If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT).
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
-- T.S. Eliot
 

May looks like a bit of breathing space, at many levels. It's one of those months that feels perpetually on the brink:. You can sense the kinetic energy of events building up, but it always seems to stay just on the verge of breaking loose. With this in mind, I won't belabor this month's forecast: it's appropriately short. Next month, and those to follow, will be a horse of a different color. So "gather ye rosebuds while ye may," as the poet wrote.

The lack of SuperMoons and eclipses in May and over the next several months is a relatively good sign, where disturbances in the crust, seas and skies of Planet Earth are concerned. There hasn't been a month this year so far that hasn't been touched by one of these cosmic alignments, although the last one (the March 29 SuperMoon solar eclipse) only briefly intruded into early April. While May is free and clear of these particular celestial events, that's not to say that it's all sunny skies and smooth sailing ahead.

The Moon remains very near its peak declination this month, and will still be in the extreme range (in excess of 27.5°) of this particular cycle through the summer of 2008. This means we'll be years getting back to what passes for normal in terms of storm and seismic disturbances; which in turn means that even a lack of SuperMoons and eclipses leaves May in a more dynamic than usual state of geocosmic flux - less than September (the next SuperMoon and eclipse month), but enough to warrant paying attention. This should be particularly evident around the 1st, the 6th through 17th (the full moon on the 13th and lunar south declination extreme), and pretty much the entire last ten days of the month (the lunar perigee and the Moon's northward equatorial crossing on the 22nd, plus the new moon on the 27th and the north lunar declination extreme on the 29th). Be ready for the usual during these key geocosmic stress windows: a rash of severe storms with high winds and heavy precipitation (and subsequent flooding, landslides etc.) as well as a surplus of seismic disturbances (including Richter 5+ earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, with consequent risk of tsunami where appropriate). Allow extra time for weather delays if travel is in your plans in any way during these cycles.

Mars spends all month in Cancer, a sign of unease and defensiveness. So many are so keen to protect what they have, so afraid someone aims to take it away. Major outbursts? Probably nothing extraordinary, not this month. But lots of righteous anger, posturing, threats and planning, and the routine level of senseless violence. Blessed are the peacemakers - those who survive, at any rate. Don't be naïve. If you're going to pack heat, there's no sense not having a full clip and a live round in the chamber.

The Sun's opposition to Jupiter on the 4th and square to Neptune on the 10th, along with Neptune's retrograde station on the 22nd, foreshadows the year's signature T-square from Jupiter to Saturn and Neptune. Mercury plays the same T-square tune this month, squaring Saturn on the 8th, opposing Jupiter on the 11th, squaring Neptune on the 15th and then aligning in superior conjunction with the Sun on the 18th. I've already described the portents of the 2006 T-square in some detail in my 2006 World Forecast Highlights. May will prod us all to consider what climate upheaval, disease, political and economic as well as social decay will mean for us individually as well as collectively. As I've already said, this is a transition that's already in progress. May won't bring it to a climax - far from it. But it will bring temporal foreshocks, hints as to what lies ahead: a crisis of confidence, a loss of faith in authority and tradition, the collapse of the illusion, a debt crisis. Remember, Saturn's opposition to Neptune is the centerline of the great 2006 T-square. The last time Saturn opposed Neptune, Nixon took the US off the gold standard, because the nation's financial system was effectively bankrupt.

Most people manage to stay in denial of this stuff, by ignorance or by choice. May makes it harder to maintain that state of denial, but it doesn't bring the house down. If you don't already know what to do, May at least makes it plain that attempting to maintain the status quo is the only sure road to ruin. Many a baby boomer is coming up on a Saturn transit over natal Pluto, and some have already had it. Heard about the plant closures, the downsizing and outsourcing, the bankruptcies and pension defaults?

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)