New Moon in Taurus: Sun 27th April
Dear Friends
We have a new moon in Taurus this weekend, on Sunday 27th April at 8.31pm UK time, with the Sun and Moon aligning for their monthly conjunction at 7˚ Taurus. Taurus is a beautiful, luscious sign that awakens our pleasure sensors and, being Venus-ruled, she is richly endowed with the bounteous, blossoming gifts of nature. Our meditation over this new moon is to relax into the experience of what is, to receive the gift of what is present, to practice gratitude for what we have been blessed with, and to fully acknowledge the reality of our earthly embodiment.
And how necessary this is during times that are fraught with uncertainty and charged with tension and turbulence. This new moon coincides with this Sunday’s Mars-Pluto opposition, with Mars in Leo, and Pluto in Aquarius, both at 3˚ of their respective signs, making a t-square aspect with the Sun-Moon conjunction in Taurus (within a 4˚ orb). This is a volatile aspect pattern. It can feel like a tinder-box, loaded with anger, frustration and resentment, so we really need to draw nourishment and strength from the Taurus energy during such a time. Taurus has the capacity to slow us down, bring us back into our bodies and connect us to the perennial wisdom of the seasonal cycle which blesses us at this time of the year with such a feast for the senses. This new moon is a potent time to seed our intention to live in harmony with our surroundings, to recognise all the blessings we have around us, and the gifts we have been given.
How much is enough?
Taurus is a magnetic sign of natural attraction and prosperity, but the image of the sign can be distorted in our culture, its shadow form manifest as greed, excess, possessive ownership, exploitation and the hoarding of resources. The unhealthy attachment we have to material wealth, born of a toxic belief that there is ‘not enough’ and that ‘more is better’, characterises the shadow side of Taurus. These beliefs keep us impoverished and prevent us from living in balance and harmony with each other and the beings that we share this beautiful planet with.
What if we could simply accept that there is enough, that we have enough, that we are enough? What would that open up, and make possible? What if we could let go of our incessant craving for more, and really recognise the resources that we have, both individually and collectively, celebrate that and share them openly with each other.
The Medicine of Gratitude
In my book, Your Zodiac Soul, I suggest that each sign has a ‘gateway medicine’; for Taurus it is the medicine of gratitude, to be thankful for what we have while we have it, and to recognise when it is time to relinquish it, offer it up with love, so that we can move on and the energy of life can continue to move through us. The word wealth, actually comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘weal’, which means well-being, and is also linked to our modern word '‘wheel’. So I like to think of wealth, not as an accumulated amount of money and possessions, but rather as a turning wheel of well-being that is always in motion.
Ask yourself these questions:
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What am I grateful for?
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What do I appreciate?
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How often do I remember to count my blessings?
This is a perfect time to begin a gratitude practice where we can engage with these questions.
The Mars-Pluto T-Square
This Mars-Pluto opposition has been with us for some time now. This is the third of three exact alignments in the past five month, which is due to Mars’s recent period of retrograde motion. The first of these oppositions occurred in the last degree of Cancer in early November, and that stayed within the orb of influence right through until January, when the exact opposition was again made, at 1˚ Leo. Now this third exact opposition aspect is occurring at 3˚ Leo, and has lined up in a very challenging t-square configuration with this new moon in Taurus. It feels as though whatever has been building up over the past five months now has to break out and express itself. And yet the consequences of fully expressing that built-up tension and suppressed frustration can carry a lot of potentially destructive power. And those of us with chart placements (esp. Sun, Moon, personal planets, AC or other major angles) in the early degrees of Taurus, Scorpio, Leo or Aquarius will tend to experience this more intensely. It is, of course, best if these necessary outpourings of deep emotion can be held within a safe container, within an appropriate therapeutic setting or ceremonial space. This would be a good moment, at this new moon, to set an intention for the safe expression of our anger, our grief, our rage to find an appropriate vessel within which it can be held, so that it’s healing power can be realised.
The Venus-Saturn Conjunction
Taurus’s ruler, Venus, also remains until the close control of Saturn. Like Mars, Venus has been holding this aspect (a conjunction) with Saturn for an unusally long period of time, due to the retrograde period she has recently completed. She stationed direct at the time of the full moon, right next to Saturn and remains with a degree of that conjunction at this new moon. Venus is typically strong and well expressed in Pisces, the sign in which she is exalted - she is especially loving and compassionate in this sign - but the influence of Saturn makes her more cautious and more guarded in the way she draws her boundaries in affairs of the heart. And the fact that this conjunction also aligns with the moon’s north node points to a karmic lesson around the way a person expresses and receives love. As Venus moves on, next week, she will make her conjunction with Neptune in the first degree of Aries, at which point she may feel freer to express her impulse to love and is likely to give herself more full-heartedly to the experience. However, the shadow of this Venus-Saturn conjunction remains characteristic of this whole lunar cycle until the next new moon, which calls us to account in our relationships, cautioning us to maintain clear boundaries and stick to agreements. We are more likely to stick than to twist, under this energy, but the most important thing is to stay in integrity and to stay true to our values.
My Taurus Mantra
We can become set in our ways in the sign of Taurus, become attached to the status quo, and be reluctant to embrace change. What arises through Taurus is the instinct to have, to hold onto what we have, to claim ownership of it and to become possessive of it. As I say in the Taurus chapter of my book: “Here it is, I want to have it. Now I’ve got it, I want to keep it.’ The mastery of this sign, though, comes through the practice of simply enjoying and appreciating what we have, while we have it, knowing that sooner or later we will have to relinquish it. The art is to dwell in a dynamic state of gratitude for our embodied experience, as we experience it day-to-day and moment-to-moment.
My Taurus mantra runs:
“I take pleasure in the great fullness of my embodiment, here, in the sensuous delight of this moment.”
New moon blessings to all.
John
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