Full Moon in Scorpio & Spring Rabbits and Wolves: Astrology of 5/6 – 5/12

A video version of the following forecast (me, reading it to you, with some commentary) is available on YouTube here!

“I felt as though in life, I had been frolicking around like a rabbit with other rabbits, engaging in amusing activities like improv and comedy nights as a disciplined and intentional practice. I did it because otherwise I was broody and depressive. I continually sought the company of fun, comical people and learned to behave as one of them, though truly there was something below, a much deeper base tone not being accessed because there was no space in my environment for it. It was the part of me that voiced existential ruminations in groups of people but received crickets for response. Yet that part of me was soothed now, so even as I still watched on the airiness of it all as an outsider, playing croquet and having light conversation, I felt secretly contented. Now everything was like a pleasant dream: long skirts folding into the grass, the sun rising up over the trees, lavender mint cocktails.

…Then it was as though after running around the meadow so much with other rabbits, a wolf entered my sphere and leveled with me, saying, “You aren’t really a rabbit. I’ve been watching you. Anyone who is not a fool could see you are no rabbit but are truly a wolf. Come with me. I will show you where our kind reside,” and then the wolf leads me to a darkened cave that holds a vision of a shimmering light at the end, deep, far within.”

– excerpts from my (unpublished) novel The Garden of Sleeping Hammers

(Image: Mario Carreño)

A Full Moon in Scorpio signifies a big release. We’re not meant to hold onto everything in this life, and eventually we will leave this life with no physical possessions and no body either. Except, if you believe in reincarnation like I do, and you want to entertain this reincarnationist train of thought, we WILL bring our accomplishments, lessons learned, and our unresolved emotional imprints and baggage into the next life. 

Why am I reminding you of this?

Well, sometimes by the grace of life and the changes that time brings, we loosen up our deeply held resistances, grudges, and negative patterns just ‘cause! But a lot of the time, we do have to make the choice to let go, and with that letting go essentially free-fall into a different kind of life we’ve never imagined for ourselves. We do the work of facing ourselves, and earn the capacity to be more light-hearted and actually stop lugging onto the baggage we’ve insisted upon being attached to.

Venus in light-hearted, clever, and impossible-to-pin Gemini is stationing retrograde this week and we may be feeling the invitation from life (whether it’s a call from within or from our environment) to have more fun, to be frivolous, to play for the sake of play. 

Some magic teachings go that if we cannot laugh, we are really in a dire place (and not in the best place to be performing magic…).

And yet, the underworld, our grief, and our deepest feelings have to be fed too. When we feel like our emotional-psychic life is rich, it’s easier to settle into some clever small talk and not grasp at the hope for it to be something more or something deeper. We can frolic along the surface, secretly (or not-so-secretly) contented at the depth of our inner life and our connection to Eros.

I’m imagining, and invite you to imagine with me, that there is a negotiation happening among the transits this week that goes like this: frivolous, bubbly delight awaits you like a birthright. It’s difficult to recognize when one’s mind and spirit is burdened with preoccupations sourced in the energy of resistance. What have you refused to let go of? What deep emotion have you not allowed yourself to feel? A bright, decadent garden flourishes from a soil made of dead things. It is a balanced relationship with death and dying that also opens way for blooming and lightness. It is a paradox that requires a capacity in one’s being to be open to a greater bandwidth of tenderness, grief, and bliss alike, capable of skipping along each note without ever getting stuck in just one.

“Some people tell me that they would rather die than continue living without love in their lives. Yet trying to get them to shake up their routine, forgive someone who has clearly wronged them, or let of of old, outdated ideas about who they are and what is possible in their lives and… it’s… like… pulling… teeth!

Having the willingness to let go absolutely is the one crucial key to transforming our lives. Hence the stereotype of ‘bottoming out’ before one is willing to change, which implies the most of us are not willing to let go of our way of doing things until we’ve completely bankrupted ourselves. Ask yourself, am I so stubborn that I must lose everything, and everybody who comes into my life, before I become willing to change? Am I so set in my ways that I would rather let loveless days, turn into loveless weeks, turn into loveless months, turn into loveless years, before I become flexible enough to try something new?

You must challenge yourself by asking, how am I willing to be inconvenienced? To be uncomfortable? To be wrong? How willing am I to surrender control? To follow directions? To take real risks where I might actually fail at something? Wherever you’ve answered with a resounding negative, or even hesitated just the slightest bit, is probably the exact place you will need to go in order to expand your opportunities for love.” – Katherine Woodward Thomas from “Calling in The One”

Welcome back! Or in case this is your first time here, I’m Sabrina Monarch and I’m a soul-centered astrologer. I love providing perspectives on the opportunities of transits and putting into words what the vibe feels like at this moment in time, to support you on your path & open a dialogue between us and the cosmos. If you would like to receive these weekly forecasts to your inbox, sign up for my mailing list here. This is also a great way to stay in the loop about special offerings and to be notified when Evolutionary Astrology Intensive opens up for enrollment!

Before we get into this week’s transits in more detail, a few announcements:

New episode of Magic of the Spheres! Marie is a psychology researcher and dating expert and we discuss all things dating – online dating, reframing rejection, the spiritual dimension of dating, and cultivating love as an energy in one’s life to make way for the experience of resonating with and meeting a partner.⁣
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Marie Thouin is a PhD candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies and founder of Love InSight, a Mindful Dating Coaching practicewhere she helps people of all ages, genders, and sexual/relationship orientations navigate the path of intimate love in a growth-oriented mindset. As a psychology researcher and dating expert, she assists her clients in developing deep inquiry, clarity, and healing around the dating process, as well as formulating and enacting practical strategies for establishing meaningful connections with compatible people. Her academic work focuses on the transformative potentials of human sexuality and the transmutation of jealousy into empathetic joy in non-traditional relationship structures.⁣ You can find out more about Marie at www.LoveInSight-dating.com.

Tune into our episode where you listen to podcasts! Or on your browser here.

Kickstarter coming June 2020: June will begin the sixth year of writing these weekly forecasts and I’ll be asking for your support to crowdfund the year ahead. I’ll be offering astrology readings, discounted tuition to my Evolutionary Astrology course, and more. These forecasts have long been free and providing so much value to many people’s lives, and I truly need the support of you as my community to thrive. (Consider me like public radio!) I aim to keep sharing valuable free content for years to come and I ask for your help achieving a salary for the consistent high-value content I share with the public. This will be my first Kickstarter – please help me make it a success!

Here’s our week:

May 7, 2020

Mercury in 20 Taurus sextile Neptune in 20 Pisces: 3:42 AM PDT

• This is a gentle, subtle transit that poses an opportunity for nervous system healing. There are themes here of self-compassion, and the image that comes to me is a person giving themselves the words and touch they crave (objectively, or perhaps from another person). This can also extend toward activities (going on some kind of adventure) or gestures (making a beautiful dinner). We can be very myopic, imagining that the fulfillment we desire must come from a particular circumstance, yet there is the craving, and there are more resourceful ways of fulfilling desire.
• Within this transit is also the opportunity to link earthy, material, tangible things and events with something more numinous and mystical. This could be like speaking blessings over food, asking Source for more energy or for blessed rest, or meditating and conversing with flowers – to name a few ideas.

Full Moon in 17 Scorpio: 3:45 AM PDT

• While the Sun is in Taurus, our attention is drawn to pleasure, sensuality, and wealth. In Taurean experience we can be reveling in abundance, but we can also experience stagnation. Stagnation is in part, due to holding onto things which we no longer need. A Scorpio Full Moon is a great time to identify sources of stagnation and to let them go. If you like to practice divination on Full Moons, it may be helpful to ask for guidance around what you may let go of. This can also be accomplished through inner-journeying/meditation/prayer.
• Scorpio’s deep intelligence is the capacity to be lucid about what is bonded to – one’s psychological hooks, fixations, and compulsions, as well as bonds of Eros and bonds of choice. By bonds of Eros, I simply mean the glue that is erotic allurement, or the experience of deep fascination and the desire to merge. Just as important as it is to let go, it is also important to bond intelligently. Life is a complex web of relationships, so connection is inextricably part of our experience. The question is of where we find the deepest value and thus where do we invest?
• When it comes to places we invest our energy compulsively (as in an addiction of some kind) we may feel momentary satisfaction or catharsis but we are being taxed and drained in the exchange. This Full Moon may correlate with a reveal of some kind of where this leak is (an unconscious pattern coming to light) or our willingness/capacity to let go may be ripening.
• Growing into fuller light and lucidity is our relationship with power and being empowered. We leak our power to others or other forces in unconscious ways, such as when we aren’t authentic in the world for fear of being judged, or we dim our light for fear of making other people uncomfortable. These examples demonstrate the choice both to be personally disempowered and to enable other people’s fears. 
• Scorpio and its modern ruler Pluto relate to power that has been kept down and underneath, often from fear. When it first emerges, it can be volcanic (like pressure released). To integrate the wisdom of Taurus, Scorpio’s polar sign and where the Sun is, could be to build and cultivate an increase in power in such a way that one can contain it. This is also like leaning into one’s edge. Leaning into the edge means we face our fears and resistances *at the edge*. We do not back away from the challenge, but we also don’t push too deep and too far into territory we are not ready for. We just play with that edge and over time, steadily increase our capacities and expand past prior limitations.

May 9, 2020

Mercury in 24 Taurus trine Pluto in 24 Capricorn: 6:17 AM PDT

(Image: Yīfāng Wú)

• This alignment can correlate with higher drive and/or frustration around work or the fulfilling of tasks, which can be experienced differently depending on our relationship to our work.
• Let’s say we love our work, but we’re beginning to feel tired and drained or burnt out. This can signal a variety of things: the need for some rest and downtime, or the need for a reconnection to the WHY behind the work.
• There may be places of diminishing fulfillment because we have grown lazy or apathetic about something we once were more enthusiastic about. If we do not challenge this trend, we may grow more thoughts and feelings of disenchantment. However, we also have the opportunity to purposely seek newfound inspiration around our routines and what we have committed ourselves to.
• The feeling in our bodies around work and accomplishment right now may feel heavier, like it takes a little (or a lot) more energy to get started, but that we have some power and momentum when we do, and we are resting harder. This will pass. But as the gears that keep our life in motion slow and grind a little more, there is an opportunity to become more present with the nature of our motivation and the kinds of thoughts we have in the process work or task. Is the blaring thought of “I’m tired!” an accurate reading of truth or is it an unintentional spell?

May 10, 2020

Mercury in 27 Taurus trine Jupiter in 27 Capricorn: 7:36 AM PDT

• Just as Mercury’s trine to Pluto in Capricorn may relate to a little more heaviness around feeling motivated and the process of potentially discovering deeper reserves of energy when we apply ourselves, Mercury’s trine to Jupiter does the same thing but with questions of faith. We may find our resting baseline level of optimism lower at this time, but steady effort around happiness and gratitude can also have robust returns.
• Consider a child you love very much who you would be happy to cheer up – who, although they are quite absorbed in their sadness or disappointment, you can see a bigger picture that they at the moment can’t. This rallying energy that you possess to cheer them up may be an inner-resource to be generous with this week, in giving to yourself and others. It’s like reaching into a dark bag one supposes is empty, and pulling out stars. Some things can be created from what feels like nothing.

Sun in 20 Taurus sextile Neptune in 20 Pisces: 9:16 AM PDT

Saturn stations retrograde in 1 Aquarius: 9:09 PM PDT

Saturn has recently entered Aquarius, and after retrograding so early into the sign Saturn will re-enter Capricorn on July 1, 2020. Saturn will station direct again on September 28, and re-enter Aquarius on December 16, 2020.

• Saturn stations retrograde in close conjunction to warrior strategist goddess Pallas Athena (the asteroid), and this may coincide with deeper reflection on how we are to adapt to change. The progression of time and the changing circumstances that time brings is consistently an invitation for innovation and adaptation. When we seek to resist change, it takes wisdom to discern whether we are acting in way as to uphold or conserve a particular virtue amidst challenge, or if we are stuck in our ways and holding on from a place of fear.
• Saturn in Aquarius brings challenges and growth to the arena of friendship, community, and building/cultivating networks, which we have already seen in the time of “social distancing” and the ways this has both helped people go within more and reach out to people in new/innovative ways. Notice if there are heightened questions and/or insights around this time about cultivating a thriving community life. 

May 11, 2020

Mercury in 28 Taurus square Mars in 28 Aquarius: 12:33 AM PDT

(Image: Tony Allen)

• Mars in Aquarius brings zest and aliveness to the world of our downloads, our capacity for channeling lit ideas from the Higher Mind and our personal Higher Self. This dynamic square to Mercury in Taurus signifies the act of making new choices and decisions around implementing ideas and actually executing those decisions.
• This energy of decisiveness and coming from a place of excitement isn’t a bad way to live in general, or to make pivotal and important decisions in one’s life! Perhaps you may recall a time to you let your inspired impulses lead you out on a spontaneous adventure where you ended up meeting a new friend or lover, and you wouldn’t have met them had you not followed your excitement that day.

Mercury enters Gemini: 2:57 PM PDT

Mercury will stay in Gemini until May 28 – a short stay, and Mercury will link up with retrograde Venus in Gemini during its time here.

• Mercury is in one of its home signs while in Gemini (the other, Virgo), which means Mercury’s traditional forms of expression are less mitigated (as Mercury would be in other signs). In a subtle or perhaps not-so-subtle way, communications may accelerate and there can be a sense of having more on our mind after some time of soma-consciousness in Taurus (feeling more in our bodies perhaps, but with less to verbalize about it).

May 12, 2020

Mercury in 1 Gemini trine Saturn in 1 Aquarius: 1:14 PM PDT

• If you are of the thought-camp that thoughts have influence in creating reality (as thoughts create feelings and actions), this Mercury trine to Saturn may be a time of exercising some discipline in how we craft our spells. Thoughts that are repeated over time have power, whether we’ve been hitting the point home intentionally or not. With Mercury in Gemini’s experimental character and Saturn in Aquarius’ electric way of giving feedback (think chills), we could take an issue or conflict we’ve been grappling with and throw out some thought-forms about it to see which ones feel the most inspired. We create mental stories about our circumstances, but these stories do not always energize or enliven us as much as they could. Try brainstorming some new ideas and options to see what it takes to feel certain electricity.

Mars enters Pisces: 9:17 PM PDT

I have written an articles about natal Mars in Pisces or Mars in the 12th House on the blog, titled A Mars in the 12th House Interpretation & Parable.

• Mars in Pisces harmonizes personal will with divine will, in much the similar way a surfer harmonizes with the ocean. When our ego is overly insistent on having ITS way without tuning in, it’s like trying to fight the ocean, and subsequently one will feel very victimized at how powerless they are in the face of a much vaster force. Likewise, many surfers (to keep with this example) feel a sublime sense of flow when they are out with the ocean, and we too can feel a sublime sense of peace when our personal will is linked to the universal will. This is the sword/weapon of Mars in Pisces that one must learn how to wield, and that we can be challenged to work with at this time. If you can recall a time you went against your intuition or the flow of reality itself and tried to force something and felt undone by your efforts, it is this kind of thing. Likewise, excessive surrender or total dissolution of self has its risks as well.
• Ideally, the universal will and the personal will shouldn’t be at odds. The more true we are with ourselves, the more we are with our Source, and vice versa. Mars in Pisces can relate to piercing the fog that separates us between our divine inner nature. To the extent we are attached to our fantasies of separation, the more we will feel disillusioned by this apparent loss of self.
• Linking the universal will and the personal will does not mean ceasing to have personal dreams or aspirations. It means bringing personal desires into conversation with the Universe, and trusting that your heart’s desires are not just your own but also Source’s. Prayer, meditation, and asking for guidance and support, are all ways to merge personal and universal will.

Venus stations retrograde in 21 Gemini: 11:45 PM PDT

Listen to a recent podcast episode with Melanie Gurley for our thoughts on the Venus retrograde (as well as the upcoming Mars retrograde this summer/fall), episode #49 of Magic of the Spheres.

Venus will station direct again June 24.

• Venus retrogrades are JOURNEYS of the heart! During Venus retrograde, Venusian themes are intensified, and we re-assess our approach to love and relationship. This can cause shifts in relationship structure in some cases, as well as the burgeoning of new relationships or a deepening of our own inner-comprehension of love, which can be quite powerful and heart-opening. 
• In the sign of Gemini, this Venus retrograde can bring up themes around relativity in love – how other people think differently and how our act of loving one another means we explore how we are different and seek to empathize with another’s point of view. Is this intellectual empathy reciprocal? Is it mutually enhancing? Are the differing visions collaborative and capable of working together?
• With Venus squaring Neptune much of this cycle, there is the possibility of reflecting on ghosts from the past – people who are no longer in our life in a tangible way, but who take up residence in our minds or hearts. This is a good time to lean into processes of letting go and forgiveness that help clear away this level of the relationship debris. Can we also acknowledge what we gained from the connection (directly or by cause and effect)? Can we take ownership of the aspects of ourselves that were revealed to us through the connection? Venus-Neptune is a heart-healing transit and we can willingly engage that potential through forgiveness and learning how both re-open or protect our hearts, situationally depending.
• Venus in Gemini resonates well with the love letter, or words of affirmation. We may consider how we express our heart though language and how language can be a bridge to greater intimacy and connection. ✨🌬💌✨

Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week! I really appreciate you being here with me as I know that if you connect to this writing we have likemindedness and that is so special. Please share this article with a friend who you think would resonate!

I welcome and accept tips for this forecast – my Venmo is @SabrinaMonarch and Cashapp $SabrinaMonarch as well. Thank you!

Please let me know what you think in the comments – truly I want to know so leave a note! I love you and you are soul family to me, thank you for finding your way to these words and resonating with them in whatever ways you have.

If you enjoy these forecasts and would like more personalized guidance re your personal astrology, I would love to read your natal chart and transits for you! If you would like me to explore the themes in your chart, book a reading with me here. 

I meditate on charts before the reading and combine my knowledge of astrology with my clairvoyant abilities to offer you some insights about themes you are working with in this life based on prior lives, and what is the evolutionary purpose of this lifetime. I recorded an episode on my podcast recently titled Befriending your Intuition and Clairvoyance if you’d like to learn more about my relationship with clairvoyance along with tips for increasing yours!

I can work with your specific questions and shed light on ongoing issues or patterns you would like to shift, as well! Book with me here.

I’m also becoming increasingly expressive on instagram, so go find me there @sabrinamonarch and say hello! I’m posting content there that I don’t share anywhere else and I love interacting with you there as well as on twitter @sabrina_monarch.

With love,

Sabrina Monarch

Sabrina Monarch is a soul-centered Evolutionary Astrologer who publishes weekly astrological forecasts, works with clients and teaches. She is a novelist and has a M.A. in Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies.

(image of monarch butterflies coming out of envelope by @chthonicbacchae)