Dear Aquarius, your life is on fire! So many opportunities are about to come to you, that you’ll have to open up your schedule to prepare to take full advantage. In this major, friendly, and possibly turning point month, you may find true love, improve your home or family situation, enjoy stunning career success, and you may even decide to travel to an exciting location. What a dazzling forecast you have for May!

Last month was a challenging one for many readers (me too!). While Aquarius was not in the crosshairs of the awful full moon, April 10, Mercury was retrograde, having started April 9 and is still retrograding as you begin May. There’s no need to groan – Mercury will go direct on May 3. Mercury rules communication, negotiation, perception, contracts, and commerce, so with Mercury napping, we mortals below had to deal as best we could without Mercury’s strong, helpful beams. You were urged not to take a new job unless you were in a fix and needed one badly. If you took a job, it was likely to change later, but the good part is that it is always easier to get a new job when you already have a job, as unfair as that may sound. It’s the way of the world, dear Aquarius.

You couldn’t buy a new car, appliance, machine with moving parts, or expensive electronic item last month, for the chances of you being unhappy with your purchase later was high. You couldn’t sign a contract either, for if you did, it was likely that you’d have to renegotiate it again later. Now, with Mercury moving ahead, you can shop, sign, and move ahead, but be sure you leave space from the day Mercury goes direct.

No planet normalizes instantly, and in the case of Mercury, it will take him until May 20 to be fully strong and functional. You won’t have to wait that long if you don’t want to – you can shop as early as May 7 if you must. The more important the purchase, or the more vital your deal, the more I will urge you to wait to finalize things on or after May 20.

Venus was also retrograde, March 4 to April 15, and although direct, will complete the process of normalizing her orbit by May 18. You can experiment sooner with your looks, such as to get a great new haircut or new pair of eyeglasses, but if you are, say, having a classic facelift – doing something expensive that can’t be undone – then wait until May 18.

Venus rules Aquarius solar fourth house of home, so over the past two months, you may have been frustrated at not being able to settle a move, finish a repair or decorating plan, or find a new roommate, as a few of many possible home-related examples. If you were not thinking about your physical home, you may have been trying to help your parent, perhaps by looking for a companion to live with your mom now that she is older, or to find the right medical specialist for your father. Our parents need us as they get older, if only to help out by writing checks and balancing their checkbook each month.

Late last month, on April 26, the only new moon of the year that was home-related for you appeared in Taurus 6 degrees and lit the Aquarius fourth house of home and family, so you may have seen matters start to percolate. Saturn was in an out-of-sign friendly “trine” to that new moon, a good indication you were getting close to finding a solution. The problem was that the new moon arrived in Taurus, and Taurus’ ruler is Venus, so that put Venus in charge of how things would go. Venus, however, was fighting with Saturn at the new moon, causing you to encounter a glitch, and it seems to have centered on money. I say that because Venus was touring your second house of earned income. I admit that it may take more time to settle this matter, but the point is that you will settle it, and this will prove to be a temporary delay.

When it comes to home and family, I feel you will do best on November 1, when Venus aligns with good fortune planet Jupiter. November 1 will be sensational for your career too, so you will have a double header of happiness on that day. Moreover, the full moon in Taurus will occur only three days later, November 4, so I would think something big would be occurring, and it should make you VERY happy. Your marriage partner may be the source of your luck, or it may be another person – an expert you hire – that helps so much.

Now let’s center on May again, for you will have a big event involving your career at the beautiful full moon in Scorpio, 20 degrees, May 10. This may be one of your favorite moments of the season, when so much of what you have been doing over the past years will come to a pinnacle point and get you fine publicity and possibly a promotion, an offer from another firm, or if you are self-employed, a lucrative new client. Any job you would be talking about at this rare point of the year would be a prestigious step up. It is the only full moon of all of 2017 to light your tenth house of career honors. Because a full moon has four days of influence, before and after it occurs, take special care with your appearance during those days, as all eyes will be on you.

If you work in a creative job or support creatives, then you will be so well positioned at this full moon. I say that because Neptune, the planet that encourages all the arts, will be perfectly aligned with the full moon, adding to the evidence that you can get a raise. This is no all-glory, no-pay kind of situation – you’d be paid well, but you must speak up, and do so on or after May 18.

Also, the new moon of May 25 (which I will discuss later) will strongly energize your own creativity, so it would be worthwhile setting aside brainstorming time to come up with ideas in the very last days of May. You need not be in the office – ideas come at all times, and at all places.

If you have been waiting for money that you had earned and was supposed to come to you but didn’t arrive, it may be because of Venus retrograde in March and April. You may be surprised to learn that Venus rules profits and certain funds too, but now that Venus is regulating her orbit, the welcome news that the check is in the mail is true, and you can believe it.

Now let’s turn to Mars, which is in the ideal position now that this planet of energy and courage has moved into fellow air-sign Gemini late last month. Mars is in the very best place for Mars to engender true love. You have a great chance to meet someone new with whom you have great chemistry. You have not had Mars’ help in two years! You must circulate in May! This is the first time you have had help from Mars in two years. Everyone wants Mars on their side, especially in matters of love, for the job of Mars is to start love and to bring greater sizzle to a present relationship. Romance is on the way to you, dear Aquarius. If you are single, you can meet someone who lights your imagination, and if you are attached, you will have more loving time for one another.

But wait – you have MORE help in the romance department! It will come in the form of a fabulous new moon, May 25 in Gemini, 5 degrees, operative for at least ten days. The actions you take during those ten days will have the power to change your life for a year or more, possibly forever. If you are searching for a real relationship (not just a casual one), you must use this time to be out and about. This new moon will receive golden beams from Jupiter, the good fortune planet, and Jupiter is also called the planet of miracles.

This same house rules conception and the birth of children, so if you hope to have a baby, try ON or AFTER the new moon arrives. If you have had problems with conception, I urge you to make an appointment with a fertility specialist at that time. If you have children, carve out time to give them your undivided attention, the greatest gift anyone could ever give another. This will be such a happy time for you, and for them, and plenty of laughter is guaranteed no matter what their ages, even if they are grown up!

Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, is now touring your ninth house, an intellectually broadening influence that will encourage you to travel, far and wide, to a location that will require you show a passport for entry. This sounds amazing, Aquarius – see if you can take time off for a vacation or business trip.

If you CAN pack and go, I would like you to circle this date on your calendar: May 12. On this day, Mars, touring your fifth house of true love, fun, and leisure, will reach out to Jupiter in Libra, in your ninth house of international adventuresome travel – the aspect is a perfect trine – which is astrology talk for the most heavenly aspect you can get. That will be a five-star day to travel!

The ninth house, which rules international travel, also rules other parts of life. As the house of learning (the reason travel is included here), it also covers immigration and citizenship matters, including green cards, visas, and passports. It rules academia, too, covering your pursuit of higher education at a university, or your goals to teach at a college. You will also make big progress in the publishing / broadcasting fields, for media shines for you. If you are a producer, actor, writer, editor, or in other ways work in the media, the help you get from Jupiter now (to leave October 10) will be substantial.

You have an exciting day to plan something fun – May 30 – for that is when Mars and Uranus will be in sync. Uranus is your ruler, and is the planet of surprise, spontaneity, and discovery, so this is an important date for you. May 30 is a Tuesday, and comes one day after the Memorial Day weekend holiday in America. (Memorial Day weekend is Saturday, May 27 through Monday, May 29). Most people go on a short, fun trip then, and it would be a fine time for you to go too, and if you have no plans yet, make some! If you can take one extra vacation day off from work on May 30, I am all for it, for you’re sure to have a memorable time.

If you are reading about my enthusiasm for May 30 and are not in America (I know by statistics that 51 percent of my readers of Astrology Zone online are based outside the US), then see if you can take off Monday and Tuesday as vacation days.

If no matter where you live, that won’t be possible, see if you can go to a lecture or book signing. Also, see if you can travel over the May 27-28 weekend, for you will feel the glow of the approaching sexy, pretty sparks between Mars and Uranus to be dazzling. If you have to work, look into international relationships you may have with others in distant lands to see if you can forge an important deal on May 30.

Now I would like to turn to what Saturn and Uranus are currently doing in the heavens, which may surprise you. These two heavy-hitters of the solar system rarely collaborate, but in 2017 they will be doing that in a big way. Saturn takes 29 years to circle the Sun and Uranus takes 84 years to do the same journey. You see why their very diverse orbits make it hard to get them into a perfect mathematical aspect, but it is happening NOW!

Saturn and Uranus first started helping one another other late last year on December 24, 2016, and will reach perfect aspect on May 18. They will meet one more time this year on November 11, before they spin off in different directions, not to meet in similar fashion again until 2047. Yet they move so very slowly that they don’t need to be at a perfect mathematical hit to be effective. They will be within orb the entire year of 2017. What a special time this is for you!

Saturn rules caution, stability, security, and structure. Uranus rules rebellion, innovation, and futuristic change. Uranus also rules humanitarian, charitable, and political areas, to help people who have been overlooked or marginalized by society. Uranus is rebellious, disruptive, chaotic, and above all, genius. Uranus is sudden in the way this planet acts, sweeping out the old that no longer is relevant to the future.

You, of all signs, know that the world runs on ideas, and that it is actually riskier to stay with same old, and not innovate. As they say in New York City (where I live and was born), if you put your feet up, they will steal your shoes. The planets don’t stand still, and neither should you. Present your ideas, dear Aquarius – this is your year to shine. By developing new ideas, you will be able to build a stable platform in which to build even more innovations for the future.

This will be a pivotal month for you. Your first order of business will be to address a home-related matter. You may have wanted to focus on home or a vacation home prior to this month, but the right opportunities were not being presented to you. You waited for the right moment, and some stirrings at the new moon of late last month, April 26, may have caught your attention. You might like some of the choices coming up, abut because of a dispute between Saturn and Venus, too many obstacles may come in the way of acting now – it looks like financial considerations were the problem. You have far better aspects November 1 and during later that week at the full moon November 4, so don’t lose hope or drop pursuing your dream. The obstacles are temporary.

Saturn was your ancient ruling planet prior to the discovery of Uranus in 1781, so astrologers keep an eye on both Saturn and Uranus when deciphering your possibilities for the coming month. Both those planets will be in sync this year, and this is good news, for you tend to do very well during the rare times when both your rulers work together. This month, on May 18, they will hit perfection, allowing you to put forth brilliant ideas – even if your ideas are a little on the risky side – and get them funded, allowing you to build financial security for the future. You can alternatively help a charity or make a humanitarian plan that will help a group that has been overlooked and in desperate need of help.

The full moon in Scorpio on May 10 will mark an exciting time, for it will light your tenth house of honors, awards, and achievement. So much of the work you’ve been doing over the past years will reach crescendo and you should be very pleased with the praise you receive now. If you have been interviewing for a position, this full moon – the only one of the year to culminate in your house of prestige and professional acclaim – will likely produce an offer. Pluto in a very confidential part of your chart will give you the chance to put your stamp of individuality and creativity on all you do.

With so much activity on home and career this month, your plate will be full, but you also will have time for exciting romance. Mars entered your true love sector on April 21 last month, to stay until June 4, and by the time May dawns, will be moving in strong, sure orbit. You’ll be in the mood for love, which is always a number one requirement to attract love. Mars will see to it that you come across at your sexy best, for that is what Mars does so well. If you ever felt invisible, you won’t this month. Mars will also work to raise your profile, to get you noticed and admired.

Taking the cue from Mars, the new moon May 25 will come in and brighten your prospects for love even more. A new moon is very powerful, and all that you will have done to fan fires of love in May will begin to pay off as you get to May 25 and beyond. Jupiter will be in the wings, and just close enough to bring happiness and enchantment to your love life. Single or attached, you will be part of this trend, and if you are attached, you will get more attention from your partner. Single? As you see, you will turn heads, and likely make the acquaintance of someone intriguing that you’d like to know better.