MONTH OF May
At last, at last! The month you’ve been waiting for (whether you know it or not) has FINALLY arrived. On May 16, Jupiter, the planet of luck and new horizons, will make a lively landfall in Taurus, blessing the Bulls with bold new beginnings until May 25, 2024.
To emphasize the significance: For the first two weeks of this month, you’re wrapping a 12-year cycle that started back in June 2011, when Jupiter last visited your sign. Mid-May, you’ll catapult into a fresh 12-year chapter. While it might feel disorienting at first, once you adapt to the fresh-start energy, you’ll find exciting opportunities ripe for the plucking. Ready, steady, let’s go!
This particular Jupiter visit will be extra special because you’ll simultaneously host trailblazing Uranus for the entire year-long cycle as well as the karmic north node until mid-July of this year. Your innovative ideas, which have been percolating since as far back as 2018, get a booster rocket strapped onto them courtesy of Jupiter.
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Pace yourself for the first half of May, even though it’s Taurus season (happy birthday!). Until May 14, communication planet Mercury is retrograde in YOUR sign. Even your best ideas or intentions could be misunderstood. Lay low and develop things behind the scenes for now. Shadowy Pluto also starts its annual five-month retrograde on May 1, making a U-turn in Aquarius and your tenth house of career and long-term planning. And on May 5, the Scorpio lunar (full moon) eclipse will sweep through your partnership sector, which could bring radical change to your closest ties.
The day that could really kick things into gear is May 19, when the year’s only Taurus new moon arrives, activating your “personal new year.” With Mercury back on track, you’re safe to share your brilliance again. And on May 21, the Sun shifts gears into Gemini and your grounding second house for a month, helping you fashion some of your big ideas into tangible form—or just get your hooves back on solid ground.
Your mother or a female relative may need your attention from May 20 to July 10 as energizer Mars visits Leo and revs up your domestic sector. A household project could also add excitement or stress. Double down on the self-care and make sure to leave enough time for yourself!
It’s Taurus season until May 21
Get ready for your spring awakening! The Sun is in Taurus and your first house of self until May 21—prime time for putting your passions on the front burner. Clarify your birthday wishes and intentions for the year ahead because they’re getting some extra solar power now. This is an especially thrilling birthday season, Taurus. On May 16, you’ll receive the gift of lucky Jupiter in your sign—and he’ll beam his benevolence on you for a whole year!
But keep a low profile until then, okay? For the first two weeks of the month, expressive Mercury is on a retrograde (backward) spin through Taurus, and it won’t correct course until May 14. With the planet of communication out of step in your sign since April 21, you may have felt wildly out of sync with people. Misunderstandings proliferated, making you want to hole up and choose avoidance. You’ll get back on track mid-month, charging ahead in the usual determined Taurus way! Until then, the less you share, the better. Save up your splashy debuts for the second half of the month, when conditions are far more favorable.
Professional path pivot? Pluto turns retrograde May 1
Are the current structures of your life strong enough to support your goals and plans? That could be up for review this month as Pluto begins its annual five-month retrograde from May 1 until October 10. Until June 11, Pluto will back through Aquarius and your tenth house of long-term agendas and professional endeavors. After that, Pluto will reverse into Capricorn a couple more times before returning for a 20-year run in Aquarius in November 2024.
Pluto rules the unconscious, and while it stumbles backward through Aquarius and this ambitious zone, causing you to rethink your career trajectory. Men and fathers fall in this zodiac zone, which could illuminate a relationship with a key male that needs transformation or repair.
Before you go on a rampage, be aware that Pluto rules the unconscious, including the ways we project our own blind spots and baggage onto others. Is that iron-fisted boss or client-from-hell reflecting some part of you…or driving up feelings you need to confront? Don’t block the messenger. Look deeper and do the inner work, Taurus. Once you resolve this conflict within yourself, a person might stop triggering you.
Relationship turning point: the May 5 Scorpio lunar eclipse
Double up for the win—or change directions in a partnership? The winds are shifting this May 5 as the Scorpio full moon, a potent lunar eclipse, blasts into your seventh house of committed partnerships. An important relationship could rocket toward official status or perhaps reach an abrupt ending. There’s no ignoring a lunar eclipse, Taurus, so stay keenly attuned to its message: Who are the people that belong in your inner circle?
This is the very last Scorpio eclipse in a series that’s rippled across the Taurus/Scorpio axis every six months since November 2021, revolutionizing your approach to partnerships and personal identity. You’ve been in the hot seat of this tide-turning series, which will culminate with a Taurus lunar eclipse this October 28 as its grand finale.
Lunar eclipses can bring major turning points out of the blue, even “eclipsing” people out of your life to make room for something new. Whether for love, business or creative collaboration, this lunar eclipse marks a bold transition for you and a certain plus-one. For longtime duos, how can you enrich your relationship with vibrant communication or a shared project that lights you both up? Is it time to invent a whole new path for yourselves?
The eclipse may force your hand, and while you don’t like to be rushed, your decisive sign has never been a particularly good fence-sitter. It could be a relief to make a firm choice one way or another. In some ways, this matter could feel divinely timed.
Got a contract to sign or a deal to close? The lunar eclipse could turn up the pressure to make things official. Now that Mercury is no longer retrograde (but still in its lingering shadow phase until June 1), take a little bit longer for negotiation and review if possible. However, lunar eclipses are anything but patient. You may have to trust the universe and sign on the dotted line to not miss an opportunity. Do your best to ensure it’s one you won’t regret!
Mercury retrograde (in Taurus!) is finally over May 14
Press the “on” switch again…no really, Bull. Today, Mercury powers forward after a challenging retrograde in YOUR sign that began on April 21, foiling technology, communication and travel for everyone. Have you felt wildly misunderstood or held back from expressing your million-dollar ideas? There was wisdom in waiting…but we’re betting your patience has probably run out.
Good news: With Mercury in the clear, you can fire up theclass="body-el-link standard-body-el-link" hype machine once again. Well, mostly. Mercury’s “retroshade”shadow phase will linger until June 1, which could bring a few after-effects. Ease your way back to full-frontal Taurus mode for the rest of this month. No need to deluge your adoring fans all at once, either because, as you’re about to learn, lucky Jupiter is heading into Taurus in two days, given you an entire year to bask in the spotlight.
Big day! Jupiter enters Taurus for a year on May 16
Finally! This month brings a huge turning point—one you’ve been waiting for, whether you realize it or not. Lucky Jupiter, the planet of expansion and new horizons, will enter Taurus on May 16, kicking off a fresh 12-year cycle of your life. (Yes, it really IS that major!)
Jupiter only visits each sign every 12 years and stays for about a year, completely resetting your compass. Jupiter will be in Taurus until May 25, 2024, putting your personal passions on the front burner and filling you with can-do drive. It’s as though the lights have suddenly come back on after months of groping around in the dark.
And what a welcome relief! You see, the year BEFORE Jupiter enters your sign can be filled with tough transitions and internally focused energy. Since May 10, 2022, Jupiter has been in Aries and your foggy twelfth house, forcing you to reckon with unhealed wounds or to take a deep-dive into your psyche.
Jupiter taught you to surrender—something humans struggle with because it requires us to relinquish control. As you’ve probably learned by now, control is an illusion, but that doesn’t stop most of us from grasping for it. Yet the more you tried, the more it slipped away. For once, your struggles couldn’t be solved with force and steely Taurus resolve. Whaaaat?
Jupiter was last in Taurus June 4, 2011, until June 11, 2012. You might reflect back to that time for clues of what the next year holds. If you’re looking for the courage to share your big ideas or put yourself out there…here you go. It could feel like you woke up and downloaded an entirely new outlook and attitude. In a certain way, you have, Taurus. Embrace the “fresh start” energy of this new solar cycle. It’s time to leave the past in the rearview mirror and hit the gas. Off you go, on to new and uncharted adventures! The next 12-year chapter of your life awaits.
The Taurus new moon is on May 19
And it just keeps getting better! Not only is lucky Jupiter in your sign and Mercury retrograde in the rearview…but a luminous lunar lift is headed your way. On May 19, the only Taurus new moon of 2023 marks your “personal new year,” a cosmic coming-out day that puts you in touch with your truth. This new moon launches you on a six-month voyage of self-discovery and autonomy, one that will culminate in a Taurus lunar (full moon) eclipse on October 28. If you’ve got a personal initiative or passion project underway, map out where you’d like to be by the eclipse. Then take your first bold step toward that destination!
The May 20 Mars-Pluto opposition gets fierce
Watch for simmering tension and power struggles on May 20, when intense Mars gets locked in a showdown with calculating Pluto. With Mars in your emotional and domestic fourth house, the conflict could involve a family member or your living situation. You’re likely to be especially thin-skinned, which could trigger a knee-jerk reaction (not a good look for you, Taurus).
The opposition to Pluto in your tenth house of career and public image suggests that you’re struggling to balance professional and personal matters. Call for backup instead of trying to figure that out alone! An imposing figure or authoritative person might push your buttons. The real war could be waged between your ears, though, Bull. You don’t take kindly to people pulling rank or telling you what to do, especially if it echoes issues from your childhood with a parental figure. Make every effort not to lash out or act in a rebellious, punishing way.
Gemini season starts May 21
Some of the stability and simplicity your sign craves could arrive on May 21, when the Sun starts its month-long cruise through Gemini and your grounding second house. Taurus is the natural “ruler” of this zodiac zone, so you’ll feel some relief while el Sol downshifts to a slow-and-steady pace. Get to work building out some of your big ideas or mapping them to a sensible action plan complete with budgets, deliverables and timelines. Still shaking off the long winter? If you haven’t started a spring routine of healthy eating and workouts yet, the next four weeks can get you back on track.
Say what, Taurus? With lusty Mars in Cancer and your breezy third house this month, you’ll be feeling flirtatious and frisky. If you’re unattached, that can draw fun prospects to you like moths to a tiki torch. But note at the same time, the red-blooded planet can also spark competition and combativeness, so guard against flying off the handle or making caustic comments. Mercury is also retrograde in your sign until May 14, which could cause you to be further misunderstood.
Luckily, diplomatic Venus will join Mars in Cancer on May 7, taking some of the edge off. This is a great cycle for mingling with your crew, either as a couple or solo. Single? Friends could introduce you to someone, or you might find success with online dating, even if it goes against your “old-fashioned” Taurus ways. (Again, heed the Mercury retrograde precautions and go light on the technology until the second half of May.)
The May 5 lunar eclipse in Scorpio will set off major fireworks in your partnership house. A relationship could swiftly turn official—or unofficial. Eclipses bring surprises, so keep yourself grounded because you (and everyone else) could be easily triggered at this charged full moon.
Another cycle to heed: From May 20 to July 10, Mars will pay a visit to Leo and your emotional fourth house, heating things up at Chateau Toro. While this could make for some sizzling nights in, you could also be thin-skinned and reactive. Family stress, especially with a female relative, could consume some of your attention. Make sure you’re getting the support YOU need from loved ones—and if tension builds under your roof, get out and move your body. Dance, yoga or a good core workout can move those pent-up feelings into a healthy channel.
It’s Taurus time, and you’re poised for a breakout moment. The headline news arrives on May 16, when lucky, abundant Jupiter moves into your sign for the first time since 2012, staying for an entire year! Between now and May 25, 2024, you’re kicking off a fresh 12-year life chapter—so try out some new ideas and pathways to see what fits best.
What do YOU want, Taurus? It can take courage to ask yourself that, but if there was ever a time to declare it, this is it. With the stars igniting your assertive first house, being the squeaky wheel will earn you the premium-grade fuel.
Luckily, the Sun is in Taurus until May 21, getting you back in the zone. Buuuuut…Mercury, the planet of technology and communication, is also retrograde in your sign until May 14, cautioning you to take your time and consider every idea before you start. Fear not: Things start falling into place at the May 19 Taurus new moon, which marks your “personal new year.” From here out it’s an ideal time for fresh starts and bold moves.
Be sure to let your inner circle know what you’re up to, especially at the May 5 Scorpio lunar eclipse As this turbo-charged full moon illuminates your partnership house, you could be offered a strategic collaboration or contract. Don’t feel pressured to take the first offer. Mars, which is in Cancer and your communication house until May 20, will help you negotiate and “sell yourself.” Research salary ranges or rates for the kind of work you’d do, if you’ve got the goods to back it up, ask for the higher end. With the Sun in Gemini and your money house from May 21 on, you’re ready to get down to business!
Love Days: 27, 5
Money Days: 20, 11
Luck Days: 19, 9
Off Days: 16, 30, 7
Identical twin sisters Ophira and Tali Edut (a.k.a. The AstroTwins) are ELLE.com’s resident astrologers. They have written several astrology books, including Momstrology and Supercouple, and star as the astrological matchmakers for Prime Video’s Cosmic Love. The Eduts have read charts for celebrities the likes of Beyoncé, Karlie Kloss, and Emma Roberts. For their spot-on predictions, books, and online courses, check out our horoscopes coverage or visit astrostyle.com.
