Jail Break
The Sun’s conjunction with Uranus (May 9, 2023, at 12:56 pm PDT, at 18°56’ Taurus) initiates their latest one-year cycle in Taurus – a sign Uranus entered in 2008 and in which it’s never been truly comfortable. Taurus is an immovable object and Uranus, the irresistible force. When they come together, it’s a little bit like having an earthquake in your chart.
Then again, being comfortable is not all it’s cracked up to be, and this combination can be energizing. The Sun symbolizes our sense of who we are, which tends to be based on who we’ve always been. There is a point at which we can feel a bit imprisoned by that sense of self, as though we aren’t allowed to try to be anything else.
Enter Uranus, which aims to liberate us from our self-imposed prisons.
The Sabian symbol for this combination is, A newly formed continent. It takes a tremendous amount of pressure underneath the surface to create a new continent, and that’s the kind of explosive release of energy that’s possible at the Sun-Uranus conjunction.
To the extent that you’re in a rut, that there are things you resist doing because you feel they’d be out of character, this conjunction of the Sun with Uranus offers an opportunity to challenge that. It’s an astrological “get out of jail free” card. Go ahead and use it.
Mediator
On May 12, Mercury in Taurus makes a pair of sextile aspects to Saturn (1:42 am PDT) and Venus (7:44 pm PDT). These fast-moving aspects might not seem very consequential, but in fact, Mercury is acting as a mediator, setting up a practical dialogue for a more substantive Venus-Saturn trine later that evening. That aspect takes place in the water signs of Cancer and Pisces, which emphasize emotional connections. But relationships can flounder if practical and financial matters aren’t addressed, and Mercury in the earth sign of Taurus facilitates important conversations about resources, wealth, and debt. With Mercury still retrograde for a couple more days, this is a good time to review your spending, restructure your budget, and organize your possessions and financial systems.
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Eternal
Some relationships exist purely for pleasure. You might enjoy the occasional lunch with a casual acquaintance, wish them a happy birthday, compliment their latest Instagram reel. In some special cases, you enjoy sensual escapades together without the desire for anything more serious. Relationships built on pleasure are Venus in its simplest form.
But there are a few times in life when you look into another’s eyes and see the future staring back at you. You realize that you could build something with this person. It might be a band, a business, or a family. But whatever it is, they draw you toward a future you’d never have imagined on your own.
This is what it’s like when Venus in Cancer trines Saturn in Pisces (May 12, 2023, 11:57 pm PDT), and the personal becomes eternal. Commitment doesn’t preclude pleasure, but in Venus/Saturn relationships it’s no longer the only thing that matters.
The Safe Place
The Last Quarter Moon is the moment in each lunar month for taking stock and recalibrating direction. But this internal progress report isn’t confined to the current lunar cycle, beginning at the most recent New Moon. Rather, it can be a time of reviewing your life in larger terms.
The Sabian symbol for the Last Quarter Moon at 21º36′ Aquarius (May 12, 2023, 7:28 am PDT) is 22 Aquarius, A rug placed on the floor for children to play, while the Sun is on 22 Taurus, A white dove over troubled waters. Remember napping in the back seat of the family station wagon on the long drive home from grandma’s house? Both of these symbols evoke that kind of safety and security, the feeling that someone older and wiser has delineated our boundaries for us and delivered us across troubled waters to terra firma.
As we meditate on what we’ve accomplished since the Aries New Moon, though, let’s remember that safety is never the highest purpose of an Aries journey. Fortunately, this Last Quarter Moon squares the Taurus Sun in a close conjunction with unpredictable Uranus. There is this to be said for the constant change and disruption symbolized by Uranus: they are a part of life that we can absolutely depend upon.
The Bridge
The Mercury retrograde period that began on April 21 has had its share of aggravations. But then, fast-talking, fleet-footed Mercury is always a bit of an odd fit in slow-moving, deliberate Taurus, retrograde or not.
This retrograde is ending on a solid note, though. Some projects have been finished. Outcomes long desired have been fulfilled. Our Maytime gardens are in bloom.
Mercury turns direct (May 14, 2023, 8:17 pm PDT, 5º50’ Taurus) on the Sabian symbol A bridge being built across a gorge, while the symbol where it turned retrograde was Old man attempting vainly to reveal the Mysteries. It’s easy to disregard what the old-timers have to say, I think, until we get a little closer to being one of them ourselves.
As Mercury stations, the bridge of understanding is being built across that gulf. We may understand a few things now that we refused to pay attention to only a few weeks ago. We may not move very quickly as Mercury finishes up its journey in Taurus, but by the time it reaches its home sign of Gemini on June 11, we’ll be ready to dance over that bridge and across the gorge.
Writing and images © 2017-23 by April Elliott Kent
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