The Patterns We Participate In

Awareness and ownership within love and relationships. Watch out for declarations of love or surprising news this week! Mercury cazimi, Taurus New Moon and a Mercury-Uranus conjunction!

WHAT’S IN THE STARS: It’s a busy week this week! We have one of my favourite transits—mercury cazimi—as well as a New Moon in Taurus.

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Wow so much has happened in the past two weeks since I’ve posted—the MET Gala for example! Look out for a separate article about that in my Outer World edition.

Apologies for not posting last week but I’ve been swamped with work. Change is coming—as I knew it would be. If you recall in my 2026 Astrology article, I mentioned that there’d be: ‘Changes to the entertainment industry and the way media is consumed’. This is the industry I work in, so naturally I’m seeing that unfold internally as it continues to be a very unpredictable landscape. Maybe I can share some of the trends in how that change in consumption is reflecting in the industry soon, but today’s article is really a follow up thought from my previous article as promised. I’ll also add a little note about this week’s astrology—which you’ll want to make the most of, because next week will likely leave you feeling lethargic.

‘Happiness is a fluid emotion that’s always shifting but co-exists with awareness and the consequences of it…So as happiness continually changes shape, it’s no longer just about feeling ‘good’—it’s whether you’re living in alignment with your values…This is something I want to expand on in my next article—how my point about awareness plays a role within relationships, as this is something I’ve been learning and integrating myself.’

Last week I spoke about happiness and that, to be happy 100% of the time is not real—and maybe not even the point, if the real point is authenticity. So to pick up on those thoughts, I wanted to expand this within the topic of relationships, as it’s something I keep coming back to personally at the moment.

Awareness removes your ability to claim innocence with yourself.

Pattern recognition is something I’m good at, something that I’m comfortable with, which is why I was drawn to astrology. Though, it’s easier to identify patterns outside of yourself and your own love life. But there comes a point where you must do the work and understand yourself on a deeper level to hold yourself accountable for the role you play in the world. Before you recognise a pattern, your behaviour can feel circumstantial:

• ‘I keep ending up with emotionally unavailable people’

• ‘I didn’t realise I was overgiving’

• ‘I keep holding out hope for them to change’

These are all statements I’ve made when talking (or crying) to friends about previous relationships. But there’s a gap here between recognising something and truly owning your role in it.

But once you clock the pattern—properly clock it, i.e. not just intellectually but on a deeper emotional level—you can start changing your perspective.

So now it becomes:

• ‘I know I tend to ignore red flags early on’

• ‘I know I overextend to try and feel secure but it stems from fear’

• ‘I know I stay past the point where I should’ve left’

I’m not saying that all of a sudden these patterns immediately stop because you’ve recognised them, we’re still human after all. It’s not about blame, either. It’s more about ownership, because awareness alone doesn’t magically fix the behaviour—you might still:

• go back to the same type of person

• repeat some of the same patterns

• make the same decision

But awareness + ownership = you can consciously feel the moment you’re choosing the same patterns, even if part of you doesn’t want to admit that.

You can’t convincingly pretend anymore—you can still say whatever you want to other people—but to yourself, you start feeling misaligned. It’s not necessarily easier to change—but it is harder to excuse, and this is what I mean by, awareness removes your ability to claim innocence with yourself.

Because now that’s where the discomfort comes into play:

• before awareness: confusion, frustration, ‘why does this keep happening to me?’

• after awareness: tension, because now it’s ‘why am I still participating in this?’

That awareness shift is uncomfortable, but it’s also where your power is. Because once you can see the pattern clearly, even if you don’t break it straight away, you’ve interrupted the autopilot. And eventually, that’s what gives you a real choice. And choice is power.

The shift from seeing yourself as someone things merely happen to, towards recognising your participation in your own patterns without collapsing into shame or self-blame. That’s the sweet spot, but a lot of people miss it and go to either extreme: either total victimhood (this always happens to me) or harsh self-blame (it’s all my fault).

Awareness doesn’t instantly heal you, but it removes the illusion that you’re completely powerless within your own patterns. It’s one thing to repeat a pattern without seeing it. It’s another to recognise it and realise you’re still choosing it.

I know this hasn’t been my typical, full-on astrology-only post, but I like to talk about things that I’m actually experiencing or that I feel an urge to share and write about. That can be anything from relationship reflections to products I’m buying, to cultural moments I see online.

So now for the astrology!

We have a New Moon in Taurus on 16th May, 9:01pm BST.

I guess one of the reasons love and relationships have been on my mind, is because Venus is the ruler of this New Moon. Venus—the planet of love, desire and relationships—is currently in Gemini, the sign that Mercury rules. Mercury on the other hand, is currently in Taurus, the sign Venus rules. So there’s a nice mutual reception of energy here. Mercury is the planet of communication and expression, so this week, it could be easier to express matters of the heart or talk about your feelings with someone close to you. This is also a great time to put yourself out there if you’re single—go to that singles event (I know it’s cringe but you’ve got to do things outside your comfort zone sometimes), spend time with your friends, get out the house and go and have fun!

New Moons are a great time to start something new because it’s the beginning of a new cycle, when the Sun and Moon conjoin in the sky. So ordinarily, I would have said this would be a great time to manifest—especially considering Taurus is fixed earth energy (stability, grounding). This is also the first new moon in Taurus without the presence of Uranus!!

However…(it’s never as simple as social media makes it seem!)

There are a couple of things about this New Moon that make it feel unpredictable.

The first being that the New Moon is close to the fixed star, Algol, which in mythology, is linked to the severed head of Medusa. A lot of people fear this star because it can be associated with extreme violence, head injuries, crisis, rage and/or obsession. But despite its reputation, I also think Algol speaks to raw feminine power, feminine rage, and the consequences of repression. When activated in a chart or by transit, it can demand honesty and emotional courage from you—and if you relate it to the mythology—a willingness to face uncomfortable truths head-on rather than look away from them.

With Algol being so close to this New Moon, I want you to be careful of any neck/head pain. I’d caution you to be aware that it could be an emotionally volatile time, or truths that have been suppressed could be exposed. That’s why I said earlier, go and have fun—get out of your head and into your body

I also mentioned Mercury earlier—it’s going to be about 3° away from the New Moon which is going to occur at 25°. Mercury is a very important player in this lunation.

Once the New Moon peaks, Mercury changes sign roughly six hours later and enters Gemini, it’s own sign. But remember, Uranus has newly entered Gemini!! This is why you’ve been feeling like time has been one long Mercury retrograde recently.

So now we have a Mercury-Uranus conjunction in Gemini. This is going to make time feel like it’s suddenly sped up. Information overload! Uranus is the planet of disruption, unpredictability and shock. When you pair that with Mercury, the planet of information and communication, you can expect surprising news.

ALSO! Don’t forget the Mercury cazimi happening in the background to all of this. Cazimi refers to the close proximity of a planet to the Sun, which then amplifies and purifies the planet’s energy. The word cazimi is derived from the Arabic word kaṣmīmī which means ‘as if in the heart’—as if the planet is so close to the Sun, it’s in it’s heart.

Since this is a Mercury cazimi, expect sudden news, downloads of wisdom, or major insights. This cazimi energy, along with the Taurus New Moon/Algol + Mercury-Uranus conjunction may bring unexpected news that changes your mindset and how you act moving forward—breakthroughs that shock you into awareness or news that changes your direction.

Watch out for declarations of love! Or some surprising news about relationships (whether it’s yours or others). I wouldn’t manifest on the day of the New Moon, I think it’s best to wait to see what information will be delivered to you. Instead, use the New Moon to ground yourself so you can stay ready and open to swift change of direction.

Don’t fear the Mercury-Uranus conjunction, it can help you to breakthrough something you’ve been struggling with—writer’s block, creative ideation etc. Use the energy to your advantage!