NorthPoint Astrology Journal: Your guide to planetary energies for May 4 to 10, 2015 By Pam Younghans

NorthPoint Astrology Journal

Your guide to planetary energies for

May 4 to 10, 2015

NorthPoint Astrology Journal Your guide to planetary energies for May 4 to 10, 2015
By Pam Younghans

Photo: Auroras over Scotland on April 16, 2015 (credit: Bob Holding, posted on SpaceWeather.com)

Highlighted Aspects this Week:MON: Sun square Jupiter; WED: Sun trine Pluto, Venus semisquare Jupiter, Mercury trine Ceres; THU: Venus enters Cancer; SAT: Mercury trine North Node, Mercury square Neptune; SUN: Venus quincunx Saturn

THE TAURUS SUN squares off with Jupiter to begin our new week. If two planets are square each other (separated by 90 degrees), it means that they are in signs that have very different motivations and needs. In this particular square, two fixed signs are involved: Taurus and Leo.


Taurus is motivated by the need for serenity and inner peace, and often chooses simplicity and consistency as the means to gain the calm within. Leo, on the other hand, is motivated by the need for creative self-expression and the desire to be seen and acknowledged. Fulfillment for Leo is found through spontaneity, drama, and celebration.


WITH THE SUN now in Taurus (April 20 to May 20), most of us are aware of a basic need to feel more grounded, to find our core of peace, and to simplify life as much as possible. But with Jupiter in Leo, we will also find renewed optimism and joy when we allow ourselves to do something a little crazy, outside of our usual routine.


Taurus is more comfortable with quiet simplicity; Leo is more fulfilled when it feels seen and appreciated. As we work with the Sun-Jupiter square on Monday, we'll want to find ways to fulfill both of these needs -- both are valid, but they each may need to be met in a different area of our lives.


ON WEDNESDAY, the Sun is in a harmonious trine aspect with Pluto in Capricorn. This supports the fulfillment of our goals early in the day, since we feel that they have a practical basis and therefore can be successful.


The only planetary obstacle on Wednesday is a Venus-Jupiter semisquare. This is not a strong aspect, but it indicates that some will be feeling less than motivated to put in the focused work needed for goal attainment, choosing to take the afternoon off rather than applying themselves to accomplishing the tasks at hand. And yet, if the most important goals have already been met, why not reward ourselves with an extra-long lunch?


VENUS ENTERS CANCER on Thursday, softening our hearts and increasing our nurturing tendencies for the next four weeks. Cancer is also a very sensitive sign, so we will need to be aware of times when we may take things too personally. As the saying goes, it is rarely (if ever) personal -- people are rarely out to hurt us purposefully. They may be insensitive to our feelings at times, but that is most often because they are more focused on their own needs.


We can, of course, choose to be offended that another person is not thinking about us as carefully as we want them to. But those situations can also be a good reality check, showing us if a relationship is out of balance in some way. If we set up relationships where we are the primary nurturer and others are the receivers, that dynamic becomes the unwritten rule of engagement, and is then expected by others. When we know that we want to both give and receive nurturing in our personal relationships, we can set up those parameters early on, and allow ourselves to receive caring as often as we give it.


MERCURY is active on Saturday, forming a harmonious trine aspect with the North Node, and then squaring Neptune. We may be eager to talk with someone about our loftier goals, and yet there's also something blurring our thinking, as if we can't quite visualize where we want to end up.


Perhaps Mercury is already preparing us for its retrograde phase, which starts on May 18. It will be interesting to see what we're thinking about those higher ideals around May 27-28, and again on June 23, when Mercury returns to the same degree in Gemini as it is this Saturday.


MOTHER'S DAY is on Sunday in the U.S. No doubt it will be a mixed day for many -- Venus is quincunx Saturn, so our need for nurturing relationships may not be met in exactly the way we had hoped.


And yet, if we can make an adjustment in our expectations, we might find gifts in whatever unfolds this day -- even if it is to realize the ways in which we need to take better care of ourselves, knowing that one of Saturn's core lessons is self-reliance.


Copyright Pam Younghans 2015. All rights reserved.