May is a “6” Universal Month [5 (May) + 1 (2026) = 6] in a “1” Universal Year. “6” Months are all about balance and, perhaps, the first harvest of the intention we put out into the world through the doubling of 3/manifestation energy. This aligns well with the astrology of the month which is light and easy.
The Set Up
We begin the month with the Sun in Taurus; Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and Neptune in Aries; Venus and Uranus in Gemini, Jupiter in Cancer, and Pluto in Aquarius. This is a month of major planetary shifts: by the month’s end, the Sun will enter Gemini, Mercury will enter Taurus and then Gemini, Mars will enter Taurus, and Venus will enter Cancer. Pluto will also retrograde in Aquarius.
The Nitty Gritty
This is a month that mostly consists of major personal planet changes as the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars all move deeper into our spring signs (and Venus crosses the border into our summer signs). All of our movable planets have finally crossed over Saturn in conjunction, which will lighten the load for the months ahead. The big news this month is our two full moons, which bookend the month on 5/1 and 5/31; while this is not a true astrological “blue moon” (as they occupy different signs), it is still highly astrologically significant.
It shows us the natural energy of the month: how it will rise (coinciding with May Day, which I love), only to fall mid-month, and then rise again.
Our Luminaries: the Sun and the Moon
Because of the current placement of the planets this month, the Sun doesn’t make any significant aspects this month other than its inevitable conjunction to Mercury on 5/14 and a square to the lunar nodes in Pisces and Virgo on 5/25. I’ll talk about Mercury’s conjunction in their own section, but we should touch on the nodal square here. This is the halfway point between our eclipse seasons and the last time that the Sun will square the nodes while they are still on the Pisces/Virgo axis.
We could call this the end of an era, one last touch point to our eclipses in Pisces and Virgo that we’ve been experiencing for the last two years. This tends to carry some of the unpredictable energy of eclipse season, especially for those with unfinished business tied to the themes of these two signs. A few things may fall apart on or around 5/25. If they do, trust that you are right on time.
Our first full moon for the month peaks at 11° Scorpio at 1:23 PM (EDT/UTC-4:00) on 5/1. Keep in mind that for most of North America, this lunation occurs at midday; even though full moon magic is often cast after dark, to utilize the opposition between the Sun and Moon, you need to be working the magic within a couple of hours of its exactitude. The Moon will be in Scorpio through the next day as well, which will lengthen the overall impact of Scorpionic lunar magic. The full moon is mostly unaspected; it is widely square to Pluto in Aquarius, which I mostly note here because Pluto is the modern ruler of Scorpio.
Our second full moon for the month peaks at 4:45 AM (EDT) at 09° Sagittarius on 5/31. Again, note that the exactitude of this opposition is in the early morning hours; the evening of 5/31 is too late for proper “full moon magic.” This lunation will (strangely) feel more controlled as the Moon will be tightly trine to Saturn in Aries. Not a very jovial Sagittarius Moon.
This is two chances to do lunar magic. Two chances to get it right. Think spring, think growing, think birth, think creation.
I see these two lunations as a cosmic opportunity. In April, we had a major stellium between Mercury, Mars, and Saturn in Aries; now in May, we have two full moons – the first ruled by Mars, the second tightly trine to Saturn. This opens up an opportunity to work on whatever came up for us in April, and we can note Mercury’s cazimi right in the middle during our new moon to pull in Mercury’s influence as well.
Our new moon for the month falls on 5/16 at 4:01 PM at 25° Taurus. This lunation is conjunct to Mercury, creating an opportunity to think through the actions (Mars) that lead to the consequences (Saturn).
These three lunations seem to weave seamlessly, both together and with our Saturnian stellium from the month before. When we see aspects line up like this, we should view it as the planets working with us. Here we have thought (Mercury), effort (Mars), and payoff (Saturn) all rolled into one. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Our Personal Planets: Mercury, Venus, and Mars
Overall, the general “vibes” for the month look pretty good as Mercury, Venus, and Mars move through the late spring and early summer signs.
Mercury is moving quickly, entering Taurus on 5/2, conjuncting the Sun on 5/14, and then entering Gemini on 5/17 – this is always a sign that they are nearing their next retrograde. We have two great Mercury aspects this month: their cazimi and their entry into the sign of their domain. Both are days that can bring inspiration and great insight, especially for those of us who are especially mercurial.
See also: a Simple Mercury spell for Mercury Day
Venus starts the month in mutable, airy Gemini before moving on to cardinal, watery Cancer on 5/18. Both have their ups and downs, Venus-wise, but are perfectly good Venus placements. We note that Venus in Cancer will be sextile to Mars in Taurus on 5/19; this is an especially good day to do relationship magic or simply spend time with the ones you love.
Mars starts the month in the sign of his domain (Aries) and ends it in the sign of his exile (Taurus). If you’ve got Mars shit to do in May, do it before 5/18 when he changes signs. That said, Mars in Taurus has a sticktoitness that can be very useful under some circumstances; even exiles can work out in our favor when we understand the signs well enough.
Looking Forward
June starts to set up for the major astrology we will be experiencing all summer as Jupiter enters Leo and Mercury retrogrades. Its worth mentioning that we get two major conjunctions involving Jupiter in Leo – the first between the Sun and Jupiter during Leo season, and the second between Mars, Jupiter, and the South Node during Scorpio season. It’s time for the fixed signs to start paying attention.
The Details
5/1 – Full Moon 11° Scorpio, Mercury conjunct Chiron 27° Aries, Venus in Gemini sextile Saturn in Aries
5/2 – Mercury enters Taurus
5/4 – Mars in Aries square Jupiter in Cancer
5/5 – Mercury in Taurus trine North Node in Pisces, Mercury in Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius
5/6 – Pluto retrogrades 05° Aquarius
5/10 – Sun in Taurus sextile Jupiter in Cancer
5/14 – Sun conjunct Mercury 23° Taurus
5/16 – New Moon 25° Taurus, Mars conjunct Chiron 28° Aries
5/17 – Mercury enters Gemini
5/18 – Venus enters Cancer, Mars enters Taurus
5/19 – Mercury in Gemini sextiles Neptune in Aries, Mercury in Gemini trine retrograde Pluto in Aquarius, Venus in Cancer sextile Mars in Taurus
5/20 – Sun enters Gemini
5/21 – Sun conjunct Uranus 01° Gemini
5/22 – Venus in Cancer square Neptune in Aries, Venus in Cancer trine North Node in Pisces
5/24 – Sun in Gemini sextile Neptune in Aries, Mars in Taurus trine South Node in Virgo
5/25 – Sun in Gemini square the lunar nodes in Pisces and Virgo
5/26 – Sun in Gemini trine retrograde Pluto in Aquarius, Mars in Taurus square retrograde Pluto in Aquarius
5/28 – Venus in Cancer square Saturn in Aries
5/31 – Full Moon 09° Sagittarius
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