The Astrology of May 2022: May, It Be; May It Be; May It, Be
May will be very different from April, which had a lot of Piscean/Neptunian energy - soft, unstable, dreamy that I myself have been wrapped in. Much of it was finding solid ground as old structures and beliefs dissolve, once and for all. Be mindful to come through the fog with your dreams and values more clarified than ever.
I borrow some of that creativity in this post’s title… As after many months of destabilisation, we will be using further strength to ride the next waves of changes. A lot of tension is being released with the pair of eclipses on the Taurus/Scorpio axis that kicks off not only the month of May, but a new phase for the next year and a half. This month also calls for mental reviewing with a round of Mercury retrograde. However, by the end of the month, the view will look different, as astrological, the stars move forward, finally, into other signs.
Pair of Eclipses
The First Eclipse: 30 Apr 2022 - New Moon Exact in 10 degrees Taurus 10 ° 27'
New Moons offer fateful new beginnings. This New Moon and Solar eclipse just before May is particularly potent, as it kicks off a new cycle of beginnings and endings; in April and May 2022, October and November 2022, May and October 2023, the eclipses will all be on the Scorpio/Taurus axis.
If the New Moon falls in your Fourth House, for example, you may move house or decide to uproot yourself in some way. Now until almost the end of 2023 (Oct 2023), you are embarking on a whole new change in where you are deciding where and how to situate yourself in the world. Anything hidden related to your home base and familiar life comes up. Anything hidden from yourself for a while comes up. In this way, you uncover and let go of old karmic patterns that have been limiting you, including healing your inner child.
This New Moon and Solar Eclipse also touches, broadly, Rahu/the Lunar North Node; it offers a whole new phase of life. If the New Moon touches your own natal Moon sign (by a conjunction or opposition), it marks a rich time for emotional discovery and growth, where you are shedding emotional weight and honouring your needs.
Pair of Eclipses
The Second Eclipse: 16 May 2022 • Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio 25 ° 17'
During Full Moons, emotions are amplified, and ask to be released & let go of. Scorpio is the shadow side of life, and deserves it reputation for seemingly fearsome—only because we get away too long without shining light onto the parts of ourselves filled with cobwebs. Full Moon in Scorpio can bring up issues of full vengeance, vengefulness, control.
Yet the archetype of Scorpio is the Eagle that soars above for a striking bird’s eye view of the terrain. Hold this in your mind during any emotional point. A useful perspective could be: Divine right action for the highest good for all concerned. Adapt the line as you wish, because Scorpio will not take to what stinks of falsity.
Emotions are e-motions, or things wanting to be transmuted. For example, if the month’s Full Moon eclipse falls in your Tenth House, you may question your place in the world, what your reputation or career ought to be. If it also on a personal point, it is a potent time to become aware of your triggers and to release old baggage.
Mercury Retrograde in Gemini
10 May to 3 Jun 2024
On 10 May, Mercury stations retrograde in Gemini, thwarting usual quick-wittedness, clarity, and decisions. From 10 May to 3 Jun, Mercury slows its movement to be retrograde, moving “backwards” into a more deliberate, slower sign, Taurus, direct on 3 Jun. It can feel like unfinished business is weighing your plate down again.
Mercury goes retrograde three or four times per year, appearing in the skies to be moving backwards. Take these Mercury retrograde phases as a common, regular period to check in to slow down, review, double check. Like driving on the highway, at certain points depending on your speed, other vehicles appear to you to be “travelling backwards”; they are not, of course, and only appear so from your perspective – which can be a trick on the senses if you choose to focus on the receding vehicle as you move forward.
Mercury rules anything to do with communication and travel, so triple check these. Review any information that you may have overlooked, especially what happened in and since 19 Nov 2021 (eclipse in Taurus). (Remember that was a very powerful eclipse. It’d lasted over three hours where it was visible in the US, the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years.) This May can be a very productive time to get re-organised.
If the retrograde period occurs in your Fourth House, slow down when it comes to making home matters permanent. Take time to think, double check, before signing leases. If you are unsure, it is okay to wait (waiting can be very productive during a retrograde period!) until Mercury moves forward again in just a few weeks.
Jupiter changes sign to Aries
10 May 2022
Jupiter spends a year or so in a sign. On 10 May 2022 (until 28 Oct 2022, and again in Dec 2022), it moves to Aries, cycling back to the start of the zodiac.
Moving from dreamy Pisces to action-oriented Aries, Jupiter’s influence can feel like forward momentum is coming back finally to our lives. The combination of the planet of expansion in the energetic, youthful sign of Aries brings extra courage and motivation. It can feel like the time is ripe for things anew — new ventures, new friendships, new places… The possibilities feel boundless.
If Jupiter is transiting your Third House, you will experience all this and more in areas of life including communication, trips, learning, and near relationships including siblings. Relieve yourself of self-doubt. Practise being honest, open, and clear in how you use your words and what you choose to pursue and learn. Enjoy the positivity of a new year-long phase, as you reap benefits through these activities. This shift will end offering a lot more positivity than how it all began.
Venus enters Aries
2 May 2022
Venus changes signs on 2 May 2022 (and will stay for several months, retrograding back to Pisces). Usually, Venus changes signs every 23 days to a little over 2 months, so this stay in firey Aries is very unusual!
In much of the past month, we enjoyed Venus exalted in Pisces (5 April to 1 May 2022). It was part of a healing stellium as all the planets piled into dreamy Pisces. Now, more extroverted interests are emphasised.
If Venus is now transiting your Third House, you will find positivity in things to do with speech, communication, and talking with people near you. It favours short trips, creativity, having fun and enjoyment, and anything to do with your siblings.
Mars enter Aries
24 May to 5 Jul 2022
Mars changes its sign every 45 days or so. It moves into its home sign of Aries on 24 May 2022, staying until 5 July 2022. Mars’ strength is strong in Aries (and Scorpio, thus we see Martian themes repeated in this month of May), and as some of the other planets move into the start of the zodiac in the fire sign of Aries too, May truly becomes a more outward, action-oriented month.
Courage and energy is usually boosted during this phase. If the transiting Mars clashes with a personal point in your chart, however, look out for temper and explosiveness. For example, if Mars is squaring your Mercury, you may feel irritable in your speech and quick to say things that might be blunt or careless.
Mars is influenced by the natal position of Moon and Mercury. Those with an earthier, more stoic sign (say, Mercury in Capricorn) will find less outward aggression, rather, bubbling impatience that needs an outlet. Those with a Scorpio Moon (the soft Moon does not feel at ease in the blunt energies of Mars-ruled Scorpio) will find they fall into conflict, as suppressed energy or aggression takes the form of anger.
Can you see the Martian themes accumulating in May? Mars is psychologically yoked to Mercury and Moon; what we do and how we feel and think can be bound together. Thus a charged Mars can test our mental and emotional stamina! I’ll leave that for another post. In short, developing healthy physical is crucial this month: yoga, movement, exercise, sport. All the energy has to go somewhere!
Mars conjunct Jupiter in Aries
29 May 2022
Later on in the month, Mars reaches 3 Aries 20 and joins in a conjunction Jupiter 3 Aries 20. Mars is the natural ruler of Aries. This is a big boost of energy, offering drive and bravery in whatever we seek. The flipside is arrogance and shortsightedness.
Even if this touches an empty portion of your chart, get ready for an impact. Look to the ruler of the house to see which planet is being energised. Sun? Ego, sense of self, identity. Mars? Drive, ambition, motivation.
May 2022 = 11 Universal Month
0+5+2+0+2+2=11, and 11 is the number of Illumination/ Intuition / Insight. May is a potent month to illuminate anything that you have suppressed.
Numerology has become increasingly intriguing to me and I try to include it more in astrological readings. The trends of our times is very much contained neatly in the basic arithmetic of Nature.
Another astrologer pointed out this about May 2022, which starkly fits the overall theme of May with its eclipses, and the multiple planets changing signs.
The amount of thoughts, emotions going through you can feel very rapid, emotional, heavy on the nervous system, and some may go into overthinking, over feeling, and not being grounded.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another, i.e., transmuted. With so much new information coming up in May, laying the way through to end 2023, it is important to take time to integrate and transmute what you need to.
*Practise being present.*
*Watch your words. *
*Heal past hurts.*