May 2008

Planning & Scheduling Living in Accord with the Seasons The Sun has moved into vedic Taurus, bringing sensual enjoyments and a focus on material life. Mercury and Venus are both accompanying the Sun in Taurus by May 21, (with an aspect from Saturn,) bringing enjoyment of all the simple pleasures - a well-prepared meal, hard labor aimed at creating that explosion of color in the garden, lemonade out on the porch during a sunset... . Write these dates into your calendar: May 26 - June 18, Mercury is retrograde. Review, rewrite, edit, comb through for accuracy. Wait until after June 18 to initiate projects or sign contracts. Leave plenty of time to get home from Memorial Day weekend on Monday the 26th. Mars is in Cancer (Apr. 29 - Jun. 21). You might be in a nesting mode lately. Getting the house ready for summer, doing repairs on the house, buying things for the house - all these things might be sparked with Mars in Cancer. Mars and Saturn will join up in July in vedic Leo, signifying a period of pushing through to finish up a piece of work, leaving little time for enjoying the home front, so enjoy your cozy nest now! Mars has been traveling with Ketu since May 6 and conjoins Ketu on June 15th. June 15 could be a day when people in general feel like they will be willing to defend their personal safety and security at all costs. (Think of a Mama bear defending her cubs.) Tread lightly around volatile personalities. Jupiter retrogrades through vedic Sag. as of May 9th, for roughly 4 months, getting us to review new understandings, implement new teachings, research new opportunities. Saturn went direct on May 3rd, (after having been retrograde since Dec. 19th,) ending a long and arduous waiting period for leaders and real estate. Watch the Democratic Primaries finally draw to a close and watch the real estate market seem to be on the upswing again, even if temporarily. Remember last month's statement about Neptune conjoining Rahu in Aquarius for the last week in April and the first week in May?: "...creating an actual weather possibility around unusually strong thunder and lightning storms, and stormy seas. Maybe postpone the boat cruise?..." Myanmar's cyclone is part of this Neptune Rahu conjunction - the storm began in the Indian Ocean.

The Star of Alliances Conversations with the Moon This month, the full moon takes place on Monday May 19, at 7:12pm PDT, in the vedic lunar sign of Anuradha. In this part of the sky, alliances, friendships, and friendliness, are highlighted. The full moon in this constellation reminds us of what it means to be a good friend and brings out in us qualities like loyalty, friendliness, even devotion. On a global scale, on the national front, and even in our personal lives, we'll be keenly aware of how much our friends mean to us around this full moon. We may hear more about foreign aid to cyclone victims in Myanmar. We may be speculating about the winning Democratic Presidential nominee's running mate. And we will likely be personally lining up Memorial Day holiday celebrations with friends. Since the Moon and Mars are exchanging signs, there might also be a particularly strong feeling of wanting to connect with family and draw to us our support systems that bring the feeling of emotional security. Write this day into your calendar: Tuesday, June 3 - the New Moon in Rohini. This is a good time to contemplate where you want to put your energies. The next two weeks after the New Moon will give you more bang for your buck around the natural law "whatever you put your attention on, grows." With Saturn's aspect, things will grow slowly, but they'll also stick around for a long time.