Work projects are on your mind now, and the pace of life is picking up, much to your relief. Last month, Mercury was retrograde from April 9 until now, but this planet of communication, perception, negotiation, commerce, and contracts will now turn direct on May 3. This is important for you to note because Mercury is the natural ruler of Sagittarius’ tenth house of honors, awards, and achievement. When Mercury is retrograde, your career progress lags. If you found it nearly impossible to get a straight answer and an approval from a VIP about a plan you had put forth, you now know why answers are so hard to get. VIPs were not ducking you – they simply didn’t know the answer yet. When Mercury is retrograde, the world is in flux, and many things you assumed to be true, and priorities that you had set, suddenly start to change, at times radically. You may have seen the truth of this during the last week of April, or soon will, in early May. A lot of news will blast forward suddenly, for that is how things are when a planet turns around.

Don’t make hasty moves just yet. Mercury needs time to adjust its orbit and make it back to former strength, a process that will take until May 20. You can have productive talks this month, however, and one four-star day I would like you to watch will be May 6, when the Sun in your sixth house of assignments will be in perfect angle to Pluto, in your second house of earned income. This will be a big day, certainly, for work and money. You might end up hearing that your bank account will growing soon, and this news may possibly arrive before month’s end.

Last month you had a new moon in your work assignment sector (sixth house) on April 26, so you may have heard some perky news about a project, but you are probably still waiting for the green light so you can begin. That new moon might have generated little squeaks that showed you that something was starting to happen, a little like the weird noises your printer makes when it is thinking and then getting ready to print. However, that new moon was flawed, in that the new moon was in Taurus, and Venus holds rulership over Taurus. That means the condition of Venus matters. Venus was not a happy camper – she was fighting with Saturn in Sagittarius, and so the new moon, along with Saturn and Venus, were generating some sort of glitch or delay, or else you were hearing that the budget had to be tightened again. Saturn reminds us to be realistic. At the time, Venus was moving through your home sector (even though Saturn RULES your project sector), so you may have had a delay regarding a home-related project or plan to have guests, too.

You were hit with a double whammy recently when it came to career and money because Venus was also retrograde, a rare situation for Venus to be because Venus only retrogrades approximately every 18 months. (The next time Venus will retrograde will be next year, October 5 to November 16, 2018, not a time to get engaged or married.) Venus does NOT govern your reputation (that’s Mercury’s job), but Venus does rule your day-to-day work projects, which were also being mired in delays or were subject to revisions. Venus will take until May 18 to return to full power, so until then, you may not completely see your professional life normalize. That date should be an important one to watch.

As you see, you are done with the hardest part of 2017 – March and April – and in May, the two most important planets regarding your career, Venus and Mercury, are moving ahead in the right direction. Although they won’t be fully adjusted until May 18 (the date you will finally know where you stand), you will start to see from the beginning of May that your talks are picking up speed, and no doubt you will find this to be a gratifying development.

The full moon this month, May 10, will be in Scorpio, 20 degrees, and will signal a time to slow down and take time to smell the roses. You know you’ve been working too hard when you’ve not been to a movie in over a year, or when your friends complain that you never have time to schedule dinner. This full moon will fall on a Wednesday, but happily will be operative for four days, bringing you to the weekend of May 13-14. At the very least, see if you can treat yourself to a movie or a spa treatment. If you have been seeing a psychiatrist about something that has been troubling you, because the twelfth house where this full moon falls rules the subconscious mind, you may have a sudden breakthrough.

I love this full moon – Neptune, in your home sector, will send beautiful beams to this full moon. You can enjoy family over this full moon or even decide to give a party at home. (Note, your party would have to be at home, not a restaurant, to unlock the magic of Neptune in your fourth house.)

The theme of taking better care of your body is strong this month, for that new moon, April 26, that you and I discussed and that is will still be strong in early May, will help you to remember you do have a body. Sometimes we forget we even have a body because we live in our heads so much and that your body does deserve tender loving care. This month would be the right time to recommit to working out at the gym, for this will be the first and only new moon of the year to emphasize this possibility for success with a new sports or gym program. It’s also a vital time to see a doctor to schedule the routine tests you know you should have done but keep putting off. An hour at the doctor can help you live longer, so I would say it is time well spent, pure and simple.

Before I move on to other subjects that will be coming up for you, I will drop the other shoe. I should also say that over the past weeks, you also had delays and perhaps frustrations regarding a business partner or your mate too. Perhaps the two of you did not see eye-to-eye about a certain topic, or maybe your partner had news that was about to affect you too.  Mercury also rules your committed partnerships and alliances, as well as your marriage, but I believe it was more likely that you found a business partner or collaborator unwilling or unable to move forward on an idea in a timely fashion. With Mercury retrograde, it is also possible something had to be redone or fixed. You probably did not see this coming, but nevertheless you know this must be done. I feel this is only a temporary delay – things will start moving by May 18, if not sooner.

Mars has been moving through this same house, starting last month, April 21, and won’t leave until June 4. This is not the easiest place to host Mars, for it can bring disagreements with partners. Mars is showing me that your partners hold all the aces, and you will have to be conciliatory for the time being. Life won’t always be this way, just in May.

You will have one glorious day for a committed, important relationship on May 12, when Mars in your house of committed relationship will be supremely harmonious alignment with Jupiter, the good fortune planet. This is a Friday, so perhaps you can take a little drive into the country for a rest and to give your partner your undivided attention. If you have anything that you consider to be touchy to discuss, choose this day.

Your committed business or romantic relationship will AGAIN come up at the new moon in Gemini, 5 degrees, on May 25. This may be a big ice-breaker day, when, finally, your business or romantic relationship will start to work smoothly again. This new moon will have the support of Jupiter, your ruling planet, and of course, Jupiter is also the giver of gifts and luck and also the planet of miracles. Although Jupiter is at 14 degrees, a little far from the new moon’s 5 degrees, it is still within orb, and that’s significant. I always allow a ten-degree separation for an aspect involving a new or full moon. When Jupiter comes knocking, it means there is money to be made, so your association with your proposed partner will likely produce fruitful results.

If you have been dating a long time and feel ready to commit, AFTER this new moon arrives, it appears you will be ready to get engaged or married, an exciting prospect. Or, if you have found the right agent, manager, writing partner, publicist, advertising agency, or app or website design firm, this would be the time to sign papers together. A new moon opens the door to a fresh start, so if you have been working with a partner on a project, this would be the time to launch it.

I want to be clear here – the seventh house, which I have been discussing for marriage and business alliances, will not affect single Sagittarians. This is because the seventh house is all about serious commitment. If you have been dating someone special for years and you both are in an exclusive, established relationship, and maybe even live together, then yes, this could affect you, but the ancients always viewed the seventh house of relationships as one founded on a written contract. (Marriage is a written agreement, even though most of us don’t think of marriage that way – the law does, though.) The fifth house rules new love, and I will get to that lovely house right now.

If you are single, you are in luck. You have darling Venus in fire-sign Aries moving through your house of true love all month, the best place for Venus to be all year! This fifth house also rules fun time with children, so whether you have children, or want to borrow your sibling’s or neighbor’s children, you will be glad you did. Children remind us of the curious five-year old in us that must be continually revitalized, for if you do, the world will always seem new to you. My daughter’s baby, Otis, is too little for the new Smurf movie that I am dying to see. Chrissie says, “Mommy, it will scare little Otis – he is only a year old!” So I will find another child. I need to laugh, and I suspect you do too.

Whether you are single or attached, one day that will be outstanding will be May 30, when Mars in Gemini will reach out to Uranus, the planet of surprise, in your house of true love. This day will sparkle for you, and the transiting moon will cooperate too by being in Leo, a fellow fire sign like yours. In America, the Memorial Day holiday weekend falls May 27-29, with people having Monday off. If you live in the US, perhaps you will be able to take the next day off, May 30. If you don’t live in America (and by my stats, I see 50 percent of you who read my column do not live here, but in international cities), if you have any vacation days coming to you, perhaps you can take two days off, May 29 and May 30. No matter what, you will have an exciting day for true love, so if you are serious (and not casual) about finding the right person for you, plan something to take full advantage. If you are attached and/or have children, this would be a great four-day period to do something fun with the entire family. Giggles are almost guaranteed.

You enter May very busy, for the sweet new moon of April 26 seems to have set in motion talks about a new and important assignment. While you will feel that every minute has to count, and will be motivated to push on many of the assignments that appear to be on the assembly line, coming down the pike. However, they’re being held up, so be patient – they are coming. Instead, you also might want to think about taking good care of your body, especially when you’re under stress. Mercury won’t go direct until May 3, and even then, things won’t be fully ironed out until May 20, so take your time.

That new moon of late last month lit your sixth house of health, so consider making appointments with your doctor, dentist, eye doctor, and with your trainer or coach. Although it may be hard to find the time, the long-term benefits that will accrue to you will far outweigh the inconvenience of being away from work for that half day. Health should always come first. If you have stopped working out at the gym, you might now want to start again, for with powerhouse Pluto helping you, you can now make an impressive transformation. Sagittarius is an athletic sign, often talented in sports, and you may be too, so this would be the right time to develop a masterful proficiency in a fitness program that you love.

The theme of improving your mind-body-spirit will continue at the full moon, May 10. If you have been in a protocol of treatments or physical therapy, or if you have been seeing a psychologist, you may have a breakthrough within four days of this full moon. If you need a procedure or surgery, and you like your doctor, you might want to set the future date for it at this full moon. Additionally, your intuition will be strong at this time, so follow your hunches, even if you have no evidence to do so – that proof will come later.

This full moon, May 10, will also get encouragement from Neptune, based in your home sector. If you have been working on a design project, Neptune, planet of creativity and grace, will lead you to find an array of solutions you will love. Pluto will also be in the right spot to help you make a savvy financial negotiation, possibly related to real estate or the project you’re thinking about now.

Neptune can help you in another, more spiritual way and help you to come to know a mystery in your family. If you were adopted and have been searching for your birth mother or father, you may find clues now that will encourage you to continue looking, or, it may be that you will locate your parent now.

Now that Venus is no longer retrograde as of April 15, and ramped up and back to former strength as of May 18, you will find that making progress in matters of work and health to become easier. It will also be more possible now to connect with your friends, which is always a plus, making life much more fun. Mercury will go direct on May 3, and gradually, you’ll see increasing progress in terms of professional matters. Watch May 20, an important demarcation in your timeline.

Your partner, in love or business, will also be an important focus this month. You now have Mars, the action planet, in your seventh house of business and romantic partners. You may want to sign a business partner, or in your private life, move to the next level of commitment in love. Mars is the great energizer, but at times can also create discord. Mars does that to bring out a touchy subject that might be festering under the surface between you and your partner. Mars does a thorough check, and if it finds nothing, you will not feel his presence and will easily fly through the period. If you do find you are arguing with a partner, it means you are both engaged in what you are trying to achieve, a good sign. We can’t always expect to agree with others, and it’s not even good for us to do so!

A plus side to Mars’ presence is to energize you to move closer, possibly by getting engaged or married, or, if in a business relationship, to officially sign a contract together. You may now legally take on an agent, manager, or collaborator, such as a writing partner, accountant, or lawyer who has a specialty that you need and who can help you get ahead.

Your focus on coupling up in love or business will be given an even BIGGER boost as soon as the new moon on May 25 comes by. All new moons open a portal of energy that lasts 10 days. You will then be ready to set up defined plans for you and your partner for the future.

If you are single, you will do well too, as Venus is now in Aries, touring your true love sector all month. Mars and surprise-a-minute Uranus will align on May 30, making it a dazzling day to have fun, enjoy romance, and see friends. Furthermore, Mars’ lover, Venus, wants to help too, so she will also team up with surprise planet Uranus in Aries on June 3, and you will feel these two planets’ energies building in the last week of May as they approach that perfect alignment. Attached or single, May is for you! Go out and kick up your heels!