Hello, dear Stars to Stories readers,
If you’re reading this, there’s the chance you’ve been failed. You parents couldn’t tell you how to live your life, and the town you grew up in didn’t prepare you for the existential burning that comes when you lay awake at 3 AM in 2019 filled with doubt.
Sometimes medical doctors can’t diagnose where that sinking feeling comes from. Economists can’t save you, and the market doesn’t care who you’re in love with. Lawyers can’t ensure that you’re happy and scientists can’t predict what will give your individual life meaning.
No one reads W-2s at funerals—we read poetry and cry. No one cares about peer review when we’re sitting in pain.
How are we to survive the illusion that the world is ending when temples are being burned and faiths are being targeted? How are we to endure the destructive worldly systems that have expiration dates so long overdue?
We look up. We look out.
We look up to the sky, because why the hell not? It’s beautiful. We lay with our backs on the ground, supported by the earth, with our eyes gazing upwards. We look to God or gods or if we lack gods, to the sun and moon and stars and art and beauty and each other. We look out for each other, we look to one another. Passersby sometimes turn a crappy day around when you least expect it, and a whole globe has been mobilized by two words—me too. When we connect, we’re stronger. When we reach out, our loads aren’t quite as heavy to bear. We’ve got a lot of suffering to handle at the moment, but if we don’t overload certain groups or people with all of the labor it becomes lighter for us all.
This perceived die-off we’re currently going through is a painful one. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed. We’re metamorphosing way past what we’ve always known. Some shifts are pleasant and quiet, like falling in love with a new look, style of music, or favorite color. Others are completely disorienting, like Gregor Samsa waking up as a giant cockroach. Mostly, we’re enduring the later kind of transmutation, although there’s always room to experiment with a new haircut or external factor that brings a little dose of pleasure on the tougher days.
I can’t tell you in exact detail what’s going to happen tomorrow for you, but what I can do is remind you that death cycles are inherently life cycles and life is big enough to hold death without ultimately succumbing to it. I can hold your hand. (Not IRL, but you get the point!) I can interpret what seems to be ending, intensifying, or being born. I can be present with you, and hell, feel free to reread this when you’re lying in bed at 3 AM with those doubts I was talking about earlier.
If you or someone you love is in need, there are people willing and happy to help. When we share our resources everyone gets taken care of—I promise.
If you are experiencing any amount of distress you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or you can text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Please reach out to those around you until you can find someone who will listen. If you are overwhelmed with pain, it’s guaranteed someone else has been there before and can show you how to work through it.
Remember—the moon will never blame you for how you’re navigating your job and the sun doesn’t count accomplishments before shining. The earth is supporting your body right now whether you appreciate it or not. There is unconditional love all around if you remember to look for it—and the reserves are plentiful.
Additionally, if you like what you read here, I’m available for healing consultations, and chart readings no matter what your experiences have been. I’m more than happy to share my time and abilities where needed. It’s always a brave step to ask for help, and I consider myself honored when people approach me in this way.
Below are your horoscopes by sign. Read them with love and treat yourself similarly.
May you feel supported by what’s beyond,
xo Laura
Scroll down for horoscopes by sign and read for your ascendant or rising sign if possible.
(If you’re curious to find your rising sign, go to astro-seek.com. After you enter your birth information look to the left of the circle to the line that says AC. If you’re intrigued, confused, or both intrigued and confused you can email me at starstostories@gmail.com for a consultation.)
Aries
This is a month strong in contrasts for you. For the first few weeks of May, you seem to be social, communicative, and generally much more energetic. By mid-month, however, an issue related to home or the body seems to have pulled your attention. Whereas you start assertive and dominant, you might want to stay domestic past the 15th. Did you circulate too widely at spring’s opening? Need to cool down your movement and refocus your receptive nature on the family front? Don’t ignore the demands that start at your very roots and foundation.
Taurus
So much attention on you this month! It seems that you have been busy, and quite possibly permanently shaken up from your usual routines. Some of this may have been behind the scenes in April, ready to take hold much more obviously in May. By mid-month you have your designated planet, Venus, home in your sign. Things might start to click more into place after what could be a positive disruption three weeks in. Enjoy the extra special comforts when you can find them this month. It’s a lucky and unusual time to receive such ease.
Gemini
“Is springtime always this serious?” you might be asking. Certainly not! This year is particularly focused on looking to the past, which can be weird when we’re in the midst of superblooms. If you’re feeling pinned down by tough work and restrictions at the beginning of May, try to face the obligations head-on. By the second week, there may be some sudden news about family or resources you didn’t foresee. By the end of the month, hopefully, you’ll be revitalized—and starting to see the results of your actions. After you get through the humps, things will become more jovial, and you’ll have reason to celebrate a major feat.
Cancer
What are you working toward? How are you defining yourself these days? If it’s through relationships or family that’s fine, but in the second half of the month you could be pulled to carve out more of an identity that’s solely focused on you. It seems there are nice perks from friends offered in the month’s opening week with the new moon in Taurus, and a career development may offer you a spotlight after the 15th. Community support could come suddenly and intensely. Did you realize how many people you had on your side? Don’t overlook the people rooting for your rise.
Leo
After an energetic month in April, you might be turning to the more comfortable things in life for the next few weeks. Hopefully, the buzz from any shocks that came from the end of last month will have worn off a bit by now, as you acclimate to what might be a short phase of lethargy. If you’re wondering what has become of your vitality, things will start to become much more enlivened in the fourth week of May. A turning point in communication and conversations will help. Sometimes airing a serious topic out in the open can help to lighten things up, but don’t dwell where it’s unnecessary.
Virgo
This month will be a contrast in speed. You might have been coming out of April quickly, but facing a slow down for a short phase at the start of May. You could hear some unexpected news involving your health, home, or family the second week of the month. If it’s something overwhelming make sure to take good care and give yourself the time to acclimate to this new reality—maybe a break, however you can sneak it, would be good. By the last week of the month you may be revitalized and back to a chattier and more communicative self. Hopefully, you’ll have good news to share by then!
Libra
Has there been something out of sight grinding at you? Perhaps on the home front, but now spilling over, affecting your partnerships and committed relationships? It seems the first two weeks of May have this somber tone, asking you to get real and responsible about what it is you need to stabilize and ground yourself. A pleasant surprise may come mid-month that appears to resolve some of the conflict you may have been experiencing at the month’s opening. From then on, you may feel more relaxed, comfortable, and supported. Learning how to make yourself feel at home even amidst tricky situations is a useful skill indeed.
Scorpio
In May, there could be a lot of attention on your partnerships, especially as it has to do with money—have there been heated talks lately? By the third week of May a revitalization of your thoughts about value and spending will occur, perhaps with the help of a friend. Are you finding slower and more open ways to communicate? Does some of this come from sticky stuff from the past you weren’t willing to share before? As you trudge through the past, some openness could do you good. Baby steps are all that are needed.
Sagittarius
At the month’s opening, it seems you’ll be reviewing a certain conflict with a partner—whether you’re conscious of what that tension has to do with or not. Some introspection could help, and as is always good advice, reflect and be specific before opening your mouth. By the end of May though, it appears that light has been shone on just what the opposition could have been about. Now would be a good time to sort what’s going on inside of you before it spills over onto another. Don’t shy away from serious talk.
Capricorn
If challenges are brought at the beginning of the month, wait until the second half to make your assessments. Things may be powerfully molting, and although messy, could be a force for good. The results will show later on in May, once some of the tensions have been worked through. If you find yourself preoccupied with the past, take it to heart that so often this is an integral part of the process of moving forward. If you want to build what lasts, the dirty process of examining your foundations is more than worth it.
Aquarius
If you’ve been feeling more dormant than usual, find ways to lean into it. Self-insight and reflection are often important steps before anything can begin to get fixed or move forward. If home has had a sharp or unusual feeling quality to it since last year, there will at least be an extra boost of comfort and pleasure coming in during the second half of May. Something appears to be culminating career-wise, whether you’ve been quiet and behind-the-scenes about it or not. There’s ease and enjoyment towards the end of the month, so embrace it when it comes!
Pisces
The duality to nature is becoming more and more apparent to you, is it not? For every failure there’s a silver lining, for every “no” you hold firm to, something else enters in. If you’ve faced some rejection at the opening of May, notice the quality of the feeling. Is it really that permanent, that dire, that bad? Luck has its way of circling back fully, and the end of the month may bubble up much more effortlessly, propelled by whatever had sunk down, seemingly out of sight. If you feel called to count your losses, don’t remember to give thanks for your gains too.
Note: these horoscopes are intended as words of stimulation and suggestion, not as cardinal rule or unbiased fact. By engaging with this page, you agree that all choices made based on the information provided in this column are your responsibility alone. Take a breath and be well!