bring returns of those things and people which we let go of at a previous time, and/or 2) bring insights about past losses which had to happen to create space to attract something new. This one offers “the redemption of a promise,” perhaps made in 2016-2018.

The late April Wesak Festival Full Moon at 5 Taurus/Scorpio promises a new “Compassionate Buddha Wisdom” this year involving leaving the past behind while setting our magnetism into play to attract what we need to have more of a sense of permanence in our early Taurus/Scorpio sectors. This is a productive eclipse and will have dramatic effects for those with planets near 3-7 Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, as well as 18-22 Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Pluto leads the entire outer planet occupied span and will through early 2025. This month we have very favorable conjunctions with Uranus and Jupiter and then end the month with multiple trines to Pluto, helping us get to the heart of any matter. However, with so much Gemini in play toward the end of the month into early June, don’t get distracted by too much going on. If there’s any confusion, let go of the lesser and break free of pessimistic thinking based in past illusions.

The October 2023 Libra Solar eclipse continues to help us remove old ideals and old “repair work” which is already done or which can no longer be done. Ambivalence and theoretical images which aren’t relevant to our future are slipping away, creating space to be filled in 2024. The early Scorpio/Taurus Lunar eclipse Full Moon which followed the Solar eclipse has worked since November to help us “tear away from the known and familiar,” and find allies to build bridges from the present to the future so that the recent early Taurus/Scorpio Wesak Festival can bring forth new enduring forms in our life.

Jupiter in Taurus continues to give a Taurus backdrop to planets we have in Sagittarius and Pisces, as well as the houses where we have these signs on the cusp, until it enters Gemini, which as I said earlier will bring a lot of new information and perspectives to those things it rules. Still, the conjunctions in Taurus will rule the coming year until the conjunctions in Cancer in June 2025.

Saturn is accelerating rapidly and moving through its 2024 Shadow zone between 13-20 Pisces. This month Saturn calls us to spiritual rebirth as we revise some ideas “back to source” while also being willing to put ourselves out to attract a following of some sort. By the end of the month we’ll be “taking a walk with our wisdom” and receiving a blessing which we’ll carry into the future.

Pisces is associated with deep and vast feeling energies, and impacts planets, points, or house cusps we have in Capricorn and Aquarius. Having heard Saturn’s “call to renewal” since last Summer, we’re now living somewhat of a new life and are now called to our wisdom and our community.

The Spiritual Field

We continue to be blessed by the closest Neptune sextile with Pluto in 30 years, with Uranus joining the “three note chord” by the Summer of 2024. With Uranus in late Taurus, Neptune in late Pisces, and Pluto in late Capricorn/early Aquarius, we will have a very strong “double sextile/trine” which should favorably impact all planets we have in the last 10 degrees of Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Pisces. The Spiritual Field represented by these outermost planets is helping stabilize our late Earth and Water sectors in the spiritual sectors of their signs.

This is preparing us for an entirely new experience of Spirit and Life in 2025 when these Spiritual powerhouses shift out of Earth and Water into Fire and Air, joined by Saturn when it enters Aries creating a “three note chord” of harmonic consciousness. That means 2024 and 2025 will spiritually harmonize planets we have in the late degrees of the Earth and Water signs, while in 2025-2026 they will do the same for planets we have in the early degrees of the Fire and Air signs. This will be discussed in greater depth in our April presentation.

Uranus will occupy the third decan of Taurus for the rest of this year through early July 2025. This is a Capricorn sub-influence with an added dose of Saturn, so there’ll be more structure and discipline and less micromanagement of details. The Cosmic Awakener now promises us a new life and rewards which will certify our worth as we assert our unique qualities and find a new way of awakening our heart’s desire by June/July. We’re moving through an emotional or social awakening leading us to the individual and spiritual sector of late Taurus by late June.

Neptune at “the end of the end” of Pisces is giving us all a sense of vast feelings and finality. We’ve been through a purification process since December, have glimpsed forms of abundance, and now move into a vast feeling of things falling apart, or at least dispersing into the parts from the whole. This year we experience the vast unifying field as we prepare to move into a more fiery collective energy in 2025.

With Pluto now again in early Aquarius, we are living on the cusp of historical change. As it just went stationary retrograde at 3 Aquarius, we’ve begun a wild ride into a time of defiance, rebellion, with many refusing to follow what they believe to be authoritarian control systems. Many will “regrasp past experience” and see it from a different angle of understanding due to a “sharp self-examination.” Be fearless in making the decisions you need to make.

We also have several long wave Aries cycles in play. Jupiter launched a major healing and mentoring cycle when it conjuncted Chiron at 15 Aries on March 11, 2023. That began a long wave Chiron cycle which will last until the Summer of 2036. This month we’re also finishing a 2 year Mars/Chiron cycle and beginning a new one.

Not all Chiron cycles are the same length. When Chiron transits between Aquarius and Gemini, it moves relatively slowly and has conjunctions with Jupiter about every 13 years. However, it can take 19-20 years for the next conjunction after Gemini or Cancer. That means once the conjunction at 16 Gemini happens in the Summer of 2036 we won’t have another conjunction of Jupiter and Chiron until the Spring of 2056 in Aquarius, which will launch another long term “expansive healing/mentoring” cycle.

Planets Slowing Down, Speeding Up, or Shifting Signs

This month shows all the planets moving forward except Pluto. They’re all moving fairly quickly this month since we have no planet going retrograde until Saturn goes stationary retrograde in late June. So make as much progress as possible this month!

In May we have four planets changing signs. This month the Sun, ruler of Leo and Cancer, will give us two (Taurus and Gemini). Mercury, ruler of Gemini and Virgo, will give us two (Aries and Taurus). Venus, ruler of Taurus and Libra, will give us two (Taurus and Gemini). And Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius and Pisces, will give us two (Taurus and Gemini).

Mars

Mars is currently at maximum speed, indicating we can get a lot done quickly if we don’t get too scattered or ahead of ourselves. It went stationary direct at 9 Gemini in January 2023, with a theme of being a Zen archer, sure in your aim as a result of your training between September 2022 and February 2023. This has been a theme for 2023- 2024.

Mars helps us act with precision and persistence; In February when it transited 1 Aquarius we renewed the larger theme related to that degree of the Grand Mutation of 2020. Each time Mars goes over 1 Aquarius, i.e. every 26 months, a new iteration of that 20 and 200 year air theme gets set into motion. While it’s in Aries, we can act quickly and directly and get a lot done. Just be careful what you jump into or you may have to jump out just as quickly!

This month Mars activates the house(s) where we have 1 to 24 Aries. From May 1 through 13, Mars is in the Aries decan of Aries, ruled by Mars with an extra dose of Mars. From May 13 through 26, Mars is in the Leo decan of Aries, ruled by the Sun with an extra dose of the Sun. And from May 26 through May 31, Mars is in the Sagittarius decan of Aries, ruled by Jupiter with an extra dose of Venus.

Between May 1-10, Mars will prove agitating to those with planets between 1-8 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Between May 10-20, it will have the same effect on planets between 8-16 degrees of the same signs, And between May 20-30, it will have an agitating effect on planets between 16-24 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.

As I’ve offered before, when Mars is within a degree of forming or separating from a hard aspect with a planet, slow down and show deliberation and caution in how you use force. Hard aspects to/from Mars always require that we moderate or antidote impulsiveness and impatience.

Sign Focus

This month the sign focus shows a preponderance of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini. We have Mercury and Mars in Aries through mid-month. The Sun is in Taurus through May 20 and is joined in that sign by Mercury in mid-May for less than a week before the Sun enters Gemini. Venus spends the first 23 days in Taurus and then enters Gemini, Mars is in Aries all month, and Jupiter is in Taurus before it moves into Gemini at the end of the month. Everything else remains in the signs they begin the month in.

So the first half of the month features two visible planets in Aries and two in Taurus. By the middle of May we have one in Aries and three in Taurus. This holds until the Sun enters Gemini, followed quickly by Venus and then Jupiter, bringing an entirely new emphasis to June.

We’re Actors On A New Stage With A New Set – The Bigger Picture

We’re still in the initial years of a new era in human evolution. The Grand Mutation of Jupiter conjunct Saturn at 1 Aquarius began a new 20 year Aquarian Era in December 2020, as well as a new 200 year era, moving global energies out of Earth and into Air. We’ve begun to grow beyond the materialism of the past 200 years and have entered two centuries of Air emphasis, with its qualities of relatedness, receptivity, versatility, movability, lightness, and cooperative ideas, visions, and ideals.

We’re still "under the beams" of the Solar Eclipses we experienced in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 and these “cosmic recyclers” continue to remove what we no longer need in our lives. Take note of where you have 1 Cancer, 24 and 13 Sagittarius, 20 Gemini, 11 Taurus, and 2 Scorpio, since 1 Cancer aligns us with a larger reality, 24 Sagittarius helps us find happiness, 13 Sagittarius gives us a new identity and love, 20 Gemini removes what cannot be assimilated or communicated, 11 Taurus will help us remove “weeds from our garden of Life and Mind,” and 2 Scorpio is helping us release memories and attachments from the past.

The May 2022 eclipses with Sun in Taurus have begun to shut down old value systems in that sector, as well as the Scorpio sector via the May Full Moon Wesak Festival eclipse. The Scorpio Solar eclipses are already leading us to say goodbye to the past, giving up some old ideals. You can find out more about Solar and Lunar eclipses by going to my numerous articles in the archives on how eclipses work.

The April-May 2023 eclipses have begun to work their magic on our Aries and Libra sectors for a long time to come. The Solar eclipse at 30 Aries as well as the October 2023 Solar eclipse at 22 Libra are also shutting down parts of our lives where we have those signs. We now have the Solar eclipse at 20 Aries added to the list, as well as the late March Lunar eclipse which is even now shutting down parts of our lives where we have early Taurus and early Scorpio.

As we study how successive Eclipses have affected various areas of our charts and lives, we can get a sense of the utility of these “Cosmic Recyclers” in removing what we no longer needed in those areas, creating a void which attracted new life experiences. They invite us to look back, and then forward, to see the continuity of “letting go, taking in, letting go, taking in” across the years.

Primary Action Beats for the First Half of the Month

May begins under the influence of the April New Moon Total Solar eclipse at 20 Aries, putting the focus on joining with others to overcome some lack or deficiency while showing compassion for others who may be trapped in a form of deprivation. The subsequent Wesak Festival Full Moon at 5 Taurus/Scorpio will help remove old patterns of wanting or possessing which no longer fit our need.

The first week of the month features six events - Venus square Pluto, Pluto going stationary direct, Mars sextile Pluto, Mercury conjunct Chiron for the third time, the Sun sextile Saturn, and the New Moon of 19 Taurus on May 7 – that are sure to usher in a powerful period because the New Moon is conjunct Uranus and Jupiter while sextile Saturn and tredecile Pluto. Basically, the first week of May is an old Moon phase where we should bring things to completion.

From May 1-7, the Moon transits Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, and Taurus, so it’s cruising through the occupied span. All in all the entire week is fairly favorable and productive, so make the most of it. Pluto going stationary retrograde marks a sea change of major proportions, so rein in excess on May 1-2 so you can take advantage of the great Lunar aspects in play the entire week.

The second week of the month begins with the New Moon at 19 Taurus, which should bring bursts of spontaneity and refreshingly new enjoyment. That will be an extraordinarily favorable New Moon, with no problems in view the entire second week except for the square to Saturn on May 9 and the square to Mars on the evening of May 10 into the early afternoon of May 11.

The Moon moves from Taurus through Gemini and Cancer winding up in Leo by May 14. As there are almost no frictional aspects that week, make the most of the favorable aspects when dealing with the extreme tension which may arise when Sun conjuncts Uranus on May 12, 13, and 14. Still, because Venus is sextile Saturn it should be productive and further many things set into motion before then.

Primary Action Beats for the Second Half of the Month

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Evolutionary Development

This is the tenth month of the North Node in Aries era! We’re still in a time of our line of greatest development being served by self-initiated activity (Aries) which acts in the NOW, shown through our balanced response (Libra) to an ongoing transfiguration toward an ideal. So we grow through focused action and demonstrate it through joyously doing repair or reconstruction work, whether in the world of inner space or outer affairs. We build through Aries and release through Libra, so adopt a pioneering attitude that is expressed with grace and diplomacy.

The first part of the month we continue to grow through seeing the “relationship between the conscious and unconscious sides of life” as we “attune to the potency of invisible forces of nature,” demonstrated through our doing some sort of needed “repair” work. This is a month of repotentialization demonstrated by “reconstruction.” The last half of the month is growth toward fulfillment by remembering the powers we found in the past applied in some way to circumstances which are familiar to us.

Our wise friend Saturn continues to teach us through the vast feeling experiences of its time in Pisces, and now we’re seeing what is to be perpetuated into the new era in 2025. We are still learning disciplines of forgiveness and compassion, and this month revise some ideas back to source, find a form of self-representation which can attract a following, and take a walk with our Wisdom (or our Master) so that we may be vested with a blessing for the future.

The Sun in Taurus is the time to see the Light of “future oriented enjoyable action” on material, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels of life. The idealistic vision of Aquarius, deepened by Pisces’ connection to the collective feeling field and brought forth in new actions in Aries now is able to be grounded and enjoyed. This is the month when we can move into a groove of liking how things are unfolding on the material plane, and stabilize that which was set into motion in Aries.

There were no conjunctions to Jupiter in Taurus last year, so this year’s transits of Taurus begin the unfoldment of all which was promised by Jupiter’s year-long stay in that sign. Rewards delayed are still as enjoyable as rewards found along the way! And, with Jupiter’s recent conjunction with Uranus, we’ve begun a 13+ year cycle which will bring us a “white dove flying over troubled waters,” with signals from Spirit that we’ve made it through a crisis and are in a new time of life.

We are in our fourth year of the new Aquarian era, with a new iteration of that future-oriented energy set into motion in February. Jupiter in Taurus has helped us get a new grounded expansive view of how to sustain the Aquarian unfoldment into the future. We’re all entering a new land. Let go of the lesser, accept the greater, and the new land you find will be far more enjoyable than the old land you’ve had to leave.

Because we’re now in the fourth year of a new 20 year and 200 year cycle, remember a new era has dawned. Have courage and take the initiative to leave the Earth and fly free into the Air of what’s opening as the Grand Mutation expands its promise into the Divine transfigured ideal of a more just truth and future. This month brings stability and expansion of new Aquarian expressions. As always, lighten up, play a little, and be willing to explore new arenas of effective activity where you can work and play with other Light Spirits, and take heart as we stand at the dawning of the coming Pluto in Aquarius era.

We have now collectively transfigured into a greater vision of the one Light/Life we all are together. Continue to find your heart strength and new forms of genuine happiness appropriate for who you are now, and who you are becoming relative to just a few months ago.

The 2022 Capricorn and Aquarius transits began a new chapter of utilizing forms of personal power which began in Capricorn to serve the emerging Aquarian ideal. We now navigate the cosmic time-space between endings and beginnings so bless and forgive much to flow down the time stream. The past is over and we all have begun our trek into a new world of new potential, new adventures, and new ways to enjoy being ourselves while doing our work of Destiny. Open to the abundance of the process of growth, since we are all on a rocket ship to the stars!

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Since I also include this in the newsletter, I’ll offer it to you here:

PLANETARY MOTIONS IN MAY 2024

(All the degree values listed in the next three sections are computed the same way Sabian Symbols are read; we always round up. 9+ = 10; 19+ = 20; 29+ = 30)

SUN – 12 Taurus to 11 Gemini
MERCURY – 18 Aries to 24 Taurus
VENUS – 3 Taurus to 10 Gemini
MARS – 1 to 24 Aries
JUPITER - 25 Taurus to 2 Gemini
SATURN – 17 to 19 Pisces
URANUS – 23 to 25 Taurus
NEPTUNE – 29 to 30 Pisces
PLUTO – 3 to 2 Aquarius
CHIRON – 21 to 23 Aries
TRUE NORTH NODE – 16 to 15 Aries

SIGNIFICANT ASTROLOGICAL OCCURRENCES IN MAY 2024

(Bold entries are the ingresses, stations, and lunations. Non-bold are significant aspects.)

NEW MOON TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE; April 8; Sun and Moon at 20 Aries
WESAK FESTIVAL BUDDHA FULL MOON; April 23; Sun 5 Taurus; Moon 5 Scorpio
MARS CONJUNCT NEPTUNE; April 28 at 29 Pisces
VENUS ENTERS TAURUS; April 29
MARS ENTERS ARIES; April 30
VENUS SQUARE PLUTO; April 30 at 3 Taurus/Aquarius
PLUTO STATIONARY RETROGRADE; May 2 at 3 Aquarius
MERCURY CONJUNCT CHIRON; May 6 at 22 Aries
NEW MOON; May 7; Sun and Moon at 19 Taurus
MERCURY LEAVES SHADOW ZONE; May 13 at 28 Aries
MERCURY ENTERS TAURUS; May 15
MERCURY SQUARE PLUTO; May 17 at 3 Taurus/Aquarius
VENUS CONJUNCT URANUS; May 18 at 24 Taurus
AAZ MEETING; May 18
SUN CONJUNCT JUPITER; May 18 at 29 Taurus
SUN ENTERS GEMINI; May 20
VENUS CONJUNCT JUPITER; May 23 at 30 Taurus
WORLD TEACHER FULL MOON; May 23; Sun 3 Gemini; Moon 3 Sagittarius
VENUS ENTERS GEMINI; May 23
JUPITER ENTERS GEMINI; May 25
URANUS LEAVES SHADOW ZONE; May 26 at 28 Aries
MARS CONJUNCT CHIRON; May 29 at 23 Aries
MERCURY CONJUNCT URANUS; May 30 at 25 Taurus
MERCURY ENTERS GEMINI; June 3
MERCURY CONJUNCT JUPITER; June 4 at 3 Gemini
VENUS SUPERIOR CONJUNCTION WITH THE SUN; June 4 at 15 Gemini
NEW MOON; June 6; Sun and Moon at 17 Gemini

Again, please consider joining Astrology Arizona to get all this and a lot more delivered to your email inbox at the beginning of each month. Members get to advertise their business on our website for free, there’s free access to the fantastic documentary Changing of the Gods, and discounts on recorded talks as they are available.

I want to welcome all to drop by our Astrology Arizona Facebook page and join the social media initiative going on there. Please feel free to contribute a topic, ask about a topic, or anything else related to our new group. See you over there!

I also highly recommend joining our group and coming to our zoom presentations, since we have some of the best astrologers anywhere giving talks about all kinds of great astrological topics. We’ve had “Evolutionary Configurations,” “America at the Crossroads,” “Using Planetary Hours in Charts,” “Outer Planet Cycles and How The Past Affects the Present,” “The Three Part Self,” “How Our Chart Expresses Our Spiritual Potential,” and more.

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Robert Wilkinson. Copying this article to other blogs is strictly prohibited. It is copyright protected. 

© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson

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