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SkyWatch –Moon phases for the next three weeks: 5/11--The Moon enters Her First Quarter phase at 11:47 PM EDT, at 21 degrees of Leo. 5/18--The Moon reaches perfect Fullness at 10:11 PM EDT, at 29 degrees of Scorpio. In native American and folk traditions this is the Full Flower Moon for obvious reasons. They're everywhere! Spring truly is in full flower (in case you hadn't noticed). 5/27--The waning Moon enter her Last (aka Third) Quarter phase at 10:57 PM EDT, at 7 degrees of Pisces. Skywatching events for the next three weeks: 5/12 -- The Moon makes a close pass by Saturn just before sunset on the U.S. East Coast, so the two will still be a pretty sight high in the sky after dark. 5/24 -- The Waning Moon also makes a close brush past Jupiter although their point of closest approach occurs well after sunrise across most of the U.S., as well as after both bodies have set. However, look for them close and getting closer as they descend towards the West together from mid-evening on and the Moon 'catches up' to Jupiter. Space news of the week: Space Shuttle launches seem to be happening at a faster and faster pace, which is what the whole program was originally designed for. Astronauts are already preparing for their upcoming launch of Discovery to rendezvous with the International Space Station at the end of the month.Go out! Look up!

Knowing when VOC Moons occur is key to planning your successful week!

The Void-of-course (VOC) Moon is a kind of limbo. As it reaches the end of a sign, the Moon makes no major aspect to another planet before it enters the next sign. VOC is best for less outcome-oriented activity, since VOC often means detours, distractions, drifting, or delays. If you want specific outcomes, or if timeliness is critical, don’t use a VOC Moon time. VOC is best for processing, imagining, creating, and open-ended activities, like parties, research, or cleaning your desk/closet for instance! It is said that when a new action is initiated during VOC, “nothing will come of it,” or energies go in unplanned directions, which may not necessarily be negative.

Week of 5/11/08 – Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are the most active energetically and potentially very productive days – more Moon or planetary aspects for engagement and/or producing results. On 5/12/08, the Moon is VOC/Leo from 4:09AM to 2:48PM EDT – On 5/14/08, VOC/Virgo from 12:38PM to 11:46PM EDT – On 5/16/08, VOC/Libra from 11:29PM to 10:59AM EDT (the next day 5/17/08).

Week of 5/18/08 – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the most active energetically and potentially very productive days – more Moon or planetary aspects for engagement and/or producing results. On 5/19/08, The Moon is VOC/Scorpio from 10:11PM to 11:18PM EDT –On 5/22/08, VOC/Sagittarius from 12:20AM to 11:55AM EDT – On 5/24/08, VOC/Capricorn from 8:26AM to 11:52PM EDT.

Week of 5/25/08 – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are the most active energetically and potentially very productive days – more Moon or planetary aspects for engagement and/or producing results. On 5/26/08, the Moon is VOC/Aquarius from 10:50PM to 9:38AM EDT (the next day 5/27/08) – On 5/29/08, VOC/Pisces from 2:22AM to 3:52PM EDT – On 5/31/08, VOC/Aries from 8:54AM to 6:18PM EDT.

PlanetPatterns:

The following planetary energy patterns flavor the day and are felt or experienced often hours before and after their exact culmination. They remain effective, certainly until the next major planetary pattern comes along to shift the energy gears.

Sun in fixed, earth, Taurus trine (120deg.) Jupiter Rx in cardinal, earth Capricorn @ 22deg. on 5/12/08 @ 1:29PM EDT. The Sun makes the rounds this week – meeting with Uranus in a benevolent aspect, and then in a smooth trine to Jupiter (same day). This aspect is generally upbeat and offers choices and solutions to problems that may be plaguing you. At the very least it will give you the optimism and positive thinking to discover that you have a number of options.

Sun/Taurus square (90deg.) Neptune in fixed, air Aquarius @ 24deg. on 5/14/08 @ 11:51AM EDT. This aspect serves to remind you that you may not have all the answers and, in fact, there may be something significant that you’ve missed and which causes you to question even more. There is a distinct spiritual component to this aspect that asks you to plumb your own conscience to determine how you may have manipulated (or sabotaged) yourself into a situation that you now find discomfiting.

Venus/Taurus trine Jupiter/Capricorn @ 22deg. on 5/18/08 @ 11:18AM EDT. This is a giving aspect filled with both practical as well as generous advice, feelings, and various gifts. In committed relationships, this can be a time to renew what you have, remember some special shared times in the past, and revel in the good thing you have with each other. Those in new relationships feel the same good feelings and may ask themselves what kind of commitment they’d like to make. In all cases, this is a satisfying time with loving expressions.

Venus/Taurus square Neptune/Aquarius @ 24deg. on 5/20/08 @ 2:28AM EDT. This aspect has second thoughts, or we can say, is confused about what it wants from a particular situation or person and that causes stress. There are unspoken feelings that need to be liberated and discussed, and you may hear some secrets from others or gossip. The other side of this aspect is to understand the spiritual path that exists in the midst of all our situations and rise to the compassion and understanding that others may need from us, as they (and we) struggle with various confusions in our lives.

The Sun enters mutable, air Gemini on 5/20/08 @ 12:01PM EDT until 6/20/08. We’re into the most social part of the season now – so get ready to catch up with your neighbors and share a piece of life’s everyday wisdom with the people you meet, here and there in your community. It’s a friendly time that translates to – we’re all in the same boat – the same Ship of Fools – and let’s have a laugh over it. Wit, lightness, and humor define Gemini along with a definite glibness with words. This social sign wants to get a rise out of you, and Geminis can be very stimulating, sometimes even annoying, with their seemingly endless chatter and information they want to share with you!

Jupiter/Capricorn sextile Uranus/Pisces @ 22deg. on 5/21/08 @ 2:08PM EDT. This combination of planets may indicate a windfall of sorts. That is – something comes into manifestation that you have developed in the astral ethers or in your dreams. The joy of something showing up that you’ve wanted is immense and immensely gratifying. It feels like somebody up there has really been listening! This aspect of opportunity is inspiring in all sorts of ways, offering insight and intuition with all the important projects and issues in your life. Be sure to tune in!

Sun/Gemini square Saturn in mutable, earth Virgo @ on 5/22/08 @ 2:25PM EDT. Something needs clarification and confirmation. Contracts will need to be gone over carefully, but the situation wants definition and organized terms. Something comes to a head and needs to be addressed. The situation may be serious or a temporary obstacle to progress. In any case, go to primary causes and foundational issues for resolution. The main concern is safety, protection, security, or commitment issues. If those are resolved, then the issue will settle more easily.

Venus enters Gemini on 5/24/08 until 6/18/08. Venus in Gemini is light, playful, very verbal, and communicative and joins both the Sun and Mercury already in the sign. The message is – go out and talk to people, find out what they’re thinking, and share your thoughts with them. It’s time for a party; gather all the most interesting people you know and have a rousing time, filled with laughter and a bit of mischief, which the winged messenger, Mercury (ruler of Gemini) loves to stir up.

Mercury/Gemini Stationary Retrograde (SR) @ 21deg. on 5/26/08 @11:48AM EDT until 6/19/08. On 5/13/08, Mercury enters its shadow phase – @ 13deg. Gemini, at which point it will turn Direct on 6/19/08. The shadow phase is a shoulder time frame before and after the actual technical retrograde cycle. After Mercury turns Direct (6/19/08), the shadow phase continues until Mercury once again reaches the degree at which it turned retrograde (21deg.) on 7/2/08. It is during the shadow that the issues that will be developed and processed first begin to appear or be recognized – the shadow phase after the retrograde helps to synthesize what was uncovered or processed. This Mercury Rx, like the previous one (1/28-2/18/08) and the final one of this year (9/24-10/15/08), is in an air sign, and the Rx takes place completely in the sign of Gemini. That is, Mercury does not move back into the previous sign, as often happens. To me, this indicates a greater retrograde clarity – in that there is less complexity to deal with re the issue at hand. Many retrogrades span two signs, bringing more factors into play. Mercury is in one of its own signs too and is very strong there, in terms of logic and objective perspective. The upshot is that there is sure to be some very powerful and useful processing of thought and beliefs taking place. We’ll get caught up in the maelstrom, certainly, but the power of Mercury in its own sign will serve to provide very useful information to toss around and look at from every angle. Be prepared for some powerful discussion and extraordinary ideas pumped through various media outlets as well. Sorting and sifting through too much information and “talking heads” experts (including in our own minds) is the challenge of this retrograde.

Neptune/Aquarius SR @ 24deg. on 5/26/08 @ 12:15PM until 11/3/08. This month for whatever reason, we’ve had two previous days like this upcoming one on 5/26, where two planets are making significant changes on the very same day. The two previous days were 5/2 and 5/9/08. Just as we’re emerging from Mercury retrograde processing, Neptune will turn around and ask us to examine the truth and the spin and fog or smoke and mirrors we’ve experienced in some area of our lives (and of course, always in the media). Neptune’s journey in Aquarius has represented the gradual erosion of long-held truths, including the hold science has had on society and the failure of religious structures, including the various scandals, the most recent being the polygamy sect in Texas. Society is searching for other answers, other truths. There’s a disintegration of systems and many people are piecing truth together from a variety of sources to create an individual spiritual path for themselves.

Venus/Gemini square Saturn/Virgo @ 2deg. on 5/26/08 @ 1:10PM. This aspect makes relationships and partnerships a bit serious and commitment is questioned or needing restructuring. If matters have been ignored, this aspect will bring them to a head and wanting to be addressed and settled or resolved in some certain way. Obstacles may arise to challenge your position or your partnership. This is a sobering influence but the end result is a greater certainty about where you stand and what’s what.

NewsBits: Hillary’s Race. Hillary won Indiana and Obama North Carolina. Planet Weather predicted that each would win one (the Moon was in Gemini that day = two, or a split). Now what? Obama is favored to win the nomination – the numbers support it. It will be interesting to see what happens as Mars goes into Leo on 5/9/08, Hillary’s own Mars birth position, accentuating her fighting spirit and energizing her. She will take it to the end of the primary season, as she has said. And why not? Anything can happen in this socio-political climate. In the meantime, more super-delegates have moved into Obama’s column. Mars in Leo will fire him up too, as he is a Sun-sign Leo. Obama will exhibit his kingly position and wear it more proudly than before, and or he will be challenged again on an important issue of integrity and pride.

Myanmar Tragedy – The country formerly known as Burma has undergone and is still experiencing a disaster of epic proportions. The cyclone that whipped through the country left more than 100,000 people dead. The exact numbers are uncertain in the wake of the disaster because the totalitarian government is refusing most aid and aid-workers into the country. It’s almost certain that a secondary wave of illness and death will result from lack of food and medical supplies and disease directly resulting from the disaster, if not remedied soon. The cyclone struck on 5/3/08, with the Moon in Aries square Pluto retrograde in Capricorn and just past Saturn making a station direct @ 1deg. Virgo trine to Pluto. This is another example of the social tragedies that may be part of the expression of Pluto moving through Capricorn and periodically triggered by other planetary aspects.

Copyright 1997-2008 Dorothy Oja -- All rights reserved – General editing and science editor, John Flagg. Opinions and interpretation/analysis expressed are the sole intellectual property of Dorothy Oja.