Cancer Monthly Horoscope

MONTHLY OVERVIEW
Put on your game face, Cancer. May is a social month, an important time for shaking hands, kissing babies, and schmoozing ‘em up. The Sun is in Taurus, your eleventh house of groups and networking, until May 20. So much of business and success is built on relationships, and even if you don’t enjoy the whole mingling/small talk scene, it’s a necessary evil — one you could even come to enjoy. After all, it gets lonely at the top, and it’s nice to have some kindred spirits and collaborators along for the ride.

On May 20, the Sun moves into Gemini, your 12th house of rest and healing. Wind things down, focus on closure and tie up loose ends before your birthday. You may find you need extra sleep and are low on energy for the rest of May. Don’t fight it. Scale back on commitments if you can, go to bed early and pamper yourself with a spa treatment or two. You’re processing a year’s worth of emotional and spiritual data, and your system needs a rest. You could have strong gut feelings and near-psychic dreams — write them down, because they’ll be rich with symbolism and helpful guidance.

The Gemini solar eclipse, also on May 20, could be an important break from one path or a moment of closure. You may also see someone’s true colors, perhaps in an unbecoming hue. Removing toxic, draining and narcissistic people from your sphere is essential. And if you can’t part ways with them, at least put up clearer boundaries. After all, you may have had a hand in creating the monsters by enabling them to take without giving back. The eclipse is a reminder that you don’t have to “win friends and influence people” by creating lopsided relationships that ultimately offer nothing in return to you.

LOVE & ROMANCE
Passion comes on full-force early this month, along with a whole jumble of emotions. On May 5, the Scorpio full moon brings up a surge of strong feelings. Your chemistry with someone could be off the charts now, and an attraction could consummate in a spicy, full-blown affair. Some stormy emotions could come up, too. Drama alert! You need to express yourself at this full moon, but just be sure you’re not reacting in a hotheaded manner. Make love, not war!

Even if you manage to dam the full-moon flood, there could still be an emotional outpouring in the second half of May. Romantic Venus is retrograde (moving backward) in Gemini from May 15 through June 27. Gemini rules your 12th house of closure, healing and hidden agendas. Some old baggage could rear up during Venus retrograde — anything you’ve swept under the carpet. Have you been carrying resentment, withholding your true feelings or being codependent? This house of cards could come crashing down now. Messy as it is, the burden has been more than you can bear. Resign from playing your lover’s therapist, life coach, financial backer and enabler, stat. You may find out something that doesn’t sit well, but it’s better to know. Or, you might just have to draw a clear boundary, one that ultimately leads a slacking partner to either step up his or her game or step off and make way for someone better. The May 20 Gemini solar eclipse could make your next moves crystal clear.

Retrogrades bring back the past, so don’t be surprised if a little romantic flashback occurs. During Venus retrograde, an ex could come back around, perhaps to settle unfinished business. This person might have less than honorable intentions, or could be concealing some information from you. Don’t believe those smooth lines without running some background checks, Cancer. With shadowy Pluto also retrograde in your relationship house until September 18, you have a strong tendency to project both unrealistic fantasies and unfair judgments onto your mate. Sorting out reality from your illusions — and what’s your issue versus what’s theirs — is the best use of this time. Transforming yourself and doing some important self-reflection will make the biggest difference of all.

MONEY & CAREER
Networking has always been pretty low on your list of favorite things, but in the past year, that might have changed. Expansive Jupiter has been visiting Taurus, your 11th house of group activity, since June 4, 2011. This transit has bestowed you with a fresh outlook on teamwork and collaboration. Not only have you forged positive new friendships, but you’ve also been luckiest when you joined forces with out-of-the-box thinkers or kindred souls. Homebody, introvert, shy little Crab? Some Cancers have outright shed those descriptors, becoming more like social directors.

Jupiter is in Taurus until June 11, and this month the Sun also visits Taurus until May 20. As a result of this cosmic alliance, you could have an incredible opportunity to forge your tribe and seal your spot as a power player. The 11th house also rules technology, and your work may have shifted to the digital realm in some way. Perhaps it’s time to start a blog, perfect your social media skills, hang out your Etsy shingle or amass followers through your own online brand. Entrepreneurial Cancers can enroll in Marie Forleo’s Rich Happy and Hot B-School (rhhbschool.com) when doors open this May — it’s one of the best Web-based trainings we’ve tried for mastering and demystifying online marketing.

Change is afoot this month, perhaps unexpectedly. On May 20, a Gemini solar eclipse shakes up your 12th house of hidden agendas, closure and healing. Think back to June 1, 2011, when a prior Gemini eclipse may have removed someone from your life, exposed surprising information or delivered an epiphany about your higher purpose. You might have made a radical departure from a line of work that just didn’t speak to your soul. Perhaps you even became a “guru” of sorts, or met a kind “fairy godmother” type who signed on as your mentor.

Whatever the case, this May 20 eclipse is a sequel to last June’s, pushing you one step closer to your highest spiritual purpose. While that may require certain outmoded parts of your life being “eclipsed” away, trust that it’s all in your highest good. Dreamy Neptune is also four months into a 14-year tour of Pisces, your ninth house of travel, study, publishing and entrepreneurship. It’s time to put some heart and soul into your hard work, Cancer. A creative new path is calling! Like Cancerian Elizabeth Gilbert, your own (hopefully less-tormented) version of “Eat, Pray, Love” is waiting to be written. The May 5 Scorpio full moon in your creative and passionate fifth house could bring the details into full relief.

HEALTH: MIND, BODY & SOUL
It takes three weeks to form a habit but, it seems, a lifetime to kick one — especially when you’re a comfort-centric Cancer, forever seeking balm for your anxieties and turbulent emotions. It’s all too easy to rummage through the fridge, go home with a stranger or meet friends for one too many cocktails. Not that there’s anything wrong with that … we’re not judging. The real issue is avoidance. When there are legitimate concerns to deal with, the river of denial can overflow, flooding your crops and leaving you with an even bigger mess.

At the May 20 Gemini solar eclipse in your healing 12th house, those swept-aside problems get all up in your face, demanding that you deal. Cancer, you can do this. And this eclipse is just a prelude to what’s coming up June 11, when expansive Jupiter begins a yearlong visit to Gemini. The karmic wheel circles back around here every 12 years, and you’ll be challenged to boldly drop your mask, release your viselike grip and let the universe drive. No easy task, especially for a sign that tends to greet the unknown with ashen-faced, teeth-chattering terror.

This eclipse is your first reminder of the old adage, “Man plans, God laughs.” Whether you believe in a higher power or not, you’re being reminded that forces bigger than you are co-creating your reality at all times. You can work either with them or against them. To find out which team you’re playing for, watch what happens around the eclipse. If things seem to unravel a bit, it’s just time to switch up your strategy.