We are almost at the mid-point of 2020, and what a karmic year this has been! Along with May flowers, this month brings several pivotal astrological planetary alignments. To begin with, tomorrow morning we have the full moon in Scorpio (exact at 6:45am). This full moon is a welcome change to the other moon cycles we have had so far, because even though it’s in intense Scorpio, it sings a sweet melody with the aspects it makes to other planetary bodies during this time. This moon is a supermoon, meaning that it’s very close to the earth and will exert its energetic influences strongly.

A Scorpio moon is always sensual and deeply emotional, and given that this full moon makes a harmonious trine aspect to Neptune in Pisces, we are under the influence of quite strong watery vibrations at this time. With Mercury opposing the full moon, understanding and the communication of our feelings take importance in our lives and the Neptune aspect enhances our imagination, emotions and creativity. We are drawn into the watery depths of the signs of Pisces and Scorpio under this moon, making us yearn for a deep understanding of our true nature. These aspects are also quite powerfully spiritual and they lend us a helping hand during these troubled times by opening up our compassion, so that we are better able to hold each other in our hearts. Mercury also forms a beautiful sextile to Neptune just minutes before the full moon rises, further opening our capacity for sympathetic understanding. Dreams and intuition are heightened at this time as is the general vibe of psychic perception. We are more aware of how closely connected we are, even while being far away and locked in our own homes.

Speaking of Mercury, the North Node just moved from water lunar ruled Cancer to airy Mercury ruled Gemini. In order to understand the influence of this shift, we have to first understand what the North Node is, in astrology. The lunar nodes, aka North and South Nodes, are not actual celestial bodies, but rather points of intersection. They are where the Sun and Moon’s orbits align. When there is a new or full moon near the nodes, an eclipse occurs. The lunar nodes, which are always opposite to each other ( meaning a Gemini North Node will always bring with it a Sagittarius South Node), can bring about some intense energies and usually shift about once every 18-20 months. When the nodes shift, we can reflect back on what we have learned during the last cycle and as we enter the next round of eclipses that start in June, we will have see more obvious signs of the nodal shift.

The themes for this shift into Gemini North Node (And Sagittarius South Node) is communication, freedom, expression, learning, information, ideas and dogma. The North Node represents our karmic direction, where we are headed as a collective in terms of our evolutionary growth. As we embark on this 2 year journey with the new north nodes, a big theme that will come up for us will be the dissemination of information. Like it or not, there is a lot that we are unaware of as a collective and a lot that we will have to learn. The spreading of information will be like wildfire, and at the same time, there will be bodies of people, who try to control or manipulate the information that we, as the general public receive from our mainstream sources. While the Gemini North Node encourages us to remain curious about the communication we receive, we are likely to fall prey to the dogmatic approach of South Node in Sagittarius, thinking that ‘our’ sources, ideas and ways of thinking are better than others. Why is this you ask? Because in general, the North Node is like our blindspot. It’s what we need to grow into, but feel challenged by. Those with their North or South Nodes in Gemini will feel this transit the strongest (yours truly being one of them), since it represents a Nodal return in their birth chart, something that comes about approximately every 18.5 years. For more information on how your north node affects you in your chart and your purpose in life, book an Astrology Reading with me.

Another element of this aspect is clarity of mind. As a collective we have the opportunity to do things differently, and as individuals we have the option of choosing where we get our information and how we integrate that information into our lives. Gemini will be urging us to change our minds and expand our attitudes. Remember that the ruler of Gemini is trickster Mercury, which rules the mind, and our minds (Mercury) are capable of fooling us into ego traps when we stubbornly stand by what we believe to be truth (Sagittarius). And if we want to tap into the highest manifestation of the South Node in Sagittarius, we have to look for truth by tapping into our innate wisdom, into that which dwells within and not without. Then the confusions of the world will change into clarity.

Now this shift in the North Node into Gemini is followed by another planet in Gemini that goes retrograde in a few days on May 13th — Venus. The planet of love, romance and matters of the heart is already uncomfortable at best in the sign of the twins, but add to that the tricky vibe of a retrograde and we have ourselves a recipe for quite a challenging transit. Venus retrograde brings up issues of the heart with regards to our past. During this time we collectively get to see where our blocks are when it comes to giving and receiving love. We also get to learn how the idea of being free and unattached might drive us away from situations and people who might have much to teach us if we could rise above our mental (Gemini) fears of getting close. Of course how this Venus transit will affect you personally, will depend on where it falls in your birth chart. You can find out about this by booking an Astrology Reading with me.. To make matters worse, this Venus retrograde will square Neptune, and this hard aspect usually draws out the shadow side of the watery planet creating illusions and deception resulting in disillusion in matters of the heart. Luckily, this is a pretty brief transit, lasting till June 25th, so if the lockdown continues, we can escape most of its impact by hanging out at home in our PJs. I kid…if we are meant to learn something from this transit, we will learn it even if we are hiding under the covers. Although remember always that the stars incline, they don’t compel. In other words, the more you learn to flow with the waves of the universe, the less they come crashing on you.

The day after Venus goes retrograde, Jupiter starts its retrograde journey on May 14th. This retrograde transit has a far more positive charge to it, as it makes a happy aspect to the Sun, creating opportunities for growth, expansion, optimism and dare I say good fortune. So a lot of the intensity brought on by the other planets including Saturn, which we’ll get into momentarily, is mitigated by fiery Jupiter’s blessings. In Vedic astrology, Jupiter is called the planet of the Gurus, and is considered to be quite fortuitous when placed well in a chart. Jupiter will also make a conjunction to Pluto while it’s in retrograde motion, and the coming together of these two planets, both retrograde and both in the sign of Capricorn ruled by Saturn, makes me think that if nothing else we should have a break in the coronavirus situation, with the number of cases slowing down. While we have to wait and see how that pans out, we can rest assured that the blessings of Jupiter will continue to work its magic on our collective psyche. Jupiter is the archetype of the higher mind, and during its retrograde we have an opportunity to go deeper within ourselves (think about the theme of the full moon that we started with), and create transformation through an internal shift of perception.

The last planet I want to talk about is Saturn, which has been and continues to be a key player in the astrological theater in the skies. Saturn will turn retrograde on May 11th, bringing with it the themes of restriction and anxiety. This is perfectly reflected in our societal response as the restrictions get slowly lifted, and yet we are so shell shocked by the whole experience, that psychologically it may take us much longer to recover, even when the physical threat is over. Saturn retrograde urges us to dig into our past to see what traumas are being triggered through our current experiences of lockdown. Nothing happens by accident and while Saturn aspects can feel the most painful on a psyche, they bear equal levels of reward if we are willing to take on the challenge head on and dissolve the stories that no longer work but rather cause us pain.

Saturn retrograde in Capricorn also triggers collective mistrust of those in authority and of long established structures that have far outlived their usefulness. On a societal level, we may finally start waking up to the broken systems that keep us caged in ways that we haven’t been able to see before. For example, think about this article in Forbes magazine that shows the discrepancy of economic experience of the billionaires of America and the common people during the pandemic. The rich have gotten 308 billion dollars richer as millions upon millions of people file for and are unable to get unemployment. Not to mention the countries we have forgotten about, like India, Bangladesh and parts of Africa, where people were dying of starvation long before the pandemic and now are hopeless and helpless. Saturn in Capricorn will bring us face to face with these harsh realities as we make choices on both a personal and collective level, that will lead into the dissolution of these extractive and non-sustainable systems that are only in place because of our collective unconsciousness and blindness. Saturn has harsh lessons to teach, specially if we continue down the spiral that we have been on for centuries. More than any other planet, the Lord of Karma is encouraging us to awaken so that we can experience a different world.

We are in what the ancient sacred Hindu scriptures, the Vedas call ‘Kalyug’ or ‘Age of Darkness’, or some translate it as the ‘Age of Downfall’. It is considered to be the final era in the spiritual evolution of humankind. The scriptures state that this Yug or era is ‘the most difficult for the human race and many atrocities and unfairness will become commonplace in society’. If we look around us, it is easy to see the darkness that prevails on our planet right now. From what I understand, Kalyug is meant to last for many thousands of years, but time is quite relative when it comes to such things. Many ancient cultures have prophecies about the times that we are in, which say that time has speeded up in a manner of speaking for humanity. Some say that this is not the first time that we have been in such a pivotal point in our evolution as a race. Some say that similar things happened in ancient Egypt and during the times of Atlantis when technological innovations and focus on the material aspect of life took precedence over our spiritual lives resulting in great imbalances within the mind of men and leading to their downfall and destruction.

Whether we believe in these ancient prophecies or think about them as myths and legends, the truth of our world remains in front of us, stark and bare. We are at a turning point in our civilization. It is easy to see that the world that we have built is not sustainable. Not sustainable for humans, and certainly not sustainable to other life forms of animals and plants. Millions of species are dying out, and the earth is in crisis. Will we wake up and change our ways? Or will we continue the path of destruction and mayhem? The planets are speaking to us in their archetypal language and bringing forth the same questions. By mid may, there will be four planets retrograde in the sky including Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto. And these alignments, specially with their retrograde motion, are urging us to wrap up our past, to let it dissolve, so that we can make space for the emergence of a new consciousness on this planet, of Oneness and Unity.