May 2012 – Time to Nurture Yourself

Important astrological energies for the month of May 2012:

  • Super Full Moon, with Sun in Taurus and Moon in Scorpio, on May 5, 2012.
  • Grand earth trine created by Mercury in Taurus, Mars in Virgo, Pluto retrograde in Capricorn, and Ceres in Taurus begins. It starts when Mercury enters Taurus on May 9th and ends on May 17th when Mercury forms a conjunction to Ceres.
  • Venus in Gemini turns stationary retrograde on May 15, 2012. Venus is retrograde until June 27, 2012.
  • Solar Annular Eclipse (NM) with Sun and Moon in Gemini, the first eclipse of the year, occurs on May 20, 2012.

Time to Nurture Yourself

©Misty Kuceris 2012

As the month of May begins, Ceres in Taurus forms a sextile to Chiron in Pisces on May 1, 2012. This is a day when you can find ways to work out problems and resolve important matters that affect your sense of well-being. You find that it’s easy to communicate with other people. Both of you are willing to listen to each other.

This willingness to communicate and listen to each other continues on May 3rd when Ceres forms a trine to Pluto retrograde in Capricorn. Sometimes there’s a desire to just grab everything and walk away with it when an aspect between Ceres and Pluto occurs, but not today. Today you want to find ways to work together with other people. You want to come up with resolutions.

Mercury in Aries forms an opposition to Saturn retrograde in Libra on May 5th, a few hours before the full Moon occurs. There’s a sense of relief with this opposition. You’re forced into a position where you need to have a clear concept of what you want in life. You need to decide what is important from your past and what is important for your future. You need to find a balance.

The full Moon that occurs on May 5th is considered a “Super Moon” by NASA because it reaches perigee one minute before the actual full Moon occurs. Perigee occurs when a planet (or in this case, the Moon) is closest to the earth. This means that the gravitational pull of the Moon on the earth’s tides will be stronger than usual. Super Moons tend to occur about once a year. The last one occurred on March 19, 2011. But when you look at this symbolically, it is important. At least once a year you go through an emotional period where you really need to assess an important aspect more than you usually do.

With the Sun in Taurus and the Moon in Scorpio, you may find a stronger pull to understand other people. You may also feel a stronger pull to make certain you are taking care of your needs. This really is a time to prioritize and determine what’s important for you.

This need to assess what’s important to you is emphasized by the fact that the Sun is at the midpoint of the Ceres/Jupiter conjunction in Taurus. Ceres wants you to take time and nurture not only yourself but important relationships in your life. Jupiter wants you to take time and create long-term plans which achieve your spiritual goals. The Moon, in this full Moon, opposes the Ceres/Jupiter midpoint. So, while you need to learn how to nurture yourself, you may also find it difficult emotionally because it means acknowledging that you have to ask other people for their help.

This stress of feeling that you have to ask other people for help continues on May 7th when Jupiter forms a semi-square to Uranus in Aries and May 8th when Mars in Virgo forms a quincunx to Uranus. Other people may feel that you’re too demanding. Or, you may wonder if you’re becoming too demanding. But if you stay true to yourself, you will be able to find ways to go after your needs and let other people support you.

Mercury enters the sign of Taurus on May 9th. As it enters this sign, the energy of the month takes a major shift. Mercury will create a grand earth trine between Mars, Pluto retrograde, and Ceres. Thoughts turn to what’s important to you. You look at what you’ve done in life. You find that there are many good things that you’ve accomplished. You may not be as willing to give up right now, but that’s a good thing. You want other people to understand just how wonderful you are.

One day later, on May 10th, Mercury forms a sextile to Neptune in Pisces. This gives you an opportunity to consider your dreams. You can open your mind to various possibilities. You can feel the love of others being sent in your direction. And, you can feel yourself sending love to other people in your life.

Healing becomes easier on May 12th when Chiron in Pisces forms a sextile to Pluto retrograde. You can dig deep into yourself and come up with solutions. Other people are willing to discuss problems that occurred between you and them. If you need to implement any healing techniques in your life, this is a good day to do so.

The grand earth trine created by Mercury entering Taurus actually begins on May 13th when Mercury forms a trine to Mars. Mars in Virgo means that people are willing to look at various details and implement plans. Mercury in Taurus means that discussions center around values. You may feel passionate on this day because you really want to achieve things. Just don’t let that passion drive you so much that you forget how important relationships are.

The energy of the grand earth trine continues on May 14th when Mercury forms a trine to Pluto retrograde. Since Pluto in Capricorn represents the need to assert your power and not lose control, you may feel there is a lot of intensity surrounding you. However, if you need to get into heated debates about who controls what, you’ll actually find that a lot can be resolved today. Just stick to your values and also take the time to listen to other people as they discuss their values. And, since Mercury forms a sextile to Chiron less than an hour after it formed the trine to Pluto retrograde, you’ll be able to resolve any matters which became potential problems in the heat of the discussions.

Venus in Gemini turns retrograde on May 15th. This is an especially important retrograde for Venus. Venus normally rules the sign of Taurus. So, with Mercury now in Taurus and creating a grand earth trine, you want to feel the love for other people and you want other people to feel the same way about you. However, Venus is in Gemini, an air sign, right now. This means that value is placed more on communications than on love and affection. And, with Venus turning retrograde, it becomes more difficult to express affection. Also, Venus is out-of-bounds right now. That means that it’s difficult to understand your feelings. (An out-of-bounds planet is one that moves outside the ecliptic.)

Venus is heading towards an “eclipse” of the Sun on June 5, 2012 (in the Western Hemisphere). Technically, Venus is too small to eclipse the Sun so the astronomical name for this phenomena is called the Venus Transit. This represents the need to understand the feminine principle. (You can read more about the Venus Transit in my upcoming June 2012 article.)

Venus will return in-bounds on June 3, 2012 and turn direct on June 27, 2012. During this time period that Venus is retrograde, especially while it’s out-of-bounds, it’s important that you pay attention to your finances. There are more hidden costs than usual with this retrograde. It’s also important that you pay attention to your relationships. You may feel as if people are willing to support you in your choices, but in actuality other people may feel that you are just running around in a scattered manner and making no sense. As a matter of fact, they may be worried that you are making poor choices based on little facts. And, unfortunately, that could be true. So, do the best you can not to react to information but rather take the time to get the facts.

Mars emphasizes the energy of the grand earth trine as it forms a trine to Pluto retrograde on May 16th.  At the same time, Jupiter forms a quincunx to Saturn retrograde later in the day. Both these energies indicate that you want to get things done. You have a passion to succeed. But if you just move forward, you’ll find that some of your concepts get muddled. So, it’s important to be flexible today. Go for your goals, but also understand that you may need to change how you approach some of those goals.

May 17th could be a very emotional day for you. Mars forms an opposition to Chiron, followed by Mercury forming a conjunction to Ceres, and Jupiter forming a sesquisquare to Pluto. There’s a desire to fight for what you believe in. At the same time, you want to make certain that you don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. But the reality is that you may feel like you have to fight to maintain your sense of power and it’s not worth it. Any arguments which occur on this day won’t be resolved. So, it’s better if you can just keep your thoughts to yourself.

When the Sun enters Gemini on May 20th, there is this feeling of déjà vu. Because the Sun is approaching a conjunction to the Moon’s South Node, you feel as if everything you’re doing is familiar. Plus, the Sun will form a square to Neptune over the next few days so you don’t have all the facts you need. This is a good day to pull back and reflect on things that you’ve done in the past. It’s also a good day to let go of behavior that’s interfering with your happiness.

Later that evening (Eastern Daylight Time), the first eclipse of the year occurs. This is a solar annular eclipse which occurs during a new Moon. The Sun has just entered Gemini and the Moon is also in Gemini at 0 degrees. This means that you may not understand everything this eclipse represents.

You need to be willing to make changes as it relates to your dreams and how you implement those dreams. You need to understand that it’s important not to give up your sense of personal power. Again you’ll be dealing with matters from your past. Because this is an eclipse, you may not be totally aware of the changes you need to make. This is not a time to try and psychoanalyze things. Rather, listen to your intuition and you’ll make the right choices.

With Mercury forming a quincunx to Saturn retrograde on May 21st, it’ll be easier for you to make changes. You may even have a better understanding of what you intuitively felt the day before. You may feel a little down today but don’t let that stop you from moving forward with your life. Things will get better.

On May 22nd, Mercury forms a conjunction to Jupiter and you feel more optimistic about situations in your life. You’re able to see the best of things. At the same time, don’t become so optimistic that you make too many commitments to other people. If you do, you’ll regret it later.

Mercury enters the sign of Gemini on May 24th and starts moving towards a conjunction with Venus retrograde and the Venus transit. This will become more important in the beginning of June 2012. For right now, Mercury in Gemini means that you need to find ways to communicate your needs while listening to what other people have to say about their needs.

As Mercury enters Gemini, it forms a square to Neptune on May 25th and a conjunction to the Moon’s South Node on May 26th. Again you feel a sense of déjà vu. Again it feels like you’ve “been there, done that.” Move cautiously on these two days. Other people may withhold important information from you, or they may actually deceive you. These are not good days to sign contracts. While your intuition is very high, try to remember that not all is as it seems. You may not be interpreting the information from your intuition accurately.

As the month of May ends, feelings are running very high. Mercury forms a sextile to Uranus on May 27th. On May 28th, Mercury forms a quincunx to Pluto retrograde and a square to Chiron. Other people may not be able to give you the support you need. You may be trying to communicate with them but the information is getting muddy. Too many thoughts are running through your mind making it difficult for you to focus. The key is to pull back. This entire month has been one where you really need to nurture yourself. By trying to force communications on this day, you’ll forget about the importance of nurturing yourself and loved ones. So, calm down and relax. Let other people ramble if they need to. Perhaps writing in your journal will help you refocus your attention on nurturing actions.