A Marsy Month of May — An Overview

Hey everyone. This is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology [https://nightlightastrology.com/].

Adam Elenbaas
Hey everyone. This is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology. Happy Sunday, everybody. I hope you're having a good weekend.

We're going to be doing our monthly overview for the month of May today, getting out in front of the next month of astrology, which is going to be really exciting.

There's a lot of very interesting dynamics happening this month, including a massive square from Mars to Pluto that comes at the end, toward the end of the month, but also some really interesting moon cycle dynamics, a bunch of other aspects that me and the team are going to break down today.

So I'm happy to have the team together to be looking at this, and I'll add some insights as we go along.

But before we get into it, as always, remember, please to like and subscribe. It helps us grow tremendously. And if you watch the content regularly but are not yet subscribed, take a second to do that.

You can find transcripts of any of these daily talks on my website. That is nightlightastrology.com. It is the weekend, and so no promotions today. Anything you want, you can find over at our website. Again, that's nightlightastrology.com.

And remember, remember that the software you see us using today, that is the Nature so program, and I do want to make sure everyone knows that we did have the team come out for a demo.

So if you're looking for a beginner tutorial on that, which a lot of people have been asking me for, see the live stream tab. You can see that there.

But anyway, on that note, let me welcome the team back. Courtney, Sherazad, Bianca, hey, hey, good to see you all. How are you guys doing?

Hanging in there. Yeah, it's a

Adam Elenbaas
very busy month of April, with obviously Uranus moving into Gemini just recently as people are watching this. So we have another very busy month of May to look at as well. I'm really excited to get into it.

I'm going to go ahead and just get some banners going on the screen. We're going to break things down. Some of the highlights to mention for everyone listening to this, we've got a big Full Moon in Scorpio here at the beginning of the month of May, we're going to be looking at that coming up.

There's some very powerful squares this month, the Mars square to Jupiter, or Mercury square to Jupiter, a powerful Mercury cazimi, followed by a New Moon in Taurus, stuff like that.

We also have, I think one of the more dynamic periods is between about the 22nd and 25th. We have a sun conjunction with Uranus, followed by a Mars square to Pluto. Wow. That is super powerful. And then a full moon in Sag at the end of the month too.

So a whole bunch of dynamics to talk through, and Bianca, Courtney, and Sherazad are going to take you through each section. They've got their own coverage, and then I'm going to add some thoughts in as we go. You guys ready? Yeah, I think Bianca is going to lead us off, right?

Bianca Selene
You want me to start with the Full Moon in Scorpio? Yeah, Full Moon in Scorpio on the first of May.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, let's do it. Put the screen up. Cool. Go ahead. All right.

Bianca Selene
All right. So I think this Full Moon in Scorpio on May the first shines a spotlight on the tension between Taurus and Scorpio.

Taurus seeks safety by holding on to what feels stable and familiar. Scorpio, on the other hand, seeks safety by detecting what's hidden and by managing it, often through control or emotional vigilance.

But I think both strategies are about security. But under the Scorpio Full Moon, neither of them holds completely because the moon, usually a symbol of emotional comfort, is in its fall and in Scorpio, so it's in an environment that can be challenging.

It's pulled into intensity and depth and truths that disrupt the sense of safety. What we've been holding on to may not feel secure, and what we've been scanning or controlling may feel overwhelming.

In the role of this full moon, Mars in Aries turns that emotional pressure into action, that's how I'm looking at it. Taurus clinging can suddenly shift into decisive letting go, and Scorpio's vigilance can turn into direct confrontation. And Mars doesn't wait. It initiates and pushes for resolution.

So this Full Moon asks, what are we holding on to? Why are we holding on to it? And what are we going to do about it right now? It's a moment where emotional awareness meets instinctive action, and where power and control dynamics, both within ourselves and in our relationships and externally, become impossible to ignore.

And sometimes power is not holding on tighter, but in releasing what can no longer hold us. Sometimes we keep gripping onto something that is no longer capable of supporting us, for example, a job or an identity that no longer fits us, or a relationship that no longer has trust, or a financial setup that is unstable.

This can also refer to inner coping mechanisms we use for safety, like control and emotional guarding and attachment to certainty or hypervigilance. So these strategies may have worked before, but now they're no longer able to hold our emotional world together.

And only you know what can no longer hold you. I'd suggest looking at the Taurus-Scorpio axis in your chart to give you an idea of what area of your life this might be showing up for you. So you may find that holding on tighter doesn't restore things. It just delays acknowledging the reality that something must change.

So I think this might be a full moon that may be uncomfortable for some of us, but it can also be a moment of real change. So that's what I have for that transit.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, I was just creating some of the content around this full moon, went on for the actual day of, and one of the things that I brought up was exactly what you said about where Taurus wants to hold on to something, Scorpio necessitating some kind of release in the opposite direction.

And we ended up doing in that episode some horoscopes, briefly touching on the whole sign house of Scorpio. So I think the horoscopes that people will see on the channel later in the week will actually expand upon that very good point that you just made. Such a really good point. I appreciate that.

Bianca Selene
Oh yeah. I love the Taurus-Scorpio axis. I mean, your first and seventh house. So you will know all about that. But moving on to May 4th, if we're ready to move on, we've got Mars in Aries square Jupiter in Cancer at the 19th degree.

So as we're speaking about all this Aries activity in the most recent few weeks when we have had a lot of that Aries activity going on, Mars in Aries is action-oriented and courageous and wants to push forward and trust in its own will.

But Jupiter in Cancer amplifies themes of home and family, belonging, protection, emotional security, and the desire to care for what matters the most. So when these two meet in a square, we can feel tension between two impulses: the urge to move forward and the urge to hold on to what feels safe.

This may show up personally as wanting change, wanting freedom or independence, while also feeling responsible to family relationships or practical concerns connected to home and security. So there's that wanting to leap forward while another part of you hesitates.

In my culture, in the Maori culture, there is a creation story that reflects something of this dynamic. In Maori cosmology, the children of the sky father, Ranginui, and earth mother, Papatuanuku, lived pressed tightly between their parents in darkness.

These are demigods, by the way, because this is essentially our creation story, and it varies from tribe to tribe. Generally speaking, what happens is these children come together and decide that they need space and light and room to grow.

So Tane, the god of the forest, symbolizing life-giving growth, pushes his parents apart with great strength, creating the world of light. But Tawhirimatea, the god of winds and storms, opposes this separation and responds with fierce resistance.

I think there's something of that symbolism in May. Sometimes growth requires separating from old conditions, and sometimes life asks for more space than the current structure allows.

But not every part of us welcomes change at the same speed. Some parts of us want freedom while other parts want familiarity, and some parts of us respond with great storms. That can be the feeling of Mars square Jupiter. When movement happens, the emotional weather follows, just like Tawhirimatea. His resistance remains active. The storm follows the act of separation.

Personally, I think this transit invites reflection: what am I trying to protect? What am I trying to liberate? At its highest expression, Mars in Aries square Jupiter in Cancer is not a reckless force. It's courageous action guided by care, and it makes room for new life without forgetting what has nourished you.

That may be one of the deeper invitations for the month of May, but that's what I have for that transit. If you have any thoughts on that.

Adam Elenbaas
I love that. Yeah, it comes to my mind as a process that has been taking place already, as Mars has been applying to Jupiter. My wife has been advocating for her grandmother, who's 95 years old, and she's been purging her basement because she's got stuff from the 1960s down there still.

Let me organize. Let me take the lead. Let me act to help my grandmother. That is a story that popped into my mind while you were speaking that kind of matches the vibe.

Yeah, awesome. Thank you.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, kind of a cool one there. Okay, you tell me where to go next.

Bianca Selene
So we've got the oh, sorry, Sherazad, I think you're up next with the Mercury.

Yeah, so I'm going to talk about Mercury in Taurus squaring Pluto in Aquarius. Since Taurus is a fixed sign, this square creates tension for Mercury here. It's kind of like a battle of wills. There is no easy giving in with the tension here.

Mercury in Taurus wants the truth to be something tangible, something that you can touch, hold, and keep. Mercury in Taurus is slow to form an opinion, but once it does, it is very concrete.

At the same time, Pluto in Aquarius wants to slowly get away from the old skin of the collective and questions the very foundations of the systems we live in.

When I was thinking of this transit, I was like, there's a shadow to this transit that we can maybe call the bully detective. It can be used boldly. It feels like an interrogation room where there's a new exit. The shadow side of it could be nitpicking and entitlement because it's a square.

Maybe getting stuck on one thought or one wrong thing someone says that does not match our ideology, and then we can't let it go. It's Pluto, so it can be very deep and profound.

Because the ruler of Mercury here, Venus, is in Gemini, there could be a clever, chatty way to it too. It could be a calculated attempt in an argument or a conversation, not from bad intentions, but wanting our side to be the right side and us looking good and the smart side of the conversation.

I was also thinking of forced confessions, maybe making someone admit that you were the right person here, with power dynamics, digging and questioning things.

But at the same time, if we want to use this transit in a different way, we can think of it as a super focus, having that brain power to sit with a difficult problem for hours and not stopping until we find the right answer, and also seeing the clues more clearly and maybe having healing conversations.

Instead of using our words in a negative way, maybe we can use them to understand and see the other perspective and peel back the layers to get to the heart of the matter.

The next day, May 6th, Pluto stations retrograde in Aquarius. So the energy is going to be shifting from making big outside changes to looking at what's happening inside of our own life or our own community.

Maybe double-checking the work we've done with Pluto in Aquarius so far, going back and seeing what themes were present last time Pluto in Aquarius was retrograde. I was thinking of a giant pause button that we press, and then we can inspect the systems of our lives, especially the areas that Pluto has been touching.

Merging the energies, this could be a big project that you suddenly stop. Maybe everyone can check if this project is actually working, or an old problem from a while ago comes back for you to fix it.

Change in who has the power in a friendship group or in the office, maybe starting a clean-up phase where you let go of what no longer works in the ecosystem of life and community circles, maybe revisiting contracts, negotiations, and discussions with more detail and open eyes.

Considering the squares to Pluto, I wanted to introduce a book that has been very important to me. The name of the book is The Four Agreements. You might have heard about it. It's based on Toltec wisdom, and the writer is Don Miguel Ruiz.

The Four Agreements: the first one is speaking with integrity and saying only what we mean, using the power of our words in the direction of truth.

The second agreement is, don't take anything personally. What others do and say is a projection of their own reality. When you're immune to the opinions of others, you avoid needless suffering.

The third one is, don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and express what you really want. Communicate clearly.

The fourth one is, always do your best under any circumstance. Simply do your best to avoid self-judgment, regret, and guilt. So this is something that maybe we can carry with the squares to Pluto this month.

Now, May 10th, Sun in Taurus sextile Jupiter in Cancer. I kind of feel like this is the seed moment of direction, because we also are going to have Mercury cazimi. The energy is the Sun in Taurus providing vitality, Jupiter in exaltation providing abundance and protection.

This is a supportive aspect where resources flow towards each other. The archetype is the solar king in the fertile fields of Taurus receiving support from the grid provider that is Jupiter.

A few manifestations of this transit could be recognition from an authority figure that leads to good financial material security, receiving good news regarding property, home, family, or a boost in physical vitality.

Also a successful project that feels emotionally resonant, generosity from a mentor or someone who is a solar figure in our life, or meeting a mentor or teacher who points us towards a profitable or successful path.

Adam, your thoughts on this before I move to the next part?

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, I guess I would just say that anytime you have a nice sextile between the luminary and Jupiter, the idea is that things are conducive to coming together in understanding and wisdom and support. It's one of the more benefic connections in the sky.

It's coming not long before there's going to be a very powerful Jupiter synodic reset in late July, early August, in Leo. So you could also think about, even though it's a very brief moment in time, the combination of these two planets and whatever understanding, empathy, wisdom, and cohesion they're bringing is really the basis of an even deeper form of new understanding that will come later in the summer when the two planets can join.

Thank you. Now, May 12th, Mercury in Taurus sextile Jupiter in Cancer. I was thinking of this as the archetype of a profitable conversation. The sextile is like a friendly handshake.

Mercury in Taurus, which is practical, slow, steady, stability-focused, shaking hands with Jupiter in Cancer with its nourishing and protective energy. It's good energy for making a deal, conversation, or negotiation feel safe and successful. Kind of like a million-dollar idea that actually works and is practical in the real world because it's an earth sign.

A few themes: maybe a smart purchase of something you value, productive paperwork, signing an agreement that brings peace of mind, having a conversation with a wise person who gives you the exact practical steps you need.

Maybe a successful pitch if you have been waiting to ask for a raise or propose a new idea. Your words have weight here, and people will understand you.

It's also a good time to write the blueprint, sitting down and mapping out a plan for your garden, house, or business that feels both doable, which is the Taurus energy.

Pairing this with the cazimi themes, it's good to think about any random ideas that pop into our head during these few days, because those can be very important intuitions and seeds for our next big win.

Adam, you're muted.

Adam Elenbaas
Whoops. Sorry. The only thing I would add is that it really is much of the same from the Sun sextile. Mercury may have a slightly more practical side of things.

For example, if the Sun and Jupiter are coming together and my wife is prepping how she's going to plant the garden, she'll typically go and buy whatever seeds or plants. She'll lay it all out, she'll design the plan, and then she'll actually have her hands in the dirt within a couple of days. That sequence reminds me of Sun-Jupiter to Mercury-Jupiter.

Yeah, I like that. May 14th, Sun conjunct Mercury in Taurus, Mercury cazimi. I think I already blended the themes into that, but any thoughts on Mercury cazimi here?

Adam Elenbaas
Nothing other than coming off the sextile to Jupiter, the cazimi really does feel decisive. It's like whatever encounter with wise Jupiter was, whatever sage you saw, whatever expert you spoke to, whatever download you got, this is a moment of practical insight that seems related to it.

For example, if I spoke with my therapist, and then three days later a tangible plan of action came into my mind, that would feel like this sequence.

I'm going to add some stuff to Sun conjunct Mercury in Taurus. I was thinking of this as providing the light to see the path ahead clearly. Aha moments, major announcements, powerful conversations, a very sacred window to write, to decide.

The Sun is giving our words full power. So it's a very good time for Mercurial themes. I think May 16th is for Courtney.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, let me push this along to May 16th here. Get the New Moon in Taurus in the picture now.

Courtney Chandrea
Yeah, this New Moon really puts the nail on the head of everything that Sherazad was developing nicely with all those different transits.

I really think we need to look at this New Moon in the context of all the friction that we've had in the place of Taurus, like those multiple squares to Pluto in Aquarius, the Mercury cazimi that takes place there in the same sign.

I'm also considering with Venus as the host of the New Moon. She's been hanging out in Gemini the past couple of weeks, whole sign trining Pluto, which may be giving Venus a touch of gustiness, like a strong wind blowing in many different directions.

This combination of airiness with the rebirth of Mercury here in Taurus has me wondering if there's been something cerebral blowing about in our lives that somehow implicates the Taurean themes, and this may be informing a whole new cycle for Taurus.

All that development that Sherazad and Adam were just talking about, with quick insights and things developing and immediately getting into the ground with it, may in a way spur a new cycle for Taurus.

A couple of things that might illustrate this: health changes to benefit our mental state, changing our diet, or developing better sleep habits to clear up brain fog.

Or maybe we're realizing that the shortcuts that we've been using to improve our cognitive abilities have actually been detrimental to our bodies, like too much coffee or kidney strain from heavy supplementation, and we need to find a new approach from a body-first standpoint.

Perhaps it has nothing to do with health. Maybe this airy Venus alongside that Mercury cazimi means that there are new currents of interest or concern arising in our relationships and in the way that we communicate, and this is inspiring an aesthetic shift in the way that we physically present ourselves in the world.

There are so many points of contact between this mental, social theme of air and the more physical, tangible expression of Taurus. I'm thinking about ways that many dance movements have brought about social change, or the way that somatic practices can serve as a container for releasing limiting ideas about ourselves and the world.

There's this really intimate feedback loop between these airy realms and our bodies. So hopefully these examples give us a sense of the push and pull between them, maybe initiating a new cycle for Taurus here.

Adam Elenbaas
Love that. You want me to move on to May 17th?

Courtney Chandrea
Sounds great. I think that's Bianca taking us off here.

You need to unmute your mic. Yes, I found it.

Bianca Selene
Thank you, Courtney. I've got Mercury conjunct Uranus on the 17th of May. Courtney, I really appreciated how you brought up the mind-body connection for the Taurus New Moon. It reminded me of one study that found walking increased creative output. Sometimes the fastest way to think clearly is to move your body.

Mercury conjunct Uranus is often described as a sudden disruption or mental disruption. But another way to understand this transit is adaptation. That's what I'm going with this month.

Something in life may have already changed our values, energy, priorities, relationships, the rhythm of our bodies. The Taurus New Moon may have initiated some of that quietly.

Now Mercury enters its domicile of Gemini, and the mind begins to reorganize itself around what's true now. So you may think differently than you used to. You may need new language for an old experience. You may realize certain systems, routines, or expectations no longer fit the person you're becoming.

This can be a highly intelligent transit when used consciously, and it favors flexibility, curiosity, and smarter solutions over stubborn repetition.

Sometimes growth is not adding more effort, it's reorganizing your life around what is true now. Mercury conjunct Uranus may not be here to disturb our peace, it may be here to awaken a new way of thinking. That's what I have for that transit.

Adam Elenbaas
I love that. It's very spot on. There's also a piece of content that's coming out on my channel this coming week as well, on Pleiades, which is a fixed star at zero Gemini that Uranus will be conjoining. It's the brightest star in the cluster of the Pleiades.

It's interesting because I actually mentioned you in the video, Bianca. I talked about how the Maori, do I say it right? I've been working on it. The two vowels together, I stumble.

I was reading about all the different traditions that place the Pleiades at the center of some cosmology. It seems like the Maori New Year has something to do with the rising of the Pleiades.

I said, Bianca, if you're listening, you'll have to check me on this. Apparently this star is one of the ones that marks y'all's New Year.

Bianca Selene
It does. We call it Matariki. That's our New Year.

Adam Elenbaas
I think I actually pronounced Matariki pretty closely too. Anyway, you'll check my thoughts in the comment section. Are we going to the 19th next?

Bianca Selene
Before we get to the 19th, on the 18th of May, just an honorary mention, Mars enters Taurus and Venus enters Cancer. But on the 19th, just two days after Mercury enters Gemini and conjuncts Uranus, it moves into a trine with Pluto in Aquarius.

In Greek mythology, Hermes belongs nowhere permanently. Not heaven, not earth, not the underworld. He belongs to the threshold. Mercury trine Pluto may meet us in those in-between spaces where real change happens.

I was reading Astrology of Fate by Liz Greene. I was really fascinated by her take on Gemini. A valuable theme I took from Liz Greene's take on Gemini is the ability to integrate through contrast.

Greene describes Hermes as a whole list of dualities. Hermes is the thief and the guide, the deceiver and the revealer, relational and divisive, sacred and criminal, messenger and misleader.

This means Mercury does not merely represent logic, but Mercury represents our capacity to move between contradictions. When Mercury trines Pluto, that movement becomes deeply constructive and transformative.

This is a transit that can help us negotiate between complexity and duality, for example, negotiating between freedom and commitment, mind versus body, self versus relationship, progress versus tradition, or hope versus realism.

I love Liz Greene's quote: "Hermes fosters relationship even through quarreling and separateness, and brings things together through differences." That's on page 195 of The Astrology of Fate.

This is perfect for Gemini trine Pluto. We may find ourselves entering into hard conversations that create intimacy or disagreements that lead to understanding.

Adam Elenbaas
Can you hear me now?

Bianca Selene
Yes, I can hear you.

Adam Elenbaas
You're tapping into we're on the same wavelength. I just made another video talking about the entrance of planets into zero Gemini and I talked about seven years of Hermes delivering Taoist teachings because of the propensity that Hermes has to speak through opposites.

One of the Taoist principles I talked about was unexpected unity through quarrel. That's exactly what Liz Greene was saying that you were just quoting.

There's this unexpected, I'll give you an example. The United States, in its typical ideological division, went through a moment of surprising unity when the World Trade Towers were destroyed.

In the destruction of those towers, there was something that brought us together, despite the very obvious reality that we also still have major division ideologically in our country.

There can be very surprising and disruptive ways that division is almost set aside alongside the need for unity. It happens because according to Taoist principles, when division grows louder and brighter, it starts casting a long shadow. And the shadow is unity. It's always the opposite.

How does the shadow of unity come back? Shadow material comes back through sudden disruptive events from the unconscious, because you're so fixed on the light of whatever principle you're in that the shadow gets excluded until it interrupts.

That's what Uranus does. It interrupts, disturbs, disrupts. What does it bring back in the shadow of division? Unity.

It's so fascinating that Uranus has the possibility to be very disruptive and bring tower-like moments. But sometimes those tower-like moments have the ability, certainly in the sign of Gemini, to bring people together.

Another example would be the Allied cooperation during World War II that started emerging while Uranus was in Gemini, despite real differences too. So there's lots of examples. It doesn't mean it's without really complicated polarization and conflict, but I think you nailed it on this one.

Bianca Selene
I love that. Talking about transits that reflect somewhat of your own natal placements makes it a little bit easier. I have Venus in Gemini natively opposing Uranus in Sagittarius, so it was all like, oh my gosh, yes.

Thanks for that, Adam. I'm all done here. I'll hand it over to Courtney.

Courtney Chandrea
On May 22nd we have Venus in Cancer squaring Neptune in Aries. I'm wondering if this fiery, youthful Neptune may be evoking a quality of obsessiveness over our Venusian themes here across Aries and Cancer.

That might look like overidealizing family relationships or motherhood as an aesthetic or an ideal, rather than facing the reality of nurturing other souls. Perhaps female friendships or romantic relationships are under a rose-colored lens, or maybe we're talking about obsessions with particular body images.

These obsessions, whatever they are, will inevitably have to come up against the fact that we live in mushy reality. We're in a body amongst countless other bodies, each with their own obsessions and agendas. So we might also be dealing with disillusionment or dissatisfaction with our realities here.

Cancer can be this really warm, nourishing place, but as soon as our desires live beyond its confines, it can begin to feel constricting, almost clammy.

Perhaps what this transit is doing for us, in part, is preparing us for a move up and out. Jupiter spent almost a year now in Cancer, really expanding our experience of this sign, teaching us new ways of nourishment, new ways of tending home and family and the body, and new ways of getting comfortable.

But comfort has its limitations. Jupiter will be moving into Leo in only a few weeks, following directly in Venus's footsteps. Last month we talked a little bit about the relationship between fire and water, the way that water likes to move downward but fire moves upward. Water can move upward when we apply heat to it.

I'm wondering if this square from Neptune might be like the agitation process of boiling water before it eventually evaporates with this move from Cancer to Leo on a big picture scale.

On the same day that this Venus-Neptune square is taking place, we also have a conjunction between the Sun and Uranus in Gemini. Some of this restless energy that Venus is experiencing may be indirectly tied up with this, but Neptune, who holds the superior position in the square to Venus, is engaged with the Sun-Uranus conjunction through a loose sextile, which suggests that these two transits might be speaking to each other.

The Sun and Uranus together evoke the archetype of the genius breakthrough and creative self-expression, bold and liberatory ideas, spontaneous individuation or rebirth. All of these expressions carry with them a particular feeling. Ren Butler talks about enthusiasm and exuberance. It's a feeling a bit like flying.

But this transit has its shadows as well. That exuberance, if it isn't balanced, can be erratic, eccentric, unfocused. In the myth of Icarus, that lack of balance became fatal.

The story of Daedalus and Icarus is a really potent one for this transit. Here we have a well-known liberation narrative which begins with Daedalus and his son Icarus imprisoned on the island of Crete after Daedalus designed the Minotaur's labyrinth.

The famous wax-crafted wings were Daedalus's bold ploy for freedom. Icarus and his flight-induced intoxication is a well-known figure in pop culture, but perhaps we would benefit from looking to Daedalus here.

Daedalus was the genius who built the wings in the first place, and he warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun because he knew it would melt the wings. Daedalus was able to temper his bid for freedom with something else.

There's a lot that this something else might be, whether it's foresight or humility. Perhaps with Venus's piece in the conversation taking place in Cancer, it's love that both lifts and preserves us, teaching us prudence in the midst of flight, as Daedalus's love for his son attempted to do.

Adam Elenbaas
That's a great myth to invoke for the Sun-Uranus conjunction. That idea of technological progress but potential transgression, super interesting. Thank you.

Now I'm going to talk about Mars in Taurus squaring Pluto on May 25th. A challenging one here. Mars in Taurus doesn't feel comfortable. It's like a warrior that is trying to fight but gets stuck in a swamp.

There's frustration energy for sure. It can't move the way it wants to, so the energy can become stubborn because it's a fixed sign. When you add that square to Pluto, it feels like that frustration becomes very deep and can turn into a battle.

It reminds me of a pressure cooker, because Mars here doesn't know how to let off steam. Pluto adds that massive amount of pressure. A few things we can expect: overextension, trying to stretch ourselves too much through a problem, pushing our body too much through stress, or stretching our resources way past the limit until something falls apart and snaps.

I'm also thinking of the slow burn explosion, like a quick argument or passive-aggressive behavior that builds up for days, and then there's that destructive energy happening.

Another shadow could be projecting, taking our own hidden fears or anger and throwing them in the wrong directions because we feel uncomfortable with it. There is also a power trap here. We should be careful with our conversations and projects, the urge to win or power dynamics.

This could also be a cruel truth moment, someone saying something real but in a way that could hurt someone else. This can be a little bit of a challenging transit. That's what I have.

Adam Elenbaas
Thank you. I do believe that the Mars interactions with Pluto every year, I've been doing this for a long time, are always some of the most intense encounters of our year. The conjunctions, the squares, the oppositions.

I'm anticipating especially in the collective that we may see events related to this. Funny enough with Mars, without fail, they tend to constellate on the applying side, which means in the two or three degrees leading up to sometimes the day of is unremarkable compared to the day or two right before.

I've seen it enough now that it's worth mentioning. Mars conjoined Saturn was the same way. The couple of days right before were a lot more intense in the news than the actual day of.

Part of that has to do with how reactive and intense and immediate Mars is. Once it starts coming into contact, it just sort of explodes. Then sometimes the beginning of the integration is actually occurring with Mars on the day of. Just a little timing piece that might be interesting for people.

Yeah, I can definitely attest to that. Pluto going over my natal Mars was maybe the second most difficult transits. Now, May 26th, Sun in Gemini trining Pluto in Aquarius.

I like air energy a lot. I'm not biased, but I do have a lot of air energy in my chart. It's just one of my favorites. With Sun in Gemini, there's a sense of direction that shifts from that fixed energy when it's in Gemini, realizing that we don't have to push a wall down. We can just walk our way around it.

Master communication because it's a trine, it's more positive. The Sun can use information and that versatile power. Your power comes from your connections, people that can help you. It's about being in the know and using that knowledge to make a big positive change.

A few things: because this happens very close to that Mars-Pluto one, maybe this is lighthearted conversations that end the heavy conversation from that Mars-Pluto square with a solar figure.

Maybe discovering a shortcut or a new insight or a new sense of direction that makes a hard project or job suddenly feel a little bit easier. Maybe finding the missing piece of information that makes a complicated mystery or deep psychological problem finally make sense.

Using a little bit of that Gemini wit to make a heavy situation feel manageable and lighthearted. That's what I have here. The frustration we might feel with that Mars-Pluto can be the fuel for this breakthrough with Sun trine Pluto the next day. If we don't explode with that square, we can't solve anything with Sun trine Pluto the next day.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah. One of the times that I get the most angry is when my wife is right. If you're close to someone in your life and they're really smart and clever and they're right about something, you really just don't want them to be right.

That's like Mars square Pluto with the Sun trining Pluto. Hey, there's something here. And Mars is like, I don't want it to be. I'm joking, but it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Bianca Selene
Okay, I have the next transit on May 28th, Venus square Saturn. When these two meet in a square, there can be a lived contradiction between the need to stay emotionally connected and the need to become separate, self-directed, and self-reliant.

This can show up as difficulty in relationships where closeness feels important but so does independence. We are talking about Aries and Cancer, so there's that push to be close but also wanting independence, that Aries side.

There can also be a sense of emotional caution, like vulnerability has to pass some kind of internal test before it can be expressed freely. Over time, this can create patterns where people either hold back emotional needs or feel uncertain about how to initiate connection without risking rejection or overdependence.

At a deeper level, this is a developmental pressure point around identity and attachment. Saturn in Aries is asking for a more solid, earned sense of self, not one that depends on emotional fusion or external validation.

Venus in Cancer reminds us that emotional connection is not weakness but a fundamental human need. The growth process here is not about choosing one over the other, but learning how to hold both: to remain emotionally open without losing yourself, and to assert yourself without severing connection.

In that sense, this aspect matures both love and identity. It asks, can you stay connected without collapsing your sense of self, and can you be yourself without withdrawing from emotional life? That's what I have for that transit.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, that's a good one. When Venus is in Cancer, one of the themes that often comes up is the split between Maiden and Mother archetypes within the feminine. The square to Aries can actually intensify that.

The Maiden is more independent without the burdens of maternal responsibility or marital responsibility or duty or obligation, those kinds of soul contracts.

My wife and the women and wives and mothers in my friendship groups are often struggling to maintain independent identity apart from the needs and attachments of children or even of husband.

I could see that split being amplified around this square, even just briefly, which could show up as quarrels between mothers and daughters, quarrels between husband and spouse. It doesn't have to be a heterosexual dynamic for any of these archetypes to be at work. That's what comes to my mind. Thanks, Adam.

Courtney Chandrea
We wrap up the month with the Full Moon in Sagittarius. With this Full Moon, I noticed that it's the second full moon in the calendric month. In common parlance, we call this a blue moon. This doesn't have any traditional astrological significance whatsoever, but it just caught my eye.

We have these double full moons in a month once every two to three years. It drew my attention to just how fertile this month seems to be. If we think about the lunation periods as environments, as greater indications of theme or tone regarding a month, we might notice that all of our May lunations take place in signs known for being particularly fertile.

We've got Scorpio, Taurus, and now Sagittarius all jammed up in these 31 days. We also have both benefics in Cancer. With this overall quality of fertility, taken together with the shift from the feminine lunations to a masculine full moon, I'm wondering if we're suddenly seeing the fruit of something that had been developing undercover for a while that is now being made clear in a really bold way.

The Sagittarius-Gemini axis is really good at broaching new horizons, making creative leaps, understanding the generative power of playfulness when it comes to making new connections that strengthen our experience of vitality in relation to the world.

Sagittarius, though categorically masculine, seems to me to be an excellent place for the fusion of masculine and feminine wisdom. It's a double-bodied sign for one thing, and with that centaurian interplay of body and mind, this full moon might be tying up some of the loose ends that we've been working with this month.

With this preponderance of air activity, as well as these points of friction between Taurus and Aquarius and Cancer and Aries, I'm wondering if Sagittarius is taking all this fiery cerebral stuff and fusing it with the wisdom that has arisen in the body and in the environment in order to shoot forth its arrow.

Perhaps we're finding slight but necessary adjustments in our aim, or perhaps we're finding new targets altogether.

Both hosts of the full moon, Mercury and Jupiter, have excellent dignity right now, which might be helping us find a healthy balance across the Gemini-Sagittarius axis. But it also could be adding tension given the fact that both Mercury and Jupiter can't see each other. This might be juicy and uncomfortable at the same time.

We can add a little bit more nuance when we look to the full moon's application to that fallen Saturn in Aries. The Sun is engaging by sextile, the Moon is engaging by trine. So this is a harmonious aspect.

I'm wondering if Saturn is perhaps bringing a healthy dose of groundedness here, a firm but gentle reality check, reminding us of the times that we're in. That might be just what we need after all the lofty and erratic air energy that took place earlier in the month.

I can't help but wonder if this harmonious relationship with Saturn is suggesting that we're finally ready to make peace with a significant loss of structural support that we have been counting on previously, and now the only thing left to do is butter up our arrows with a little bit of faith and let them fly. Nice.

Adam Elenbaas
I love that. That was so nice. I appreciate that a lot. Looking forward now to June, when we get back together again. We have a lot to look forward to in the month of June: the transition of Jupiter into a new sign.

We will also have the connection of the benefics in Cancer, which occurred last August. Then we have it again, kind of bookending Cancer's Jupiter stay in Cancer. We're coming in on the changing of the nodes. We're coming in on Jupiter moving into an opposition with Pluto over the summer.

There's a lot of really powerful dynamics at play. When Jupiter moves into Leo over the summer, it will also begin its trine aspect to Saturn. If there's been a lot of initial disruption since the Jupiter-Saturn square which we've had over the last year, the trine is really where we will start to see the building of some consensus and probably some positive developments during that time.

Before that consensus can be built and more cohesion develops, the Jupiter-Pluto opposition is going to be a pretty dynamic gauntlet to run.

Anyway, just a few thoughts I'll put in at the end here. I want to make sure that you all know how to stay in touch with each of these fine astrologers. Bianca, you can find Bianca at biancaselene.com and on Instagram at biancaseleneastrology. On YouTube, you also have Faith Meets Fate.

That's it, yep.

Adam Elenbaas
Still making content with the team and other Nightlight people too. Great content. Faithmeetsfate.com is where you can also find that website. Courtney is Dream the Wilderness on Instagram. Substack is the same, dreamthewilderness.substack.com. Courtney's writing is vivid and awesome, so check that out. Really good follow there.

And then Sherazad at New Moon Inner Healing on Instagram. You can follow her there, and the website is the same, newmooninnerhealing.com.

Anything you guys have coming up that anyone wants to add? Normal like, get a reading, check out what they're up to, the content they're producing. As always, really appreciate having you all here. It's always really nice. This is a very dynamic month, and I think we broke it down pretty nicely for everyone.

Just a reminder for everyone listening as I sign off today, there's an informational video tagged on to the end of every day's video about the upcoming Year One program. All of these fine people have taken that course, and you can learn more about that program and see if it's right for you.

So we'll sign off now, and we will see you all again next month, and we'll be breaking down June's astrology for you. Take it easy, everyone. Bye.