We are now heading into Eclipse season, a time of shifts, endings and new beginnings. It is a powerful time energetically, with considerable potential for consciousness shifts and profound soul growth. A Solar Eclipse is more far reaching than your average New Moon, as it tends to set the tone for the next 6 months, until the next set of eclipses in November. The Nodes of the Moon are very much brought into focus during Eclipses, which is why there is so much potential for fateful events and soul growth. Eclipse season can signify the beginning of a new chapter. There will be some energetic resonance between this Moon and the Taurus New Moon of 1 May 2003, so it can be useful to look back to what was going on in our lives then, as this Moon may bring a continuation of whatever was going on at that time.
The Nodes entered Scorpio and Taurus in January this year and will remain there until July 2023. The South Node, which signifies tendencies to leave behind, is in Scorpio, while the North Node, which signifies tendencies to cultivate, is in Taurus. This is the financial axis, which brings the financial system and economy into focus for the 18 months that the Nodes are in Scorpio and Taurus. Scorpio rules power and powerlessness, and can show how we give our power away to institutions such as banks, money lenders and such like. It represents resources we share with others whom we have put our trust in, such as business and marriage partners.
Our collective trust in the financial system has certainly been waning in recent times, not to mention a general feeling of powerlessness and a sense of already having had the rug pulled out from underneath us a few times over the past couple of years! Scorpio has a tendency to bring a considerable amount of drama and intensity, which has been fairly relentless on a collective level in recent times. The Taurus North Node calls us forward to a greater sense of peace, simplicity and serenity, although we will probably have to find this ourselves, as it won’t be handed to us in a silver plate!
Taurus is a very earthy, abundant, fertile sign that helps us to ground and connect to Mother Nature. With the North Node currently in Taurus, we are being encouraged, both personally and collectively, to develop the Taurean traits of self-sufficiency, self-reliance, self-confidence along with the capacity to sustain ourselves and take care of our own needs. We are invited to connect to the earth, developing our green thumb and getting back to where we have come from. Modern society has become so far removed from nature, buying packaged and processed foods from supermarkets with little or no sense of what happens to create the food we eat. We flush our waste down the drain with little understanding of where it goes or what happens to it. We take it for granted that water comes out of the taps and electricity brings light and makes our gadgets work. We have come a long way from our true nature.
The Taurus North Node is prompting us to get back to basics and to remember our roots, connecting to the land and delighting in the abundance that is available to us with some hard work, tender loving care and patience. To watch a seed grow into a seedling, then into a plant and then a vegetable is what Taurus is all about. You can’t rush nature and any of us who have a Taurean in our lives know that you can’t rush them either! This is a very patient, grounded, loyal, pragmatic sign that might need to chew the cud for a while before making a big change. There is a stability, practicality and simplicity to this self-sufficient sign that we are being asked to emulate and develop in the next year or so, slowing down and developing a true appreciation for this beautiful, abundant earth that continues to sustain and nourish us. How can we become more self-reliant? Do we have a green space we can cultivate? How can we get more in touch with the earth?
Uranus is sitting right next to the Sun and Moon in Taurus, bringing a slightly unpredictable, revolutionary and exciting element to this Eclipse. Change is afoot whenever we see Uranus! While Taurus is that part of us that can tend to cling to the status quo and resist change and progression, Uranus can bring some surprises and unexpected curve-balls that shock us onto an alternate route and force us to see things from a different perspective. It does feel somewhat inevitable, with the planet of innovation, technology and progression travelling through the sign of finance and survival, that some big changes are coming our way in terms of our financial system, bringing up issues around basic survival. While it seems as if the increased use of technology within the financial system is where we are headed, as things stand right now, it is also possible that some of us will come up with some ingenious and alternative solutions that help us to become more self-sufficient and less reliant on the system to sustain us. Back to basics. Back to who we really are.
Uranus is 4 degrees away from the Sun and Moon during this Eclipse, but the Sun will catch up with Uranus on May 5, so we may feel the shocking, liberating, awakening, releasing and revolutionary energy of this erratic planet most strongly in the days between the New Moon and 5 May. Anyone with personal planets or angles around 14° of a sign, especially the fixed signs Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, will be feeling the freeing and unsettling power of Uranus most acutely.
Venus, the ruler of Taurus, is currently in spiritual Pisces, reminding us that Taurean activities such as gardening, building, and cooking can nourish us spiritually as much as they sustain us physically and practically. They are essential to our survival and very “ordinary” activities, yet they also involve magic, helping us to connect to something far bigger than ourselves. As the book “The Secret Garden” that many of us read in our childhoods so beautifully depicts, time spent in the garden connecting to nature can be amazingly therapeutic and tremendously healing. When we connect to the earth we connect to spirit, as the two are not separate. In the garden or the forest or by the sea we slow down and attune ourselves to the natural rhythm of the universe. Here we find space, tranquility, connection, peace and grounding.
Venus and Jupiter are forming an exact conjunction in spiritual, compassionate Pisces at the time of this New Moon, which feels incredibly auspicious! The goddess of love and beauty joining forces with the King of the Gods and the planet of growth and expansion has to be a good thing! It is a reminder, in these uncertain times, to keep the faith that we are always held by Mother Earth and will somehow be provided for. It is easy to fall into fear when survival issues come up, but fear constricts and blocks the flow of energy whereas faith in energetic flow, trust in providence and gratitude for what we already have can bring abundance and a healthy flow of energy. We tend to get what we focus on, so it is much better to focus on abundance and beauty than dwell on what we fear! Venus represents the capacity to attract what we need, whether it be love or money, and with magnifying Jupiter by her side during this Eclipse we are invited to open ourselves to receiving all the abundance, love and beauty we deserve!
Those of us with personal planets or angles around 27° of a sign, especially the mutable signs of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, will feel the expansive, magical, abundant energy of this conjunction most acutely. It can really help us to open our hearts with faith, love, gratitude and trust and to delight in all that this world has to offer! The Sabian symbol for the conjunction is unbelievably appropriate!: “A fertile garden under the full Moon reveals a variety of full-grown vegetables” which Rudyar describes as “The full satisfaction of the individual’s basic needs. The symbol refers to a typical garden, not to a field. Such a garden contains a variety of plants, herbs and vegetables grown specifically to fill an equal variety of human needs and tastes. It is a symbol of ABUNDANCE, an abundance fitted to individualised requirements and wants”. Amazing!
Three days before the New Moon, on Wednesday 27 April, Venus will connect with Neptune, just before moving on to Jupiter. This brings such amazing potential for heart-openings and heart-felt connection with others. Neptune is the higher octave of Venus, the planet of unconditional love, while Venus is the goddess of a more earthly, human kind of love. Put them together and we have the potential for such compassion, sensitivity and spiritual connection within our relationships. Not only that, Neptune helps us to put our faith and trust in a loving, abundant universe. Anyone with personal planets or angles around 24° Pisces will feel the energy of this beautiful pairing most acutely, especially the mutable signs of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.
Pluto is also helping out during this Moon, forming supportive aspects to the Venus/Jupiter conjunction and also Mercury, the planet of mind and communication. Pluto and Venus help us to dig a bit deeper in our relationships, revealing more of ourselves and exposing our tender underbellies, which can bring us closer and create more intimacy. It can also help us to empower ourselves financially and instill a greater sense of self-worth. It feels good to have the planet of soul, power and transformation supporting the Venus Jupiter conjunction on an Eclipse, that’s for sure! Pluto and Mercury will exactly trine one another on 28 April, helping us to dig deeper and penetrate to the heart of the matter in our communication and thinking. Pluto and Mercury do not bring superficial conversations, that’s for sure, but rather they bring about some deep thinking and a desire to really get to the bottom of the matter.
The Sabian Symbol for the New Moon/Eclipse, at 11° Taurus, is: “ A woman watering flowers in her garden”. The keyword for this symbol is CULTIVATION. This symbol also feels incredibly appropriate, given the overall feeling of this Moon which combines the earthy, nature-oriented Taurus with the magic, sensitivity and spirituality of Pisces. It evokes a lovely image of a woman patiently tending to her garden and responding to its needs, and as she does so she is rewarded with peace, serenity, beauty, tranquility and a sense of spiritual connection. There truly is magic in the garden! This symbol can certainly be taken literally, as we are all currently being encouraged to get into our gardens and connect to nature. Keeping a garden requires some hard graft, patience and the need to make sure the weeds don’t take over! However, we are rewarded in kind. This symbol can also be seen as a metaphor, however, reminding us to take care of our own needs and nourish both our spirit and our physical body. This symbol reminds us of the rewards we may receive when we “tend to our garden” with love and tenderness.
This could be a powerfully potent Moon for setting positive intentions. We are invited to really, truly develop our faith and trust in an abundant, loving universe. We are being called back to ourselves, back to our origins, back to basics. All we actually need, when it really comes down to it, is food, water and shelter. And loving connection with our fellow humans. Everything else is an added bonus or an unnecessary distraction. Life has become much more complicated in recent times, as technology and the “conveniences” of modern culture take their toll on the human psyche. This Moon calls for us to contemplate what truly nourishes us and what we really, truly need for ourselves. We are encouraged to delight in cooking a delicious meal for our loved ones, to bury our bare feet in the grass, to tend to a seedling or plant, to listen to the birds chirping and the wind rustling in the trees and relish feeling the warmth of the sun on our face. This is what Taurus season is all about.
“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.” – Gertrude Jekyll
Much Love
Amy
xoxo
Painting: New Life by Fiona Jack