New Moon in Taurus: Good Stewardship

In the Garden by Childe Hassam

New Moon in Taurus
Annular Solar Eclipse
April 29, 2014
2:14 am EDT / 7:14 am BST

In the midst of our cosmic transformational program, we're about to experience a New Moon in Taurus with a solar eclipse––which means this is an especially strong New Moon, really powerful in the energy it carries, and with longer echoes forward than usual.

This is a good thing, because we've all been in this process long enough to have some clue (an inkling, at least) of what's emerging for us and what we may want to do about it. At this Taurus New Moon, we'll plant seeds for those new directions, and they'll have extra-potent eclipse fertilizer.

Now, it's true, Taurus can be a bit stodgy, loving the familiar and the comfortable, and letting anything upsetting just go right on by. But THIS Taurus New Moon won't be doing that. No, THIS Taurus New Moon breaks through to everything that is deep in us, what is truly fundamental, where our roots truly are.

This Taurus New Moon includes the utterly alchemical Cardinal Grand Cross of Pluto in Capricorn, Uranus in Aries, Jupiter in Cancer and Mars in Libra AND Pluto is sending energy via a trine to the New Moon itself with an especially strong link to Mercury. This is not couch-potato Taurus, this is get-out-there-and-till-that-ground-deep Taurus.

It's the Taurus that underlies Reject and Protect (are those Taurus words, or what?), an alliance of (yes!) cowboys and Indians to stop the Keystone Pipeline. This grassroots group of ranchers and native communities has been in Washington, D.C. this week, and they chose a Taurean style of action: riding in on horseback and setting up camp. This is stewardship of the land, of culture, and of the future.

This is a powerful time we're in, between the Full Moon and New Moon eclipses. Even if you don't usually check your birth chart, this time you really want to. Where does this New Moon eclipse fall for you? Which of your planets are involved?

One of the great posts I found this week is Molly Hall's discussion of how eclipse aspects to our natal planets can affect us. These two eclipses, lunar and solar, Full and New Moons, touch my birth chart in significant ways. My experience of these transformational times has led to a decision I'll share here, and then talk a bit about the astrology of this for me:

This is the last post I'll write for my blog Rising Moon Astrology. This decision became very clear for me yesterday, during the Balsamic Moon. And while I'm feeling sad and nostalgic in a balsmic-y way about it, I know it's the next step for me.

First, a look at how these eclipses have touched my birth chart. The Full Moon eclipse happened right on top of my Mercury–Neptune conjunction, trined my Pluto–Ascendant conjunction, and squared my Uranus–Neptune conjunction as well as my Chiron (who opposes Uranus–Jupiter while all square Mercury–Neptune).

Yes, it's true, that Full Moon eclipse was on one of the key aspect patterns in my chart that has to do with things like my creative work, my writing, how I think and communicate generally, what my core wound looks like (ouch), what my mission is in the world.

The New Moon eclipse is in my Ninth House of journeys (all kinds) and trines my Moon, is inconjunct my Sun, and trines my North Node–Mars conjunction. That same North Node–Mars conjunction is right under Pluto at the moment, and therefore part of the Grand Cardinal Cross.

Have things been shifting for me? You bet! Does that mean I know exactly what I'm doing now? Heck no! But I do have a wee bit of clarity on what needs to happen next, and that includes not writing the blog for now.

What do I know? ... For those of you interested in working with me, I will still offer readings. I am aware that stopping the blog will probably limit my ability to reach new clients and yet, this is the right thing for me now. I think I will be doing more writing, traveling, and shamanic exploration. I'll be interested to see what emerges ...

I began my journey with astrology back in 2004 when I was invited (told) in a shamanic journey to get to know Mercurius better. Turns out Mercury is absolutely central to my chart, and (as I said) strongly affected by these eclipses. Now it seems I'll be invited into new ways of learning about Mercurius.

A Fond Farewell

This is the 636rd post in this blog, the first of which was a Capricorn Moon on May 4, 2010. I began sharing New Moon updates earlier, in a virtual world, sometime in 2008––the oldest note I have there is for October, 2008. I have learned a tremendous amount from the writing, and even more from every chart I've explored.

There's one more echo here I want to mention. Eclipses come in loooong cycles, nineteen year cycles. I hadn't looked at the eclipse linked to this New Moon eclipse until this morning, and it turns out to be very significant for me.

The last eclipse that occurred close to the Taurus degree of this one happened on April 29, 1995, nineteen years ago.

Which for me is the time when I suddenly developed symptoms that completely changed my life. In a few weeks, that Spring, I went from completely healthy (if overly stressed) to flat on my back in bed, where I stayed for several months.

If you've met me, you know I am much healthier now, yet rheumatoid arthritis continues to be a struggle and a limiter. So now I'm wondering what this new horizon holds for me, and planting seeds for good stewardship of my own self, the life I have yet to live, and the planet I live it on.

So, more personal info than I usually share but then, these aren't usual times we live in, and this isn't my usual post. Thank you to all my readers, to everyone who's sent messages of support and hugs and thanks. I hope what I've shared has been interesting, and maybe helpful, as we all try to be the best caretakers of this one precious life.
    

New Moon in Taurus and Solar Eclipse: Nourishing Earth

Gaia!

New Moon in Taurus
Solar Eclipse
May 9, 2013

The New Moon is on her way, bringing energy to transform our relationship to this world. Many parts of the northern hemisphere are (finally) experiencing Spring.

We're entranced by warm breezes, the scent of lilacs, the intoxication of forest paths lined with wildflowers, and birdsong. The idea of relating to this world seems wonderful, natural, and easy ... of course we want to!

Do we really? Maybe, maybe not. Let's look:

Taurus is the sign that celebrates Earth, the natural world, and the body. As in, our body, the one we live in. Taurus loves the ordinary things of life––food, drink, good company, and also dishes, laundry, and fixing the sink. The blooms on the lilac, also digging in compost.

This New Moon arrives in the middle of this year's eclipse season, bringing us a solar eclipse––which means the Nodes of the Moon are lined up with the New Moon herself. This is another powerhouse grouping, too, with Mars, Mercury and Pallas Athena also in Taurus.

The alignment of the Nodes means the North Node, the place we're meant to be heading toward, is opposite the New Moon in shadowy Scorpio. Which means this New Moon isn't limited to celebrating the natural world. We're also asked to look at the shadow side of that relationship.

At this New Moon, we're invited to set intentions and make wishes in areas like self-nurturing, abundance, sensuality, and healthy growth. These are lovely wishes to have:

• I wish to bring abundance into my life.
• I intend to find ways to care for myself in healthy ways.
• I wish to appreciate the beauties of the world, and bring colors, textures, sounds and tastes into my life that I love and that nourish me.

Bluebells in Spring

These are all good, wonderful, strong Taurus New Moon wishes.

And ... our journey with this New Moon will tell us something about whether we really mean it, and where we get hung up. Because, you know, that Scorpio North Node is part of the story too.

So, we all know we need to be grounded. What does that mean, though? We need to have our feet on the ground, not spend too much time in our heads, and find our center.

Yet when we're grounded, we can't fly. When we're rooted, we're rooted to the spot, frozen, unable to move. We have a long legacy of not liking earth very much, from the world's major religions through some Enlightenment thinking, and New Age ideas that focus on what is higher, lighter and transcendent. Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am" ... not "I have a body, therefore I am."

Today's media-mediated society delivers constant messages about not liking our bodies. Women get more, but men get it too: The need to look right, smell right, eat right, because if we don't, well, then we won't have love, money or health.

This Taurus New Moon says, let's calm waaaaaay down and just be. That Scorpio North Node eclipse point adds, let's notice what's really going on with all that messaging.

How can we really feel "grounded" if our goal is to transcend? How can we connect in healthy ways with the Earth who is the literal ground of our being, if we're constantly feeling not enough-ness?

That saying "We're not bodies that have a soul, we're souls that have a body" misses, I feel, an important point: We are embodied.

Our souls, our spirits, our minds, our emotions are all expressed in and through and with our bodies. Whatever happens before or after or elsewhere, while we're here in this life, it all happens with this body.

New research on mind-body relations makes it ever harder to tell the difference. Our minds are clearly not limited to our brains. Our minds exist throughout––some would say, in every cell of––our bodies. We are integral and whole. It would be really cool if we could embrace and love all of us.

At this New Moon, I'm proposing a change in language. Let's not get grounded, let's experience the nourishing qualities of Earth. This is a wonderful time to deeply feel the way the Earth feeds us, caresses us, supports us, energizes us. It's a great time to experience how our bodies are part and parcel of that feeding, caressing, supporting and energizing. Just the way we are.

Today is the Balsamic Moon, moving us into the last days of release and preparation. The strong Taurus presence is already in the sky, helping us find our way home. For the next few days, we're invited to let go of whatever gets in the way of our experience of this one precious life, on Earth, in a body.

Then, with the New Moon, we can say "ahhhhhhhhh ... I love this life!"
    

Full Moon in Gemini: The Union of Opposites

alchemical union

Full Moon in Gemini with Lunar Eclipse
November 28, 2012

Oh, it's been an amazing two weeks, this trip from New Scorpio Moon to Full, solar eclipse to lunar. What was planted in the dark soil of the New Moon will come to light at the Full––except when we're in an eclipse season, all timelines lengthen and we enter a new, much larger cycle.

This is the Full Moon in Gemini, the Moon at 6 Gemini and the Sun at 6 Sagittarius. We're spanning the cosmos, with Gemini breadth and Sagittarian depth. Anything can happen, and all bets are off.

In the ordinary way, this would be a light-hearted Full Moon––Gemini and Sagittarius being the most optimistic of signs, generous, liberal-minded, and looking on the bright side.

Yet the times are challenging, and celebrations reflect this. We might feel the giddy relief of a near-escape, relaxation after having squeaked through something. We might feel deep gratitude at what we have, knowing how chancy this world can be. Optimism, yes, but with an edge, an awareness that it could be otherwise.

Jupiter the philosopher is conjunct this Full Moon, opposing in the Sun in his Sagittarian home. Since the great sage is still retrograde, he brings thoughtfulness and questioning that shift this Moon out of easy, hail-fellow-well-met territory.

And there are challenging aspects a-plenty. The Full Moon is squared by Chiron and Neptune, creating a T-square in the mutable, flexible signs. This also adds visionary depth, an awareness of past wounds, and the potential for healing.

The Chiron–Neptune square connects the Full Moon to the ongoing Grand Water Trine, holding on as Ceres retrogrades away, still within reach. At the Full Moon, Saturn is joined by Venus in Scorpio, a powerful combination that brings us to the alchemical image for this Full Moon: the coniunctio, or sacred marriage.

The culmination of alchemical transformation is this sacred union of opposites, the joining of the male and female.

But (I hear you say) the Sun and Moon are opposite each other when the Moon is Full, not joined. True––this union is one that recognizes the value and uniqueness of each, emphasized in the opposition of the Full Moon.

The coniunctio is sometimes described as the marriage of the red king and white queen, and here we see the Sun in a Fire sign and the Moon in Air.

This is not patriarchal dominance, but a true joining, yin and yang, Shiva and Shakti. Within ourselves, we realize and experience the melding of polarities into a magical one greater than its parts.

This Full Moon is at the apex of a yod filled to the brim with transformative energy: Mars and Pluto conjunct in Capricorn, masculine strength and power, form a sextile with Venus and Saturn conjunct in Scorpio, feminine strength and power, as each pair is inconjunct the Moon.

This uncomfortable set of connections demands resolution, and the answer to a yod lies in what is opposite the apex: In this case, the Sun in Sagittarius. As we embrace our opposites, we are transformed.

The Sun, after all, is catching a fiery trine from Uranus, who pours energy into revolutionary individuation. Uranus is sextiling the Moon, flowing energy both ways.

And now we've brought Uranus into the picture, we see he is forming the base of another yod, in which he and the Moon point at Venus and Saturn. We've looped back around to the melding of masculine and feminine (Venus and Saturn) in alchemical Scorpio. The answer to this yod lies in the sign of Taurus, Venus' sensual and practical daytime home.

As always, look to the house in which the Full Moon falls to see which areas of life are most likely to be illuminate now. Check out any planets in and around 6 degrees, especially those in the early degrees of the mutable signs. Where has change been coming into your life, invited or not? Where have you needed to adjust, or completely remake, your responses? These also are areas affected by the Full Moon.

How can we not be transformed? Surrounded by these energies, the best course is to dive in, go with the flow, follow the muses, and hope for the best. Whatever emerges is bound to be amazing.
    

Learning about Eclipses

perception is everything :)

New Moon in Scorpio and Solar Eclipse
November 13, 2012

I wrote about tomorrow's New Moon yesterday (how's that for time travel in one sentence?). Today, I'm adding links about eclipses, and this solar eclipse in particular.

Eclipses are on my learning curve, so I happily turn to other astrologers for insight. These essays resonated with my experience of this eclipse season so far ... perhaps you'll feel the same!

Eclipse Pointers from Moonkissed by Jessica. She also has a nifty article called Eclipses by House and Sign that's worth reading.

If you're interested in an easy intro to the technical aspects of eclipse cycles, and where this one fits, check out Eclipse Astrology by Brenda Black. I am new to Brenda's work and enjoyed this one––will be reading more.

April Elliott Kent is an eclipse diva, and her site has lots of information on eclipses and how they affect our charts. Her article on this particular eclipse is here, but check out Big Sky Astrology for more eclipse resources.

The presence of a solar eclipse amps up the intensity (there's that word again!) during this New Moon time, and with Scorpio energy strong, it's good to remember we're travelers within a great mystery. We can be insightful and align with the forces that align with our goals, but control is off the table––reach deep and trust.