What’s Happening this Week?

This week has a restless and changeable quality, but it’s not without its high spots or results. Top advice is to be adaptable and flexible. Don’t try to stick rigidly to either plans or opinions, or be overly reliant on other people. If ever there was a time for having Plan B tucked up your sleeve, this week is it! Mercury – the Communicator but also the Mischief Maker – is still a lead player, and is dominant at both the beginning and end of the week:

Monday 7 May

• Mercury 21 Aries square Pluto 21 Capricorn 09.51 BST
• Venus 16 Gemini square Neptune 16 Pisces 23.00

So Mercury starts the week with the square to Pluto and finishes it with the square to Mars – therefore re-invoking the very intense Mars – Pluto conjunction that was exact on 26 April. Here’s a reminder of what I wrote about this at the time:

Pluto symbolism demands our courage and resourcefulness. Often we face situations that test us, or we have to accept that something really is at an end. Pluto stuff is about total change, but usually not in the sense of our being able to make any difference. Usually the agent of change is not us, it’s time, it’s circumstances, it’s the matters beyond our control. One of Pluto’s symbols is the phoenix so our real power lies in resurrection, arising from our ashes. So don’t try to breathe life into something that is passing out of your life. Be ready and willing to move on to the next thing, don’t beat yourself up over mistakes (nothing is really a mistake anyway) and think in terms of new cycles.

This message is especially potent as this Mars – Pluto conjunction falls immediately after Pluto turning retrograde (last Saturday 22 Apr 16.24 BST) and is going to be “stuck” at 21 degrees Capricorn for the next 6 weeks. In other words, a turning point is even more marked but may take a while to make sense or bear fruit.

So, whatever was unfolding for you in the last week of April may still be lingering. If there are loose ends to tie up, that is this week’s job. I’ve been hunting for one of the amazing quotes from my colleague Ingrid Hoffman’s posts but can’t find it, so can’t name the writer, but it was something along the lines of, “the best way people give away their power is by thinking that they don’t have any”. I’ll name the author of that next time, but in the meantime, even if change is in the shape of something happening “to us” rather than because of us, it’s important not to see ourselves as a helpless puppet of the gods. Even if you’re a total fatalist, and believe that everything is preordained, you still have your part to play – consciously and wholly.

The week also starts under a Venus – Neptune square. Emotionally this speaks of sadness, disillusionment or a disappointment. Try to let it flow through. Not a great evening for drowning your sorrows either, get some sleep instead. Also look out for plumbing problems! Here on Lefkas we’re mopping up after a humungous thunderstorm over the weekend.

Jolly Jupiter moves into the picture 24 hours later, the opposition to the Sun being exact in the early hours of Wed –

Wednesday 9 May

• Sun 18 Taurus opposite Jupiter 18 Scorpio 01.40 BST
• Venus 18 Gemini quinqunx Jupiter 20.37 GMT

Jupiter’s main principle is expansion – more of whatever he’s symbolizing – and the opposition is a challenge and also often speaks of a magnifying effect. I’ve noticed in the past that Jupiter oppositions often relate to rallies or mass protests. Justice is one of his themes. Whatever your own challenge may be the main message is to get support but also to keep a sense of perspective. Stick to the point and don’t let emotions escalate to the point of distorting the truth.

Jupiter is also fun! So Tuesday evening is great for finding the party and letting your hair down. Just note that the opposition has an “over the top” quality – such as being charged too much or drinking too much. But as my dear sister used to say, “Everything in moderation – including moderation!”

Venus is also in the picture in that awkward aspect again – last week it was Venus quinqunx Saturn and I talked about blind spots. This showed literally for me as I nearly ran over my own cat! I live in a small cul de sac, and I reverse the car out. At the last minute a flash of white in my wing mirror made me slam the brakes on…. There was Nellie lying in the sun, oblivious to the moving car. I’ve had Nellie since she was 4 weeks old and she’s now nearly 18. I had to do some serious “thought stopping” – that nearly happened, but it didn’t!

So, be aware of blind spots, literally or emotionally. What is being obscured? With the Venus – Neptune square at the beginning of the week that also links to deception or illusion this is not a time for making any assumptions. On the romance front these aspects are the kind that reflect a big attraction but don’t get over excited. There’s a lot more to find out.

The Taurus Sun moves from the opposition to Jupiter to a trine of Pluto –

Saturday 12 May

• Sun 21 Taurus trine Pluto 21 Capricorn 00.08 BST

So again we have a third planet (in this case the Sun) re-invoking a major aspect that has already happened. The Jupiter – Pluto sextile itself was exact on 14 April and here’s a reminder of the main themes to look out for –

• Jupiter – main principle is expansion, anything that makes our life bigger and better, he’s the Greater Benefic, he’s good for us, creating opportunity, luck, good fortune, travel, learning, truth and justice
• Pluto – main principle is endings/beginnings, often starting with loss but in the spirit of death of the old and the birth of the new, starting from scratch, transformative processes, deep healing, resourcefulness, empowerment, wealth and control

Any big change or transition going on in your life, especially one that has been slow moving for whatever reason, will now be helped along. The Sun illuminates, bringing clarity and results.

The week closes with Mercury moving back into the picture –

Saturday 12 May

• Mercury 28 Aries square Mars 28 Capricorn 14.31

Sunday 13 May

• Mercury conjunct Uranus 29 Aries 11.51 BST
• Mercury ingress Taurus 13.41 BST

The Mercury aspects are important because they are closing a cycle and link into dramatic changes that will unfold between now and the middle of next week. Mercury’s square to Mars and conjunction with Uranus are the last aspects to happen before all three planets change sign –

• Mercury on Sunday as above
• Uranus ingress Taurus Tuesday 15 May
• Mars ingress Aquarius Wed 16 May (followed immediately by Mars square Uranus)

This is dramatic, possibly head spinning stuff. Whatever has been simmering is coming to boiling point. The longer something has been simmering, the greater the potential explosion. Listen out for the rumblings as everyone and everything has a tipping point. Mercury in Aries is the straight talker, and combined with Mars and Uranus it’s a “gloves off” argument, throwing the rule book out of the window or deciding to act regardless of what others might think. In fact, if you’ve been constructing anything around what others think rather than what you personally desire, if you’ve been living your life in a way that suits others but is not that great for you, this is the time when it’s most likely to unravel. It’s the end of the road for doing anything for the wrong reasons. Stop pretending, and go with it, even if you have to have a first division argument along the way. Screaming and shouting matches are not something anyone wants but, if one happens, then it has to be said that the current astrology is text book for letting off steam.

So this is the stuff of pent up feelings pouring out or reaching that point of zero tolerance with any situation that has been making you unhappy. You can lean on a cupboard door only for so long – eventually you run out of energy and have to move away and let it all tumble out. So, many people will be experiencing major life changes, whether these have been planned for a long time, whether they arise through suddenly changing circumstances or because of the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Such scenarios are especially likely if you have planets or angles in the late degrees of the Cardinals (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) or the first two degrees of the Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius).

Uranus’ change of sign is significant because it doesn’t happen very often. With an orbit of 84 years and an erratic cycle he spends approximately 8 years travelling through each sign. The last change was when he entered Aries May 2010. I’ll be talking more about this change of sign next week but for now note that Uranus is the rebel and loves to shock, throw a spanner in the work or just generally shake things up. That’s his job. If your own life is serene listen out for the kind of news that raises a lot of eyebrows, for exciting or dramatic or totally unexpected reasons. Such scenarios could include  someone getting fired or quitting a job, a relationship that had appeared rock solid breaking up, a new relationship starting in a whirlwind, an unplanned pregnancy, a bankruptcy – you get the idea. Uranus moving into Taurus is ground breaking stuff and wherever resistance to change has been most noticeable, that will be his favourite
target!

Until next week

With love from Greece
Joanna