After the intensity of previous months, May comes along like a soft, gentle breeze to nudge us back into believing that life is worth continuing. That might sound like a dramatic statement, but rarely in human history have we been faced with the kind of challenges that we as a species are dealing with now. Some days it seems as though the world is unraveling at the seams and that humanity is cracking under the strain. The planets mirror this chaos, but sometimes we get a breather — the chance to step back from the madness and remember what life is all about. May is such a month.

Mercury is retrograde until May 4, but this is actually not a bad thing. This allows us to step into the new month with a more mindful approach, placing our attention carefully on that which calls to us in the moment. Aligned with Uranus in Aries, it also offers us the chance to download some startling or revolutionary insights. This is a time to have bright ideas, think outside the box, and generate inspired insights. If we’re lucky, people in positions of power will come up with radical solutions to some of the problems we face today.

The trine to Saturn in Sagittarius opens the channels of communication and invites dialogue between different races and various ideologies. The square to Pluto in Capricorn could make life a little more difficult for multinational corporations and big business. Uranus alongside Mercury in Aries is reflective of people waking up and asserting their rights, especially with the square to Pluto. So this is the time to stand up against big businesses and make sure that they play fair with you.