To study May is to connect with the divine feminine, and her spiritual, social and political nature. The month was named for Maya Majestas, goddess of Spring, who in turn derives from the more ancient Maia, the eldest of the Seven Sisters—the brightest stars of the Pleiades constellation. (Daykeeper founder Maya Del Mar took her name after forming her astrological group The Pleiades with six other astrologers in the early 70’s.)
May, dominated by Taurus, the first fixed sign, is a time of power with more than one special portal. As for the stars, at this moment of ominous change, the transits and lunations call us to use our potency for collective concerns.
In her book The Goddess in Your Stars, Geraldine Thorsten makes these pertinent observations:
…Taurus was an immensely dynamic time, marked by celebration and prayers. People did not see Earth as a passive, inert, heavy mass, and did not interpret Taurus in the… stodgy terms later astrologers… use.
Far from being passive and yielding, she could unleash devastating powers… She was the Goddess with absolute power of life and death over all….
Some researchers consider Taurus to have been the month of the cow, not the bull. The Greek Minotaur was her guardian and consort.
As May begins, certain portals concentrate her special powers.
On May 1, we get Beltane. Marking the halfway point between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, it relates to the rising of the year’s light. (See more on this portal and tips to celebrate it in our Daily Success Guide.)
As the month begins, the power of our intent, and inward connections in general, are spotlighted by the retrograde motion of four planets: mental Mercury, believer Jupiter, worker Saturn, and Pluto the transformer.
These will remain retrograde throughout the month, except Mercury, who turns direct on May 3, though until May 22 it still traverses its post-retrograde shadow. This shadow phase of the planet of lower mind favors projects and intentions we started sometime before March 27.
When Mercury is in Aries, our thoughts are quick and our style is direct. We can review the decisions we’ve taken or wish to take on our own. With Uranus, planet of the higher mind, also in the sign of the Ram, there’s kind of an I-can-do-it-myself-edge; not so great for cooperation but good for retrieving an original project we started or intention we seeded before March 27 and that somehow relates to our freedom.
On Friday, May 5, Sun reaches 15 Taurus, triggering the critical degree of the fixed signs…. Get the rest of the signs and the whole story now! Become a Premium Subscriber! Or, if you are already a Premium Subscriber, log in here.