On Saturday, May 29, Mercury stations retrograde at 24º Gemini, and will remain retrograde until June 22 when it stations direct at 16º Gemini. This is our second Mercury retrograde period on 2021.
In Gemini, Mercury is in its domicile, so it has access to the resources in needs in order to accomplish its goals. But for these weeks, the goals that will be best served are reflection and review, particularly in terms of communication, the transmission of ideas, how we access and process information, how we articulate our perspectives, as well as the movements of material goods and travel.
Mercury stations retrograde in a conjunction with Venus and square Neptune in Pisces. How we communicate in relationships of all kinds may require extra care and consideration. With Neptune involved, we may not be hearing one another as clearly as we believe we are. Check your own projections. Exercise patience. Practice deep and deliberate listening. Be intentional in reflecting back what you heard and understood.
There is a moment of vivid clarity possible on June 10 when Mercury is cazimi the Sun, bringing some of what has been clouded into bright focus and revealing what is at the heart of this transit for each of us.
Mercury will make one last square with Neptune on July 6 then clear its retrograde shadow on July 7. Between now and then, pay close attention. Gather information. Develop multiple possible plans and contingencies, holding off making final decisions or determinations—because you very likely will not have all the information that you need in order to come to such conclusions. By the end of the first week of July, it will be time to put what you’ve learned out into the world.
 
[Image reads: MERCURY RETROGRADE IN GEMINI May 29-June 22 in dark olive letters on a bright yellow background]

Lunar eclipses tend to describe significant or even dramatic culminations in whatever part of the chart they fall. Especially as this lunar eclipse occurs with the Moon just 5º from the South Node, this could describe a striking decrease or clearing out, potentially unfolding between now and the Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius on December 4. The events described by eclipses are often unexpected or unpredictable, as an eclipse is an interruption in the light of the Moon or Sun. However, letting go and bringing things to completion—even in unexpected ways—need not necessarily be traumatic. This eclipse is not only ruled by Jupiter—because the Moon is in Jupiter’s domicile of Sagittarius—but the Moon and Sun are also in a T-square with Jupiter at 1º Pisces. Jupiter is in its domicile of Pisces and witnesses this eclipse, offering currents of cohesion and compassionate growth through whatever passage this eclipse describes. This suggests a more benevolent and supportive quality to whatever events unfold around or following this eclipse. In Sagittarius, this could describe changes in our beliefs and how our views of the world impact the particular part of our charts occupied by Sagittarius. What beliefs have you outgrown or outworn? What perspectives of the world are expiring, creating space for new experiences and emergent observations? The loss of belief can be a time of crisis, but as our familiar points of view disintegrate, pathways to more freedom can come into view.
 
[Image reads: LUNAR ECLIPSE IN SAGITTARIUS 26 May 2021 in light grey letters with a red-orange glow on a dark grey background.]

Today Jupiter ingresses into Pisces where it will be until July 28, foreshadowing its longer transit through Pisces throughout 2022. Pisces is Jupiter’s nocturnal domicile, a mutable water sign where Jupiter’s abundance can be oceanic, where its growth comes from its adaptability, and its deepest beliefs are in our capacities for connection and dissolving the barriers between us. More becomes possible with Jupiter in Pisces. Perhaps we become more possible or simply we become more. More abundantly more. More sensing, more feeling, more than one, more than two, more than a single point of view, more gracious, more loving, more compassionate, more passionate, more opening and expansive, more available to more, more of ourselves, more than ourselves. It has been approximately twelve years since Jupiter moved through Pisces, and it’s been since December 2, 2019, since Jupiter was in a sign that it ruled. While Jupiter’s ingress into Aquarius in December 2020 marked an improvement in its condition from being fallen in Capricorn, as it moves into Pisces, it will have access to all of the resources it needs in order to bring about that which it signifies—especially when it is moving direct from May 13 until June 20. Whatever Jupiter is responsible for in your chart—depending on the houses that it rules—this period has the potential to deliver the most resources and support that those areas have had since the end of 2019. Do note that Jupiter will have a trine with Venus in Cancer on June 3, making this part of the year even more promising amidst the other sky stories of 2021.
 
[Image reads: JUPITER ENTERS PISCES 13 May 2021 in bright blue letters on a dark blue background]

​Today Venus in Taurus perfects a square with Jupiter in Aquarius, just before Venus leaves its domicile for Gemini, and just days before Jupiter ingresses into its domicile of Pisces. While the square is the aspect associated with the qualities of Mars—contention, conflict, crisis, and the demand for adjustment—in Hellenistic astrology, the square can also be a very dynamic form of bonification from the benefics. Today the two benefics bonify one another—Jupiter overcoming Venus in a superior square, Venus hurling rays back to Jupiter from the inferior position. Both are offering support and affirmation, particularly in the area of favorable relationships. This could be a potent time for forming powerful alliances, as well as for building deeply meaningful connections in our intimate partnerships. Jupiter describes the principles of expansion and inclusion, whereas Venus describes the principles of union and pleasure. How can we form relationships—personal, political, and professional—that encompass more of our capacities for pleasure and joy? Asking for what feels good and supporting others in experiencing satisfaction can create important solidarities between us. As Audre Lorde writes in “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” “The erotic functions for me in several ways, and the first is in providing the power which comes from sharing deeply any pursuit with another person. The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.” How might you center the sharing of joy in your relationships today?

[Image reads: VENUS SQUARE JUPITER 8 May 2021 in pink letters on a dark purple background]