Does Trauma Make You Funny? Horoscopes May 11-17, 2026

Happy Mother’s Day to you, whether this day is full of celebration or grief. This week’s astrology brings up the topic of trauma and humor. I did not plan that for Mother’s Day, but it does tend to be a relevant topic….

Most of us have had the experience of surviving a terrible or traumatic situation and realizing after that it forced us to grow in ways we would not have otherwise.

Does that make trauma worth it? My take on that is no. It does not make trauma worth it and that there are many ways to grow that do not involve people harming each other. More trauma makes more trauma and more growth makes more growth. Even if we transmute trauma into growth, it does not mean we need to look for trauma to create growth or be grateful to abusers for the harm they caused.

However, the universe clearly did not consult me about my suggestion that we stop the trauma in its current set design, and most, if not all, of us experience trauma.

If we accept that wounding and vulnerability happen, even if we don’t want them to, what then?

While the early part of this week is calm, the weekend of May 16-17 allows us to take our wounding around authenticity and courage seriously and then find the humor in it. When we are fully in our authority over our lives, there is room for both. How people respond to our authenticity and humor around wounding is information about them, not us.

Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development enacting covert narcissism.

For horoscope principles this week, I am primarily looking at the following celestial events:

• Mercury in Taurus sextiles Jupiter in Cancer on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 9:43pm Pacific. This is a great day for big, practical thinking; nurturing conversation; or releasing that instructional video you created that describes how you planted your garden. The god of communication and thinking is in a supportive aspect with the god of expansion.

• Mercury goes conjunct the Sun in Taurus on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 7:24am Pacific. This is called a “cazimi” and is thought to be a time of insight. Because this is in Taurus, the insight may be practical and sturdy, but slow to come.

• Mars goes conjunct Chiron in Aries on Saturday, May 16 at 7:24am Pacific. This is the last time this aspect will happen (and the last time we have conjunction between Chiron and a planet) in Aries for 40 years. If you look back at July 2020, June 2022, and May 2024, it will give you insight into the lessons this aspect is trying to teach you. For me, the lessons are about whether it is safe to show up authentically as myself, even if that is contrary to what other people want. I imagine that lesson will apply to many of our experiences with Chiron in Aries.

• The New Moon in Taurus happens on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 1:00pm Pacific. The Full Moon this month happened on the same day as Mercury conjunct Chiron and this New Moon happens just after Mars conjunct Chiron. This asks you to embrace a new cycle in how you practically show up as yourself, even when it is vulnerable or triggers your wounding.

• Venus in Gemini sextiles Chiron in Aries on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 11:03am Pacific. This is a sweet, supportive aspect between the goddess of love and the place where we are wounded around authenticity. Venus in Gemini brings lightness and fun to a space that has been hit by wounding. Does trauma make us funny? Venus in Gemini says yes.

• Mercury goes into Gemini on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 3:26am Pacific. Mercury rules Gemini, and after slowing down in Taurus, they will likely be very ready for the trip into their fast-moving home. If your thinking and communication has felt bogged down, it will start to speed up.

• Mercury goes conjunct Uranus in Gemini on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 11:03am Pacific. Mercury and Uranus are different than each other, but they are both related to the element of air in a certain way. Mercury rules thinking and communication, and Uranus rules electricity and the sky. Sometimes, these two together can create overload or fry out our thinking and electronics. However, this can be an opportunity for real invention and sudden bursts of insight.

• Neptune and Saturn are still in Aries; Pluto continues in Aquarius.

These are the principles to consider for the week of May 11, 2026. It is worth taking a look at both your rising and sun sign horoscopes (visit astro.com to find your rising sign):

Aries: You are too much for some people, and those people are not your people. Also, there is a difference between people not being correct for you and learning to respect other people’s boundaries. Both are important lessons in life. Early this week, you have the opportunity to receive brilliant ideas and have inspiring conversations around growing your money and home. Later in the week, the New Moon and Chiron aspects invite you to acknowledge where you are wounded around being too authentic, blunt, and courageous. Your closest coven members can help you sort the lessons from the hilarious jokes that come from this process.

Taurus: Telling the truth and saying the productive thing can be different, but often overlap more than we think. Just because someone likes you does not mean you were honest with them or that your communication was helpful. But, communicating from a place of deep authenticity and truth can be a space of wounding for you. Early in the week, you have support for showing up with the productive face you show to the world, but later in the week, the actions you take trigger your wounding around deep authenticity. Then, Venus reminds you that you value humor and lightness, and even deep authenticity does not need to be that serious.

Gemini: Internal Family Systems and astrology say that while we are one person, we are made up of many parts. As a Gemini, you have many faces you present to the world and understand many perspectives, and also it is important to you to be authentic with your friend and social groups. When who you truly are has many facets, this can create wounding around what it means to be authentic. Early in the week, your values around nurturing support your practical inner world. At the end of the week, action in your friend groups triggers your wounding around authenticity. Then, the universe reminds you that not everything needs to be serious, and a pivot is always an option.

Cancer: You know who you are and integrity in how you show up in your public-facing life is important to you. And, also, each person has a line where courage becomes martyrdom and hard work becomes overwork. This week supports you in showing up as your full, nurturing self in your friend groups early in the week. As the weekend comes, your wounding around showing up authentically and courageously in your public life gets triggered. Your unconscious remembers that being authentically you was never one fixed thing. You’re allowed to shift toward self-compassion and healing.

Leo: The great Madonna (the pop star one not Jesus’s mom) advises you, “Don’t go for second best, baby” but instead to “express yourself.” Early this week, her advice is particularly relevant to you, giving you the opportunity to express the expansion your unconscious is undergoing. Later in the week, activity related to long-distance travel or higher education brings up wounding around what it means to be authentically and courageously you. Your friend groups remind you that authenticity is not one thing, and bring humor in the midst of wounding.

Virgo: When you live in a country that is not the one you were born in (whether this is temporary or through immigration) you start to see the ideals you were raised with differently. A lot of people experience this as a sort of enlightenment experience and return to their home country with a sense that they’ve been given other-worldly wisdom. Early this week, you have the opportunity to communicate how higher education and travel have expanded who you are and your friend circles. Later in the week, wounding around taxes, other people’s money and values, or sex comes up, but your career supports you in integrating that wounding.

Libra: Harmony requires multiple perspectives, just like discord does. If you think about musical notes, the notes that are closest together create discord, but with space, notes create harmony. This week offers both discord and harmony to you. Early this week, the expansion you’ve experienced in your career supports how you communicate about sex, death, taxes, and other people’s money and values. At the end of the week, though, activity related to how you authentically partner brings up wounding. Remembering your ideals around freedom and lightness can bring healing to that wounding.

Scorpio: Some people say that what is good for you is good for everyone, but often, when we are authentic to who we truly are, other people are pretty mad at first. It may be good medicine for them, but people don’t always love medicine. Early this week is supportive in how you communicate the expansions you’ve had around travel, higher education, and ideals. As we get later in the week, though, your wounding around centering yourself in your daily routine comes up.

Sagittarius: You’ve probably heard of the concept of having a stage persona that is different from who you are to your friends and family (Beyonce as Sasha Fierce, for example). For you, on the other hand, it is important to be authentic in your creative endeavors and projects, as well as with your human children if you have them. In the early part of this week, your partners’ expanding values (or influx of money) supports how you communicate about your daily habits, but the weekend brings up wounding about how you authentically show up with creative projects or children. Rely on your partners to help transform your wounding into something light and even funny.

Capricorn: While we might want life to be black and white, unfortunately two things can be true at the same time. Early this week, the expansion you’re experiencing in how you partner, or your partners themselves, support how you communicate in your creative projects or with your children. Later in the week, though, action in your home and family triggers wounding you have around being authentically and courageously yourself. Find healing and lightness in your daily routine and habits.

Aquarius: Most people join cults because they are drawn in by promises of community, but one of the draws of community is ultimately the ability to outsource responsibility for our actions. I say this because you are typically not like that, and it is very important to you to show up authentically and courageously in your close community, but your wounding around what happens when you do that is coming up at the end of this week. While you are receiving support early in the week in your communications at home and with family, later in the week look to your creative projects or the children in your life to bring healing related to your wounding around authenticity in community.

Pisces: Our covens are our closest chosen communities. This week, how you communicate in your coven is supported by the expansion you are experiencing related to creative projects, children, or sex. Later in the week, activity related to your money and what you value triggers wounding you have around authenticity and courage. Look to your family, especially femme family members to turn that wounding into something lighter and funnier that offers healing.

Thanks for reading and fulfilling your natal promise! If you like these horoscopes, don’t forget to hit the like button and share them with someone who might get something out of them.

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