The Astrology Blog 3 May 2021
All times in BST
“Don’t beat yourself up. Be your own best friend. No matter what you’re going through, the idea really is about increasing your frequency, your energy. You do that by doing things that bring you joy.” (Tweet, 2 May 2021)
“In this age of information technology, we’re bombarded with news seemingly at the speed of light. We’re living in an age of high stress and fear, and in the midst of trying to protect ourselves … we’ve forgotten to enjoy ourselves and to take care of what’s inside. We owe it to ourselves and to everyone around us to be happy and to spread that joy around.” (from the conclusion of her book Dying to be Me)
Anita Moorjani – b 16 March 1959
MERCURY & VENUS
These two fast moving (at the moment) personal planets are both on their home stretch through Taurus. Mercury is slightly ahead and made the trine to Pluto yesterday, Venus will make that same aspect on Thursday. Both planets will then have one last aspect to make, the square to Jupiter, before changing sign and moving on into Gemini.
Starting with Mercury, here’s the sequence –
Monday 3 May
- Mercury 28 Taurus square Jupiter 28 Aquarius 10.35
- Sun 13 Taurus square Saturn 13 Aquarius 11.03
Tuesday 4 May
- Mercury ingress Gemini 03.50
Mercury’s alignment with Jupiter is by square (friction) but this isn’t too much of a concern as Jupiter is the Greater Benefic – ruling the things and people who are generally good for us. The combination of these two planets, even by difficult aspect, paints an encouraging picture for Mercury’s purposes – communication, information, decisions, conversations and so on. Just watch out for a thread of the “ex” factor as Mr Big Jupiter’s main principle is expansion which can tip into excess, expense, exaggeration, exuberance or unrealistic expectations.
So, maybe be cautious about what you agree to in terms of the time/effort involved as this is a classic taking on too much scenario, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. You may be in the mood for a challenge and sometimes we all need to stretch ourselves or have an “over the top” moment if only to put aside our worries or duties for a while, to let off some steam or let our hair down.
Jolly Jupiter reminds us that, regardless of whatever else is going on in the world, we are supposed to be enjoying life itself. Jupiter shows us how to have fun, how to take “should” or “shouldn’t” out of the equation and just go for it. Here in Greece tonight is the first night that we’re being allowed out since 7 November, as the Easter weekend here draws to a close and the new summer season begins. The government has taken it to the wire – ie you can’t have tourists arriving and the locals still in lockdown with a 9pm curfew.
The other big point is that this Mercury – Jupiter meeting coincides with the more serious square between the Sun and Saturn. This underlines the issue about realism and is also a reminder about personal boundaries, either in any significant relationship or in terms of social distancing. Don’t relax your guard, especially as Saturn is super slow now, getting ready to turn retrograde on 23 May.
Any Sun – Saturn combination is tough as Saturn is the enemy of both the Lights of life (Sun and Moon) being in dignity in the signs where the Sun and Moon are in detriment. Saturn rules Capricorn (Moon’s detriment) and Aquarius (Sun’s detriment). This can be about the precarious nature of life itself. Almost to the minute of the Sun – Saturn square, a few minutes ago as I write, I heard devastating news about a friend’s partner in a serious accident. My prayers are with you Julia.
MERCURY ENTERS GEMINI
So it’s a mixed start to the week, both light and heavy with the mixed messages from Jupiter and Saturn, but Mercury’s arrival in Gemini is good news in that this is his masculine sign of rulership (he also rules the feminine sign of Virgo) and the quicksilver planet in the sign of Mutable Air is pretty much unbeatable for putting us back in circulation. Here’s my take on Mercury in Gemini as a natal placing from Be Your Own Astrologer which will give you a feel for this duo –
Mercury in Gemini (dignity)
Mercury and the air sign of Gemini between them rule everything to do with communication and the function of the mind. The talk-talk planet in the sign of the Twins is therefore the perfect double act. This Mercury loves nothing better than to talk and speech is quick, animated, amusing and often excitable. Here we find the hyperactive nature, or the ultimate butterfly mind, effortlessly hopping from subject to subject, or the socially skilled person who can talk to anyone about anything. Skill with language can also show in being bilingual, like Heidi Klum whose Mercury is one of five personal planets in this sign, or even multilingual. Sometimes there is a fickleness but this is often in response to being controlled. This Mercury thrives on diversity and, like air itself, needs to circulate.
Talent with the written word is also a feature and this placing is extremely common in the horoscopes of novelists, journalists or prolific songwriters, such as Paul McCartney and Billy Joel. The most famous diary in the world was written by Anne Frank, with the Sun and Mercury conjunct (strengthened by sitting next to each other) in Gemini. Ian Fleming is also a Sun Gemini, along with Mercury conjunct Pluto in this sign too, planet of mystery and the underworld, and found fame through his creation of secret agent 007 James Bond.
In a nutshell: vivacious, clever, creative.
So if you’ve got any creative ideas to develop or written work to do, get cracking! There’s no time to lose with anything important as the fly in the ointment is that Mercury isn’t going to whizz through this sign in two to three weeks, as he would do if he were to continue at full speed.
Yes, you’ve guessed it, the next retrograde Mercury phase is already looming –
- 29 May Mercury turns retrograde at 24 Gemini
- 22 June Mercury will turn direct again at 16 Gemini
At a universal level retrograde Mercury issues are important for everyone and I’ll be talking about the usual things to expect nearer the time. But for now just clock these dates, especially if you have personal planets or Angles at or close to these degrees, or in the opposite sign of Sagittarius. I do, and this is part of the picture that led to my decision to cancel courses in Greece for May and June, further informed by the fact that Mercury rules the lungs. We can reduce our risks of infection by taking ourselves OUT of circulation during the retrograde phase.
The bottom line is that Mercury will turn retrograde less than a week after Saturn, and won’t move on into the next sign of Cancer until 11 July, but these next couple of weeks can be highly productive. Get ahead wherever you can.
VENUS – LOVE, PLEASURES, MONEY
Venus is close behind Mercury, and isn’t going to turn retrograde (Mercury turns retrograde 3 times a year for 3 weeks at a time, Venus is retrograde once every 18-20 months. The next Venus retrograde will be in Capricorn 19 December, turning direct again 29 January 2022). So Venus will travel through the whole of Gemini in the space of a month, from the end of this week to 2 July.
I’ll be talking more next week about the Venus – Gemini combination but for now she’s still in “dignity”, in her own sign of Taurus, and there are some definite finalizing and closure issues going on –
Thursday 6 May
- Venus 26 Taurus trine Pluto 26 Capricorn 12.23
Saturday 8 May
- Venus 29 Taurus square Jupiter 29 Aquarius 14.39
Sunday 9 May
- Venus ingress Gemini 03.02
By positive aspect Pluto can signal endings of the constructive kind, such as wrapping up a project, or it can bring transformative moments (death/rebirth symbolism) in terms of anything connected to emotional or physical health. In addition to the Plutonic messages the Venus – Jupiter square falls at the very end of their respective signs. Both 0 and 29 are known as “critical” degrees, not usually in terms of a crisis but in terms of signaling beginnings or endings.
Pay close attention to what unfolds for you between Thursday and over the weekend if you are in any kind of transitional situation, anything from moving house, leaving one job or relationship and starting another, to acceptance of how something in your life has changed or of the things beyond our control.
The other extremely common theme when the sign of Gemini (the Twins) comes into the picture is that of duality or choices – eg buying a second home/car/anything, taking on a second job, starting an affair – you get the picture. Note that “perception of choice” is a brilliant way out of paralyzing inactivity or depression. In other words, when we become aware of our choices we tend to become more proactive rather than feeling just trapped, lumbered or controlled.
THE MOON’S CONJUNCTIONS
As I said last week I don’t normally list lunar aspects because there are so many of them but this week we have the Moon’s conjunctions to Saturn and to Jupiter. Both of these planets are in the news this week so these conjunctions are extra sensitized, as Saturn is “SR” (stationary retrograde, appearing to be at a standstill in readiness for starting the backwards loop) and Jupiter is at the critical degree of 29, in readiness for changing sign and moving into Pisces next week –
Monday 3 May
- Moon conjunct Saturn 13 Aquarius 20.09
Wednesday 5 May
- Moon conjunct Jupiter 29 Aquarius 01.07
Again, if you have any clear scenario unfolding that fits in with this week’s astrology and/or if you have planets or Angles in your own horoscope that correlate with these signs/degrees then these two conjunctions are hotspots to watch. Lunar aspects, like Full or New Moons or the progressed Moon in the horoscope, tend to act as “testimonies”, supporting and adding to a picture already in the making.
If you’re interested in the astronomy this is from the brilliant Bruce McLure and his website Earthsky –
These next several mornings – May 3, 4 and 5, 2021 – watch for the waning moon to sweep past the ringed planet Saturn and then the giant planet Jupiter. On May 3, the moon passes due south of Saturn, to stage a conjunction, only a few hours before the moon reaches its half-illuminated last quarter phase. A little over one day after the moon-Saturn conjunction, the moon will sweep due south of the king planet Jupiter.
https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-sweeps-by-saturn-jupiter-may-3-5
Next week will start with the New Moon in Taurus and see Venus’ new cycle get underway, along with Jupiter changing sign.
Until then, with love from Greece
Joanna