There’s a silver lining in every dark little astrology cloud.

As we know, we have five planets in retrograde for the first time in ten years, slowing things down to a snails pace. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Yes, we are digging up old, icky, dark, yucky stuff that we’d rather not deal with, especially seeing as three of these planets are Malefic – bad boys, in layman’s terms. Saturn, Mars and Pluto are giving us a run for our money and we have probably, more than once, surprised ourselves with the behaviour we’ve displayed recently, a reaction to the feelings that have been stirred up by all this digging and fighting going on.

Two wonderful things are happening though….there is a light approaching.

Firstly, Venus is moving into her own sign, Taurus, on 1 May, balancing out the nastiness and malevolence of the Bad Boys we spoke of earlier. And of course, isn’t it always a beautiful woman bringing some loveliness and peace to a volatile situation? Someone to step in to halt everyone in their brawling and realise that there is still beauty, softness and joy in the world. Aphrodite in her greatest glory walks into a bar, where Ares, Cronos and Hades are having it out. She switches on some music, lights some candles and sweet smelling incense and begins to sing and dance, bedecked in beautiful jewels and expensive silks. She’s magical, captivating. All the Gods can do is stop, sit down, and be transfixed. Mercury then walks in (backwards mind you), he too sits down, and begins to join in the singing. He knows what Taurus is all about – sensuality, enjoyment, pleasure, sweetness. Everyone has a beer and realises that there’s no point in fighting, that we may as well sit and wait it out.

In the meantime, we have Jupiter in the wings, who’s been slightly helpless in the sign of Virgo and also retrograde, thus being unable to bestow his gifts, begins taking tiny, eensy weensy steps forward. He’s ready to start using his powers for good again, and in May,, he stations direct and gathers speed as he starts moving forward again, gaining full momentum in June and starting once again to bless us with his good fortune, growth and optimism. We’ve missed him, but sometimes it’s important for us to have everything stripped from us, to be thrown to the ground, raw in vulnerability, so that we may gather strength from within and stand up by ourselves, able to fight and endure, without the cushioning of anybody or anything else. For that is what we’ve been experiencing. Each of us has been fighting a dire battle, sometimes from within, and sometimes from without. We’ve been lonely, naked, cold, helpless.

The Gods have never fully deserted us though, and with Venus bringing her sweet gifts in Taurus, and Jupiter starting to move ahead once again, we can start to hope, start to dance again, sing, enjoy life. This doesn’t mean Mars, Pluto or Saturn will let go, we still have a good battle to wage, at least until June when Mars stations direct. But it does mean we can temper our aggression with love, soften our blows with compassion and raise ourselves up again, confident that times will start getting better.

With both Venus and Mercury in Taurus over the month, much focus is going to fall on our material security and resources. Venus here creates a sensual enjoyment of earthly pleasures, which we have every right to enjoy in our human incarnations. It’s time for pleasure, sex, food, comfort and sweet nothings. Mercury may ask us to be cautious in these things and ensure that we are not overstepping our budgets, not overdoing things. We may decide to review our finances, what we own, how we feel about ourselves and what our personal value systems are.

It’s not a scary Mercury retrograde, rather an opportunity to take some rest from the battle and count our wins, as well as our losses.

Sure, communication will be all over the place, we shouldn’t sign contracts, fly anywhere or book our cars in for a service – this we all know – and we know that if we do,mew can expect delays. We don’t need to be told again what the powers of Mercury are. We should know how to handle them by now, and welcome the opportunity to slow down and take the time to smell the roses, as Venus in Taurus would agree. Now is the opportunity to tie up some loose ends, review what’s been working, and what’s not, and begins making plans to put things in motion once Mercury has gone direct again on 25 May.

It’s a materialistic month guys, no doubt about it. We will have to learn patience, practicality, realism and how to create security for ourselves, within and without. It’s important that we don’t hold onto anything, and be flexible as Taurus may tempt us to hang in, to attach to what we own. This is an important thing to learn, with Mars and Saturn urging us to pursue our spiritual truth and what we stand for, Venus and Mercury will urge us toward an earthly security. There is a wonderful balance between the two, for we are both human, and spiritual. With our roots reaching down into the core of Gaia, and our spirits touching the heavens through our crown, we have the wonderful gift of enjoying the best of both worlds. The key is detachment, balance and moderation.

May is a month to let our hair down, relax, step out of the rat race and go into nature, REvive ourselves, and find peace. Mercury retrograde is a wonderful opportunity if we allow it to be so, and Venus is blessing us with her sensuality and beauty. Jupiter stationing direct on 10 May is about to bring us optimism once again and REspite from these battles. A silver lining indeed.