’Hail! Hail! The first of May-o
For it is the first summer’s day-o
Cast your fears and cares away
Drink to the old horse on the First of May!’
This celebrated folk song isn’t so old – it was written in 1980 – but captures the spirit of spring that will be celebrated at Mayday festivals like those of Oxford, Padstow and Minehead, celebrations that go back centuries – back to ancient times according to Robert Graves’ White Goddess.
Astrology ties in neatly to Mayday legend, Taurus being a sign much associated with fertility and greenery (and not averse to necking a yard of ale). This year Taurus looks in excelsis, since its ruler Venus is in the Bull’s skies until May 23 – good news for the zodiac’s three earth signs.
Mercury the communicator is also in Taurus, albeit in one of its contrary retrograde phases until the 23rd. Mercury retrograde slows things down and is associated with cock-ups like lost keys and forgotten phones, though modern astrology seems determined to turn a cycle that occurs three times a year into a time when we must hide under the bedclothes to survive it. Sorry, a Saturn transit may involve bare-teeth endurance but Mercury going backwards calls for little more than ducking, diving and improvising. And not losing your phone.
This month’s forecasts are therefore pitched in the spirit of Mayday cheer and Taurean abundance – Venus and Jupiter align splendidly on May 10 after all. The ‘Old Horse’, that lusty presence at Mayday festivals, also chimes neatly with the presence of Saturn (old age) in Sagittarius, sign of the Centaur. Here’s to the Old Obby Oss.
I posted this foreword yesterday to assure my readers their forecasts were coming. Just to remind us all that we are in Mercury retrograde (scrambled signals) this message got somewhat lost, and the forecasts delayed dut to non-inclental weather. Apologies. Even astrologers cannot escape Mercury the trickster.
Taurus
Keeping a steady pace – relentless even – is something for which Taureans are well known. In May, however, you need to be a little trickier. Mercury backsliding in your skies until the 23rd is likely to throw the odd spanner in your schedules, testing even your patience, though in other ways the communications planet is helpful, allowing you to re-consider and re-vise projects – be thorough – and, perhaps, to re-encounter old faces and flames. Going back to tidy up unfinished business is favoured.
There is another good reason to take your foot off the gas; Venus. Your ruling planet passing through the Bull’s skies – again, until the 23rd – emphasises pleasure. Congenial company, art appreciation (and creation), a personal makeover, and near-death-by-chocolate all fit the frame, while those of you in the dating game can turn your charms to full blaze.
The new Moon of May 6 re-starts your personal year (Merc Ret notwithstanding) and with Venus making a series of obliging aspects over the next fortnight (to Neptune, Jupiter and Pluto), sweet and maybe influential company looks assured. Jupiter’s return to forward motion on the 10th
Downsides? An almost full Moon in opposition on the 20th asks you to tiptoe around touchy partners and pushy rivals while Luna in full glow on the 21st invites you to examine your finances with care. Hot moment sexually!
Happy Birthday.
Gemini
One guise of your ruling planet, Mercury, is as trickster, a role many Geminis embrace with glee and brilliance – one thinks, for example of Sherlock Holmes, the creation of mega-Gemini Conan Doyle. Your chance to manifest your own trickiness comes soon enough, at your birthday season, but with Mercury sliding backwards until the 23rd, and in a rather concealed zone of your solar ‘scope, much of May is about self-reflection rather than bamboozling others.
The first three weeks of May are certainly not about declaring your hand or trying to make significant others do so. Far better to drift along in your favoured ambiguous style, keeping your own counsel. There is no rush. There seem to be one or two Deep Secrets to dwell on and/or uncover. Hot romances, should you be lucky enough to have one in progress, may be in the process of cooling down – more of which shortly. One part of your ‘scope asks for you to simply, chill out.
You are out of the deep freeze abruptly once the Sun reaches the Twins’ skies on the 21st to immediately lend its light to a full Moon that’s conjunct Mars. This looks like a very combustible Saturday Night, with a fiery encounter or three involved. Fun perhaps, but best not get too carried away. The Moon conjunct miserabilist Saturn the following day looks like the grey evening after the gay night before.
Still, once Venus arrives in your patch of the cosmos on the 24th, you look in business and brimful of charm. At this point Mars is about to get off your case for a couple of months – someone seems to be pulling away from you, though it’s too early to know for sure. Saturn remains, backsliding but relentless in its professional demands
Career is, perhaps unexpectedly, a major focus in May. Oddly, you may not actually have to deliver too much in order to gather brownie points by the armful. With Neptune and Juno (?) atop your ‘scope, charisma sits easily upon you, while with planet Prometheus helpfully aligned, even the most oddball folks in your network may prove helpful.
Cancer
Home, complete with apple pie and gingham tablecloth, must be accommodated – as always! Yet your horoscope has altogether grander designs in mind just now. Public glory may seem a long shot, but the ongoing march of planet Prometheus across the roof of your ‘scope is there to spur you on, and since this is the planet of surprises, summer may deliver unforeseen opportunities and/or provoke you into acts of acts of professional derring-do, not least for birthdays circa July 14-16
In May the networking zone of your ‘scope is also humming, thanks to Venus and Mercury there. The former encourages you to get together with your team and bury the hatchet with problematic people, while retrograde Mercury asks you to scoff at rumours, and have a variety of Plan B arrangements to hand for when Plan A goes sour.
Professional contacts also look a promising zone of exploration for those of you in the dating game with assorted asteroids spicing the social mix (Vesta, Lilith and Juno, fact fans). The weekend of May 10/11 has your ruler Luna in your skies, making you something of a conduit. The Moon in Scorpio on May 20 is also a good omen for hot dates and creativity. More challenging is the Moon conjunct Pluto on the 25th, when you are reminded, once again, what or who you are up against.
Dreaming of far away places with strange sounding names? Even if you can’t get to them, they seem in some shape or form to be calling, calling….
Leo
You’re in the land of one step forward two steps backwards in May. The trick is to take that big stride onwards while not getting antsy about the backwards part. Like every member of the zodiac you are under the irritant spell of Mercury retrograde until the 23rd. With the communications planet all mixed up with your career and professional aspirations, you probably have to dodge a few bullets at work, use your charm and stay patient. The new Moon of May 6 is, nonetheless, a challenging and potentially rewarding point in your personal year. Be super attentive and super well presented on the 12/13th.
Also going backwards: Mars and Saturn in your fifth house of romance and children. Cue second thoughts about a romance on either your part or someone else’s. Again patience advised since Mars will be back to rock your world in high summer, while with Saturn in your fifth you take your pleasures where you find them. The full Moon of May 21, a Saturday, looks a handful – good for dressing up and showing off, but absolutely not the moment to wear your heart in your sleeve.
Going forwards: Jupiter in your cash zone, a cue to visualise a happy splashdown of gold coins though you may have to wait a month or two before Jupiter is properly back up to speed. Also going forwards: planet Prometheus, the maverick in the pack, bringing you keen and urgent energies through to your birthday. Unconventional ideas and people out your ordinary orbit should be taken seriously and nursed along.
There’s a change of gear in the last week of the month. The brakes come off at work, and you have opportunities to circulate and roam.
Virgo
Astrological aspects come no sweeter than sensual Venus aligning to swell-guy Jupiter – the former in earthy Taurus, the latter in earthy Virgo, the aspect perfected on May 10 – and with Jupiter also moving forwards from May 10 after a few months of backslide, and the new Moon of May 6 in the mix – well, the cosmos looks like it’s sending you something (or somebody) to smile about in May.
Your personal ruler, Mercury, may be in retrograde in Taurus until May 23, but it’s still resolutely on your side, and providing you don’t get too fidgety and forget to savour the moments and sweetmeats on offer, you look in sprightly shape. No-one can – or at least, no-one should – be on point 24/7. Grab some downtime – once the Sun crests your ‘scope on the 21st, accompanied by a somewhat awkward full Moon, you’re back on professional call.
Home is, perhaps, the most likely place to cause you bother. As your astrologer noted last month, Mars and Saturn backsliding in the zone of hearth and family looks testing and perhaps noisy. A diligent feng-shui of your loft or cellar is a good way to express this transit. Mars reverses back into Scorpio at the end of May, reducing the din and putting you in touch with people and ideas that have got lost along the way this last few months. Mercury back in forwards motion repeats the message.
Mostly, your horoscope asks you to look forwards rather than back. Two major planets, Neptune and Prometheus, are currently breaking new ground in the cosmos – new to those of us living in modern times, that is – and both concern your personal relationships. Neptune is enticing, or bamboozling birthdays in the first few days of September. An objective word from a trusted friend may help here; you need to be clear what you are dealing with. Prometheus is more oblique, asking to dive deep into your psyche and ‘fess up to yourself about your appetites and intentions (Virgos, surprise, are not all pure as the driven snow).
With honesty comes the chance to regenerate.
Libra
Complex, enigmatic and secretive yet exciting and sexy – no, not you Libra (sorry!) but your current horoscope (yet they are almost the same thing at times n’est-ce pas?).
What’s going on? Your astrologer refers you firstly to April’s forecast and a planetary picture that should have given you a heads-up about relationship/partnership issues, The Sun in your opposite sign of Aries has moved on, yet with planet Prometheus in ongoing, stimulating opposition, very little in your one-on-one relationships can be taken for granted. You simply have to remain in the moment, existential and authentic in your dealings . Exciting mavericks of either gender remain on the loose (birthdays circa October 9 take note) but capable, responsible older women are also part of the picture, at least for September birthdays.
The lunation that starts at May 6, in the secretive, sensual eighth house of your solar ‘scope, deepens associations. Your ruling planet, fair Venus, is here, while a back sliding Mercury may call forth old flames to contend with. By the time the waxing Moon reaches your skies, on the 17th/18th, you have reached another stage in an unfolding saga (doesn’t have to be a saga, but it looks a dash operatic).
The following week, on the 24th, your fairy godmother Venus shifts into Gemini, a fellow air sign, and a lighter mood prevails, but not before then. The full Moon of may 21 is a fizzier, being opposite Mars, ruler of your relationships. It looks something of a Shazam! moment, so you may prefer a night in with a super hero movie, but it is definitely a moment, and one you will be revisiting early in August, when Mars returns here.
Early May is less intricate. Your Venus ruler rolls through your cash-and-assets axis, alongside a retrograde mercury, urging you to revise spreadsheets and have an unflinching eye on anything financial – not just cash-flow but shared assets, contracts, mortgages…the whole hoopla. Your attention will lift a load from your shoulders.
Career matters look mercifully unpressured, providing work itself – as a routine activity – is ticket boo. Sudden splurges of energy do not compensate for a neat and tidy, ticket-boo application of your energies. remember, in 2016 you are building up top a period of potential acclaim – as they say in some famous science fiction movie, let it be so.
Scorpio
The realisation that you are halfway through your personal year – six months since and before your birthday – may induce slight panic; all those good resolutions that remain unfulfilled!
It will, however, be difficult to force the pace in May. Both your Mars ruler and communicator Mercury are retrograde, the latter asking you to be super-organised when dealing with other people, and to expect a little backtracking from opposing parties. This applies chiefly in the sphere of office politics and contracts (try to push signatures until after May 23 if possible); Mercury is not much a romancer.
Venus, however, is, and when she is in opposition – again until May 23 – you get the chance to explore partnerships, make peace if you wish, or have your head turned by a new candidate for your affections. The new Moon of May 6 is also in the partnership zone, and gloriously aligned to both Jupiter and Neptune, a pair that currently dominate your zones of romance and friendship, and relationships that straddle that tricky divide.
In the emotional realm, then, there is plenty play for, not least around May 19/20, when the almost full Moon is in your skies. Turn your mesmerising Scorpio beam to full power. If you are the creative stripe of Scorpio, access that deep well of inspiration. Jupiter moving forward from mid-month feels like a spring awakening.
Your governing celestial body, red-blooded Mars, returns to Scorpio’s skies on May 29 and spends all of June and July there. There is old business to reassess, adjustments to be made to your CV, your reputation to polish and fierce appetites to satisfy.
Sagittarius
Odd times. You are to some extent in rewind, just like your ruling planet, Jupiter, and Saturn and Mars in your skies. Not forgetting Mercury, which is retrograde until May 23. There’s old business to revisit – any issues from March loom large – and, it seems, refinements to make to your job description/mission statement/Facebook status /physical fitness. Self-definition is an ongoing issue in 2016, so scheme on.
Your horoscope is, however, a jolly mixed bag in May. Work and career remain central – they invariably are when Saturn’s around – but with bad Cop Saturn in reverse and Good Cop Jupiter turning to forward motion, the odds tip in your favour this month. It’s a good time to remind the world what a valuable member of the team you are (though not at the full Moon – see below). In all matters of career, however, you are playing not just for short term advantage but with a gimlet eye on where you want to be 18 months and more down the road,
If earnest industry is one part of May’s mission, extravagant play is another. Planet Prometheus remains a highly active bundle of energies (birthdays circa December 14 take especial note), especially if you are in the creative industries, or have an unsettling romance ion your hands – a Prometheus transit is rather like holding a live wire. Centaurs are not ones to let the chance of adventure slip away, nor should you do so now, when Saturn’s Big Weighty Issues are in abeyance.
The month of Gemini arrives with a jolt on May 21. This is your opposite yet complimentary sign, governing all matters to do wit Significant Others – dearest lovers and arch enemies and all points between – so you will be juggling a relationship or three from late May. The full Moon of May 21 (at 9. 15 pm on Saturday, fact fans) is in your skies and conjunct Mars, which has all the makings of a wild night out (up till dawn dancing) or a wild night gone wrong (explosive showdown with you know who, broken glass and blood, that stuff).
It may take until the 24th, and the arrival of Venus in opposition, before you can calm things down, catch your breath and make a decision about your love life, which looks highly, perhaps provocatively active in the last days of May and much of June.
Capricorn
As a super busy professional, your tolerance of go-slows and outright cock-ups is limited. If you can operate in steely fashion, why can’t others? In May, however, even your iron will cannot prevent Mercury the communicator rewinding until the 23rd, with its accompanying salvo of dysfunctional computers and no-shows for appointments.
Rather than vex about such inconvenience, you may be better served by throwing energy into the pleasure zone of your life. Taurus, verdant and sensual, represents the joys of life in your solar ‘scope – children, art, parties, showing off, serious hobbies – and with Venus rampant here for the first three weeks of the month, alongside a new Moon on May 6, your duty is to joy rather than work. A retrograde Mercury should help you shuffle schedules and to look up one or two long lost chums. If you are in the dating game, mid-month looks promising; let yourself go.
The backslide of Mars and your ruler, Saturn, also accentuate down-time and contemplation – fortifying the inner Goat in readiness for Saturn ‘s arrival in your sign in 18 months’ time. Mars is a trickier prospect. The red planet spent the opening two months of 2016 in Scorpio, a position amenable and empowering for you, promising support from colleagues – the team – and, for some, the arrival of a swaggering friend/lover (likely male, this being Mars).
That Mars reverses into Scorpio for two months, from May 28, indicates that in some way you are returning to early 2016 – there are issue left over, a person or people with whom to reconnect. Eyes peeled then.
The full Moon of May 21 falls behind the scenes in Sagittarius, but Luna, still plump, holds court in your skies on May25/26, ideal for either business or pleasure or both. Your shout.
Aquarius
Events of surprise in April deserve some analysis, whether it’s your work scenario or your personal life that produced the shock. As explained last month, the wayward energies of planet Prometheus were highly active in your world last month and remain so in May. Education, technology, ecology, ‘alt living’ and media are all associated with this transit and this spring and summer look like a door that should open with a forceful push.
In short you can ‘get on’, though with Mercury in one of it thrice yearly flounces until May 23, all-round patience is required. Mercury, along with Venus and the new Moon of May 6 are all in the home and hearth zone of your ‘scope, a cue to enjoy and enrich your surroundings and re-organise your living space. Dig out the feng-shui book!
The startling energies of Prometheus may also have intervened in your emotional life – a startling newcomer would fit the bill. Whether or not a look-alike of your favourite film star showed up, your romantic life is hot stuff once the Sun exchanges steady Taurus for vibrant Gemini on May 21. A full Moon follows immediately on mid-Saturday night, and one opposite Mars – a cue for a bit of uproar, hopefully of the pleasant kind.
With love goddess Venus shifting into Gemini for three weeks from May 24, your creative life, your pleasure zone and matters of the heart look in full bloom in late May and on into June. Friday May 11 is sweetly starred for romance. This being Gemini, what agony aunts call ‘double trouble’ (i.e. more than one lover) may be part of the equation. That Jupiter ends its retrograde cycle mid-May is also a sign that life in the bedroom may be warming up.
By the end of the month you may also find yourself thrust back into more prominence at work. Mars is going through an elaborate retrograde cycle this spring, which finds the planet oscillating between areas of your work associated with pressure/individual glory and ease/ teamwork. The red planet climbs back to the roof of your horoscope in late may, suggesting that you are swapping the latter for the former. Unfinished business from your birthday season? It seems so.
Pisces
The month of Taurus makes a natural fit for Fishy folk, providing earth for your ever-flowing water; enriching and stabilising. That applies doubly this year, since the irksome retrograde of Mercury obliges you to proceed slower than you would probably like, and to endure a tool in your kit going missing or your car battery giving up the ghost just as are setting to an important appointment.
Hey ho. Venus and the Moon of May 6 in Taurus augur more joyous scenarios- good times with friends, a frisson of romance (more of which shortly) and as much culture and art as you can pack in. Neptune, edging forwards in Pisces’ skies, is an ambiguous planet, sometimes lending you a glamorous glow, at others leading you down the garden path, drink in hand. In May the planet aligns nicely with the ‘pleasure planets’ in play in your ‘scope, so we trust it’s the former scenario in play.
Of note is that your ruling planet, big-hearted Jupiter, turns to forwards motion mid-month. The giant of the solar system then rumbles forwards in opposition until September. This speaks of challenge, though of a good kind – an offer that’s an obvious fit, even it means more work, or a business big shot making you an offer you can’t refuse.
Because Jupiter is in the zone of significant others it is also mixed up with romantic partnerships, and while there is again, a degree of challenge involved, you come out of any hoopla smiling. Should you wish to do a vanishing act from a relationship (and if so your astrologer’s guess would be that push came to shove around your birthday), it looks easy to make the break. If you are building a grand alliance with a loved one, that too grows legs in May.
Something of a kerfuffle reigns in your professional life. Saturn, the planet that is demanding you graft and earn rather than rest on your laurels, remains in backslide for now, offering a respite.
Unusually, Mars is also in retreat in your career zone – a more ambivalent omen. Is someone (likely a man) withdrawing an offer from a few weeks ago? Or has an annoying and provocative person (likely a man) been forced to back off? Both scenarios fit, and since Mars will be back with some force in August and September, bear in mind that you are looking at a reversible situation. The full Moon of May 21is conjunct Mars at the very peak of your ‘scope; a good time to learn what is going on in your career but in other respcts a tad chaotic – when wandering down the garden path, drink in hand, don’t trip up.
Aries
The celestial Ram does not appreciate a hold-up. A line of slow traffic is likely to bring an annoyed honk and the shout ‘What’s the problem?’ The first three weeks of the month, then, may not be altogether to your taste. Until the 23rd Mercury is on go-slow and all members of the zodiac must accommodate accordingly.
In your case, Mercury’s backslide in your cash zone asks for a re-examination of your finances, especially the collection of outstanding debts (be persistent). With Venus and a new Moon here too, and all lined up with Jupiter and Pluto in your work and career zones, there seem to be extra funds on tap if you look, or simply ask for more. But Merc Ret cuts both ways – don’t be losing dosh unnecessarily. Keep a tight purse.
Work success looks a simple equation – the harder you graft the luckier you get, as one North American squillionaire put it. That’s Jupiter-Saturn for you, an aspect that doesn’t endure beyond September, so keep things steady meanwhile.
Your personal life is a more nuanced affair. The electric energies in play in recent weeks have not gone away – au contraire, Prometheus continues to thrill, especially if you are a birthday circa April 11. The planet is a little isolated this month, so liaisons flash off and on. The season of Gemini, beginning with a BANG at the full moon of May 21 opens up romantic associations. Apart from Prometheus (currently), the key player in your ‘scope is always Mars, your ruler, and the red planet is in odd mood this month, retreating, albeit not unfavourably. Retracing your steps and moods since new year seems something you are obliged to do. The full Moon looks a trifle giddy, so step warily…If people at a distance are involved, so much the more crucial.
Mars retreats into a more secretive, if sensual, position for the rest of spring – a time of emotional exploration. Find ways to express your freedom.