All Times Pacific Astrology Report: May 21-May 28
Friends, in Tamra Lucid’s extraordinary photo the raven’s beak is open. He caws just behind and above the coyote whose ears perk to the sound and who freezes in his tracks cowering a bit as he realizes he has just been beaten at his own game: sneaking up on others. Think of this coyote as a symbol of Pluto retrograde in Aquarius. The door to the 20 year Pluto in Aquarius placement opened March 23 and will close June 11, allowing us only a glimpse. The raven is Pluto in Capricorn returning for the rest of 2023 and making briefer appearances in 2024. Pluto in Capricorn began in 2008 with a worldwide economic crisis. Our politicians are flirting with another, only one of the threats to well being that surround us.
With Pluto retrograde in Aquarius we are already seeing a counter reformation driven by religious and social conservatives. With the Pluto in Capricorn grand finale coming up we are likely to see more of this as those who have risen to high places during this Saturn ruled fifteen years we’ve been enduring sense the end of their windows of opportunity and they move to consolidate power and to grift however they may. However, Pluto in Aquarius has already shown us that given new tech within the next decade or so life will be so very different such games will seem antique, although of course there will be new games to replace them. In 2024, despite all the best efforts of reactionaries, it is likely that women and the young will demonstrate that Pluto in Aquarius is the new order: Aquarius the sign of equality, liberation and diversity, not Saturn, the sign of the authoritarian, Kronos eating his own children, willing to do anything to hold power.
Saturday evening’s Mars opposition Pluto is part of a T-square with Jupiter that dominates this week and the next. On the negative side this powerful aspect can indicate anger, violence, the use of force to gain advantage, war, and economic crisis. While this weekend and Monday are the epicenter of the T-square the aspect will be with us until June 1 when Mars moves on but Jupiter remains square Pluto until June 12, the prelude to Pluto’s return to Capricorn and Saturn stationary retrograde. We may have Saturn to thank however for pumping the brakes.
On the positive side we can use this T-square to align our actions with the greater good, and with the actual course of our lives. We can find and create opportunities by redefining success in ways that improve well being while helping us to become more effective,. We’re all waking up from the hibernation caused by the pandemic. Many months of frustration and of denial. This T-square is a gift from Pluto in Aquarius that can help us get back our energy and optimism. The key is balancing all three parts of it. Respect Mars, that is your ambitions, your libido, and the anger you feel that can help you defend your boundaries and protect those you love. Respect Jupiter, your sense of justice, your ability to be prosperous, your love of freedom and adventure, the joy of living. Respect Pluto, the natural order of things, the inevitable endings, the thrilling beginnings, the compulsive and the tranquil, our shadows and our better angels.
Sunday May 21 the sun enters Gemini just after midnight. Don’t waste too much time on gossip. Enjoy short trips and socializing but also take care. The big T-square is fraught with danger for the reckless. Sun trine Pluto exact in the early morning, and sun sextile Mars exact in the late evening, give us a greater opportunity to get something good out of the Mars-Jupiter-Pluto T-square. A great day to seek the balance between Mars, Jupiter and Pluto. Pluto favors meditation. Take some time for insight.
Monday May 22 Mars square Jupiter is exact in the late evening, another aggro aspect but like Mars opposition Pluto it can give us the energy we need to improve our lives. Frustrated urges can lead to over-doing just about anything. Anger can quickly get out of control, so avoid angry people, and why squander time on doom scrolling or flaming? Yes we face unprecedented challenges in the world today, but the universal reformation begins in our own hearts and minds, in our own daily lives. As Diane di Prima wrote: “No one way works, it will take all of us shoving at the thing from all sides to bring it down.”
Tuesday May 23 no lunar aspects are exact. Manly P. Hall wrote: “We can only escape from the world by outgrowing the world. Death may take man out of the world but only wisdom can take the world out of the man. As long as the human being is obsessed by worldliness, he will suffer from the Karmic consequences of false allegiances. When however, worldliness is transmuted into Spiritual Integrity he is free, even though he still dwells physically among worldly things.”
Wednesday May 24 Venus square Chiron is exact. Chiron can indicate health crisis, and with Venus involved on the negative side this can mean that women and artistic types might be feeling a bit under the weather. Relentless stress will do that to sensitive people. But the positive potential indicates that art, music, romance and all Venus activities may help healing along. With squares it takes effort. They are like stairs that must be climbed one step at a time, but the effort can bring us to a new level.
Thursday May 25 only lunar aspects are exact. As C.P. Cavafy wrote: “That we’ve broken their statues, that we’ve driven them out of their temples,
doesn’t mean at all that the gods are dead…they’re still in love with you,
their souls still keep your memory.”
Friday May 26 Venus sextile Uranus is exact. With sun square Saturn around the corner and the T-square still in effect it would be easy to miss this lovely aspect, blooming like wildflowers in the bleak landscape of Saturn and Pluto. Art, music, romance, spontaneity are favored, but with a sense of caution given the prevailing headwinds. New tech could unleash your creativity. Try something new. Do something you’ve never done. Playfully explore the Aquarian side of life. Pluto is in Aquarius for thirteen more days.
Saturday May 27 only lunar aspects are exact. Rabia Al Basra described mystical unity with the divine as that experience: “when ecstasy gets poured into itself and becomes lost, when the wing is fully alive but has no mind or body.”
Sunday May 28 sun square Saturn is exact. Saturn will appear to be slowing down now as it approaches retrograde in about three weeks on June 17. This along with Pluto in Capricorn suggests that the start of summer may not be as festive as we would like. Get some extra rest. Don’t burden yourself with long term prognostications. Stay focused on the present and recognize where you can simplify your life. Study and practice can help us live better lives. As Nam June Paik wrote: “Our life is half natural and half technological. Half-and-half is good. You cannot deny that high-tech is progress. We need it for jobs. Yet if you make only high-tech, you make war. So we must have a strong human element to keep modesty and natural life.”
