“Poppies” detail of print by Ava Storm Reynolds
Overview
It was a consequential Cycle we just traversed. One key event was the passing of Pope Francis, the People’s Pope, on April 21, the day of the Resurrection in this year’s Easter honoring, a miracle in the context of religious teachings and institutions. From the celestial perspective, Pope Francis’s chosen moment of passing was also magically timed with an exact planetary aspect and the completion of his third Saturn Return at 88 years old, a master number.
The realization that even our most established institutions are deeply linked to the astronomical evolutionary processes brings a resurrection to my soul. Everything, both human-made or divinely-guided, is truly connected. We are on a co-evolutionary path. The world of the seen and the unseen, invisible energy and visible form are intricately and inextricably linked. This universal truth is about to be felt more noticeably by people on a global scale—good news—as the new Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Pisces comes into being. I will write more on that in the next Cycle.
Here’s another way of appreciating these mysterious realities we navigate. These are the words of the Concise Heart Sutra I have been contemplating to help shift my perspective. I share them now in honor of how the month of May is linked to Buddha’s birth, death and legacy:
Form is Emptiness, Emptiness in Form
Form is not separate from Emptiness
Emptiness is not separate from Form
In this New SolLunar Cycle, the Sun and Moon meet up astronomically in Aries marking a time for courage, a desire to leap into action, not wasting a moment of time, charging forward with passion and confidence. Aries can bring impatience if desires are thwarted so cultivate patience, too, in order to avoid accidents or unforeseen consequences. As this New Moon is in square to the recent super-intense, aggressive Mars/Pluto opposition which brought dynamic shifts in our last Cycle, power struggles may continue around the globe or within relationships. This dynamic is also taxing to our health, in case you have felt challenged in some way. Now that the recent months for rest and reflection are done, action-steps happen more easily and with greater clarity, mirroring the Earth’s blooms springing forth for the verdant and holy ground.
Thank you again, Ava Storm Reynolds, for the use of your art for this post. Ava is a young, visionary artist whose art, livelihood and being are deeply connected to the Earth and climate shifts. View more of her work HERE.
NOTE: When reading my daily entries, remember that the influence of each aspect is like a wave — it crescendos a day or two, sometimes a week, before it happens, crests on the day it is exact, then dissipates over the following days. People experience the transits of planets at different times depending on their sensitivity and life events.
Sidereal Astrology Mentoring and Readings
MY POSTS: My posts are based on the true astronomical alignments of the planets with the constellations, also referred to as the sidereal zodiac. This zodiac is energetically in synch with the forces of the Universe beaming down on us and thus mirrors extraordinary accuracy in understanding how transits are working with us. My mentor and colleague, Nick Anthony Fiorenza—now in spirit—wrote his seminal book, Introduction to Astronomical Astrology which I can now share for free if you are interested in learning from a master teacher
I use the phases of the Moon as the scaffold for my posts because the Moon functions like an energetic portal mediating between the heavens and our wondrous Earth. My entries are based on the aspects occurring each week as they crescendo, crest and dissipate over the course of their influence. As you work with and within the natural flow of time and the supportive cosmic energies that each unique SolLunar Cycle brings, life can flow with more ease, grace and understanding.
MY SERVICES: I delight in mentoring students — individually, with families or groups, via workshops and conferences — who want to learn more about how to use sidereal astrology as a helpful tool for insight, evolution, creativity and well-being. I offer speaking engagements for your gatherings or groups to understand big picture astrology events affecting us all. Consider booking a reading with me, either a Full Natal Map, mini-readings for $44 or $88 or my other offerings like the Relationship Map, Child or AdolEssence Map for your children or the Business Map which helps your team succeed and thrive. I offer SHE Sessions: Self Help Energywork in which I teach you tools to create greater health and balance for yourself. My poetry book, Out of the Flames/Blue Bison Press, is available on my website. Thank you!
@2025 Lyn Dalebout ~ EarthWordSkyWord.com ~ All Rights Reserved
New SolLunar Cycle in sidereal Aries
At the New Moon, you are sprouting like a seed with new creative inspiration. Receive your unique insights by sitting in meditation or just be open to new possibilities arising within you from the sea of infinite creation.
New SolLunar Cycle in sidereal Aries: Sun/Moon in Aries square Mars in Cancer/Pluto in Capricorn: Sun April 27 1:31 pm MT
In this New SolLunar Cycle, the Sun and Moon meet up astronomically in Aries marking a time for courage, a desire to leap into action, not wasting a moment of time, charging forward with passion and confidence. Aries can bring impatience if desires are thwarted so cultivate patience, too, in order to avoid accidents or unforeseen consequences. As this New Moon is in square to the recent super-intense, aggressive Mars/Pluto opposition which brought dynamic shifts in our last Cycle, power struggles may continue around the globe or within relationships. This dynamic is also taxing to our health in case you have felt challenged in some way. Now that the recent months for rest and reflection are done, action-steps happen more easily and with greater clarity, like new beginnings, mirroring Earth’s blooms springing forth from verdant and holy ground.
Beltane/May Day: Thu May 1
Suddenly we have reached the halfway point between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice! How can that be? Time for honoring all things earthy and sensual, colorful and celebratory. Blessings to all on this holy day of beauty and delight!
Venus/Neptune conjunction in Pisces: Fri May 2
These two planets are synonymous with love and creativity and bring compassion or buried grief to the surface. Inspiration arises from the most expansive level of your being. Make time for art, sharing with beloveds. Be willing to feel romantic again if the world brings an opportunity to your door.
Jupiter in Taurus trine Pallas Athene in Capricorn: Fri May 2 – Sun May 4
This positive aspect brings organizational skill as well as talent for designing or planning events, projects, dates. You can have steady energy all day and accomplish much by the day’s end.
Juno in Scorpio opposite Uranus in Taurus: Sat May 3
This can bring sudden shifts, break downs or breakthroughs in key partnerships. Free yourself from old ways of relating and imagine yourself in a new light responding differently and so achieving better results.
Lunar Highlights
Moon/Uranus conjunction in Taurus: Mon April 28
This can bring surprises or an unexpected turn of events. It can create unpredictability regarding financial issues. Pay attention to your intuitive hits which can be strong today.
Moon/Jupiter conjunction in Taurus: Wed April 30
This monthly meet up brings confidence, sometimes over-confidence, to push emotional or physical boundaries New possibilities and opportunities appear. It is good for dealing with the financial aspects of your life.
First Quarter Moon
At the First Quarter Moon, you are called to action. The need to move forward with your recent insights can come via making a conscious choice or by challenging circumstances that require you make a move.
First Quarter Moon: Moon/Mars in Cancer square Sun in Aries: Sun May 4
Mars can bring fires of inspiration, flashes of anger or inspire you to leap into action at this activating First Quarter Moon. The sign of Cancer involves our homes and family dynamics. Spring clean your yard and gardens. Plant seeds. Rearrange spaces. Important family sit-downs can occur.
Ceres/North Node in Pisces sextile Uranus in Taurus trine Juno in Scorpio: Mon May 5
This brings a harmonious, nurturing flow to activities. Create futuristic—North Node—partnerships or opportunities for projects linked to Great Mother Ceres who oversees food issues, care and stewardship of the environment, caring for all including animals.
Mercury/Chiron conjunction in Pisces: Tue May 6
This aspect is shamanic and magical and can create strange portals in the mind/body, like feeling out of time or walking between the worlds. Great inspiration pours in so make time for creative thinking, imagining, daydreaming. New solutions to problems appear if you release your old way of seeing a situation.
Lunar Highlights
Moon/South Node conjunction in Virgo opposite Ceres/North Node conjunction in Pisces: Wed May 7
This brings a sense of being freed from the past, like completing a task, or feeling the excitement of stepping onto the path of your future. Excellent day for health care appointments where you weigh options or choose better self-care options.
Grand trine in Earth signs: Moon in Virgo/Pallas Athene in Capricorn/Jupiter in Taurus: Fri May 9
This brings natural joy, a sense of being grounded, and a desire to help others in tangible, physical ways. Excellent for executing a big adventure or planning one for the future. Gardeners will be especially inspired and energized today.
Moon in Libra opposite Mercury in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn: Sat May 10
This brings tension to some relationships or conversations. Squares also help us find solutions to blending our different ways of doing things. Negotiate, listen, be honest and see what good can arise.
Full Moon in sidereal Aries/Libra
The Full Moon is the birth point of the current SolLunar Cycle. This can be a time of celebration or crisis, depending on your life circumstance. Feel the joy and relax into new discoveries and directions.
Full Moon in sidereal Aries/Libra: Sun in Aries/Uranus opposite Moon/Juno in Libra: Mon May 12 10:55 am
This Full Moon packs a punch! Volatile and passionate given the proximity to wild-card Uranus and Juno, asteroid of key partnerships. Appreciate the freedom Uranus brings and be spontaneous or open to new directions. Seek out the cutting-edge in all arenas of life. Break a habit you’ve been considering or experiment by making a new choice.
Mercury in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn: Mon May 12
Linked to the Full Moon, this brings added directness or spiciness to communications. Steer clear of accidents by consciously slowing down, something Aries does not like to do! Brainstorm with colleagues.
Saturn/Ceres conjunction in Pisces: Tue May 13
This long range aspect leads to decisions about healthcare, real estate, home projects. More broadly, large building projects take shape with an eye toward climate-smart choices and designs which support communities of the future.
Sun in Aries square Pallas Athene in Capricorn: Wed May 14
There can be a shift in plans or regarding a project. Perhaps a pause would be wise while you evaluate the next steps. It encourages taking creative risks, even in something as simple as modifying a recipe.
Sun/Uranus conjunction in Taurus: Sat May 17
This annual meet-up often brings sudden shifts in everything like an unpredictable earthquake shaking things up. You suddenly know the old isn’t working and it is time to try something new! Be willing to change plans and listen for your intuitive guidance as you go through the day.
Mercury in Aries square Mars in Cancer: Sat May 17
This aspect can be short-tempered or remarkably direct. Since Cancer is involved, important family communications may occur. .
Jupiter enters sidereal Gemini: Sun May 18
It is big news when Jupiter begins a year-long transit in a new sign. Jupiter leaves grounded Taurus and enters the mercurial Air sign of Gemini for the upcoming twelve months. Gemini is endlessly curious, loves to keep learning. Gemini is one of the signs of mental health so innovations and support options increase. Gemini rules all forms of communication, governs social media—get ready for even more people creating exorbitant amounts of content. Gemini oversees vehicles, machinery, transportation systems, K-12 education so expect expansiveness and innovation on all those fronts. Plan to take trips, many trips as Jupiter is all about expanding our horizons.
Lunar Highlights
Moon in Sagittarius square Lunar Nodes/Saturn/Ceres/Neptune in Pisces: Thu May 15
Even the enthusiastic fire of Sagittarius can be tempered by the pileup of planets in watery and oceanic, and at times, lethargic Pisces. It’s a good time to listen and attune first, allowing realizations to flow in. Then let wise guide Sagittarius point you in the direction you want to go next.
Moon/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn: Sun May 18
This pairing is great for focused even obsessive attention. It can bring physical purging or a desire for cleaning your physical spaces.
Last Quarter Moon
With the Last Quarter Moon, you release what has been and simultaneously prepare for what will be as new desires perpetually arise in the next SolLunar Cycle.
Last Quarter Moon: Moon in Aquarius square Sun in Taurus: Tue May 20
The Moon in Aquarius often brings a desire to connect with friends or engage with our community in activities. Taurus likes to be productive so consider how you can link those two impulses today. You may help a friend with a financial matter or offer physical help, or ask for it. And remember at this phase of the Moon, it is a good idea to both reflect on the last three weeks and anticipate what your intentions are for the next New Moon if you like to plan ahead.
Ceres/Neptune conjunction in Pisces: Wed May 21
This long-range, visionary aspect has been influencing the compassionate heart of humanity for a few weeks. Honor and practice a reverence for Mother Earth, Gaia, Holy Being who constantly feeds us, shelters us, also wakes us up to be better stewards. We are at her mercy. Seeds are being planted today that will take years to come to fruition.
Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Cancer: Wed May 21
It’s always a delight when Venus and Mars meet-up in a positive aspect. This trine brings harmony between our feminine and masculine aspects. No matter your sex, the sacred feminine mirrors what you want to create and the sacred masculine protects those creations and helps bring them to fruition.
Sun in Taurus trine Pluto in Capricorn: Thu May 22
This aspect loves physical labor and brings earthly success in finances, building projects, gardening, health goals.
Mercury in Aries opposite Juno in Libra: Thu May 22
Mercury in Aries always speaks up, often blurting surprising truths. This highlights how the needs and talents of individuals within shared relationships can work better when valuing differences. Not competing but appreciating everyone’s unique being.
Lunar Highlights
Moon/North Node/Saturn/Neptune/Ceres conjunction in Pisces: Thu May 22
Pisces seeks meditation, resting, relaxing with music, aligning with your spiritual essence. After listening, this alignment also encourages you to look to the future.
Moon/Chiron conjunction in Aries: Sat May 24
The monthly transit of the Moon in Aries brings spontaneity and sudden epiphanies about what’s about to arrive.
BLESSED NEW MOON in sidereal Taurus: Mon May 26 9:02 pm MT
RESOURCES FOR PERSONAL AND PLANETARY WELL-BEING
ENDEAVORS TO NURTURE
AMANZI-Water to Schools
Please check out my dear friend Julia Heemstra’s cutting-edge humanitarian organization, AMANZI-Water to Schools , which brings water—via climate-smart technologies—and other opportunities to the schools in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, the childhood home where she grew up. Julia is focused, passionate, optimistic, is an elite athlete, a bringer of wellness and mindfulness to all ages, and now via her collaborative organizational model, Julia continues to expand her lifelong commitment to humanitarian service.
JIN SHIN JYUTSU
Health is in your Hands. Here’s a helpful tool to help you maintain health, calm, balance during these stressful but extraordinary times. I am a proponent of Jin Shin Jyutsu and have been a practitioner since 1983. This beautiful, easy-to-use book and card set teaches you the ancient Art of Jin Shin Jyutsu, the Art of Self Healing. JSJ’s premise is that by applying the jumper-cable of your hands to various points on the body, you can clear your own stress on a daily basis, freeing up stuck energy that leads to patterns of dis-ease, while activating the renewed flow of qi and vigor on all levels, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. Explore JSJ and teach yourself and those you love this simple tool for centering and radiant vitality. Consider booking a SHE session: Self Help Energywork, to learn how to help yourself.
PLANT BASED DIET
The reality and urgency of our current planetary crises is real, as our youngest citizens know in their bones. Educate yourself about how plant-based eating is a central component in how you can help personally restore ecological balance as well as create greater health and vitality for you and your beloveds.
The Game Changers: This inspiring movie and storytelling about vegan super-athletes and warriors educates us about the many benefits of a vegan diet and addresses the ‘meat protein myth’.
COWSPIRACY, What the Health and now SEASPIRACY are must-see movies for all humans who care about personal health, animal well-being, social justice, climate change, the health of our Earth. Become educated about the important information shared by these courageous and visionary filmmakers and activists and considering eating mostly plant-based, if not becoming fully vegan in your consumer choices.
