I'll be straight with you.

I am not an astrologer. I am a man who once drove forty minutes to avoid a black cat on a two-lane road, so take that for what it's worth.

But up here in the hills, we've always kept one eye on the sky and one hand on the almanac. The signs govern the garden, the haircut, the fence post, and apparently the heart. So every week I'm going to translate what the planets are doing into language a person can actually use.

No crystal balls. No chakras. Just the stars, the mountains, and a little common sense.

This week's big news: on May 10, the Taurus Sun lines up favorably with Jupiter in Cancer, bringing easy, heartfelt moments. Good timing for Mother's Day. The universe, for once, is cooperating.

Then on Saturday, the New Moon in Taurus arrives — ideal for fresh beginnings, starting a garden, or launching something new. Whatever begins now has staying power.

Plant the seed. Trust the ground.

♈ ARIES (March 21 – April 19)

You've been running hard since January and the engine is knocking.

This week slows you down whether you like it or not. Taurus energy is pulling you inward — not toward rest exactly, but toward listening. The quiet, intuitive part of you that gets drowned out when you're in motion.

Stop talking. Start hearing.

The mountain doesn't hurry either, and nothing's taller.

♉ TAURUS (April 20 – May 20)

Your week. Your moon. Your moment.

The New Moon falls in your sign on the 16th — a reset button pressed right in the middle of your season. Something you've been sitting on for weeks is ready to move. Don't overthink it.

Whatever begins this Saturday has staying power.

Plant it like a fence post. Drive it deep. Come back in ten years and see if it held.

It'll hold.

♊ GEMINI (May 21 – June 20)

Your mind is running about three conversations ahead of your mouth this week, which is saying something.

Mercury is wrapping up its time in Taurus and heading into Gemini on the 17th — just outside this window, but you can already feel it coming. Like hearing a freight train two counties over.

Use these last quiet days to finish a thought. Write something down. You'll want it later.

♋ CANCER (June 21 – July 22)

Jupiter is sitting in your sign right now, and on Sunday the Taurus Sun forms a favorable angle to it — easy, warm energy for Mother's Day.

You're the one who remembers the birthdays, makes the soup, shows up with a casserole nobody asked for. This week, let someone show up for you.

Sit down at the table. Let somebody else carry the dish.

♌ LEO (July 23 – August 22)

The spotlight isn't on you this week, and you know it.

That's not an insult. It's an invitation. The energy this week favors reflection over performance. The mountains didn't get tall by showing off. They just stayed put and let time do the work.

Sit back. Watch. You'll know more by Friday than you would have learned in a month of talking.

♍ VIRGO (August 23 – September 22)

You've got a plan. You've always got a plan. You probably have a backup plan for the plan.

Taurus season is pulling your focus toward expansion — thinking bigger, moving differently, considering roads you haven't walked. Your instinct is to organize it first. Resist that this week.

Sometimes you find the best path by just starting to walk.

♎ LIBRA (September 23 – October 22)

You're noticing patterns this week. Who shows up. Who doesn't. What feels mutual and what feels like you've been carrying the water bucket alone for a good long while.

You already know what you know.

The New Moon on Saturday is a door. You don't have to kick it down. Just decide whether you're opening it or not.

♏ SCORPIO (October 23 – November 21)

Your partnerships are under the microscope this week — not loud, not chaotic, just a slow, undeniable clarity about who you're dealing with and how you're showing up in return.

Appalachian advice: a clear creek shows every rock on the bottom.

Look at what's down there. Then decide what to step around and what to step on.

♐ SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 21)

You want to be gone. Road trip, river trip, some kind of trip.

The week doesn't exactly agree. Taurus energy is asking you to stay put and finish something you started.

Here's the deal: the Full Moon at the end of the month is going to be your moment for the long-distance adventure. You've got two weeks to get your affairs in order. Use them.

♑ CAPRICORN (December 22 – January 19)

You've been working. You're always working. That's not news.

What's new is that this week the work might actually feel good. The planetary alignment suggests past efforts are starting to yield results — what you put in the ground a while back is coming up.

Walk the rows. Check the crop.

Something grew.

♒ AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18)

Pluto is retrograde in your sign through October, which sounds dramatic. What it actually means is that the alliances you've built — the people you've trusted, the groups you've joined — deserve a second look.

Not suspicion. Just eyes open.

Around here we say: know who's in your barn before you close the door for the night.

♓ PISCES (February 19 – March 20)

You've been swimming in deep water and you know it.

This week asks you to trust your inner voice — balance your ambitions with emotional awareness, which is astrology-speak for: stop second-guessing yourself.

You felt it first. You always do.

That's not a bug. That's a gift.

The Appalachian Astrology Forecast runs weekly in The Wayne Train. If your grandmother planted by the signs, this is for her too.