Welcome to Ghost of a Podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Lanyadoo. I'm an astrologer, psychic medium, and animal communicator, and I'm going to give you your weekly horoscope and no-bullshit mystical advice for living your very best life.

Welcome back to another week in the stars. We're going to look at your horoscope for May 21st through the 27th of 2023. But I want to just let you know that my free app for iOS called Tiny Spark⁠—it's kind of like a magic eight ball app that I made and has been free in the app store⁠—has been eaten by Mercury Retrograde. But don't despair; it is embedded on the homepage of my website. So, if you've been using Tiny Spark and been confused about where it went, or if you've been wishing you had Tiny Spark but you have an Android device, you can just go to the homepage of my website, lovelanyadoo.com, and use it there. It's free. It's delightful.

Okay. So this week starts off with a bunch of solar activity. On the 21st, we enter into Gemini Season. Hello, Geminis, and happy birthday. Now, Gemini Season⁠—that means we're moving from earthy Taurus Season to mutable air-sign Gemini Season, which can mean that this is a time where we have a little bit more energy for being inquisitive, for socializing, and for just kind of taking on lots of new stuff, trying stuff on⁠—Gemini Season.

But this Gemini Season begins with not one but two exact Sun transits. The first one is a Sun trine to Pluto, so Sun in Gemini trine Pluto in Aquarius. And the other is that Sun in Gemini forming a sextile to Mars in Leo, and Mars is at almost one degree of Leo, just like the Sun is by 10:57 p.m. Pacific Time, which is when that particular transit is exact. So Sun trine Pluto and sextile to Mars is going to give us a lot of energy. It's going to give us the energy that we need to move through difficult things if that's what's going on for you. It's an empowering, invigorating, and motivating couple of transits.

Now, with all Sun transits, they last three days. So you're going to be feeling this the day before, the day of, and the day after the transit is exact. It is absolutely worth taking pains to engage with this energy. The Sun trine to Pluto is excellent for transforming or reworking something. And because it's Pluto, it's often something that is challenging or difficult. The Sun sextile to Mars is excellent for getting in there and making shit happen. It's excellent for engaging with the stuff that you feel ambitious or passionate about without⁠—I don't know⁠—compromising your sense of self. There's a lovely flow. And these two transits happening at the same time is really powerful because Pluto and Mars, as you've heard me say many times before, are the two kind of powerhouse, combaty planets. They're the two warring planets.

So, when we have such lovely transits happening to them, what we can do is take all of that power and energy and use it to achieve some sort of vitality or improve our lives and engage with things in ways that are self-appropriate and therefore feel really good. So, if you've got something you're trying to move forward, this is a great day for doing it. If you've been needing to be a little bit more brave and not quite sure how to get out of your own way, tap into these energies on the 21st. Again, you're going to be feeling it the day before on the 20th; you're going to be feeling it on the 22nd.

Now, that does bring us to the 22nd. And on the 22nd of May, Mars is at 1 degree and 28 minutes of Leo, and Jupiter is that 1 degree and 28 minutes of Taurus. Now, this is happening at exactly 10:13 p.m. Pacific Time. This transit is really important, and it's important on a bunch of levels. But the first one that I want to reference is because it's related to the transits I talked to you about last week. You may remember last week because it was just a few days ago. On the 17th, we had an exact Jupiter square to Pluto, and that was happening at zero degrees of Taurus and Aquarius. And then, on the 20th, depending on when you're listening to this⁠—if you're listening to this on the day the podcast comes out, on Sunday, you're still very much feeling it⁠—Mars was exactly opposite to Pluto.

Those two transits are still active. They're still happening. Jupiter is still square to Pluto. Mars is still opposite Pluto. They're not exact anymore, but now Mars is exactly square to Jupiter. And that's not only going to mean what it means⁠—right? And I'm going to unpack that in just one hot minute. But because Mars and Pluto are opposite each other and they're both forming a square to Jupiter, that is called a T-square. So, therefore, this Mars/Jupiter square being exact is going to activate the T-square. It's going to activate all three of these transits.

The energy of Pluto opposite Mars and Pluto square Jupiter was a lot. It is a lot⁠—like I said, it's still active. And you may have really noticed last week that the energy of these transits brought up a lot of big shifts. Some of those shifts may have been really positive for you, depending on how it hit your birth chart. You may have experienced some sort of expansiveness, willingness or ability to see things from a broader perspective, a little bit more fire under your ass to help you to make things happen or to work through ego issues or power struggles.

But honestly, for a lot of people, these transits are likely to have been very challenging, and challenging in ways where it feels both really triggering to some deep shit around, again, your ego, your body, your sense of safety in the world, but also, these transits trigger feelings of striving and not being able to achieve what you want and power struggles and other big developments that feel like they can't happen soon enough. These transits are tricky, and again, they're not over.

Now, on a social level, we are seeing people-led movements really coming together across the world. This is powerful. And we can thank a lot of different things happening astrologically, but last week/this week in particular are really kind of fixated on these transits I'm referring to. We are also seeing spikes in religious extremism, violence, and related power grabs. Here in the U.S., there was another sharp uptick of anti-Trans legislation this past week, this time targeting not only children but also Trans and Nonbinary adults.

As an aside, I'll share I took a look at Ron DeSantis's birth chart. We don't have a time for him, just a date and a place, so it's not a full chart. But in any case, it seems to rarely fail that political leaders that promote violence and cruelty to others, that are kind of run on some sort of "These people are good and deserve things, and those people are bad and deserve nothing or deserve punishment" are frequently driven by Neptune.

Saturn and Pluto have these reputations of being the mean guys, but it's fucking Neptune. It's ideological and religious puritanical beliefs which leads to extremism, and it's a meaningful reminder for each and every one of us that the drive for purity and perfection can lead to cruelty to yourself and others. We're not meant to be perfect. Nothing's pure. Cultivating the better, in my view, Neptunian qualities of acceptance and empathy is so much more powerful but somehow less catalyzing for people. But it's a bit of an aside. But I thought of DeSantis because I'm thinking about terrible anti-Trans legislation, and of course that makes me think of Florida. It's not exclusive to Florida, of course, at all. But that's how I got there.

Okay. This week's square between Jupiter and Mars is going to accentuate whatever it was that was up for you last week. And we're likely to see, unfortunately, some of the same bad behavior from corrupt players. Now, if we're being honest, sometimes we're the corrupt player in our own lives. Sometimes we're acting out of impulse or out of ego. And when I say ego, your ego can be too big, too small, right? Sometimes being the victim is a power play. Let's be honest. So sometimes we're the corrupt players, and if that's the case, if you realize, "Okay, I've been acting out against myself, against others," there is energy here with this Mars square to Jupiter, also with these other ongoing transits that we're still feeling, to come to ownership and to start to build repair within yourself and interpersonally or in the world around you.

So I'm about to unpack the specifics of what this Mars/Jupiter square means, but I do feel like I just need to take a moment to acknowledge for those who are Trans or Nonbinary or Queer, but especially for Trans and Nonbinary folks, this is your time to be in the world. And I want to affirm that these transits, as stressful as they may be, also bring with them powerful energy for making plans, for mobilizing and building community and coalitions. We need each other and we need courage now. And you can't have courage without heart. And so I just want to, from my heart to yours, say I see you and you are in my heart.

Now, to this Mars square to Jupiter mishigas, I love this transit. This is, I think, a really great transit kind of on its own. I mean, it has pitfalls, but it's got a lot of good parts to it as well. But again, in the context of what's happening now with Pluto, we got more things to be concerned about than we might otherwise. Now, on its own, Mars square to Jupiter is a transit that can really juj you up. It can make you feel more brave, more able and willing to take part. It can increase our sense of resiliency, our ambitiousness, and adventurousness. It's a great time for getting out there and getting lucky. It can be a great transit for hooking up or, again, kind of just making things happen.

The trouble with this transit is that Mars and Jupiter kind of egg each other on when they're sitting in a square to each other. And this can mean that we take risks without consideration of the consequences, that we take more than our share, that we act in ways that really reflect our impulses in the moment instead of our intentions in the big picture. This can be a time where we get involved in fights, especially because of fucking Pluto, or ego conflicts without even necessarily planning on it or meaning to.

So it's really important that you watch your energy. And I'm not saying repress your energy. Don't repress your energy, but instead, be aware that your body language is communicating, that the energy with which you put yourself out there or do a thing is communicating. If you're technically doing the right thing but you're doing it in a way that is essentially passive aggressive or vengeful/spiteful, it's going to come across. It's going to come across. And everyone's a little defensive right now because of these damn transits.

So it is wise to avoid acting without consideration, just acting on impulse, because there can be really big consequences to your actions right now. And again, I'm not just referring to your actions, but I'm referring to the motivation of your actions and the tone with which you execute your damn actions. If you're going to get involved in conflicts, which may be unavoidable, try to be as intentional as you can. Try to fight fair. And don't just fight fair and be intentional, but be really clear about what you're fighting for, not just what you're fighting against.

Jupiter brings with it enthusiasm and excitability and potentially even optimism, really great things. But again, in the context of Jupiter being square to Pluto and Mars being opposite Pluto, we have to be concerned about Jupiter just being like, "It'll be fine. I'm just going to do what I want." So don't burn yourself out. Don't overdo it, if you can, certainly on this date but also this week. This would be an easy time to burn yourself out, and to burn yourself out doing this task over here because you're actively avoiding how that thing over there is making you feel. And this is because of fucking Pluto, not because of the Mars/Jupiter square specifically. The Mars/Jupiter square specifically can be really helpful, or you could just tra-la-la yourself off a cliff. So, again, trying to be conscientious about your own energy and your own actions is key.

One last thing I'll say about this transit is, if you're making plans for your life, which a person's gotta do⁠—if you're making plans for your life, make sure that your plans are considerate of what may go wrong. Jupiter has a funny way⁠—Mars can do this, too⁠—of making us feel like, "Whatever. Fine. I'll deal with that later. That's future-me's problem. I'm just going to take care of right-now me." And that's just not a wise approach this week, okay? So try to, when you're making plans, consider, "What if things go sideways? What if I don't have the same amount of energy and motivation in a week, a month, a whatever?" And try to create plans that are conscientious of all the moods, all the possibilities.

States across the U.S. have advanced a record number of bills attacking Transgender rights and threatening the health and safety of Trans people and their families. Whether you're Trans and looking for support or an ally wanting to help, here are three organizations to know about. There's MTUG, or Metro Trans Umbrella Group, serving Trans people directly in the St. Louis area; Transgender Education Network of Texas, which is an advocacy and resource group; and lastly, A Place for Marsha, which facilitates safe housing for Trans individuals escaping transphobic states. Check out these resources, signal boost, and support them however you can.

And that, my dears, brings us to the 24th. And on the 24th of May, we have a Venus square to Chiron. Okay. So Venus is in Cancer, and when Venus is in Cancer, it wants to feel accepted and close and connected. It wants to feel cared for. And Chiron is in Aries, and when Chiron is in Aries, it triggers identity issues. And I should say that Chiron is in Aries for a very long time. It's been here for a hot minute. It's staying for another hot minute. So this is just like an ongoing transit, but okay. I digress.

So Chiron in Aries triggers our identity issues, our sense of belonging in our body, in the world, in context of others. And now that these two planets are forming a square to each other, it's possible you may find yourself feeling vulnerable as you don't know where you fit or belong. And this may come up around any of the Venusian themes, so that's around your finances. This transit can trigger feelings of, "Oh shit. I didn't prepare," or comparing yourself to other people who have more support around money or maybe who have family care specifically around money stuff. This is not a good time to try to buy yourself happy.

This can come up around your gender or body image, your sense of beauty, as Venus is so much related to what's on the surface, how things look, but also to gender in various ways. And Chiron⁠ is wounding. It's like this part of ourselves that is not healed. And in a way, it's this part of ourselves that is a superpower because it's a part of ourselves that is both wounded but also is this resource within us that we can transform, and as we heal, we can help others and show up in the world around that thing⁠—Chiron. Chiron is kind of complicated and interesting that way.

But this square, Venus and Chiron, can really have us feeling triggered around, again, how we look, our gender stuff, our sense of safety and all that kind of shit around beauty and how we come across to others as well as how we feel in our own skin. And within that is the opportunity to really investigate, what do we feel? What's actually real? You might not necessarily find answers this Venus square to Chiron, but when deep wounds around our sense of worthiness get triggered, we have the opportunity to evolve and to transform our sense of worthiness, to get to know who we are and to come to greater acceptance of it. And there's a great opportunity for that here and now because of the Venus square to Chiron, but also in the context of all these other transits I've been talking about.

And then, of course, Venus square to Chiron can also really trigger relationship stuff. It can trigger our sense of belonging with other people. It may really trigger stuff around a specific personal relationship. And I should say that Venus is at 18 degrees of Cancer and 31 minutes; Chiron is at 18 degrees of Aries and 31 minutes. So, if you have anything around these points in your birth chart, you better pay attention because it's likely to be something you really feel.

In regards to your personal relationships, it's really important to remember that trying to belong in spaces that require you to be untrue for yourself in your personal life isn't worth it. Any relationship that requires you to abandon self-love in order to belong isn't worth it. And in reality, we have relationships like that that we can't always walk away from, like our family of origin or things that are not completely in our personal life, like things at work. And in those situations, the key here is that you don't abandon self-love to belong, but instead, you make choices to manage your situation if you have shitty options, but you don't forget your own worth; you don't drink the Kool-Aid about your value and your worth as a person.

Finding ways of getting embodied and aligned when you show up for any of these Venusian themes around money, around beauty, intimacy⁠—all that kind of stuff⁠—is essential. And in this square between Venus and Chiron, we have the opportunity to do just that. Again, it's a transit that can make us feel very triggered, which is not super fun, but there's a value to it. And if you're going to struggle, you might as well make value out of that struggle.

Now, luckily, on the 26th, we have another transit from Venus, and this one is a sextile to Uranus. There's an overlap between these transits. So Venus sextile to Uranus is a lovely transit, especially in the context of the Venus square to Chiron, because the sextile to Uranus from Venus empowers us to experiment more. It empowers us to shift our perspective, try new things, and be a little bit lighter in how we hold the past and the present.

This transit is supportive to all the things that the last transit I told you about challenges, which means we have resources. We have resources that we can tap into to try to expand our perspective, shift our perspective, and learn from other people, learn from how other people do it⁠—not compare ourselves to other people, but be inspired by different people's way of holding things and approaching things and all that kind of good stuff.

Venus sextile to Uranus is also just a great transit for creative work. It's a great transit for doing anything that reflects your values but also for making pretty shit, for exploring creativity as a generative practice, as a way of promoting wellness and helping you to connect to yourself. This transit empowers us to express ourselves in ways that are a little more daring than usual, and it also is very good for getting your flirt on, for making friends, for new connections, and in particular new interpersonal and romantic connections. So that can be friends, and it can be lovers, and it can be just people that you want to flirt with⁠—or all of those things.

This transit is really all about opening the windows, not just the doors. It's like opening the windows and letting some fresh air in. And the more you actively engage with these energies, the better for you, because Venus sextile to Uranus is not a spectacular transit. It's not going to force you to be open. But if you make efforts to open yourself up and to really explore what it is that's been coming up for you, especially around that Venus square to Chiron, then you're going to be able to really make progress. And that progress may simply be relaxing, taking a break, finding a way to connect to other people that works for you.

In these incredibly tumultuous times that we find ourselves in, it's so powerful to be able to find joy and things that are creative, generative, and life-affirming. And this transit is a tool for doing just that. And that's it, my loves. That is your horoscope for this week.

I'm going to give you a quick rundown of the transits, but I'll remind you that the transcript is available on my website every week within a day or so of the episode coming out. And also, if you want to check the transits on your own, you can subscribe to Astrology for Days, my transit-tracking pro tool for astrology nerds, basically. Okay. So, on the 21st, we enter into Gemini Season, and the Sun forms a trine to Pluto and a sextile to Mars. On the 22nd, Mars forms an exact square to Jupiter. On the 24th, Venus forms a square to Chiron. And then, on the 26th, we have a Venus sextile to Uranus.

I thank you so much for joining me for another episode of Ghost. Please do hit that Subscribe button wherever you listen to the show. And if you get value from the podcast, consider joining me over on Patreon, where we get very woo and astrological all the damn time, or writing a review because I do read them all, and I really appreciate them.

All right. Take good care of yourself and others, and I will talk to you in just a couple of days. Buh-bye.