Under the Influence for Sunday, May 16, 2026

Pluto through Aquarius is a bitch if you're an old-school celebrity—and not a member of the new influencer class.

May 17, 2026

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HERE’S THE ALL AND EVERYTHING for the week ahead.

Celebrity culture death.

Pluto’s transit in Aquarius—the sign of the ‘people’—is wreaking havoc with Leo, the sign of the celebrity and ‘star.’ Pluto does away with waste and rot. And as the planet is opposing Leo, we’re witnessing old notions of individual worship (Leo) challenged within the court of public opinion (Aquarius). In other words, people are burned out on this sort of hero lauding. Especially as the gap between the 1% and all the rest of us becomes more screeching.

This occurred to me last night while watching the new Netflix documentary on comedian Martin Short. It’s titled Marty, Life is Short. And by the end of the feature, you’ll have wished the documentary was too.

Due to Short’s large coterie of A-list actors and directors, throughout the doc we are made privy to party after party of rooms crammed with competing narcissists and their squirming spawn. Having lived in Los Angeles for five years and worked in the heart of the pop music business, I learned early that many of the creative folks we worship are insufferable when encountered in person.

Celebrity culture is incestuous, as everyone in the star community depends on everyone else in the clan to practice the dictates of a publicist. That means when you listen to one celebrity talk to the camera about another celebrity, you will only hear a slew of superlatives. The discussed person is always described as talented, joyful, generous, kind, brilliant, hilarious, loyal, loving, and tolerant. And they are someone who is an example of ‘living their dream.’ 😩

After an hour and a half of this, your pancreas is aching, and you’re longing for what I call ‘criminal culture’ to strike a balance. This split between artifice and shadow is why Americans (especially) are obsessed with underworld crime and serial killers, two genres that make way for and honor humanity’s persistent dark side. We need it to counter the hyperglycemia.

But for every death, Pluto offers regeneration and rebirth, and as concerns the Aquarius transits, it’s now the ‘everyday’ commoners (Aquarius) that are replacing Hollywood royalty (Leo). I’m talking, unfortunately, about the burgeoning influencer market that has exploded since Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius. Better get your TikTok shop set up today if you hope to survive the AI apocalypse.

Wade Caves and the US midterms.

Next week I’m posting my lengthy interview with horary maven Wade Caves, with a good portion of our discussion devoted to the astrology of the upcoming midterm elections. Wade’s research into this critical moment for the country is astounding. And I’m not blowing smoke. Paid subscribers can join us for this comprehensive overview later this week.

Reading this weekend:

Jessica Murray’s latest post, Beware the Dead Zone over on MotherSky.com. A MAGA-sphere forensic that pulls no punches.

“The transpersonal approach to larger-than-life historical figures doesn’t consider their personal pathologies merely on their own terms. We see them as features that make the person typecast for the role they’ve been destined to play. If you’re an American meaning seeker trying to work out how current political abominations relate to you, this perspective can be useful.

As the USA-led world order breaks down (US Pluto Return), the least savory features of the American psyche are rising to the surface like noxious gases rising from a carcass.”

Fine-tune your best performance.

Saturday’s lunation took place in Taurus. Old-fashioned astrology considers this new Moon particularly fecund (I can’t stand the onomatopoeia of that word, but it’s such an apt description). And we’re still within the three-day window that frames a new Moon.

What makes any new Moon lunation so potent is the tripartite ‘dark of the Moon’ that precedes the conjunction. This is considered the best span of time to work with whatever ceremonies, spells, or sigils you employ to shift you from a burnout into ignition. There’s one gal I follow on TikTok who, every Dark of the Moon, is performing rituals for Hekate. A real hoot.

The Sabian symbol for this Moon, which occurred at 26 degrees of Taurus, is: A Spanish gallant serenades his beloved. Dane Rudhyar writes: “This is role-playing in its most enjoyable form.” I detailed this playacting theme recently here:

In Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote for his protagonist, “Assume a virtue, if you have it not.” We need to take on, adopt—despite feeling ill-equipped—the courage that eludes us. This means acting our way forward for the sake of momentum. Fake it until we make it.

See you all soon in the new WOODRUFF cast later this week.

Love,

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