You’ll need to keep your wits about you for the next several weeks. We are in the midst of an astral convergence where several planetary patterns meet, merge, and diverge in a powerful junction of potential. As is often the case at a crossroads, choices must be made about what direction to take next, but the problem is almost every option feels weighty with unpredictable consequences. And because the collective direction feels suspended or paralyzed with uncertainty, personal decisions suffer from doubt and hesitation. Oy. It’s a dilemma, and it’s not getting solved any time soon. So make patience, as well as moderation your allies. As the Taoist sages might advise, during certain times of crisis and upheaval, it is often best to take no unnecessary action.

Several themes contribute to the atmosphere. First, the ongoing Jupiter/Uranus sextile is exact and separating on May 21st. This sextile has been sending bolts from the blue for the last several weeks and will continue to shake things up another several weeks. Yet while this sextile is volatile, its signature has everything to do with Divine Providence, which strictly translated would frame recent upsets as painful but positive. But this would hardly be an argument to present to the people in China or Myanmar who survived the earthquake and cyclone, but lost their lives. The sudden deadly power of Mother Nature gives birth to a unique perspective on the fragility of human life—what a fleeting gift it is. And the waves of grief emanating from that region of the world are sure to affect us all.

The second converging pattern is really three-in-one. Mercury goes retrograde on May 26th and as it prepares for its second review of the year, it trines Neptune, as Neptune goes retrograde about half an hour after Mercury. Mercury Retrograde is best spent reviewing, reflecting, and reconsidering previous choices. Expect certain areas of life, particularly communication and travel, to be littered with detours and delays. Normally, you could assume a trine with Neptune would facilitate inspired thinking. After all, Mercury symbolizes all things mental and Neptune represents intuition. But they are both “turning around” and that could throw thinking and insight into a tizzy of projection. Don’t assume or presume you understand all the details of any situation. Instead, stay open, but take your time acting on hunches you’re sure you can validate with “fact.”

The third contributor to the uncertain air is Pluto. On June 14th, Pluto will retrograde back into Sagittarius, where it will stay until November 26th. Pluto’s pull feels inexorable, despite its demotion to a planetoid, and over the course of the next five months, we will be revisiting many of the themes and issues of the past thirteen years. It’s one last look, and it is bound to be insightful.