Happy Tuesday!

If you’re adding an extra day to the Memorial Day weekend, good for you. The Moon is in Pisces — and void of course since 12:21 AM ET. It won’t enter Aries — with verve and focus — until 2:32 PM ET. Avid Readers know that Moon voids are apt times to avoid launching an initiative you hope will be of consequence. That includes major purchases. Stick to routine concerns; allow yourself to wander, even if you never make it to the office. Know that crises which crop up are likely much ado about nothing. Roll with the twists and flakes that may disrupt your efforts to move forward in a straight line. One of those flakes could even be you. Today I almost poured cold water over my freshly-ground coffee; my mind was not quite focused.   If you are new to this forecast and unfamiliar with Moon voids, here’s a primer.

Once the Moon enters Aries at 2:32 PM ET, see if you notice the energetic shift. An Aries Moon needs to pick up the pace and charge ahead — possibly even falling down stairs or off a cliff in its rush to get wherever it’s going FIRST. That me-me-me Aries Moon will drive the week until 12:43 AM ET on Friday, when a Taurus Moon demands that we consolidate our great ideas into something establishing a status quo.

And what great ideas we are likely to see in the headlines this week — some of which may not be based on reality! Right now we’re under the influence of a challenging pattern (a square) between Mercury (how we need to think) and Neptune (vision, deception and fog).  That’s exact on WEDNESDAY at 9:23 PM ET. On THURSDAY, a need for idealism in matters of women, art, values and money is reflected by a harmony (sextile) between Venus and Neptune, exact at 12:51 PM ET. Pushing the envelope at 11:12 PM ET is an opposition between Mercury (ideas) and Jupiter (expansion). I anticipate big initiatives involving publishing, sports, courts, foreigners and/or horses, with this caveat: while Mercury and Jupiter are both in signs they rule (Gemini and Sagittarius, respectively), each is also in the sign of the other’s detriment. A traditional astrologer would say that Mercury is not at its best in Sagittarius; Jupiter is not at its best in Gemini. Let’s see what happens.

On THURSDAY we will also have the Moon’s weekly clash with patriarchal Saturn and potent Pluto, at 5:16 AM ET and 11:08 AM ET respectively. An authoritative advance/wet blanket, followed by an emotional catharsis or power play may make headlines.  On FRIDAY, the day begins with the Moon’s weekly clash with rebel Uranus, exact at 9:26 AM ET. That’s followed by a harmony between a high-functioning Venus in Taurus and Saturn in Capricorn. This pattern supports that day’s Taurus Moon in its efforts to preserve the status quo in matters of of women, money, art and social expression. On SUNDAY Venus will trine Pluto, facilitating depth and potential transformation and/or extremes.

We will have a New Moon in Gemini on MONDAY at 6:02 AM ET.

In other news, here is Tarot Diva Beth Owls Daughter’s Card of the Week. It’s the Five of Cups — same card that was pulled for the week of April 8th-14th. Here are some of the headlines from that week, with corresponding planetary patterns. As with this week, we see Mercury in a challenging relationship with Jupiter. The Five of Cups suggests a potential loss, but Beth’s weekly card pulls are usually spot-on.

And now, the news.

Two major patterns dominated the headlines last week — and will continue to do so. First is the highly toxic austere/patriarchal/authoritarian crush of Saturn, Pluto and the South Node closerthanthis — but not quite exact — in corporate Capricorn. This pattern ruthlessly continues until at least January 12th, 2020, when Saturn and Pluto stop flirting and finally hook up. The second pattern is the second of three squares (a challenging aspect) between Jupiter and Neptune in Sagittarius and Pisces, respectively. To recap Jupiter square Neptune, from  January 6th:

Another dominant pattern for 2019 in this New Moon is the first of three squares between Jupiter and Neptune (exact on January 13th, June 9th and September 21st). Pushing the limits of faith? In Sagittarius, Jupiter refers to expansion and/or excess in matters including, but not limited to: opinion, dogma, horses, liver, pancreas, optimism, bombast, foreigners, media, law. In Pisces, Neptune refers to fish, oceans, drugs, spirits, lies, fog, refugees, victims, gurus, viruses, chemicals, toxins, suicide, etc.  Here’s one of many headlines reflecting this pattern: “Japan’s Sushi King Pays $3 Million for Giant BlueFin Tuna.” That’s one BIG (Jup iter) FISH (Neptune), and it wouldn’t command such a high price if it weren’t so SCARCE (Saturn-Sun-Pluto conjunct in Capricorn).

Isn’t it interesting that with the second Jupiter (big!) – Neptune (fish! lies!) square just days away from being exact, we saw this headline in the NYT: “He Claimed He Caught  a Record-Breaking Fish. Now He’s Being Called a Liar.”

As you know, Jupiter turned retrograde at 24 degrees of Sagittarius in April. It backed up to 22 degrees Sagittarius on May 11th; 21 Sagittarius on May 21 and will hit 20 Sagittarius on May 30th. Why is this signifcant? As you know from prior posts, P45’s Moon and toxic South Node are at 21 and 20 Sagittarius; his Sun is at 22 Gemini (directly opposite 22 Sagittarius). So we were able to anticipate months ago that he would be pushing boundaries yugely during this time.

Also note that transiting Jupiter at 21-22 Sagittarius activates the wiggy Mars-Neptune square in the horoscope of the United States, expanding our national idealism/fixation in matters of cowboys, guns, religion and glamour (to name a few).  After Jupiter turns direct on August 12th at 14 Sagittarius, it will hit 20-22 Sagittarius for the third and last time (in this cycle) in October. That’s when we will see more boundary-pushing action from P45, resulting in headlines similar to these:

• P45 goes to Japan; attends sumo wrestling tournament (big!!); awards ginormous and gauche trophy to the winner
• “Spy agency veterans are horrified by P45’s decision to grant AG Barr sweeping power to declassify Russia intelligence”
• “[Ken] Cuccinelli, a righteous, faith-driven warrior who delights in provocation, will join P45 administration [as new “immigration czar'”  That one positively screams Jupiter in Sagittarius (righteous) square Neptune (faith-driven) in Sagittarius/Pisces (immigration). The “warrior” part refers to the U.S. Mars-Neptune square.
• Spies, lies, publishing and censorship: “Charging Julian Assange under the Espionage Act is an attack on the First Amendment”
• “Defying Congress, P45 sets $8 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE”
• “The P45 Administration will stop at nothing to suppress real climate science”
• “Totally Stable P45 Suggests Nancy Pelosi is Senile”  (file under Jupiter = News; Neptune = Fake)
• “P45, Kim Jong-un agree that [Joe] Biden has ‘low IQ, White House says”

Random counterpunch: “Texas secretary of state resigns after botched voter purge that questioned the citizenship of 100,000 people.”

Meanwhile, in VP Land, note that Mike Pence has Mercury at 21 Gemini — tied to the U.S. Mars-Neptune square — and activated by transiting Jupiter:

• “VP Pence tells West Point grads it’s a ‘virtual certainty’ they will fight on a battlefield for America”

In other news…

As you know, Neptune refers to drugs and Jupiter is still BIG.  “Oklahoma takes on drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and Teva in landmark opioid trial”

Meanwhile, you may recall that when Chiron entered Aries back in March for an eight-year stay, one of the themes we could expect to see addressed in the headlines was “toxic masculinity.” Earlier this month I neglected to mention a gripping NYT Sunday magazine cover story on that exact subject. And even though I expected to see it addressed, it was still a “wow!’ when it was published. Astrology is amazing.

In countries that are not the United States:

• Theresa May resigned as prime minister; UK set for new PM by “end of July,” when Mercury will be retrograde. What could go wrong?
• “India’s Modi wins in unexpected landslide victory; potent appeal to populism”  — and no, WaPo and others with their jaws on the floor, this is not unexpected at all! Modi’s horoscope was discussed here in 2014.  Born on Sep 17, 1950 in Vadnagar, India, Modi’s Sun, Mercury and Saturn are at 22-23 Virgo and thus activated by the expansive, supportive influence of transiting Jupiter. The nationalist/populist appeal is a sign of the times, as Avid Readers well know.
• In Austria, chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been forced out in a no-confidence vote. Said vote is tied to the so-called “Ibiza scandal,”  as The Guardian begins to explain with “During the six-hour meeting at a luxury resort on Ibiza, the woman [purporting to be the niece of a Russian oligarch] expresses an interest in gaining control of the country’s largest-circulation tabloid, the Kronen Zeitung…” Can you see how this reflects the potential of Jupiter square Neptune?
• File under ray of hope: “European Greens surge as voters abandon old parties over climate change.”

In other news, with Uranus (upsets) now in Taurus (retail, stuff, food, banks, cows), we expect to see disruption/shocks in those areas over the next seven years:

• “The middle market is collapsing at Kohl’s and  J.C. Penney”
• The truly heroic Harriet Tubman was supposed to be the new face of the U.S. $20 bill next year, replacing the truly horrible Andrew Jackson. That’s been pushed back to 2028…or whenever.
• U.S. farmers disrupted by tariffs and tornadoes
• The Guardian is doing an investigative series called “Toxic America.”— with plenty of disruptive stories about food.
• “Robocrop: world’s first raspberry-picking robot will outpace human workers”

UPDATE: CNN’s Jim Acosta was discussed back in November. Given patterns observed back then, it is no surprise that he’s just published a book called “The Enemy of the People.” Plus, transiting Jupiter is squaring his Venus at 22 Pisces.

Random boundary-pushing stories with cosmic (Neptune) themes:

• Navy pilots were seeing UFOs on an almost-daily basis back in 2014 and 2015 (the most intense period of the 2011-2016 Uranus-Pluto square)
• “Exploding stars led to humans walking on two legs, radical theory suggests”

And finally, Randy Rainbow’s horoscope is right on schedule. I wrote about it in the Jun/Jul issue of Mountain Astrologer. Back in January, Rainbow released his brilliant satirical take on All Things P45, set to “Cell Block Tango” from the musical Chicago. That was when transiting Jupiter was at 22 Sagittarius, triggering his Mars-Neptune opposition at 22 Gemini-Sagittarius. We can expect another creation any minute now — and oh lookie, here it is, hot off the press, and it’s called “Just Impeach Him.” But wait — there’s more! Posted on WaPo just two hours ago: “Randy Rainbow’s witty world: how a musical nerd reinvented political satire for the YouTube age.” 

I have yet to find a more empowering tool for understanding why you are the way you are and why things happen when they do. Have  you? To find out when things are likely to happen in your life, why not consider scheduling a personal consultation to discuss your horoscope. Plan B: if you find this forecast engaging and informative, you may support the work by making a one-time or monthly contribution to the Cosmic Tip Jar.

With gratitude.

Thank you for reading this forecast.