Monthly Astrology by Mandi Lockley
May 2009: Mercury Retrograde, Scorpio Full Moon & More...
This year, we are being treated to four Mercury Retrograde periods instead of the usual three, so after a brief flirtation in his home sign of Gemini, Mercury stations retrograde on 6th May (at 1Gem41), moving back through Taurus until he turns direct on 31st May and heads back towards Gemini.
Much is said and written about Mercury Retrograde and it is often feared as a time when everything is likely to go wrong, especially anything to do with communication or travel. I don't totally agree with that, after all, Mercury is the Trickster planet and he's the planet of the mind, so he loves to fool us into worrying unnecessarily. The retrograde period may not even affect you at all unless it is hitting trigger points in your personal horoscope. That said it’s always a good time to take extra care when doing the 'things' which are ruled by Mercury. Thinking things through properly and double checking the details is worth the effort. It's also worth putting off signing any major deals, documents and contracts during a Mercury Retrograde if you can. Not necessarily because it will be some great big disaster if you do, but because you may end up having to go over everything all over again at a later date, which in itself is annoying and irritating. Mostly, Mercury Retrograde is a time for review and in Taurus, perhaps it’s a good time to reassess your financial or emotional security.
The intense Full Moon in Scorpio on 9th May, exposes the areas of our lives where we have become stuck because we have been too controlling and too attached to the status quo to consider other options. But, with its T-Square to the Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron conjunction, this Full Moon offers us an opportunity for release and healing in those areas, awakening us to the needs and feelings of others in our personal relationships and in our wider communities.
On 17th May, Saturn in Virgo goes Direct after being retrograde since the end of December 2008. Saturn is the planet of responsibility and discipline, where we reap what we sow, and in Virgo, the great global clean up must continue…
As an aside, Saturn still going through his long series of oppositions with Uranus, the awakener, with the next exact opposition in September 2009*. When Saturn and Uranus are in a challenging aspect, we see the upsetting of the status quo, as that which is new and innovative attempts to break down that which is conventional and traditional. This dynamic could not have been more clearly exemplified than in fact that the date of the first opposition of the series, 4th November 2008, was also the date of the US Presidential election! Much has been written about these Saturn-Uranus oppositions and here, in my opinion, is where you will find some of the best articles:
http://planetaryenergies.net/2008/10/29/the-saturn-uranus-opposition-2008-to-2010/
http://www.billherbst.com/newsindex.html
Back to the present and throughout May, the Venus-Mars Conjunction continues. See my article The Coupling of Venus & Mars (May 2009).
We also have the ongoing Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron Conjunction in Aquarius. See my blog: Swine Flu & The Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune Conjunction (30th April). See also Melanie Reinhart’s article on the triple conjunction and how it relates to Barack Obama, the USA and Zimbabwe: http://www.melaniereinhart.com/melanie/WeThePeople.htm
The Sun makes its yearly sojourn into Gemini on 21st May, followed, on 24th May, by the New Moon in Gemini, which is a good time for planning, but not the best time for action, for when it is New, the Moon is in her darkest phase and does not reveal all her secrets. Wait until after 31st May, when `the Moon is growing brighter and Mercury, Gemini’s ruling planet, has turned direct, before embarking on any new commercial, travel, education or communication projects.
Neptune turns Retrograde in Aquarius on May 28th, where he will travel backwards until November, making an exact conjunction with Jupiter in July. Chiron is still close at hand, with the three planets perhaps asking us to have faith in our capacity to heal our spiritual wounds, both individually and within our local and global communities. Pause & consider the great good that can come out of the very small acts of compassion and kindness that we can all do, every single day.
*The dates for the Saturn-Uranus oppositions are as follows:
4th November 2008 at 18Vir57 – 18Pis57
5th February 2009 at 20Vir39 – 20Pis39
15th September 2009 at 24Vir42 – 24Pis42
27th April 2010 at 28Vir46 – 28Pis46
26th July 2010 at 00Lib25 – 00Ari25
May 2009: Mercury Retrograde, Scorpio Full Moon & More...
This year, we are being treated to four Mercury Retrograde periods instead of the usual three, so after a brief flirtation in his home sign of Gemini, Mercury stations retrograde on 6th May (at 1Gem41), moving back through Taurus until he turns direct on 31st May and heads back towards Gemini.
Much is said and written about Mercury Retrograde and it is often feared as a time when everything is likely to go wrong, especially anything to do with communication or travel. I don't totally agree with that, after all, Mercury is the Trickster planet and he's the planet of the mind, so he loves to fool us into worrying unnecessarily. The retrograde period may not even affect you at all unless it is hitting trigger points in your personal horoscope. That said it’s always a good time to take extra care when doing the 'things' which are ruled by Mercury. Thinking things through properly and double checking the details is worth the effort. It's also worth putting off signing any major deals, documents and contracts during a Mercury Retrograde if you can. Not necessarily because it will be some great big disaster if you do, but because you may end up having to go over everything all over again at a later date, which in itself is annoying and irritating. Mostly, Mercury Retrograde is a time for review and in Taurus, perhaps it’s a good time to reassess your financial or emotional security.
The intense Full Moon in Scorpio on 9th May, exposes the areas of our lives where we have become stuck because we have been too controlling and too attached to the status quo to consider other options. But, with its T-Square to the Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron conjunction, this Full Moon offers us an opportunity for release and healing in those areas, awakening us to the needs and feelings of others in our personal relationships and in our wider communities.
On 17th May, Saturn in Virgo goes Direct after being retrograde since the end of December 2008. Saturn is the planet of responsibility and discipline, where we reap what we sow, and in Virgo, the great global clean up must continue…
As an aside, Saturn still going through his long series of oppositions with Uranus, the awakener, with the next exact opposition in September 2009*. When Saturn and Uranus are in a challenging aspect, we see the upsetting of the status quo, as that which is new and innovative attempts to break down that which is conventional and traditional. This dynamic could not have been more clearly exemplified than in fact that the date of the first opposition of the series, 4th November 2008, was also the date of the US Presidential election! Much has been written about these Saturn-Uranus oppositions and here, in my opinion, is where you will find some of the best articles:
http://planetaryenergies.net/2008/10/29/the-saturn-uranus-opposition-2008-to-2010/
http://www.billherbst.com/newsindex.html
Back to the present and throughout May, the Venus-Mars Conjunction continues. See my article The Coupling of Venus & Mars (May 2009).
We also have the ongoing Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron Conjunction in Aquarius. See my blog: Swine Flu & The Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune Conjunction (30th April). See also Melanie Reinhart’s article on the triple conjunction and how it relates to Barack Obama, the USA and Zimbabwe: http://www.melaniereinhart.com/melanie/WeThePeople.htm
The Sun makes its yearly sojourn into Gemini on 21st May, followed, on 24th May, by the New Moon in Gemini, which is a good time for planning, but not the best time for action, for when it is New, the Moon is in her darkest phase and does not reveal all her secrets. Wait until after 31st May, when `the Moon is growing brighter and Mercury, Gemini’s ruling planet, has turned direct, before embarking on any new commercial, travel, education or communication projects.
Neptune turns Retrograde in Aquarius on May 28th, where he will travel backwards until November, making an exact conjunction with Jupiter in July. Chiron is still close at hand, with the three planets perhaps asking us to have faith in our capacity to heal our spiritual wounds, both individually and within our local and global communities. Pause & consider the great good that can come out of the very small acts of compassion and kindness that we can all do, every single day.
*The dates for the Saturn-Uranus oppositions are as follows:
4th November 2008 at 18Vir57 – 18Pis57
5th February 2009 at 20Vir39 – 20Pis39
15th September 2009 at 24Vir42 – 24Pis42
27th April 2010 at 28Vir46 – 28Pis46
26th July 2010 at 00Lib25 – 00Ari25
© Mandi Lockley 2009
Back to Current Article