This week’s headline items: Pluto remains exalted, and Mercury continues to move through its post-Shadow phase all week; a New Moon in Taurus becomes exact on Tuesday evening — and it’s time to begin acting on our New Moon Intentions on Sunday.

There will be three Moon Void of Course (VoC) phases this week: Monday (begins very early morning and lasts until 5:42pm EDT), Wednesday early evening (for almost 1.5 hours), and Friday late evening (roughly 1.5 hours).

Monday, the Moon remains in pioneering, fast-paced Aries and VoC until 5:42pm EDT. Life is an adventure; we’re more open to new ideas and have great enthusiasm for new projects.

Patience is certainly not our strong suit at this time, but we can decide quickly and act immediately. Use this intuitive time to actively connect with others and share yourself.

Monday early evening at 5:42pm EDT, the Moon moves into steady, peaceful Taurus, where it will journey until Wednesday evening. We love all physical comforts, prefer consistency, and would rather stick with what we know works well.

In other words, change is not our favorite thing, and “rushing things” goes against our grain.

What is our favorite thing for the next two days? It’s probably slowing down and getting in touch with whatever delights our senses.

This Moon placement also starts the build-up to the New Moon (exact on Tuesday evening). Feel free to watch my New Moon video about this new Moon cycle (if you haven’t seen it yet).

Monday late evening, a Mercury/Chiron alignment in 21º of Aries becomes except at 10:27pm EDT. We started to feel this aspect build from Thursday morning (May 2nd) on; it will remain strong until Friday late morning (May 10th). Due to Mercury’s Retrograde phase, we are experiencing this aspect for the third time in 7 weeks.

Think back to March 20th and April 15th, and ask yourself: What did I discover about my human identity or drives at that time? How did I engage with my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being?

Did I experience any triggers? What was I able to communicate about myself and my sensitivities? Was there anything I was not able to share?

This alignment allows us to communicate our flaws, insecurities, and sensitivities and thereby begin to heal them.

Bringing compassion to our past wounds and current sensitivities feels soothing, empowering, and healing; doing the same for others is going to feel really good.

Remember: what you can do for yourself, you can do for others more easily, and vice versa.

As best as you can, whatever you do or don’t communicate, cut yourself a little slack. Be open to bringing love and understanding to your communications — especially when you are feeling triggered.

Remember: Our past wounding (and ancestral wounding) makes us more sensitive to certain things, and that is why we get triggered

Being human means being “imperfect”; there is no shame in that. Our so-called imperfections open hearts and create and spread compassion, which is precisely what heals everyone’s wounding and sensitivities, including our own.

Ask yourself: Could I give myself 5% more permission to be “imperfect”? Could I acknowledge my sensitivities that stem from past wounding? Could I love myself because of those so-called imperfections and sensitivities?

Double-check: Does blaming or judging myself for being “imperfect” or “overly sensitive” actually serve me? How about when I do that to others? Who is served when I do this?

Could I be open to the possibility that my “imperfections” and sensitivities — whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual — exist to serve not only my personal evolution but also that of humanity? If that were true, what else would need re-evaluating?

Do you have your Ascendant, Career Point (or personal planets) in 18-24 degrees of Aries, Libra, Cancer, or Capricorn? If so, you will feel this alignment quite strongly. This is also true for those of us who have our Ascendant or Sun-sign in Virgo or Gemini (since Mercury is the ruler of Gemini and Virgo).