May Horoscopes

Astrology of May
Current Configurations
Past Months

Aries	Libra
Taurus	Scorpio
Gemini	Sagittarius
Cancer	Capricorn
Leo	Aquarius
Virgo	Pisces

May 2011

Current Astrology

	The Sun is in Aries
	The Quarter Moon is in LeoThe First Quarter Moon is in Leo: All day
	Next Mercury Retrograde Apr 21 - May 14

May Horoscopes

by Henry Seltzer

The Astrology of May focuses still on a potent Aries line-up, this time with the New Moon in the next sign of Taurus. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are also still very much highlighted. The start of this month represents a slightly different emphasis than with the very strong New Moon at the beginning of April, some thirty days ago, and could be conceived as a follow-up to that powerful initiatory energy, since Aries and Taurus are both involved. The emphasis remains on initiative, represented most significantly by Mars conjunct Jupiter in fiery Aries, plus Uranus in Aries in aspect to the Sun and Moon.

It is also quite significant that Saturn in Libra, on the opposite side of the Zodiac from Uranus, Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter, is getting to earlier and earlier degrees of that sign, and therefore coming into closer square with Pluto in early Capricorn. We have this spring and summer a final run of the contentious Saturn-Pluto square – a configuration of polarization that astrologer Richard Tarnas has termed "conservative empowerment." The last gasp of this important configuration is closest over the next two months, and is definitely significant as can clearly be seen in the polarization between liberal and conservative forces both in the area of national politics and across the globe. This dynamic and tense aspect exhibits an angular distance of only about 4 degrees through June, widening to a bit more in July and August and fading away after that.

Meanwhile, in another echo of the revolutionary note that sounded so resonantly in the sixties, the Uranus-Pluto square becomes closer and closer over these same summer months, leading up to about 1 degree of separation in August. Uranus and Pluto separate slightly over the end of 2011, then make their first exact hit in June of 2012. They are indeed very close now and a definite factor in the angst and the glorious revolutionary quality of these difficult days of the spring of 2011. Years ago, astrologers were led to remark that in these climactic years of the lead-up to the first exact pass in 2012 there would be people out in the streets in protest to social and economic conditions, with massive changes in store long before this decade of the "turbulent teens" is over. This is a prediction that is already beginning to come true, as can be seen with the recent mass unrest in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East, as well as with the public protest over collective bargaining in Madison, Wisconsin – a protest that is far from over.

The Taurus New Moon that begins the month represents another dynamic configuration in a series of powerful lunations. Neptune, newly entered into Pisces and therefore emphasized, is also closely aspected by this New Moon, meaning that idealism, fantasy and illusion are all strongly constellated while the dire conditions heralded by the Uranus-Pluto-Saturn T-square also continue to play themselves out. Deception and manipulation of the truth to serve political ends is one way that this energy can manifest, although self-delusion is another, which is one mechanism of denial. It is up to our intuition – also strong within us right now – to separate truth from illusion. Mercury is also powerful over the first half of the month as it regains its Zodiacal longitude, emerging from its retrograde shadow by the 11th. The stellium in Aries is active right up to the 15th, two days before the Scorpio Full Moon. The last half of May is quieter, a time for thoughtful follow-up and course correction based on the startling information coming our way over these significant first two weeks.

All in all, this is an extremely dramatic monthly cycle, especially in its first half, and an important lead-up to the dramatic changes still to come over the summer.