Astrology Landscape May 23 - 31st

 

First Quarter Moon 

May 23, 2026

4:10am  PDT

 

 First Quarter — Taking Action

Now we act on the information we received. We pursue the idea again. What hurdles have appeared involving the seeds you planted at the New Moon? We make another call, reach out to someone, mail something, or stir the pot again. Sometimes this phase reveals that the goals we planted require more effort from us. Independence may need to be asserted. Others may resist our growth, even if they believe they have our best interests at heart.

Hero’s Journey: Crossing the threshold and committing to the journey.
Creative/Science Process: Commitment — the work begins.

 

Focus on:   How are the seeds you planted on the new moon deepening your practical needs and strengthen your values benefiting by detailed actions?   What strategic actions can you take that are super detailed?  What actions can you take that tap your discipline?  What Ts need to be crossed and I’s dotted?   How does all of this make you more practical? 

 

Planetary Notes:

 

5/24: Sun sextile Neptune (3 AR 55). Actions based on faith.  Spirituality is supported and life affirming.

5/24: Mars sextile North Node (4 PI 40) Actions and impulses may connect to a greater force within us and for others.  

5/25: Sun square N. Node (4 PI 39) What happens when facts on the ground don’t match something bigger going on? 

5/25: Mars square Pluto (5 AQ 25) (see above) 

5/26: Sun Trine Pluto (5 GE 25)  Thinking, communication, neighbors and siblings can be impacted by the friends and groups we keep.  

 

Gibbous Moon

May 27, 2026

12:13 am PDT  

 

 

Gibbous — Refining the Process

We refine our information. We pick and choose, discriminate, and organize. This is the phase where we become a bit “Virgo-like.” We sort through details and ask whether something has been overlooked. Adjustments are made. Plans are refined. The goal is not to abandon the seed but to improve how it is unfolding.

Hero’s Journey: Training and preparation before the major test.
Creative/Science Process: Editing and refinement.

 

Focus on:

On the new moon we got down deep into our practical brain. We assessed our needs, our money, our structures now we consider how does all that impact our partnerships?  How are we refining our goals to connect with relationships?  When we look at our need to dig in on some practical level how is it refining our life? 

 

Planetary Notes:  

 

5/28: Venus square Saturn (11 AR 59) Money and love feels cold.  Values feel squeezed.  Sometimes you get what you need and not what you want.  Says the Rolling Stones and the world at least today. 

 

 

Mars Mars Mars

 

Mars

 

We are almost halfway through the year and now would be a good time to talk about Mars.  Yes, this is a bit of an astro data dump but hang in there.  Mars is moving fast for most of this year but then in the fall it will slow down and in January it will turn retrograde and go back over some of the same territory it crossed in fall.    Here are the Mars aspects going forward. 

 

5/25 Mars square Pluto (5 AQ 25) 

6/27 Mars sextile Jupiter (29 CA 33)

6/29 Mars square N. Node (00 PI 58)

7/03 Mars conjunction Uranus (3 GE 52)

7/04 Mars sextile Neptune (4 AR 24)

7/05 Mars trine Pluto (4 AQ 46)

8/10 Mars trine N. Node (29 AQ 48)

8/17 Mars square Neptune (3 AR 59)

9/01 Mars square Saturn (13 AR 39)

10/2 Mars trine Neptune (2 AR 48)

10/3 Mars oppose Pluto (3 AQ 06)

10/7 Mars sextile Uranus (5 GE 24)

10/10 Mars square Venus retro (7 SC 21)

10/16 Mars trine Saturn (10 AR 22) 

11/05 Mars enters shadow (10 VI 25)

11/09 Mars sextile Venus (23 LI 08)

11/14 Mars oppose n. node (25 AQ 12)

11/15 Mars conjunction Jupiter (25 LE 53) 

12/04 Mars square Uranus (3 GE 18) 

1/10/27 Mars stations retrograde ( 10 VI 25)

4/01/27 Mars stations direct (20 LE 55)

6/10/27 Mars exits shadow (10 VI 25)

 

Note on December 4 Mars in Virgo will square Uranus in Gemini.   It will hit that same square two more times before Mars exits the final shadow point in June of 2027.  

 

So that is a lot of Mars information which will unfold however it wants but in the meantime on May 25 Mars squares Pluto which is very tense and explosive.   The cycle of these two planets goes back to five months ago in January when they had their conjunction.  During that period, we saw domination contests, network influences, fighting over who controls the future, billionaires behaving quasi governmentally and sure, public rage amplified through platforms.  Let’s assume more of that around that May 25^th date.  Blech. 

 

 

Los Angeles Friends -- Are You Signed Up for LA Astro Festival? It's Coming! June 27 & June 28

 

I am double downing in my community uplifting efforts. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with my Venus in Aquarius getting some love from the outer planets.

Even in the hardest political time I can remember, I still live in that brackish world where love and desire for an improved community meets the harsh reality of whether people show up. A lot of folks say things. But do they participate? Do they build? That’s the question.

Anyway, in that landscape, I think it is important to get the word out when good things are happening locally, and such is the case for our astro peeps in Los Angeles.

Between June 27–28 will be the second annual LA Astro Festival. My friend and fellow astrologer Vivi Henriette had the concept, vision and motivation to put together the first festival last year and it was outstanding.

I also want to say I remember when LA astrology outreach and community often felt like standing between stacks of books at the Bodhi Tree. We’ve come a long way since then, thanks in part to Vivi.

Last year I thought the material and speakers were inspired, intriguing and fresh and that is saying something since I’ve been doing this astro thing for 50 years.

So, there is that.

If you want to sign up for the event, feel free to use and share my code for 10% off all tickets:
TRACYLAAF

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-la-astro-fest-tickets-1988582037405?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios

May 16: Taurus New Moon

 

May 16, 2026

1:00pm (PDT) 

25 Taurus 57

 

 

I don’t know about you, but I am glad to say good bye to the Aries lunar month.   After all that fire I am ready for the grounding that comes with the first earth sign, Taurus.   

 

This 29-day lunar cycle is not as dramatic as the last couple of new moons.   It is not without some thrills and spills, but I think it will be a bit more manageable.   Yay.  

 

You can find my whole Taurus Lunar Report HERE.

May 5 - 16 Astrology Landscape

 

Disseminating

May 5, 2026

12:44 pm PDT – 

   

Disseminating — Sharing Insight

Reflect on what has transpired during the month and even earlier. What have you learned? How can you share some of your knowledge? What past experiences are you drawing upon? Sometimes we feel the need to teach. Other times we recognize that it is time to seek a teacher. A mentor, therapist, rabbi, minister, or guide may offer perspective that helps us understand the experience more fully.

Hero’s Journey: The hero shares the wisdom gained.
Creative/Science Process: Publication, presentation, or exhibition.

 

 

Focus on:   Are we all breathing now that the waxing and the full moon have completed?   How can we tap our inner CEO?  What does our inner boss, the real person we listen to say about our place in the world?  Can we share our knowledge with others?  Can we seek others advice?   What systems may be helpful if we talk to those in authority?   

 

 

 

Planetary Notes:

 

5/5: Mercury square Pluto (5 AQ) Great big airy fairy ideas that are not practical are put through the squeeze.  Cranky conversations with groups. 

5/5: Mercury sextile North Node (6 PI) Phew, the brain is soothed by remembering faith and spirit and the possibility that there is something bigger out there in charge.  

5/6: Pluto stations retrograde (5 AQ 30) (see above) 

 

 

 

 

Last Quarter Moon Phase

May 9, 2026

2:10 pm (PDT)  

 

Last Quarter — Practical Adjustments

Now we make the final adjustments to the seeds planted at the New Moon. We make the final call, send the final letters, and follow the trails that still make sense. Other paths are allowed to fall away. This phase favors wise action and thoughtful decision-making.

It is a time for living the spirit of the Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Hero’s Journey: Rebuilding life after the transformation.
Creative/Science Process: Critique and evaluation.

 

 

Focus on:

What actions are you taking that connect to friends and groups?   For the last twenty days we have been focused on our needs, wants and desires.   Now is the time to turn to our groups and ask for support.  It is also time to go to our groups and friends and offer our own support for their self-agency.  

 

Planetary Notes: 

 

5/10: Sun sextile Jupiter (20 CA) Joy comes from practical support that lines up with our emotions and our philosophies.   Going outside our circles we may find practical alliances.  

5/12: Mercury sextile Jupiter (20 CA) Great day to find new knowledge, learn from others something important that will have practical applications in your own self agency.  

 

Balsamic Moon Phase

 

May13, 2026 

6:32 am  

 

Balsamic — Release

This phase closes the lunar cycle. We release what has run its course so the next cycle can begin. By letting go we clear space for the next New Moon. Reflection, rest, and closure allow the mind and spirit to reset before the next intention emerges.

Hero’s Journey: The return and completion of the journey.
Creative/Science Process: Rest and incubation before the next idea.

 

Focus on:  How are you releasing your warrior.   How are you releasing the battles?   How are you releasing your anger?  

 

 

Planetary Notes:

 

5/14: Mercury conjunction Sun (23 TA) Mercury cazimi in Taurus, and after all the Aries activity, something finally makes sense. A thought lands, and it holds.

5/16: Mars conjunction Chiron (28 AR) (see above) 

 

Taurus New Moon May 16, 1pm PDT

Pluto Retrograde: May 6 - October 15

 

Pluto retrograde

 

May 6, 2026

8:34am PDT

 

5/6            Pluto station retrograde (5 AQ 30)  

10/15:       Pluto station direct (3 AQ 04) 

 

During May, Pluto remains close to 5 degree 22 minutes of an arc.  That could sound like numerical mumbo- jumbo but what it means is Pluto is slowing down and turning retrograde on May 6.  Pluto will move back until October 15^th   when it lands at 3 AQ 20 and then turns direct again. 

Pluto is how we find our power and in Aquarius it is group alliances.    During the retrograde, we look at our groups and decide if we have the same goals.   There is support from Uranus and Neptune during much of this retrograde, bringing moments that feel unexpected or even unusual, we may have opportunities to act with clarity and intention.

Watch what comes into your life between May and October. Watch who shows up and where your attention goes. There is a thread running through it.

 

Scorpio Full Moon: May 1st at 10:23am PDT

 

Scorpio Full Moon on a refrigerator 

Full Moon – Scorpio
May 1, 2026
10:23 am PDT
(11 Scorpio 20)

Every year, the Full Moon in Scorpio reminds us that it is time to let something go. When we release, we gain. It is not complicated. If you have a room stacked to the ceiling with boxes, how on earth can you bring in something new?   The answer is you can’t.  

The problem is that neither Scorpio nor Taurus like to release anything. They hold on tight, and when pushed, they hold on tighter. Until eventually push comes to shove, and something gives. As one who has experienced earthquakes I know when something normally fixed, suddenly gives.  But at some point, there is an agreement, even if it is internal, and the process of shedding begins.

Scorpio is not just the Scorpion. It is also the snake and the eagle. We shed like the snake so that we can eventually rise like the eagle. Somewhere in that three-day Full Moon window, we get on with shedding. 

That is Scorpio Full Moon 101.

Coming at the end of an intense Aries waxing lunar cycle, this Scorpio Full Moon has extra weight. The Sun and Moon are both in square (separating) to Pluto, which amplifies the need to release. Even if part of you wants to hold on, something underneath is saying, “I’m  done with this. I need to let go,” That feeling of being done runs deep.

There is support here. Jupiter in Cancer forms a trine and sextile, bringing some emotional flow into the process. Even long-held opinions (Jupiter) can soften in ways that are better for the heart. But first, we release. 

I wrote all this two weeks ago and it still holds but something I heard this week adds another layer.  

Chani’s Nicholas reminded folks that Scorpio and the Pluto square are a double downing on “composting” which is so true.   Death of vegetation, death of matter, will over time become soil that is rich and a resource for, drumroll, new growth. See how that works? 

She also brought up May Day and the coming together of workers and push back on power.  This is an excellent note to bring out especially since we have Pluto in Aquarius (the people).   One could argue May Day during Pluto in Capricorn era not so people oriented.   Now on year two of May Day in Pluto in Aquarius, this feeling like something else.   Viva La Something Else.