You hit the ground running in May with Mercury squarely in your sign at 0 degrees. Your mind is humming and your thoughts are like pin point lasers, cutting, exacting, sharp. You’re in element, the leader of the band and then wham! On the 7th, Mercury, your ruler, in your sign, goes backwards, causing all sorts of screwy things to happen. The first might manifest in self-doubt, or at the very least, second guessing yourself. This may or may not be a bad thing, if you have recently taken on something that’s slightly over your head. You need confidence, but you also need some objectivity.

Think of this Mercury Retrograde as a safeguard from flying too high, too fast. With both Venus and Mars in Aries, you’ll need something to keep you grounded and believe it or not, MR might just be the answer. This tethering effect will ensure that you are engaged in the realm of human affairs, while still allowing you to sharpen, revise, revisit and reintegrate your ideas. But like most signs, I would advise you to get as much heavy lifting out of the way before the 7th and after that it’s all about fine tuning. That will change on the 31st (Walt Whitman’s birthday) and then you’ll be off and running again and by the middle of June, you’ll have another, visionary period where you can take your projects, thoughts and ideas to a new level. Until then, get out, be social, mix it up, make new connections, renew your commitment to make the world a better place for yourself and others. Your enthusiasm hasn’t been this high in quite sometime. Enjoy it.

Since it’s your birthday, I’ll start with you. I have a good friend up in Portland, who is a late Taurus and she has been feeling restless, anxious and fidgety. Her common fixes aren’t working as well as they used to and she’s looking for something deeper and more powerful to soothe that pent up beast within. My sense is that this is fairly common for most bulls right now. Your normally placid and easygoing nature is being challenged, stimulated and even taxed. Why is this happening? Because divine discontent takes many shapes and forms and for you right now, it’s that indefinable something that’s telling you that things aren’t quite right.

It might be hard getting to sleep and even harder getting up. So, the question becomes; “What do you do about it?” I would recommend that you do something out of the ordinary, in fact, extraordinary. I would suggest that you get in touch with your inner extreme athlete and push your adrenaline to the edge. Firewalk, skydive, surf or mountain climb. Put yourself out in the edge and put edginess in place, with creative act of extreme living. You are being roused to make contact with some deeper element in your life, one that has you climbing the walls at present. Get out there, confront that restlessness head on and you’ll be rewarded by having a whale of a story to tell your friends, but more importantly, you’ll gain mastery over that gnawing and nervous energy that’s currently sapping you. You’ll be at peace with yourself and at one with own powerful nature, ready to take command of the world in June, when both Venus and Mars move into your sign.

If I can give any advice to people dealing with you in your life, it would be to invest in an asbestos suit. You are smokin’. You’re dynamic, sexy, provocative, edgy and did I say sexy? Whoa. The only thing that you need to watch out for is being too much of a good thing for others. You might steamroll someone without knowing how powerful you are. For you, you’re just being that dynamo hum that you have always been (or so it seems) and in reality, you’re scorching the stage around you. Things will cool off in a month and you’ll have to step it down just for the sake of your own sanity, but for now, who needs sleep? You sure don’t? Just make sure that you don’t overtax your system. Add all of the massive Aquarian energy coalescing in your house of hopes, dreams and wishes and you can start your own country if you want.

If I were you, I would hook up with an Aquarius or three. The energy that these two signs now share is almost epic. Go find a water bearer and change the world for the better. Mercury’s shift on the 7th will enable you to revise your blueprints for world domination, fine tune and tighten things up. But for now dear ram, go forth and conquer, just make sure that you leave that inner dictator at home, preferably in the basement, with chains and steady supply of Mr Rogers videos.

by Robert Phoenix

For All Signs

I think it’s a little ironic and somewhat interesting that we are in the agrarian stretch of the zodiac, Aries to Taurus and of course, the big news is “Swine Flu” which broke on the cusp of Aries and Taurus, just over the hump of 4/20. If we look forward in time, and stay with the animal theme, then we can see some sort of resolution around this by June when we enter into the sphere of human interaction and Gemini, but beware the duality of “The Twins” as things aren’t always what they appear to be.
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Faust was a symbol for modern man and woman…his soul sacrifice both spiritual and material. During what we generously call a “downturn,” I would wager that there are people signing up for the army and selling their souls in almost equal numbers. Your challenge is to not succumb to either extreme, but find the internal, eternal rebel within. Make peace with that part of yourself that would sell out for almost any modern version of ten gold pieces. If all else fails, simply surrender to the power of your dreams. You of all signs can go with the flow for the rest. If even that fails, just curl up in a bed by your lonesome, a little hot cocoa, a bedtime tale and meet Nemo in your dreams.

If you’re not hatching a plan for world peace in your spare time during this full moon cycle, then you’re asleep at the wheel because there has never been a better time. In order to do so, you’ll need to look at who is in the room around you and then focus in on the most personal aspects of these individuals. Therein lies the portal of potential. Drill down and see eye-to-eye instead of your usual third-eye-to-third-eye. See the horizontal experience of all sentient beings and you will be blessed in your ability to get down a little closer to the ground. If you can’t go there, then ratchet up to the immortal truths of the ages for all souls and then hit your highest mark, like launching a dart onto the bulls eye of life. Let ‘er rip.

If you can step outside of your goat-inspired climb up the mountain, you’ll be keenly aware of the fact that there are others following you up to the top. Take some time out and look around to see what you can do to lift others up while you scale the steps of life’s pyramid. Surrendering to the softer side of the ram suits you right now and diplomacy goes a very long way toward facilitating your ultimate ascent, which you and I know is the very apex of the pyramid.

Remember the friends who supported you on your ascent as you painstakingly climb the ladder of success. In essence, be a nice guy or gal for awhile. It won’t crimp your style or your soul.

Don’t let your exalted and most beneficent position amongst the signs during this full moon cycle go to your head. It doesn’t matter if you speak epiphany upon epiphany, even if it’s to your black lab…you need to remain just the slightest bit humble. You’re in demand and for someone like you who needs to be near the action, this is the sizzle on the steak. But pull back just ever so slightly and try to temper these off-the-cuff rejoinders in such a way that you affirm your sage-like status for months and years to come. We’re playing for keeps now and you, more than any other sign, understand how critical each act, each thought, each emotion is from here on out. Take it all in and let it reverberate to the most expansive reaches of your nature.

If music be the food of love, then play on! During this full moon cycle, that should be your mantra. Drop anything edgy and aggressive and surrender to the sweet harmony of sound. As a Scorpio rising with a fondness for music that’s on the dark end of the spectrum, I would rarely prescribe anything outside of a minor chord for you. But during this full moon, I would recommend that you listen to these three records; Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys) Skylarking (XTC) and The Monkees Greatest Hits. The harmonies and pure pop structures of those tunes will tame your DNA, if only for a brief fortnight or so, but the results could have ramifications for a very long time to come.

The power of the moon is with you. You are as sweet, diplomatic and magnetic as hell. And speaking of hell…the most superficial rendering of the devil is one that’s cloven-hoofed, horned and smells like a cross between a salt-lick, wet leather, and cured garlic. But that would be too cliche. No, devilish qualities can appear in even the most innocuous of souls…and even though you may not have one evil or sinful thought coursing through your body…you need to accept your devilish side. It’s the power that this moon transmits through you. You’re irresistible and very few people can say “no” to almost any request you have. It’s like if a genie granted you three wishes and two were already used…what would you order up for the last and most important request?

It’s okay if you have to, yet again, accommodate the needs of others because, during this full moon cycle, you have no choice. It’s not only on your plate, it’s your destiny, especially as it comes to finances. But the best thing you can do is make sure you get at least 10% for yourself. On a much more personal and perhaps even pressing level, if you ever needed to re-negotiate any credit cards or mortgage rates…do not wait. During this full moon cycle, you can more easily get what you want and cross that bothersome detail off your checklist.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to save a few sweet nothings in reserve, for when you really need them.

Fairness is a concept that suits you when it suits you, but this full moon cycle, you have no choice. It’s not like you have the power of life or death over your charges…but you do have a say in things, especially as it relates to those people you call brothers and sisters. While you’re distracted by much bigger picture issues now (if you’re not traveling get on a plane) you need to focus on arbitrating the needs of those closest to you. But please refrain from any sort of pious judgment. They know you have the power and if you can simply have everyone see your most exalted point of view, so much the better.

My suggestion for you would be to have these semi-serious heart-to-hearts over marshmallows and a campfire. That way you can make at least one allusion to marshmallows being like you: hot and charred on the outside and sweet and gooey in the middle.

While you’re feeling stronger than ever when it comes to your career (who knew a crustacean had a spine?), this moon is tugging at your heartstrings in ways that make you feel vulnerable and open. It’s a dichotomy that you’re not unfamiliar with, but the polarity right now is at it’s strongest.

Think tides. Think low tide…the time your maternal satellite draws the azure blanket back from the Earth and exposes the rich and varied sea life in tide pools, sand bars and shoals. The naked complexity of the ecosystem is a feast for the senses. That’s you during this full moon cycle, as your emotional exotica is on display in all of it’s visceral splendor.

The moral of the story? Let it all hang out for the rest of us to drop our jaws at the power of your psychic revelations.

You would love Libras even more if they got their way more often. Well, I hate to tell you this, but even when Libras doesn’t look like they’re getting their way…trust me…they are. They just go about it in a way that deeply camouflages their true intentions. On this Libra full-moon affecting the realm of the heart, you need to use those profound skills of communication to expand the level of feeling between you and your most significant other. The key here is for you to get deeply into the other’s emotional experience from the perspective of it being your own. Don’t worry about losing yourself, since you always have a scintilla of detachment held in reserve. But the ultimate observer in you might be deeply moved by the level of concordant feeling you experience, once you’re able to let go of your analytical experience.

Do your best to FEEL the other and then deepen the dialog to find a common ground that will take you to the center of your heart.

You and Libra have much in common, but the fork in the road appears when it comes to the body. Libra loves to talk about the sensual life…while you are the sensual life. But for you, you really need to elevate about three chakras above your normal operating mode…especially as it relates to work, where most relationships are best when they’re platonic. That also relates to any conflict-based relationships in the workplace. You can learn much from the great diplomat of the cosmos by raising your aim, slightly higher.

Your integrity and credibility will still be intact if you simply give-in ever so slightly without — and here is the key — being distracted by the fact that you aren’t running your normal program. Raise the vibration, hit a higher note, and you’ll still enthrall the most important members of your work related tribe.

Years ago, the film, My Dinner With Andre was a gust of wind that changed the course of my life on many levels. One of the fascinating concepts offered up by maverick play write, Andre Gregory, was the concept that in the prison system, the citizens would play the roles of the inmates and the wardens in an extremely complex web of a self-policing society. You, dear ram-child, need to take a brief inventory and see where you fit into the complex web of reality. You may think that you are holding all the cards, calling the shots, running the program, but in reality, are you? Perhaps the inmates are, in actuality, your wardens and without their supervision, you yourself would cease to exist.

What am I getting at? No matter how much you think you’re on top, from another point of view, you’re actually on the bottom. The solution? Employ compassion with excess and you’ll free yourself from that infernal hierarchy.

by Robert Phoenix

For All Signs

This Libra full moon is fascinating on so many levels. First, it opposes a stellium (a meeting of three or more planets) in Aries (Sun/Mercury/Venus) and it joins up briefly to join Jupiter in an airy trine in Aquarius. When Libra and Aquarius merge and join forces, justice prevails, especially in opposition to that heavy Aries action. This moon favors social and personal justice, however, employing excess indignation where it’s not warranted could provoke more antagonism than is needed. They key here is to build bridges and not burn them down. Strengthen alliances already in place and win your rivals over by appealing to their heightened sense of humanity.
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You need to get busy. What do I mean by that? Make sure you’ve got everything you need to function smoothly in a time of crisis. In essence, think and act like a Virgo. You and The Virgin have been doing a very interesting dance with the opposition of Uranus and Saturn. Talk about two signs, each getting waxed by the other. But if I’m reading the room correctly, you’ve been learning more about and appreciating structure and order. For you, that’s good. Getting the house of Pisces in order is a major event. So don’t stop now. Get down and get in it. Do you have the right interest rate for your house and mortgage? Could you actually do a re-fi with a better rate now? Can you talk your credit card companies down to lowering your overall balance and pay it in full? Can you find a better deal for your car insurance? Do you have some cash around just in case your bank goes belly up? Do you have a enough fresh water to last a couple of weeks?

These are the types of questions you should be asking yourself and would be ready to move on if you can. You’re not preparing for the end of the world, per se, but you are tethering your camel just in case, while setting your worldly affairs in order. You can go back to being the nun in the abbey after July…but for now, you need to take care of business. With Venus retreating into you own sign for twelve days, starting on the 12th, get ready for people to suddenly appear in your life and tell you how beautiful and wonderful you are and were to them. This is a great boost of confidence and a real affirmation for you, but as always, with your sign, you need to be just a little more sagacious than other signs, since you want to blur and merge easier and more often than others might. In essence, enjoy the lovin’ but use a little discretion.

Your Kosmic hero this month? Storm of The X-Men.

I would highly recommend that you explore as many different ways to communicate as possible over the next 40 days. Your role and goal is to make as many breakthroughs in communication as you can. Go to a zoo and strike up a conversation with a hippo, hit the aquarium and reach out to an eel. Go find a new social network that isn’t over-used and over-hyped. Sit at a cafe an imagine that you can hear the thoughts of others in your own mind decoding their inner dialogs. Speak directly to a blooming Tulip and listen with rapt attention. Learn some sign language and few, key curse words in Portuguese. You are truly an explorer in communication and language and the more you experience and learn, the more that you understand that separation is merely a concept and in so doing you begin to open up to the vast body of knowledge that we all have at our disposal at all times — a collective field of intelligence is waiting to communicate with us and you, your rascally rebel, have the power and the access codes to begin to have a dialog with this awesome force. It starts with unknowing and surrendering your disbelief.

Say “hi” to a sow bug in passing, you just might be greeting the Buddha. Venus’ retrograde back into Pisces will offer you the opportunity to heal the rift between who you are and what you perceive to be your worth. There’s a whole lotta judgment going on right now with people thinking that they didn’t invest enough, or invested too much on the wrong things — just a lot of imbalance, and you can do your part in healing the financial wounds we’re suffering by seeing how you bring value to the lives of others, simply by being you.

I know a young, Aquarian woman who is really struggling with money issues, but she is an amazing Thai massage therapist who spends over two hours pulling, moving and stretching bodies almost twice her size. People feel amazing after she works on them. If she could somehow understand how they truly feel, she would be enriched to the point where her confidence would override her scripted version of lack. Realize who you are and what you do for those you love and put that in the safety deposit box of your soul.

Your Kosmic hero this month? The Sub-Mariner.

I have a good friend who is a Capricorn and who has gone completely dark on me. So I am doing my best not to take this personally and I am imagining what he’s doing and going through instead. Laid off last year, he has become obsessed with Twitter and I believe that he is quietly working on some form of media consulting, using Twitter as the tool for building massive relationships for his clients. Part of this is something I overheard through another friend, and part is something I am sensing and I believe that as a goat, he is not alone in this process.

I have visions of goats quietly working under the cover of night, growing empires while the rest of us sleep. I don’t think that this is very far from the truth as Pluto has them under its spell promising power, purpose and destiny. However, all Capricorns must deal with their mothers this month and not in the way Sag does, with lovely Venus in placid Pisces sounding the call to heal the animus. No, Capricorns must deal with mother as Kali in April…an oedipal affair gone very wrong. For goat gals, it’s the evil stepmother, the wicked witch of the west, the dark and unloving matron of the anti-goddess.

Before you can continue on your path toward world conquest and domination, you must first pay homage to her, then you must find the courage and the magic to either slay her forever or seduce her to the point where she melts back into the loving mom that hopefully, you once knew. If you don’t, she will eat you alive and spit out your bones. How are you going to rule the world as a skeleton? Don’t thinks so. Have courage and proceed with caution and love. The Venus retrograde shift to Pisces is asking you to bury the hatchet with anyone you’ve ever called brother or sister in this lifetime — blood related or not. All feuds eventually come to an end, and deeply forgiving Pisces will help you and anyone that is (or is like) a sibling to you get over the past and move forward. You’re pretty strong headed, so this tender aspect, which lasts from the 12th through the 24th, will help you dissolve into sweet forgiveness.

Your Kosmic hero this month? Ironman.

The approach of Spring is like an alarm going off in your second chakra. Remember, you are part human and part horse, which means that you are as instinctual as heck. You saggs loves to have your heads in the clouds, pontificating on all things, waxing philosophically, rendering judgment from up on high and yet, when spring rolls around, you just want to horse around and roll in the hay. Well, lucky for you, April is the start of a two-month love affair with love itself. You can dress it up and rationalize it in any way you want, but at the end of the day, it’s life force, the magnetic resonance of creation rippling through your endocrine system and you feel young again. It’s been a long winter and you deserve a break. Go out and play, just make sure that your playmates know that you are in play mode and not necessarily working on the foundation of a new relationship. Make that clear and you’ll be just fine.

Also, along the lines of play, pick up a bat and ball, toss a frisbee, shoot some hoops. The kid in you wants some action as well. The retreat of Venus in Pisces into your house of the home and mother suggests that it’s a prime time for you to come to terms with your roots and forgive whatever took (or is currently taking) place in your domestic life. Our most primary relationship throughout our lives is with our mother and having a right relationship with your mother aligns many of the other key relationships in your life. I know that things are moving fast, but take some quality time to honor the domestic goddesses in our life…past and present. It will help you create less resistance and drag on your upcoming sprint towards quantum travel in the space/time continuum.

Your Kosmic hero for this month? Need you ask? The Green Arrow.

You’ll have to start dealing with some relationship issues by mid-month, something you know that you’ve been putting off for quite sometime…but I wouldn’t stress too much about it until after the 22nd. When you do stare them down, it’s important to use your penetrating insight on yourself as much as you use it on the “other.” No one is better than finding fault, real, genuine, fault than you, and having the ability to speak it, even in occasionally unflattering fashion. But can you do that with yourself and still be gentle with yourself, based on what you find? It’s a question that would be helpful for you to think about, since you have a few weeks before you have to stare down some of these issues. Until then, you can sharpen your axe. Get clear on what you want in your life in terms of health and healthy vocation. Strip away things that can weigh you down with physical and psychic baggage. You have a lot of energy in this area and will have for the next couple of months.

Self-improvement is a key theme for you and take it on with a sense of urgency and you’ll have the opportunity to recreate how you look and feel in almost no time at all. Go find a Taurus and you’ll have a workout buddy. Go find Virgo and you’ll have a personal trainer. Endurance, stamina, drive, these are all things to be cultivated now. Think long term, big picture, especially as it relates to what you do in this world. During the downturn, many people will have a chance to re-create themselves and you will likely lead the way in the months ahead. Venus gets you back in touch with the romantic side of you nature. The sweet, soft-spoken and tender you. The one who finds the absolute perfect flower, pens the soulful poem, writes the sweet ballad…you know that person, don’t you? Well if you have lost touch with him or her, you get your chance to be re-aquainted mid-month. Don’t miss out on the opportunity.

Your Kosmic hero for the month? Batman!

Cue Michael Butler: “Let’s get ready to rummmmmmmmmmmmble.” With that command, you are now in the iron cage match of the zodiac, where you are forced to deal with conflict in relationship and this conflict in yourself and since you are usually adverse to conflict and confrontation, this can be a tricky time for you when you might over-capitulate, just to play nice and get along…or you might assume that the best defense is a good offense and take on all comers with hardly any provocation.

You’re on the quest for balance in this lifetime and achieving it is no easy feat, especially now, when Aries is goading you to act out of character or become a caricature of your normal, zen-like self. So what to do? Ride the tiger, of course. I have three exercises for you to consider this month, exercises that I think will help you deal with the overabundance of yang in your life in a positive fashion.

Here’s exercise number one: Do not hesitate to speak your mind in public, if you sense something is wrong or unjust. Let’s say the bagger or the checkout clerk at the grocery store is talking with someone other than the person ahead of you and it’s clear that their conversation is slowing down the purchase of goods. Say something. Risk being a jerk, but do it politely, of course.

Exercise number two: If you get into a road rage incident or someone cuts you off this month, do not, I repeat, do not escalate it. Bless them and give them the sign of the cross.

Exercise number three: Watch American Idol and love Simon Cowell unconditionally. Bet you didn’t know that nasty old Simon is a Libra. He should be your patron saint when it comes to Libra’s speaking their minds and living their truths. Then apply these lessons as quickly as you can to your relationships. When it comes to Venus, she’s resting deep in your psyche. Let your dreams heal the schisms in your soul.

Your Kosmic hero this month? The Incredible Hulk.

There’s a lot of talk these days about The New World Order. Everyone from Gordon Brown to Kissinger are singing its praises as a panacea for the global financial crisis. While they’re yammering on and on about the NWO, you, on the other hand, are about to experience PWD (personal world disorder). Don’t worry though, it’s a psychic function we all go through from time to time. But a sign such as yours, given to almost all things orderly, doesn’t always do well with the internal structures of your life not being in the tidiest of conditions.

Let’s explore some of the things that you might be experiencing throughout most of April. Urges. For an occasionally sober type, dealing with messy urges can be a bit of a problem for you, but you and I both know, you’re certainly no prude. The challenge for you is to find ways where you can really let loose without losing control, even though losing control is recommended occasionally, with other consenting adults. If I were you, I’d find places and ways where I could just let the flow of my inner life manifest through physical activity. Hit a dance floor and move your body until it’s soaked. Find a safe, nude beach and have lovely picnic. Do a tandem parachute jump. Seek out the most authentic ethnic food you can in a decidedly ethnic neighborhood. Dye your hair. Firewalk. These are just a few activities that you can consciously pursue so that they don’t unconsciously pursue you.

Who do you want to be? The hunter or the hunted? As far as Venus goes, please kiss and make up with the person that you used to love and secretly still do. You may never get back together, but some real affection could go a long ways towards healing the crater in each other’s heart.

Your Kosmic hero this month? Doctor Strange.

Stand back while The Lion Queen sermonizes on some very important truths over the next few months. You’ve been saving up and holding back just a little and now, you’re ready to speak your mind. Go ahead, let it all hang out for awhile. You’ve got some things to get off your chest and as long as you’re not mean spirited, people will be more inclined to listen than not and that goes for the small issues of the day, right up to the global morass we’re staring down deep into as a society.

You’ve got some very important things to say, but be careful. Even though you won’t be mean spirited, people can get tired, very tired, very quickly of the unending shrill of truth. If you can, try to focus it like a laser beam in key moments then let ‘er rip with full intensity. You’ll be amazed by what concentrated blasts of authenticity and honesty can do as to the shotgun splay of it scattering everywhere. I would also highly suggest that you plan an overseas getaway in May. It would do you wonders and open you up to the mystery of the planet in a very spiritual sense.

I see Greek ruins, islands, azure seas, bleached marble, blond sand and timeless gods with piqued curiosity, pondering your presence. How does that sound? With Venus sliding back into Pisces be prepared to experience a profound upwelling of imagery and healing to come to you through dreams and sleep. While most of us get to work out our personal catharsis in the flesh, you can heal the broken places inside of you through the theater of dreams. Be prepared to do some conscious personal archeology work though. You don’t get off that easy.

Your Kosmic hero this? Cyclops, of The X-Men.