Full Moon in Taurus: 15th Nov
Hi Everyone
We have a full moon in Taurus today, 15th November (9.28pm, UK time), as the Sun and Moon make their monthly opposition in the sky at 24˚ of Scorpio and Taurus respectively. This is a highly activated and electrifying moment, as the moon is in a tight conjunction with Uranus (at 25˚ Taurus), while the Sun in opposition to this planet of sudden upsets, revolutionary change and radical innovation. Moon-Uranus energy can feel as unsettling and de-stabilising, as it can feel exciting and liberating. Such an energy can reflect an emotional instability, and a polarising of perspectives, but it can also signal unexpected opportunities and new ways of seeing things that can be unifying. This full moon chart chimes with the old adage: ‘Out with the old and in with the new’, a radical overhaul of what we are used to, of what is familiar. Those of us with planets around 23-26˚ of Taurus and Scorpio, or the other fixed signs of Leo and Aquarius will tend to feel this most strongly.
The World Turned on its Head
With what has happened since the new moon on 1st November, we could rightly interpret this conjunction as a signature of the way the world has turned on its head in that time. Wherever you stand on America’s newly elected US president, it is likely to have provoked a strong reaction: the world is unquestionably rocked and rattled by Donald Trump being returned to the White House, and the radical change of direction that he appears bound to instigate. Whether a smooth succession of power is allowed to happen remains to be seen. His election victory was auspiciously timed for an exact Jupiter transit of the north node in Gemini in Trump’s chart, which sits at the midpoint of his Sun-Uranus conjunction in Gemini, so the stars definitely aligned for him. How he will fare when Saturn reaches 19 / 20˚ Pisces, and makes the square aspect to his node/Sun/Uranus conjunction in February, whether something will happen to obstruct him or his policies, remains to be seen. When this first occurred in July, he survived an assassination attempt - he is nothing if not a survivor!
This election victory has taken place with Pluto in the very last degree of Capricorn, at the end of a 17-year period, characterised by a deep re-structuring of power in society, and an exposure of the dark side of governmental control. And whether a Trump presidency turns out to be a force for good or ill, his claim that he will dismantle the state and flush out the corrupt bureaucratic elements within its halls of power seems a very apt Pluto in Capricorn swansong. Pluto is about to make its decisive move into Aquarius on 19th November (where it will remain for the next 20 years), which suggests a perplexing paradox of themes: the de-centralisation of power on the one hand, and increasingly abstract forms of political ‘unification’ on the other. The USA has very recently experienced its own Pluto return (at 27˚ Capricorn), which has rocked the foundation of its constitution to the core, and it seems highly significant that during Trump’s 4-year term, Pluto will conjunct the Aquarian south moon node in the USA chart, rallying the original spirit of idealistic rebellion that birthed the nation.
Revolutionary Instincts
The moon cycles around us every month, and comforts us with its familiar rhythm. And sometimes we get seduced by this, lulled into a false sense of security, or duped into accepting things that have become inauthentic or have lost their connection to truth. A Moon-Uranus conjunction wakes us up out of the stupor of complacency, and a Sun-Uranus opposition breaks us open to a radically different experience of sovereignty, governance and leadership. Uranus always promotes perspectives that come to light at the periphery of our awareness, produce scenarios that catch us unawares, and awaken revolutionary instincts that can break out on the margins of society.
The Rousing of the Hobbits!
This is all a far cry from what we normally think of when we imagine the sign of Taurus, the Bull, the fixed earth sign that grounds us, promises us stability and security, and resounds with the goodness of the earth. Being ruled by Venus, it is also a sign of pleasure and desire, beauty and value. Taurus is like the hobbit of the Zodiac, loves the good things of life and loves to take life at a steady pace, smelling the roses, savouring the sight, sounds and scents of nature, content simply to enjoy and celebrate her flowering and her fruiting. But as we know, when called upon, it was the hobbits that had to reach so far beyond their comfort zone, so far beyond their own land, and enter into perilous situations, so that the world would not succomb to evil and darkness. The radicalised peasant would be a good image for a Moon-Uranus conjunction in Taurus. One might imagine that Wat Tylor would have taken up his pitchfork and roused the other farmworkers in the Great Rising of 1381, under such an aspect.
The Spiritual Light Within
Taurus also holds the energy of money and wealth, assets and possessions and all that which we covet and accummulate. The great ‘Bull of Heaven’ is deeply wedded to the material world, and yet it also the sign that shines with the light of wisdom, that light which emanates from the pineal gland, and enables us to see through the material manifestion to the spiritual light that illuminates it from within. It is this light that inspires our sense of value, and how we sense and evaluate the true worth of that which we encounter in the world. That light can be re-awakened under a Moon-Uranus conjunction, it can pierce through the darkness and activate a memory of something vital that has been forgotten. And in Taurus, this memory will likely have to do with the light that expresses its splendour through the natural world. Seeing with that pineal vision might allow us to drop into a state of gratitude and appreciation for that which nature has blessed us with. Beauty is in the third eye of the beholder, one might say!
Holding the Tension of Opposite Poles
During a Taurus full moon, we are confronted with the tension between that which is embodied and perceived through the senses (Taurus) and experienced through our engagement with the material world, and that which is imagined in the psyche and through our psycho-spiritual existence (Scorpio). The two represent opposite perspectives, Taurus is manifest in the seasonal round as the abundance of Spring's renewing, blossoming life force; Scorpio, by contrast, as the gathering shadows of autumn and the journey to the Underworld, where the realisation of the deeper truth of existence will transform and ultimately sustain life. The Taurus full moon always occurs during the Scorpio season, reminding us to be grateful even for the darkening shadows as they gather in the gloom.
These two perspectives that lie opposed to one another are inevitably woven together, and the raising of awareness comes when we are able hold that tension without collapsing to one or other pole and demonising its opposite. So over this full moon, our practice should be to appreciate what we have, while we have it, for who knows how long we will have it for. It is to remember to be present to the gift of life, and to enjoy it for what it is, without becoming attached. It is an invitation to connect deeply with the sensorium of the body, and to take ownership of that, to slow down and to relish and experience the great-fullness of each moment.
Even in the midst of dark and difficult times, where there are forces that might appear to threaten all that is good in the world, we can call upon this moon to remind us of the simple beauty of life and to dwell in gratitude for it. Through this, we can bring our awareness back to the present, back to a sense of who we are, as ensouled beings, who have chosen to incarnate on this earth at this time of turbulent change as humanity shifts from one great epoch into another. We are here to have an embodied experience, to witness this shift, to be a part of it; to go through whatever trials our soul has called in, and to bear those trials for the sake of our evolution.
The Message of this Full Moon
We can also see in the chart above, that the Moon-Uranus conjunction is also making a sextile aspect to Neptune, which brings in imagination, compassion and transcendence, potentially softening the harder edges of the Uranian radicalism.
This full moon will mean different things to each of us, of course, but however we interpret it, and live it, I would say there is an urgency in the air, a greater necessity to confront the nature of our embodiment, the reality of death, and the processes of decay and renewal that are definitive of life. We are in the Scorpio season at a crucial juncture as Pluto, Scorpio’s ruling planet, changes sign. Taurus is telling us to get real and connect with the earth, while Scorpio demands that we examine who we are beyond the mere physical form of our existence.
My Taurus mantra runs: "I am embodied here, in this sensuous moment, and I see the splendour of the world shining through."
With love & full moon blessings to all.
John
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