The Full Moon on May 19 (May 20 in the Eastern Hemisphere) falls at 29° Scorpio, just before the Sun leaves Taurus and enters Gemini. This is called the “anaretic degree” or “critical degree” and marks the ending of a phase. It is an opportunity to review our understanding of the lessons of the sign involved.

Scorpio has been the focal point of this last cycle from Full Moon to Full Moon, and hopefully most of us have had realizations about what we need to let go of or release to the highest good.

The Sun is still conjunct Venus in Taurus, emphasizing appreciation of what we have and the importance of being in the body. When the Sun moves on into Gemini and joins Mercury and Ceres there, air signs will be able to breathe more easily, whereas the earth signs will be reluctant to give up touchy feely Taurus. The fire signs are just happy to have Mars in Leo instead of Cancer! It is a bit dry now for water signs.

One of the more interesting patterns in the sky on this Full Moon is a wide fixed grand cross formed by the nodal axis, the luminaries, and the Chiron/Neptune conjunction in Aquarius. This particular pattern impacts my chart strongly and prompts me to feel the key here is to take advantage of pain to discern what needs tossing from one’s life. It’s a truism that humans change more readily when it’s too painful not to, and the conjunction of Chiron/North Node/Neptune looks very much like just the crew to do that. Aquarius provides the detachment to stand back and observe the source of the pain Chiron is pointing to, while Neptune provides the anesthetic (boy, is this going to hurt when it wears off . . .), and the North Node in Aquarius indicates the path we need to travel toward the greater good. The Scorpio Full Moon gives us the wherewithal to dig deep inside ourselves and haul what we need to review to the surface. May passing through this experience help all of us feel lighter and freer to truly be ourselves.

We are still working with Jupiter sextile Uranus, but in this Full Moon chart, Mercury conjunct Ceres in Gemini is square Uranus. This may be a clue as to why so many are feeling Mercury retrograde is casting a deeper shadow than usual. Once Mercury goes retrograde on May 26, the square to Uranus will widen and won’t begin to close until after Mercury goes direct on June 20. Uranus is essentially standing still now as it prepares to station retrograde on June 28, but we won’t cross that bridge for awhile yet . . . thankfully.

The next chapter following this Full Moon will unfold slowly due to Mercury’s change in direction. Perhaps the best course of action is to keep in mind Scorpio’s theme of rejuvenation and review, as Mercury retrograde is certainly a good time to continue with it. Life has been moving very quickly since the powerful New Moon in Aries, and a breather would do us all good!

posted by Neith . . .