The coming month of May could turn out to be a surprisingly important career month for you, dear Leo. The new moon that appeared in Taurus 6 degrees last month on April 26 energized your tenth house of professional honors, awards, and achievement. The new moon will still remain strong as you enter May. Venus is the planet that controls the Leo solar career sector, and because you have Taurus, the sign that Venus rules, at the top of your chart, the conversations Venus has with other planets always matter to your career.

Venus was retrograde from March 5 to April 15, so that put a bit of a monkey wrench in your attempts to get ahead. Now that changes, for Venus is moving forward again and will reach full power by May 18 – you may not have to wait that long to see a career victory. That new moon of April 26 was to give your career a push.

Here’s the problem with the new moon last month, April 26, in Taurus. Venus was in hard angle to Saturn, so that configuration may have already brought up an obstacle to your getting the new job or promotion, and the barrier will be money. If this topic didn’t come up yet about a job you are discussing, it still might, as the new moon carries the aspects forward, weeks ahead. Saturn will ask you to be realistic and deal with what the VIPs say to you about salary and their budgets, as what they say is likely to be true. They don’t have any money, or at least as much as you need them to pay you.

On the other hand, that new moon was receiving lovely beams from Neptune, planet of creativity, so any opportunity that comes up in early May will have plenty of room to insert your artistic contributions, despite the fact you won’t be able to get the high fee or salary you ask. I always feel you should use all the points you have in your favor, and all that you have contributed to the firm’s effort, to persuade VIPs to give you the salary you want.

Concurrent to this new moon, you will have Saturn lending his fine stabilizing energies to Mercury, the planet of agreements and communication. Mercury was retrograde in April but will turn direct May 3 so in every way, life is getting better. At the same time, Uranus, the planet of innovation and genius, ruling your partners and collaborators, will be friendly. It appears you might need a headhunter, job broker, or lawyer to make introductions so that you can win the job you dearly want. Mercury is also the ruler of your sector of salary, which now should bring good news. Search for opportunities in early May. If you do, the universe this month will help you get to where you want to be.

I cannot see all that is going on in your natal chart from where I sit (including the actions of your unique 8 natal planets plus your Sun and natal moon). If you know your chart, you would be wise to check what I wrote for your rising sign too in your May forecast. Treat the rising sign and Sun sign as precisely equal. If you do not know your rising sign, and wish you did, I can help by writing a full analysis of your birth chart, a full 65-page book that I write one at time, just for you, through print-on-demand technology. You will need to know your exact time of birth, to the minute. You can have a bound book by mail, or a color PDF if you prefer, sent quickly by email. For information, go to MyPersonalHoroscope.com.

May 9 may turn out to be a wonderful day for you to discuss a work project, thanks to an alignment of the Sun, your ruling planet, and Pluto, a highly financial project, now touring your sixth house of work projects. You are likely to come to a quick conclusion together, and it seems you have a good chance of being given the assignment.

The full moon May 10 in Scorpio 20 degrees will immediately switch your attention to your home. Something is coming to fullness there concerning a possible move or renovation, repair, cleaning, or maintenance project, or a decor upgrade. It seems certain that an ongoing domestic project will be coming to a conclusion now. If you have been trying to buy a house or condo, or sell one, or if you need to find a roommate, want to buy furniture, an appliance or an electronic item, you can do that very successfully within four days of the full moon.

It may help to know that Mercury was retrograde last month from April 9 but will go direct May 3. With each passing day beyond May 3, Mercury will get stronger, back to former strength, which will happen by May 20. You can buy electronic things as soon as May 7 or so, leaving space from May 3, confident you will be pleased with your choices and about how well the product performs.

A new moon in Gemini will be a wonderful moment to launch a smart phone app, have letterhead and business cards printed, launch an advertising publicity campaign, or buy software or new computer equipment for another communications-oriented project. If you love to write and feel you have a book or screenplay in you, by all means begin after May 25 and keep writing as long as the project takes you – you may have something valuable to offer the world.

In terms of love, Venus in Aries is a perfect place for Venus to be for you, for Aries is a fellow fire sign. Venus is based in a travel house, so it follows that romance and travel go together like cup and saucer this month. You have been dealing with Saturn in Sagittarius for two-and-a-half years, a place that tends to cause enforced separations. You may have found that your sweetheart works hard all the time, and it’s hard to get to see one another. An example would be if your partner is a medical resident or currently in graduate or law school, or it may be your partner needs to travel a great deal, and you can’t seem to be in the same city often.

A less optimistic possibility would be if your partner, or you, are not available, if one of you is still married. Saturn is testing the determination of your union, and the test will be over December 20, 2017. The end of this frustration is near, and no one will be able to tell you how this will go, for the final decision about what to do will be up to you. Watch August, when the eclipses are due to come by, when you will make a decision about the person you are dating, but also a time when you will come closer to knowing what will make you happy.

You have an exciting month in store, dear Leo – lots of action is coming your way in career, home, and family-related matters, and in terms of friends, parties, and travel, as well as other activities. It’s a far better month than you’ve had in a long time, and June will be better yet. It’s all good, dear Leo!

This is a major month to break away from pack and go for the gold in your career. To get ahead, you need a friendly new moon in your house of honors, awards, and achievement – a new moon that occurs there once a year – and you just received that new moon several days before the dawning of May. That new moon, in Taurus, lit the loftiest part of your horoscope, associated with prestigious career promotion, and will be very active during the first week of May. That new moon can coax higher-ups to open doors for you, for it will send a sparkling signal to Neptune, boosting your creativity in a noticeable way. It will also signal to you that you will likely get a good opportunity to grow your income from the project or promotion, new job, or new business you take on now.

Venus is no longer retrograde, and in May is steadily gaining strength, to reach full strength May 18. Venus rules your career, so this is fantastic timing that Venus is growing stronger now. When Venus lags, as you had in March and April, you had to find the strength within to overcome obstacles or battle against the apathy of people whose support you need.

This won’t be a month that is only about career advancement. It seems supremely balanced because the full moon of May 10 will put a strong emphasis on your home and family. If you have been working on a move or renovation, or a beautiful home design project, it will likely come to fullness now and end. If you need to buy or sell property, you will likely agree on a price and move forward. You will be pleased with your results, for Neptune will smile at this full moon. If your focus has not been on your physical space, but instead on your family – most likely a parent – you can come up with fresh ideas to help your mother or father, and within four days of May 10 you will conclude the matter.

Friends will play an important role in May as well, for Mars, the action planet, will bring invitations to parties, dinners, club events, charity fundraisers, or art openings. Mars will lay the groundwork for a happier social life, and it will grow even bigger after the new moon in compatible Gemini, May 25.

A new moon like the one May 25 can energize the house in which it falls for weeks and months to come, so you have plenty to look forward to soon. In fact, you may decide to travel with your friends and enjoy every minute of your time away. If you like to write and feel you have a novel or screenplay within you, start in earnest after the new moon in Gemini, and consider having a friend work with you as a writing partner. Or, you may find excellent help and advice by joining a professional club.

Saturn and Uranus will be beautifully aligned this month – a rare aspect that will prevail throughout 2017 but be especially strong near May 18 and November 11. A similar alignment involving these two planets will not occur again until 2047, and at that time, both will be in different signs and houses. For you, Leo, with Uranus in your ninth house, you may find a long-distance trip gives you a completely new perspective and transforms your creativity in a magical way. Venus will be in fire-sign Aries all May, a perfect place for Venus to be for you, so being on distant shores would certainly fan the fires of love. Clearly, after the new moon, May 25, plan an awe-inspiriting trip you’ve long wanted to take – it could be life changing.

If you are not focused on your living space mid-month, you will be able to find an answer for a pressing question involving one of your parents or another family member. You may have searched during the past two months to find an agreeable solution, but now, one will be at hand.

Now let’s turn to Mars, the active planet that the ancient astrologers called the timekeeper of the zodiac. They called Mars that because Mars strongly focuses you on the one area he visits. Now in Gemini, and lighting your eleventh house of friends, fun, events, and networking with new people, you will love this new influence, which will be light and breezy and a good change from all the heavier emphasis on career and home / family. You have not seen this area of your chart lit up so brightly by Mars for two years. To add to the emphasis on friends and social groups, a new moon is about to give it lots of oomph.

Travel would be lovely option over the long weekend May 12 through May 14, when Mars will be beautifully oriented to Jupiter. See if you can take a drive into the country. This will be Mother’s Day in the US, so if you live her, you may be visiting the person who means so much to you.

The new moon May 25, in Gemini, 5 degrees, will further light this same area of your chart. If you were thinking of joining a club, whether social or professional, do so after the new moon arrives. You will be invited to events – parties, a wedding, a group dinner, an exciting athletic game, a trade show, networking opportunity, lecture, or a charity event. You might want to head up a fundraiser, or join a rally to help get a political candidate you believe in get elected. Anytime people gather for a united purpose, it is an eleventh house matter, and that’s the area so highlighted for you late this month.

Jupiter, the good fortune planet, will be close enough to that new moon to be helpful, and Jupiter is in your third house of travel, so you see, you have plenty for emphasis for packing your bags and seeing new scenery.

Quick short travel may come up after the new moon May 25, and it will bring a needed change – it will be like opening the window and letting the sunshine and fresh air in. You seem to need to travel a short distance for a work-oriented deal, but you’ll enjoy being out of town, and you may also be able to take a quick fun trip for personal reasons too.