Planetary news this week: Lunar eclipse at the Scorpio Full Moon

Astrological update for the week of May 1-8, 2023

Pluto turns retrograde May 1. Although the lunar eclipse on May 5th is the headline event, there’s a few other things going on too! First, Pluto makes its retrograde turn on Monday May 1st but you probably won’t even notice because Pluto has been stationary in the sky for over a month, and will continue to be virtually stationary for several more weeks. That makes the influence of Pluto more potent, and its transformative effect is likely to feel something like a sledgehammer especially if it’s hitting something sensitive in your own chart (around 0 degrees of the fixed signs Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio and Leo).

Sun/Mercury conjunction May 1. The conjunction of the Sun and Mercury is an important part of the retrograde Mercury cycle, and when Mercury is retrograde as it is now the conjunction to the Sun marks the midpoint of the retrograde cycle. I know that conjunctions of the Sun to another planet (combust and cazimi) are supposed to be “bad” and burn up the planetary energies with solar light, but illumination from the Sun can shed light on events that may be misunderstood or mysterious. The Mercury retrograde review can help us to gain greater understanding which will help improve our progress when Mercury turns direct again.

Lunar eclipse May 5. The Scorpio Full Moon occurs at astrological Beltane: the midpoint between the solstice and the equinox. This is a magical time of power when in the northern hemisphere the world comes to life again after the winter and the heat of the summer begins to prevail.

This is a partial eclipse and the South Node is 11 degrees away from the Moon which is pretty far to have a strong astrological effect. Still, the Scorpio Full Moon is still powerful in its own right and with with Uranus, planet of radical departure from the norm and rebellion, conjunct the Taurus Sun and activating the Scorpio Moon there will almost surely be sparks flying.

The Scorpio Full Moon asks that we find space in our search for peace (Taurus) to connect with the power of our emotions and instincts (Scorpio). The fact that the eclipse is on the South Node of the past suggests that a release of a holographic imprint from the past will be necessary before it can be resolved. Approaching this consciously will help to avoid the kinds of situations in which the fire of our emotions explode from nowhere and take over our entire being! Emotions have tremendous power and when we are in the driver’s seat of the chariot of our feelings, real magic can happen.

Ceres turns direct May 6. Personally I haven’t seen direction changes of Ceres to have a notable effect. Ceres, the planet that helps us to better integrate our soul into our physical incarnation, is in Virgo currently and the Virgoan details of good hygiene and proper nutrition will go a long way right now towards helping us to feel more connected to our selves as well as the world around us.

Venus enters Cancer. After spending a few weeks in airy Gemini, Venus will enter the emotional sign of Cancer on May 7th. In Gemini Venus is curious and eager to know everything about the people around us, but once Venus makes that shift into Cancer the emotional connections will be the most important thing. How safe do we feel with our friends and loved ones becomes the question, and how can we best nurture these somewhat fragile connections to strengthen the bonds between us.

These are the major elements at work this week, and I will be on vacation so this forecast will be shorter than usual. I hope you have a great week! 💖

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