Every spring we take our new Aries initiations and manifest them into Taurean realities. This spring the excitement of Mercury retrograde in Aries brought an abundance of new possibilities. Now the question becomes…what actually will survive and bring forth new growth within us?

Some ideas/desires will start the cycle of changing our lives in new directions. Some of the possibilities may come forth in later cycles, with just the future idea remaining through this zodiacal cycle. And then some of our desires may not be what is best for our souls and no amount of energizing will create any manifestations.

As the Sun enters Taurus on April 19, we all get to take what is new for us and find a greater level of comfort with it. The Evolutionary Astrology mantra for Taurus is: I create self-reliance with every metamorphosis.

We can also know this as the harmonics of the number 2, or the rhythm of manifestation/ unmanifestation, active/passive, masculine/feminine, day/night, karma/dharma, etc. For every action (Aries) there is a corresponding reaction (Taurus). The balance is to know that we need both in our lives.

Sometimes the desire to be secure (Taurus) creates a resistance to the changes (Aries) in front of us. This then becomes the lesson to quest for a deeper level of inner security, inner self-reliance, that allows us to go with the flow (Gemini) of life. It is only natural to desire security, and natural laws based upon the process of evolution teach us that what constitutes security also changes.

Think back upon what once made you feel secure, that now you consider a limitation. Know that whatever makes you feel secure today will become a future limitation. The trick is to realize when we cling to our past at the expense of our ability to grow and evolve. When we can take the essence of Taurus energy and find deeper and deeper inner self-reliance, then we can learn to change when and however necessary.

Mars makes a waxing sextile to Pluto retrograde on April 23 at 24/25 degrees Aquarius-Sagittarius. These two planets always dance around our desires. In a waxing sextile in fire and air signs, it is expanding upon the new desires exciting us. Ask for objective feedback from those around you.

Pluto is a month into its retrograde cycle, bringing subtle yet strong reviews of those deep desires within us. In the Taurus solar month we may want to cling to those old desires, and their securities, in some way, and Mars is tugging us forward with new insights. Open up to the new possibilities coming your way.

Venus makes a waxing sextile to Uranus on April 23 as well at 9/10 degrees Taurus-Pisces. Mars wants excitement and Venus in Taurus wants security. This need to feel safe can ask Uranus in Pisces to buy into whatever dream clings to the illusion of security. Better to bust the bubbles and ask for reality.

One of the highest energies of this Venus-Uranus waxing sextile is to manifest spiritual ideals into relationship realities, self-reliant Venus learning to really love unconditionally. Watch for the areas where you are asking for guarantees in love as you may be setting up Piscean letdowns.

The Lunar Eclipse is April 24 at 4/5 degrees Taurus-Scorpio. When a Lunar Eclipse follows a Solar Eclipse our new beginnings face reality tests on the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse. This is magnified with a Solar Eclipse in Aries followed by a Lunar Eclipse in Taurus-Scorpio. The tendency is to rebound back to security rather than move forward.

At least the Sun on the Moon’s North Node is still asking us to step forward emotionally even as the Earth eclipses the Moon in Scorpio. Allow yourself to have a few moments of emotional eruptions if necessary. As you calm down, see where your emotions desire to stabilize. Is it a healthy area for you, or do you need to inch forward emotionally?

This is the last eclipse in the Taurus-Scorpio axis for another nine years so one more time our emotional securities are tested. Just remember any exposure of our emotional insecurities also brings the opportunity to heal in those areas. You have a choice to focus on what is “wrong” or focus on what is “right.”

Mercury then makes an opposition to Jupiter retrograde on April 27 at 11 degrees Aries-Libra; left-brain and right-brain in a tug-of-war. This can be a time of great insights about ourselves, especially with regard to our role in relationships. Self versus others, back and forth we go, wondering what is best for ourselves and what is best in the situations we find ourselves in. This aspect leans toward opening up to greater awareness in all our relationships. With these ah ha’s we can then evolve ourselves and our own needs.

There is a strong need to listen as much as we want to speak. Jupiter’s passage, and retro, through Libra bring quests to deepen our beliefs and understandings about relationships. Be careful of any relationship lies or subtle compensations you may find yourself making. Honesty is the best policy. What you give you will receive. Listen as you would like to be heard.

Venus makes a waxing square to Neptune on April 29 at 17/18 degrees Taurus-Aquarius. The need to find deeper and deeper levels of self-reliance is tested here. Venus always likes Neptune to make things smooth and easy, and in this aspect there is resistance to any changes that feel insecure, which all change can essentially be.

Neptune is forcing Venus to evolve its values and therefore needs and desires. Venus in Taurus tends to value what it can physically obtain and hold on to, i.e. another possession or partner. Neptune can remove those things at a waxing square if the Venusian obsessions are holding us back from deeper inner security.

Search for a deeper communion with God/Goddess that allows you to create an inner value system versus outer.

The Sun makes a waxing sextile to Uranus on April 29 at 9/10 degrees Taurus-Pisces. The beginning of this solar month is filled with waxing sextiles that bring opportunities for change and new growth. With Sun-Uranus it is new creativity through our own spark of genius tapping in to the Source of creativity.

All solar month we are tested to move forward into new territory as the need to be secure has us recycling the past and pretending to evolve. A certain amount of insecurity is natural when we enter uncharted areas. Go for it; try something new again and again as you create new foundations of being ok with things.

How are you manifesting your creativity in new ways?

Mars enters Pisces on April 30 for the next six weeks. Here is a cycle that allows us to naturally release old desires of our soul that no longer serve us anymore. Conscious desires, those we are aware of having, coming to the end of manifesting.

And yet through the last sign of the zodiac, Mars in Pisces can be the time to realize that whatever frustrates us is where we are unconsciously creating. Pisces is where we can stuff things, deny and project it outwards, which can create unconscious anger at whatever “appears” to be happening to us.

Watch your anger through Mars in Pisces, where are you projecting responsibility for your own unconscious actions? This can be a great time to take personal responsibility for everything in your life. Re-evaluate your actions and get ready to start anew when Mars enters Aries mid-June.

Venus makes a waning sextile to Saturn on May 3 at 22 degrees Taurus-Cancer, more tugging toward the need to be secure as we create anew this spring. We have two planets in two signs that all want to feel safe. This can be a natural check-in if we are moving forward too fast. It can also hold us back if we want guarantees into the unknown.

Allow this to be a time to naturally let go of old outer security blankets and replace them with new inner ones. Where can you love yourself better and project less and less need for love onto others? Saturn in Cancer needs to be getting this emotional self-reliance lesson as it comes to the end of a two-plus year passage.

Mercury makes a waxing sextile to Neptune on May 3 at 17/18 degrees Aries-Aquarius, more excitement and insight into new ideas. Mercury has moved past its shadow point (14/15 degrees Aries) where it last turned retrograde. So now it really is moving forward into new mental possibilities.

Ask for a tune-in from Neptune so you can tap into the Big Computer we know as God/Goddess. More and more of us are understanding the holographic nature of the universe, and that what we energize we bring into manifestation. Where are your thoughts and ideas taking you? In a direction you wish to go? If not, change your thoughts, change your emotions.

Mercury then makes a waning square to Saturn on May 6/7 at 22/23 degrees Aries-Cancer. Here again Saturn can keep us in beat with what is real. In this case the old emotional fears it is time to let go of, those fears that hold us back from evolving.

What is your next step in creating emotional foundations that allow you to be ok with whatever is happening in your world and the rest of the world? New ideas, new growth is coming in quite strongly, where are you holding yourself back? What can you change inwardly? What new sparks of self-love are surfacing?

Throughout 2004 and 2005 Jupiter in Libra makes three waning aspects each to Uranus in Pisces and Neptune in Aquarius. Overall we need to adjust our personal relationship beliefs as we watch all the collective relationships (countries) and belief systems (religions) in the world break down, and desperately try to cling to the past. One of the most common examples is any religion painting other religions as inferior and “bad guys,” or “us versus them” power struggles.

Jupiter retro makes the second of three waning inconjuncts to Uranus on May 7 at 10/11 degrees Libra-Pisces. The first inconjunct was October 10, 2004 and the last one will be on July 8. The waning inconjunct demands societal adjustments, personally and collectively, that tend to involve power struggles and compromising in some way.

A recent example is the U. S. Congress getting involved in a private court battle over the right to die. The public response has been to activate citizens to create living wills to take personal control over their lives and death wishes, in other words, not wanting any government to force a relationship (living in a vegetative state) upon them.

We see similar examples with gender-based relationship issues, namely citizens wanting a right to create a personal relationship that works for them regardless of gender, without governments and/or religions dictating right/wrong.

The tendency with waning inconjuncts is for the current authorities wishing to remain in power. There is conflict, as rising powers demand some type of equal footing. There are also adjustments needed from rising powers in order to fit into society and be accepted. Compromises are necessary on both ends of the power stick.

Uranus in Pisces is conflicted within its own archetypes between wanting to open up to include everyone and buying in to “the chosen ones.” Distorted Uranus in Pisces wants to create spiritual superiority and exclusiveness via human-made conditionings. Natural laws and spiritual principles allow Uranus in Pisces to see the interconnectedness of all beings.

As Jupiter in Libra makes three waning inconjuncts to Uranus in Pisces, we all face lessons in exposure of the relationship judgments we have held. Where do you wish to exclude versus include? Where do you want power over others? Where do you allow other souls to control you?

The understanding that we truly are all one still allows for a balance of equal giving and receiving. We can discern the relating extremes of selfishness and selflessness and choose the continually evolving balance of equality. As we learn the compromises of the waning inconjuncts, we can find that unity in diversity.

The Sun makes a waxing square to Neptune on May 7 at 17/18 degrees Taurus-Aquarius. First Venus and now the Sun face creating new realities from our evolving beliefs. Self-reliant Taurus can open up to a new way of looking at things, while insecure Taurus becomes quite obsessive in controlling everything for the sake of comfort.

Seek inspiration to help you understand your limitations and move beyond them. Taurus also relates to our value systems. We choose our beliefs that then affect what we give value to. Our values then determine our needs and desires. Sun waxing square Neptune is always an annual check-in to see if our evolving beliefs on the deepest levels are held back by our value systems.

Neptune in Aquarius will create deep shocks in our world if we keep trying to hold on to yesterday. All month long we get to find deeper and deeper levels of inner self-reliance.

The New Moon is May 8 at 17/18 degrees Taurus. Now we can begin to really create all those new ideas that came through during Sun in Aries and the eclipses. “Feet on the ground, this is what I now need to survive in my world.” It may be a new job or home, and it may be a new depth of self-reliance that blows you away.

Find the survival mantras that work for you. “I create deeper and deeper self-reliance with every evolving step I take.” What do you really value in your world? Insights and emotional connections to what is really important in your world come through here.

Mercury makes a waxing trine to Pluto retro on May 8 at 24/25 degrees Aries-Sagittarius. Mercury likes the spontaneity of Aries and we can experience some great intuitive messages about the evolving desires within our soul before its long passage through Aries is finished.

Utilize Pluto retrograde in Sag to let go of any exposed limitations in your beliefs and allow Mercury’s new possibilities to come in. This could be a time for great conversations with others about opening up to new growth within your soul.

Venus enters Gemini on May 9 for the next three weeks. Self-reliant Venus can now move forward into new growth with Gemini. After grounding Aries’ new needs in Taurus, Venus is ready to move out into the world again. Inward, outward, like a beating pulse, the planets move through the signs of the zodiac – reaching out into the new (fire and air signs), then stepping back (water and earth signs) and figuring out what to move toward, what to let go.

Insecure Venus, when not grasping the deeper Taurean lessons of self-reliance, becomes stressed and fearful of anything new coming along. Where is security? There are attempts to grasp it through possessions and possessing another person. Yet they slip away, to teach the lesson that inward security and self-reliance allow us to cycle our resources and relationships however necessary.

Go with the flow is a Gemini theme, and Venus must now be ok with that, even as we strive to create new foundations through Sun in Taurus.

Mercury enters Taurus on May 12 for a quick two-week journey. While Venus, the ruler of Taurus, moves on to new growth in Gemini, Mercury enters its sign to help us mentally stabilize. It has been a long passage, and retrograde, through Aries and Mercury could use some rest.

Our thoughts now turn to security in these new cycles of inner growth. Mercury joins the Sun in looking at our resources and values. Do we have what we think we need to be secure? Mercury will help Sun figure out a way to create it. Just remember, the outer is only a reflection of inner. Change your inner world, to really create the world of manifestation you desire.

The Sun makes a waning sextile to Saturn on May 13 at 22/23 degrees Taurus-Cancer. This can signify really getting this self-reliance and inner security message. Saturn’s ability to be creative over the next two years through Leo will come from these lessons.

Where are you fearful? What lessons does it represent for you? Those who work to deepen a direct relationship with God/Goddess can lessen the fears. Those whose security lies outside of themselves, have been feeling this subtle yet strong increase in a world not at peace and very insecure.

Will you add to the fears, or figure out the ways to return to more natural ways that increase your abilities to survive in these changing times? Allow Sun-Saturn to show you the fears ready to be released and replaced with your next level of self-reliance.

Mars then conjuncts Uranus on May 15 at 10/11 degrees Pisces. Every two years Uranus gives Mars a big ah ha into liberating our soul. As the conscious awareness of our soul’s desires, Mars is the leading edge of what we are wishing to become. When Uranus and Mars meet we get major messages about the path we have chosen.

The deepest understanding for these two feisty planets meeting in Pisces is removing any illusions of separation to Source. Sometimes this is too much to handle, especially if we have gotten attached to any dreams, illusions or delusions that make us feel secure. What a shock it can be to realize what we have worked so hard to create is dissolving into nothing.

The thing to remember is that this only happens to the degree that we have refused to align ourselves with natural laws and spiritual principles. When we are sincerely working to know God/Goddess, the surprises can be the opposite and quite delightful.

So watch for any areas of anger and frustration showing up. These are your clues to where you are buying in making others responsible for your happiness, and your actions. We either create consciously or unconsciously, and Mars conjunct Uranus in Pisces will show us how unconsciously we have been creating our world.

Find the courage to initiate your next evolutionary steps. Listen to the spark of God/Goddess coming directly through you. Face your bubbles bursting and strive for reality. What are the deepest desires within your soul surfacing?

Venus makes a waning trine to Jupiter retrograde on May 17 at 9/10 degrees Gemini-Libra. These two planets like to throw parties, especially in air signs. They can also talk all night long. Who do you need to connect in with? Now can be a great time.

Quest for honesty. Jupiter in Libra can be afraid of hurting anyone’s feelings, and Venus in Gemini can say whatever they think someone else wants to hear. Listen as much as you speak. Strive to really hear what those in your life are trying to say. Speak your truth. See if there are new ideas you can accept, especially in the area of relationships.

Allow your family, friends, partner, etc the freedom to become who they wish to be. Ask for the same respect yourself. Allow for differences, and maybe even agreeing to disagree. If your value systems are just too far apart, find some Taurean self-reliance and take care of yourself. Ask others to do the same.

This can be a great social time for self-reliant souls, opening up to enjoying each other’s company.

Mercury makes a waxing sextile to Uranus on May 18 at 10/11 degrees Taurus-Pisces. The downside of Uranus in Pisces is stubbornly holding on to any areas of escape. The most common examples would be substance addictions and blind religious faith. As Mercury moves through Taurus it can expose the weakness of escaping reality even on the subtlest levels if we pay attention. Is this happening anywhere for you?

What messages of self-reliance just keep coming through? Do not brush the mental glimpses away. Mercury-Uranus can bring much insight so listen to those inward messages repeating themselves again and again.

Neptune has been slowing down all month of May and turns retrograde in a few days, so it is adding to the Piscean exposures (Neptune rules Pisces).

Venus makes a waxing square to Uranus on May 18 at 10/11 degrees Gemini-Pisces, more messages about self-reliance and some ideas about how to create it. Venus can take Mercury’s glimpses and expose them big-time. Gemini-Pisces relates to natural laws, through opposing-squaring Sagittarius, and they can show the new impulse in those directions coming through.

Watch those tendencies to pretend changing when you are just playing word games. Uranus will do its best let you know when you do, and it may not be pleasant. Lies can be revealed here. Give truth to receive truth.

Neptune turns stationary retrograde on May 19 at 17/18 degrees Aquarius, initiating its five-month review cycle. Neptune turns direct on October 26 at 14/15 degrees Aquarius. As the collective consciousness/unconsciousness on the deepest levels, it can be hard to reach Neptune. It is usually when Neptune changes direction that we can grasp its messages.

Neptune turning retrograde tends to dissolve whatever isn’t working for us. And it can leave us in the ultimate void. Neptune is also where we will find the deepest level of God/Goddess in any particular life. When we feel stuck in the deep unknown, it is part of the lesson of letting go and letting God/Goddess.

Not in the traditional religious sense of giving our power away to outside sources. It is learning to co-create with Source from connection within. It is learning to align our will with divine will. So as Neptune gets ready to review your connection to God/Goddess over the next five months, allow yourself to feel the voids in your life. No judgments, just feel, what is missing?

This creates a going inside of yourself to figure things out. And that is where you will find the Ultimate Source. For the only relationship that will really fill you up is the one you create with God/Goddess. Any substitutes will sooner or later leave you empty again.

Neptune’s passage through Aquarius is a deep message to find our way back to natural spiritual laws and principles, versus human-made conditionings. So Aquarian energy will periodically tear down any false relationships with God/Goddess and expose the illusions. We just ignore the truth in front of us and cling to another illusion.

So allow yourself to feel the void, and ask for the real relationship to Source to show up. Be patient, as you work your way through any ego substitutes. Pay attention to repeated messages showing you the next spiritual step on your own path.

Finally Mercury makes the third and final waxing sextile to Mars on May 20 at 13/14 degrees Taurus-Pisces. The new ideas we have been working to manifest are now happening. The new desires within our soul are becoming quite conscious, and we can really go forward with them.

What have you realized the end of this solar month as Mars went over Uranus? A few separating desires (from Source) exposed? What better choices can Mercury now help you make? The Taurean tools we manifest can separate from Source, and help return us to Source. It is all in how we choose to use them. May you be most successful in your next step Home.

May God/Goddess bless you through Sun in Taurus!