May is an action-packed month with a few major plot twists. Imagine you’re watching a movie about car chases, all vrooming and heavy bass music and cars flipping and soaring, but then the lead car disappears under a bridge and ends up at the beginning again, playing out the same race on the same track. And when it reaches the bridge again, this time on the other side we’re on horseback in the Old West. Or in spaceships. Or in some other story where the concept of “car chase” becomes even stranger and we begin to wonder: Were the cars really a metaphor? What were we chasing? Who were we escaping? In short, May has moments of the Fast and the Furious intercut with moments of Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain. Which is to say—we may feel a rush of adrenalin and forward motion, but where it leads us may be much stranger than we anticipated. There’s a lot going on astrologically this month, so let’s break it down piece by piece:

*Jupiter is stirring up trouble.* This gentle giant, the gay cheerleader of the cosmos, has been drifting through the clouds of Pisces for the first part of the year and is now making a major shift. On May 3rd Jupiter will sextile Pluto, planet of tough love and harsh truths. When Jupiter contacts Pluto, we find move with expansive energy toward what’s thorny and in need of healing. This can be a good thing, signaling a time when we’re no longer afraid of that thorn stuck in our paw and we’ve got the tweezers and scalpel at the ready. This can also be a hard thing, if we’re moving toward what hurts without intention or skill—this is where it becomes trouble. Be careful especially this month about naming what you’re noticing about other people’s business.

*Jupiter is revving our engines.* When Jupiter moves into Aries on May 10th, the tone of the year also shifts. We’re moving from idling to speeding, from 0 to 60 in mere seconds, and any other car metaphor you care to choose. Jupiter concerns the collective’s beliefs, hopes, and energy for growth. Aries is the sign that spurs quick growth and immediate action—what’s been simmering all year is now ready to boil, for better and worse. Expect new beginnings in social movements, and ready yourself to start doing what you’ve only been considering so far. Jupiter will stay in Aries till October 28th this year before dipping back into Pisces one last time—use these months wisely, pacing yourself but also moving toward your longterm goals.

*Mercury is creating some time loops.* Mercury also turns retrograde on May 10th, and Mercury retrograde always asks us to go back over familiar ground and reexamine where we’ve been. Slowness is often indicated, as is patience—both may feel harder to access this month, so make plans for how to handle frustrations that arise.

*Mars joins the action.* Mars, ruler of Aries, will join Venus and Jupiter in Aries on May 24th. If we went from 0 to 60 earlier, we’re going from 60 to 90 now. The second half of the year is dominated by Mars energy, and this month begins that shift.

*Eclipses change the plot entirely.* Finally, no big deal, we’re in eclipse season and there will be a Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio on May 16th. Eclipses reveal what’s been hidden and can be jarring and surprising—this month people with planets near 25 degrees of Scorpio, Taurus, Leo, and Aquarius will be most strongly affected. During an eclipse it’s always best practices to watch, wait, and learn rather than jumping to conclusions or taking immediate action, within reason. Don’t put your life on hold, but if you have to make a big decision, expect some unexpected things to come up.

This month is high energy, high adrenalin, and packed full of energetic twists and turns. Drive safely, my friends, and remember you can set your own pace even if everyone around you is zooming around dangerously. Find a gentle side road. Pull over at a rest area and have a snack. Enjoy the momentum of Aries season, but don’t fall for a false sense of urgency when you’re ready to slow things down.

I’m here for you if you need me this month, so go ahead and 9book a reading)[https://www.flaxandgold.com/readings/]. As always, for more astro insights you can follow me on (Instagram)[https://www.instagram.com/corinadross], join me on (Patreon)[https://www.patreon.com/corinadross], and listen to my New Moon podcast (The Hum)[https://anchor.fm/the-hum-and-the-holler]. Good luck out there!

Aries

*You’re ready:* To be exactly how you are in this moment. To claim what you need to thrive. To clarify what works and doesn’t work for you. To choose your own path.
*You’re not ready:* It’s harder in this moment to know which parts of your life are stable and which are unstable. Can you put down roots or should you be ready to cut ties and move on? Which relationships are maturing and ripening and which ones are transforming and releasing? What is solid ground and what is shifting sand? Stay aware and curious throughout this month.

Taurus

*You’re ready:* To fully release what’s been stressing you. To claim your downtime, your dreaming time, your sacred doing-nothing-at-all-productive time. To take seriously your need for restorative sleep, restorative dreams, and deep inner communion.
*You’re not ready:* This eclipse is especially powerful for your sign. Relationship issues may be up for you this month and you’re particularly charged around questions of what’s good for you vs. what’s good for your friends and partners. You may experience some uncomfortable tug of war scenarios where it feels like only one person can get their needs met, but eclipse season is challenging you to see the deeper stories underneath that. Pay attention to what makes you feel defensive or codependent. Keep track of what you’d like to change, in your own reactions and in relationship dynamics.

Gemini

*You’re ready:* To dream big again. To join the larger world and be part of liberating changes. To work toward a future worth living in.
*You’re not ready:* There’s more you need to learn this month about integrating your inner world with your outer—whether that feels like balancing work between mind and body, subconscious and conscious, daily life and your connection to all times past and future. You’re stuck somewhere between the infinite and the finite, the known and the unknowable. How can you find inspiration and creativity through these blockages? What do you need to learn right now?

Cancer

*You’re ready:* To level up. You’ve learned enough to claim your expertise and become a resource for others. This is a month to be honest about your capacity and your ambitions, even if it feels more comfortable not to put yourself forth.
*You’re not ready:* Expect some confusion this month about your role in a group. There’s something you’re learning about how you operate as “we” vs. “me” that may surprise you. Ask yourself: When I’m emotionally activated, does the power of that emotion mean I ask for attention despite what the group might need in that moment? If so, how can I self-soothe and track the needs of others as I tend to my own? Or, do I have a tendency to ignore my needs and hyperfocus on tending to others? What might it look like to speak up more about what I need?

Leo

*You’re ready:* To set sail. To explore. To have adventures. To feel free, expanded, and reconnected.
*You’re not ready:* There may be some stress about your home and family life, or your work life, or how those relate to each other. Responsibilities of all kinds can weigh heavy on you. This isn’t the month where you find the most elegant solutions, you’re merely gathering data and taking notes right now and what feels crunchy and why. Next month is when you get to take steps to shift things toward the better.

Virgo

*You’re ready:* To transform. To face your fears and heal them. To release past traumas. To shed the too-tight skin of old, outdated identities.
*You’re not ready:* To know what it all means yet or how to talk about it. You are still in process, and it may be difficult to name what your becoming. Resist the urge to justify (to yourself or others) what feels right. You don’t need a road map or a thesis statement. You don’t need to make simple what is nuanced and complex. Let yourself be in a process of change without needing to have a plan yet for where you’re headed.

Libra

*You’re ready:* To say yes to partnership that works well. To say no to partnerships that aren’t working. To call in peers and collaborators. To have clarity on what kind of relationship supports your wellbeing and is worth the effort.
*You’re not ready:* To know what you want to keep and what you want to change. To trust what’s growing to keep growing. To know how deeply you’re willing to release what isn’t working. To reckon with the more powerful emotions around loss, fear of loss, and security. You may have intellectual clarity this month, but your feelings may take some time to catch up with you.

Scorpio

*You’re ready:* To be fully present. To claim your body as your own. To tend to your physical health without resentment or criticism of how you’re body is showing up.
*You’re not ready:* This eclipse is especially powerful for your sign. Relationships are a little dicier for you this month—pay attention to your tendency to retreat or stonewall when you don’t have the energy to process what you’re feeling on the spot. Pay attention to other peoples’ tendency to push you or cross your boundaries, even unintentionally or with the best motives. Let these tensions become useful information to sort through later, and by all means resist any doom narratives that come up around them.

Sagittarius

*You’re ready:* To flirt and romance—yourself, your partner(s), new dates, trees, weather patterns, flowers, books—whatever and whoever fills you with that sense of excitement and newness.
*You’re not ready:* Pacing yourself may be a problem this month as you have a tendency to get lost in the big dreams—fantasies, visioning, planning, mapping out potential futures—and ignore basic physical needs (have you eaten enough today? Is it past your bedtime) and responsibilities (who’s waiting on you to get back to them in a timely manner?). As much as possible, let these tensions be instructive. Don’t beat yourself up but also don’t ignore the ones that have valuable insights for you. You are learning a new balance between the world of potential and the here and now.

Capricorn

*You’re ready:* To congratulate yourself on a job well done and take a break. To reconnect with what nurtures you. To say no to anything that’s going to take too much energy. To rest.
*You’re not ready:* It may be harder this month to handle your own need for affection and attention with larger plans and projects you’re invested in. Do you let projects and aspirations take center stage 100% of the time? 90%? What would a better balance feel like between the personal and the political? When and how is it okay to say: “Pay attention to me”?

Aquarius

*You’re ready:* To tell the world. To name your terms. To ask for what matters. To reach out after absence. To laugh long and hard.
*You’re not ready:* Home and work are somewhat fraught terrains this month, with tensions between the two possible as well as just a general sense of overwhelm that might show up most as financial fears. Don’t freak out. Do take notes. Start a list of what’s causing you anxiety and add to it throughout this month, but keep it in a drawer and try not to think about it too much until next month, when you’ll be in a better space to do triage and take action.

Pisces

*You’re ready:* To put down roots. To ask to be held. To value yourself beyond your productivity or popularity. To have what you need.
*You’re not ready:* Language is always a little slippery for you, and this month it might be even harder to find the right words—or the right concepts, questions, or tone. As much as possible resist the urge to find the “right” answer or the “one” meaning while you’re still in a process of uncovering. Let your ideas spill out in abstraction, absurdity, and creative chaos. You can piece them together in more logical ways later.

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