In May it is when we start feeling comfortably embedded in the new season, and things begin to happen. The archetypal energy is spring. The Taurus confident calm nature and feeling of security that rules most of May dominates. Normally, there is a slow grounding sensual energy associated with Taurus. Not so much this time. All our senses that have been activated during the Aries period are heightened in a much more restless and nervous unsettled way. Events will move fast. Even with all the social restrictions imposed on us by Saturn, fiery Mars in cool-headed remote Aquarius will bring to the forefront a desire to act in a more individualistic passionate manner.

So is the Queen of Wands. She sits on a Dragon throne wearing a dress of fire, assertive, powerful, busy, she knows her own mind, she’s abundant energy in herself and she’s not static. There’s movement all around though she’s standing still. She’s making magic transmuting energy. With her comes authority of the type that breaks rules and remakes them in her own image. Just as well this is going to be a ‘make of break’ month with a surging energy to act and express one’s own will. The fast energy of Mercury, also in Taurus, doesn’t sit comfortably either, but it brings speed and momentum to real life events. This time we are going to go after what we really want stripped down to the most elemental. It is about the things that matter the most that take priority now. For many of us partnerships and relationships will be high on the agenda. This can be partnerships of many kinds; romantic or professional, joint projects or people that we share similar idiosyncrasies and common ways of being. This is aspected by the King of Wands that appears right next to the Queen of Wands. He is equally powerful and infinitely driven to succeed. Let’s remember that on the astrological wheel Pallas Athena is still in ambitious Capricorn. So he has what it takes to strategise for the long term. We have what it takes. As he’s placed in the middle of the spread he takes on extra significance.

Clearly, it all unravels for everyone as right in the middle of May three planets go retrograde. A massive concatenation of events is afoot. People like to call Saturn ‘task master’ and with good reason. He wants us to succeed, but he does it through restriction and contraction. He’s going retrograde on the 11^th May in Aquarius. His effects are long term and he’s super empowered in futuristic Aquarius. A couple of days later, personal planet Venus – our sense of beauty, desire for love, and self-worth – goes retrograde on the 13^th May in Gemini. And just a day later, on the 14^th May, Jupiter goes retrograde in Capricorn. So anything we were planning – ambitious or otherwise – could now change course, our finances and investments might shift, anything relating to travel and foreign places or people could come back from the past or go away into future planning.

The King of Wands is also planning something important on a map. He knows where he is going and how to get there. This is more than success. It is about empowerment. And it is about control in the long term. But he’s still indoors. Everything becomes about going within, in order to reassess and perfect. We will be going over plans and looking at real or imaginary maps. Situations may move fast in life that we can not control. There are bigger forces and tectonic shifts. Not everything is up to us. But we can control how we deal with them. And the King of Wands shows us that we can be commanding and effective if we take charge of our actions with mastery and determination.

Both the Queen of Wands and the King of Wands are masters. The month will require courage. And we will have to take charge for us and for others. Queens and Kings are leading figures with sustained power. But ultimately there will be a breakthrough, an inspiration, an epiphany. As the Sun moves into Gemini at the last third of the month, and we have the new moon in Gemini on the 22^nd of May, mental energy takes over. We move from fixed to mutable energy. However, realisations will continue to be mostly internal. The theme will continue throughout the summer.

Even though we haven’t got any of the conventional partnership cards in the spread, the message for May is loud and clear: everything that’s important in life is human relationships, but it is relationships of equality, camaraderie, friendship, romantic or otherwise. We stand together in powerful equality. Even if it seems counter-intuitive in the conditions of isolation and distancing. And we will go over the themes again and again until the old is released and weight is dropped in order to retrieve authentic value. Now that the noise is gone only what is worth putting that dragon forceful fire in action, and planning those lofty projects, has remained and is coming forward.

The Ace of Swords is a gift. The gift will be unlike any other. We are going to go out to nature with respect and out in the open to enjoy with others once again. This time we will be wiser and lighter, and the sky will be the limit. For now, we are not launching outwards. We are going in.

Flavia