Happy Taurus season everyone! While Aries season is all about taking action and planting seeds, Taurus season is for tending our garden and watching it bloom. We are moving from the assertive energy of Mars to the receptive energy of Venus, from passion and desire to pleasure and security. As the sun transits Taurus and Jupiter enters Pisces, we are being invited to harmonize and feel pleasure with those around us. Though notoriously stubborn, Taurus energy can also be remarkably soft and affectionate—as long as you don’t mess with its powerful horns. Make no mistake—Taurus season expects you to work hard. But the end game is to seek pleasure and beauty, to have the security to stop and smell the roses, just like Ferdinand the Bull. This Taurean sense of empowerment and security can inspire us to share our resources and stability with others, an impulse we will all feel as Mars continues its transit through Cancer. We are motivated by this double dose of receptive feminine energy to be mindful of others’ emotions and boundaries, as well as our own.
ARIES
Mars, your ruling planet, will continue its transit through watery, emotional, passionate Cancer all month. Cancer is a cardinal sign, like Aries. The signs are square to one another, indicating that this transit will bring great rewards but only if you make a concentrated effort. As the sun transits your 2nd house until the 21st, and Mars transits your 4th house all month, you are being asked to slow down in the physical-social realm and point your passions toward your inner stability, your family, and your home. Once you have achieved a sense of balance, Gemini season will provide plenty of opportunities for exploration and adventure, particularly on the Sagittarius full moon on May 26th.
TAURUS
Happy You season, Taurus! Thank you for your grounded nature, your determination to find and create beauty, and your steadfast dedication to self-love. The sun, Mercury, Venus, and Uranus will all be transiting your 1st house until May 21st. As you begin a new year-long cycle you are being asked to take a realistic look at how you can approach love and communication. Uranus is a planet of independence and eccentricity; it is electric and inspiring. If things have been feeling stagnant, the Uranus transit through your sign and conjunct with these relational planets is here to wake you up to new ways you can harmonize with others, while also standing your ground.
GEMINI
Both Mercury and Venus will be entering your sign early in May, which might make this slow- moving, fixed-earth, 12th house Taurus energy more bearable for you. As an air sign you seek stimulation, philosophical pursuits, travel, and play! But this month as the sun, Mercury, and Venus all transit your 12th house, you’re being asked to go within, to stand at the edge of the abyss between who you have been and who you can be, and to ask yourself questions you would normally rather avoid. In what ways is your mutable nature a gift, and in what ways is it harmful? What can you learn from Taurus’ grounded nature to make sure you are tending to the things you care about?
CANCER
This month Mars will continue its transit through your 1st house, putting your willpower, passion, and desire at the forefront of your consciousness. Taurus season is a good time for you to water things at the roots and to make sure the projects and relationships you want to invest in aren’t toxic. You are kind, nurturing, and empathetic, and this nature can be overwhelming during this transit. Make sure you are directing at least half of that energy into yourself before being overgiving with others, and your flowers are sure to bloom. The new moon in Taurus on the 11th is a good time to clear out negative thought patterns and invite stability, reciprocity, and mutual kindness into all interactions.
LEO
The sun will transit your 10th and 11th houses this month, indicating a beneficial period of time to focus on how you project yourself in your community. Are you comfortable in roles of leadership? Do these roles bring you a sense of peace or a sense of anxiety? Fellow fixed sign Taurus is asking you to take a look at how establishing a solid sense of self and duty can help us enter community roles with our values at the forefront. The new moon in Taurus on the 11th is a good time to set intentions in this arena of self-worth, and the full moon in Sagittarius on the 26th will be a good time to take space from these heavy ego concerns and have some fun!
VIRGO
Jupiter—planet of expansion, growth, and opportunity—will enter your sister sign of Pisces on May 14th. As this planet transits your 7th house you are being asked to be receptive to gifts and new experiences related to love, beauty, and the general social sphere. This shift is a significant departure from a pattern of internal expansion that has been happening for years—you are being asked to embody all the best lessons you have taught yourself. The sun transiting fellow earth sign Taurus in your 9th house is asking you to find a balance between security and freedom, and Mercury and Venus in your fellow Mercurial sign of Gemini invite a sense of play and adaptability in communication and love.
LIBRA
May is shaping up to be a beautiful month for you, Libra! Though Taurus is an earth sign and earth seasons can feel a bit too serious or slow for your breezy self, the shared Venusian rulership between your signs should have things feeling sweeter, brighter, and softer than Aries season’s aggressive, individualist vibes. By May 9th Venus and Mercury will be transiting your 9th house in fellow air sign Gemini, making flirtations and new connections feel free, expansive, and undemanding. The sun, however, will be transiting your 8th house, a somewhat difficult transit that asks you to face your shadows and give birth to a new you. While it might be tempting to ride the waves of pleasure and fun, make sure you are also finding beauty in your shadows and allowing them to help you heal.
SCORPIO
At the beginning of this month the sun, Mercury, Venus, and Uranus will transit your 7th house of relationships in your sister sign of Taurus. At the same time, Mars (your traditional ruler) will be transiting fellow water sign Cancer. Overall this energy will have you feeling grounded, if not a little bit tender and extra reactive to dishonesty or those who break your trust. You know that you deserve stability and kindness, and nothing less. Jupiter’s movement into Pisces on May 14th will encourage empathy for those in your circle acting out of insecurity or fear, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of your needs.
SAGITTARIUS
This month you are being given the opportunity to refine your daily routines (that is, if you have any). Do you have a million tabs open on your computer all the time? Things stacking up on your to-do list even though you’re always moving at the speed of light? Now is a good time to slow down as the sun, Venus, Mercury, and Uranus all transit your 6th house of health and well-being. Take a page out of Taurus’ book and stop to be romantic, smell the flowers, and clean your damn house. The full moon in your sign on the 26th is one of the most fun full moons of the year, so plan accordingly.
CAPRICORN
I hope that the cardinal energy of Aries season helped you to move the mountains you wanted to, and now that Taurus season is here you are making time for some well-deserved rest. Taurus and Capricorn are both earth signs, but with very different modes of operation. Where Capricorn’s will to establish material security often originates from a sense of duty (or perhaps scarcity), Taurus is well aware of the beauty and pleasure of life that makes all that effort worth anything. These transits, as well as Mars’ transit through your sister sign Cancer, all mark this as a good time to slow down, explore your sensuality, and embrace your natural magnetism.
AQUARIUS
Jupiter will be leaving your sign this month into watery Pisces, so you might feel able to slow down and ground yourself after these recent intense and electric new directions. Taurus and Aquarius are both fixed energies, and you might notice that the sun’s transit through your 4th house of home and security feels like somebody hit the slow-mo button when you were living in fast forward. If you are feeling cloudy during Taurus season, be sure to nurture yourself and the people you love. Fellow air sign Gemini’s season will begin May 21st and put the pep back in your step.
PISCES
This Taurus season is going to be pretty high octane for you. The sun, Mercury, Venus, and Uranus will be transiting your 3rd house of knowledge and communication. This house is associated with fellow mutable sign Gemini, whose season will start on May 21st. In addition to these transits, Jupiter, your traditional ruler, will be entering your sign/1st house on May 14th. This all represents a major shift in what you think you know, how you approach truth, and the obscure expanse that is subjective experience. Jupiter’s presence in these matters brings luck, and Taurus’ energy will hopefully keep you from making any impulsive decisions in the midst of these changes.
illustration by Artemesia Trapeze