MONTH OF May
Costume change! The movie of your life will make a dramatic scene shift mid-May, kicking off a transitional 12-month cycle. It all begins when Jupiter, the planet of expansion, settles into Taurus and your twelfth house of closure and endings, from May 16, 2023 until May 25, 2024.
This “bridge” year will help you sort through anything you’ve outgrown, making way for a bold new start when Jupiter enters Gemini next May! You’re actually at the end of a 12-YEAR cycle that began back in June 2012, when lucky Jupiter was last in Gemini. You might treat the next year like a long sabbatical, giving yourself permission to explore, receive and be in a more receptive state rather than try to force anything.
For the first half of the month, Jupiter is still in Aries and your social eleventh house, so get out and see your people as often as you can! But curate that guest list selectively: Your ruling planet, Mercury, is retrograde in Taurus until May 14, and the Sun is in this sleepy part of your chart through May 21. Avoid draining and needy people and feel no guilt if they don’t make the guest list. You simply don’t have the bandwidth for their antics right now.
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A couple other days of note: On May 1, shadowy Pluto starts its annual five-month retrograde through Aquarius, then back into Capricorn. This month, be especially careful with long-distance travel and business interactions. And May 5 will feature a full moon (lunar) eclipse in Scorpio and your sixth house of health, work and organization. Spring cleanup, seasonal detox…out with the old!
If things feel turbulent, keep your sights set on May 21, when Gemini season arrives and your energy starts to normalize again. While you should still take it easy, you can happily distract yourself by making birthday plans—and paving a gorgeous golden path for Jupiter’s arrival in a year by doing the emotional processing, healing and transition work you’ve been putting off. This special new phase will be here sooner than you realize!
It’s Taurus season until May 21
Pace yourself, Gemini. Until May 21, the Sun is in Taurus and your sleepy twelfth house, slowing your roll considerably. Rest up before your birthday season comes on full force. Don’t push yourself to make that early-morning workout or entertain your most high-maintenance client over late-night drinks. And don’t go “ain’t no mountain high enough” on your project deadlines, either. Tend to yourself and your inner world for the first three weeks of the month. Use this invaluable time to release any emotional and mental baggage that’s accumulated over the last year. Hit a restorative yoga class or try healing with a sound bath. During this spiritually awakened transit, you’ve got a direct line to the divine. A morning meditation or journaling practice can help you receive the messages that are especially significant and useful to you now.
That said, you still need to be cautious as the month begins because communication planet Mercury is in a tricky retrograde cycle until May 14. Mercury has been in reverse since April 21, backing through Taurus and your thought-muddling twelfth house. Since then, you’ve been a little slower and more emotional than usual. Perhaps you were reconciling old hurts, feeling isolated or pining over an ex. Has self-pity been your soundtrack? Leave the worrying and negativity behind and start visualizing the outcome you desire.
Pluto turns retrograde in Aquarius on May 1
Dive below the surface, Gemini! From May 1 to October 10, investigative Pluto begins its annual five-month retrograde, piercing the veil of illusions. This year, Pluto retrograde will split time between Aquarius and Capricorn, spending the first six weeks reversing through Aquarius and your expansive, metaphysical ninth house. This could find you questioning some deeply held beliefs or yearning to expand your knowledge.
Between now and June 11, you might embark on some intensive research involving a philosophical or educational topic, engage in soul-searching travel or attract people who make you rethink your assumptions. The ninth house rules travel, so if you do take a vacation, keep your guard up as Pluto retrograde can magnetize some untrustworthy characters into your orbit. Consider returning to a place where you’ve experienced a personal transformation or signing up for a potentially life-changing retreat. Just be careful about falling for a slick sales pitch with manipulative Pluto retrograde: Check references and conduct your due diligence to make sure it’s all aboveboard.
After June 11, Pluto will reverse into Capricorn and your intimate house. The ties that bind will get one more round of examination! Then Pluto will shuffle between Capricorn and Aquarius before returning to Aquarius in November 2024 for a 20-year run (yes, really!). Consider this a sneak preview of your next transformational cycle!
Health in the spotlight at the May 5 Scorpio full moon and lunar eclipse
Is it time to change the way you organize and run your life, Gemini? On May 5, a Scorpio lunar (full moon) eclipse beams into your sixth house of health, fitness and organization, sounding the call for seismic change. Under this transformational eclipse, you could get a blast of motivation to start spring training—or spring cleaning. If you’ve been ignoring a nagging ache or pain or putting off your routine checkups, get some appointments on the calendar. Feeling good is the top priority.
The sixth house rules helpful people, and you may decide to upgrade Team Gemini with a few capable hands—or bid adieu to the slackers. Under a fast-moving eclipse, some members of your support squad might make a sudden exit. If that happens, “bless and release” them with the knowledge that the eclipse has cleared the way for a better fit. Is it time to add some volunteer or service work into your schedule? This eclipse could spark a desire to do something more meaningful.
Pets are also ruled by the sixth house, making this a great time to adopt a furbaby or to get some extra cuddles in. A critter companion might enter your life through unexpected circumstances (a friend is moving to a no-pets building and needs someone to house her dog and well…you know the rest). With an eclipse, anything can happen!
This is the final Scorpio eclipse in a series that’s rippled across the Taurus/Scorpio axis since November 2021, revolutionizing your approach to health and well-being. There’s one last eclipse in this series on October 28, so use the next six months for an inside-out glow-up and to address any needed healing at the core level.
Mercury retrograde is finally over May 14
Rub that sleep out of your eyes, Gemini. Today, your ruling planet, Mercury, powers forward after a challenging retrograde that began on April 21, foiling technology, communication and travel for everyone. Now as Mercury corrects course in Taurus and your twelfth house of closure, healing and hidden agendas, you can finally wrap up a period of struggle, sacrifice or confusion. You may have dealt with a secretive or sneaky person who wasn’t fully showing up for Team Gemini. If you haven’t known which direction to take, Mercury’s direct U-turn will help you suss that out.
No need to dive iclass="body-el-link standard-body-el-link" nto anything super-fast though, Gemini. Mercury’s “retroshade” shadow phase will linger until June 1, nagging us with some remaining after-effects. On June 3, the annual Gemini new moon will hit a full reset button. Take your time sorting facts from fiction and rumor from reality until then.
Big day! Jupiter enters Taurus for a year on May 16
Get ready, Gemini: On May 16, Jupiter will make its annual zodiac sign change, shifting the entire landscape of the next 12 months. Since May 10, 2022, Jupiter has been in Aries and your eleventh house of groups, drawing you to inspirational and novel social circles, friendships and collaborations. You may have outgrown a crew or two and befriended some like minded go-getters. Let’s hear it for your new-and-improved tribe!
Now Jupiter will plunge into Taurus, your twelfth house of closure, transitions and healing, where it will stay until May 25, 2024. You’re completing a 12-year life cycle that began in June 2011—yup, all the way back then. Everything you’ve done, learned and become is now being processed for the next 12-year chapter of your life, which will start on May 25, 2024, when Jupiter makes its homecoming to Gemini.
In the meantime, please handle these next 12 months with care and great awareness. The universe is now in the driver’s seat—and you, for once, are the passenger. Buckle up and stop asking “Are we there yet?” Many people suffer needlessly during this cycle because they try to seize the wheel and force things to go THEIR way. They try to jam square pegs into round holes and resist change. That would be typical behavior for most Geminis, but we recommend a different course of action.
Treat this time as a long artistic, spiritual or healing retreat. Get extra sleep and don’t be surprised if you feel more tired and solitary than normal. The twelfth house rules the subconscious, making thisis a great time to get in tune with yours. Dreams can be rich and prophetic. You could benefit from therapy, take up meditation or explore energy work. From Internal Family Systems work to past-life regression to sound baths, true transformation will come from the deeper regions of your brain that DON’T do the thinking and planning. Let go of people and situations that cause suffering or simply aren’t going to pan out. Mourn losses and feel the feelings. Clear away anything and everything that could stand in the way of your mega-reinvention tour that starts next May!
This is a time to declutter, finish, take away—not to stick MORE irons into the fire. If you’re planning a big launch, use this year as an incubator, developing your ideas behind the scenes. Unveil them when lucky Jupiter enters Gemini a year from now, and you’re likely to face a much more receptive public.
The Taurus new moon is on May 19
Let it go to begin anew? On May 19, the annual Taurus new moon brings its nascent light to your twelfth house of healing conclusions. A new moon in the twelfth house of endings sounds like a contradiction—unless you look at life as an infinite circle rather than a linear process. Endings ARE beginnings, and vice versa, from that perspective. What could you let go of today? Where could you clear space or say a formal goodbye to some chapter of your life in order to make room for the new?
If you don’t have a practice for aligning with the divine, the Taurus new moon presents a great opportunity to plug into the universe’s guidance—and your inner wisdom. With these helpful beams illuminating your soul-stirring twelfth house, you could feel inspired to look deeper within. Center yourself with breathwork, book a session with a healer or simply slow down and be silent for a few minutes a day. It can work wonders, especially with your busy Gemini mind.
With the Sun and the new moon visiting this final house, it’s a time to take stock of the past year, acknowledge what you’ve accomplished, and do a little pre-birthday “life edit.” Decide what you DON’T want to bring into the next year, then bid those draining things adieu. A few emotions could come up unexpectedly. Let them pass through you instead of bottling them up. A month from now, the next new moon will fall in YOUR sign—your personal new year—so better to start this process now.
The May 20 Mars-Pluto opposition gets fierce
Hold your fire, Gemini! On May 20, a hotheaded clash between uber-direct Mars and vengeful Pluto ripples across your communication axis. You could utter fighting words, especially if you’ve been holding something inside. While it’s important to speak your truth, that must be done with tact and diplomacy—which can be in short supply when you’re feeling hurt. Find a more productive way to process your anger than burning down the house.
Mars will enter Leo and your expressive third house today, immediately opposing transformational Pluto, which is in Aquarius and your growth-seeking ninth house. At this volatile face-off, prepare for some subconscious fears or resistance to come up. You may be the one pitching a grand idea only to bump up against naysayers or skeptics. Rather than get upset about it, get interested in why they’re saying “no.”
Pluto rules the unconscious, and sometimes the people who irritate us the most are our greatest messengers. If you experience discord, dig deeper to find their motives before you fly off the handle. Issues with a sibling, neighbor or colleague could also arise. Inspect, don’t project!
Gemini season starts May 21
You should start feeling fresh and ready for some springtime action on May 21, when the Sun starts its annual journey through Gemini—hello, birthday season! El Sol is rocking out in your sign until June 21, so use this vibrant time to explore new ideas and put your own desires first. With Jupiter now in Taurus and your dreamy twelfth for the next year, your energy could go toward a creative or spiritual pursuit. Endings and beginnings may overlap, and you could surprise yourself by opting for a more low-key birthday celebration. Quality time with a couple true friends or a healing ritual will feel like a meaningful way to start your next year. Feel free to turn up the ambience by taking a little getaway near water (houseboat cruise, anyone?) or heading to a decadent day spa for a round of luxe treatments.
For the first week of the month, love planet Venus is rounding out a visit to Gemini, giving you extra appeal and drawing flirty admirers your way. While you may not be feeling totally ready for anything serious under this influence, you’re definitely up for witty banter and dressing up for some no-strings fun.
But by week two, you may be ready to get more serious about love. Passion planet Mars is in traditional Cancer and your stabilizing second until May 20, and on May 7, romantic Venus will join the party. Under their combined spell, you’ll be focused on how to anchor a commitment and what goals you actually share with someone. Sensuality, security and sophistication are turn-ons now.
While you might enjoy a few luxe nights, Mars can add stress and excitement in equal measure. Money could be a source of tension as well as motivation. Couples may argue about finances—or just maybe you’ll get the urge to streamline your budget together. (Lean in to diplomatic Venus if things get tense!) Treat yourself to a splurge if you can do so without leaving yourself with a shortfall. Single? You could meet someone through work or an industry-related function.
If this starts to feel too serious for your playful Gemini ways, fear not: From May 20 until July 10, Mars will swing through Leo and your social third house of kindred spirits. Friends could turn into lovers, or your longtime partner could finally rally to go try some new activities about town.
With Jupiter in Taurus and your karmic twelfth house for a year starting this May 16, you could also meet a soulmate when you least expect it. A pregnancy or some other spirit-merging activity could also be on the agenda. Instead of trying to control things, however, the key is to surrender. You’ll be learning important lessons about receiving. For some Twins, a relationship that’s become unhealthy could end or go through an important healing period. Don’t hang on to something that’s causing you pain. Better to let it transmute into a new form…even if that means releasing it for now.
Money matters are front and center until May 20, as energizer Mars races through Cancer and your finance sector. You could feel equal parts motivation and pressure, but don’t let your balance sheet throw you off balance. Swing out of your comfort zone and hustle a little harder for something that could pay off. No risk, no reward! The May 5 Scorpio lunar eclipse in your clarifying sixth house helps you home in on the key details that can make a difference. Use this sharpened focus to map out a plan or finish a project that you’ve been procrastinating on.
No need to rush, though. Your ruling planet Mercury is retrograde in Taurus and your twelfth house of closure, rest and healing until May 14 and the Sun is here until May 21. Pace yourself and focus on finishing up loose ends. Once Gemini season starts on May 21, you’ll be back in action and ready to start new projects. With ambitious Mars moving into Leo and your communication house from May 20 to July 10, you’ll have the guts to sell yourself and market your ideas. Let the savvy pitching begin!
Love Days: 30, 7
Money Days: 14, 22
Luck Days: 20, 11
Off Days: 19, 5, 9
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.
