Insights for Taurus
Actually, April 19th, this year…
April 19
Sun enters Taurus 09:59 AM EDT
Mars sextile Jupiter and Uranus
Since before Ram Dass took upon himself to teach a generation to Be Here Now, the greatest wisdoms began with: “You are here and the time is now! There is no other reality and nothing lasts.” The past and future are real but they not present. And yet our memory of past experience and our apprehension regarding the future informs and suffuses each and every moment. As our perceived reality of culture and nature collapse and transform around and within us the realest agency comes in the here and now combined or connected to the imaginal realm. We are a lot like caterpillars making our way to becoming butterflies. This is why we sit and sitting we become aware of vast and empty reality within and around us as it spins, twirls, leaps, falls, exults and despairs. Dancing the only dance there is from morning till night, from first breath to last.
Mars affirms that all change is opportunity even or maybe especially if it isn’t the change you were expecting. We were born here. It’s all relatives.
As the Sun moves through Taurus it will most notably conjunct Jupiter and Uranus hopefully renewing our commitment to sustainability and equity… for all. A tall order but what else do we have to do?
April 20
Jupiter conjunct Uranus
A major astrological configuration has finally perfected (become exact). Even if it is not visible to the naked eye we have been feeling it for a while. It’s the tenor of the times, an indication of the zeitgeist, a cosmic meme, telling us what we already know: This chaotic world is all there is. You can grab it by the tail and it will swing you all over the place. You can dig in with your heels and say, ‘not on my watch’ or just plain ‘NO’. You can breathe and relax, open to life exactly as you find it, infusing all that you do (be it protest or rescue, getting the kids to school or making art) with intent. If the greatest treasure of the age is our focus and attention and the way we live is unsustainable, then what?
April 21
Venus conjunct Chiron
Sun square Pluto
Life goes on. Even after yesterday’s conjunction and the eclipse on April 8th. Astrological interactions between heavenly bodies are called transits. More reliable than your local transit system, they keep on coming and going, arising and passing. Perhaps ancient astrologers saw the planets as gods and goddesses because, just like all living things down here on Earth, they constantly move and interact with each other. Today these sky gods want us to take a good look at what cannot be swallowed or spit out. There is everything to learn but the only test will be in the living. This is it. No Planet “B”. Earth Day calls.
April 23
Full Moon: 04 degrees Scorpio: 07:48 PM EDT
The Moon in Scorpio likes a good mystery. There are mysteries everywhere: some to be solved and some to revere. At the Full Moon the Sun sets as the Moon rises. There’s a mystery for you.
Even before the world seemed unutterably chaotic and crazy we humans often suffered from a sense that there was never enough. Maybe the mystery has something to do with how it is we have become hungry ghosts in such an abundant world. Nature? Nurture?
April 25
Mercury stationary direct
By now you might have forgotten all about Mercury retrograde. The big news is always when it goes retrograde. Even so, if you notice a spring in your step or an indication to enjoy the simple fact of existence don’t fight it. It’s awesome to exist. This awareness is an Aries gift. Mercury was retrograde in Aries, along with the eclipse and Chiron. Life itself is the teacher, the teaching and the student.
April 29
Mars conjunct Neptune
Venus enters Taurus
Longing and shopping make strange bedfellows if you aren’t aware of their differences. One is intrinsic to the soul. It draws its power from our inclination to connect, to help and to express the fullness of not just who we are but who we could be, who we are constantly becoming. The other is quite practical and requires us to balance our budget and make sure we’re getting what we pay for. Consumer protection for the soul is not an option. Only our ability to feel fully, deeply into what the body knows before the mind grabs hold.
April 30
Mars enters Aries
Mars lives here, in Aries. It’s a kind of homecoming. Planets do what they do as best when they are in their home signs. Mars’ best is questionable. Is its strength in its ability to be aggressive or assertive? Is our goal to fight to the death or fight to gain skill and ability: To say with confidence, I Am Me? We love the feeling of strength and capacity. To separate it from a win/lose mentality is not easy and it falls to each of us as individuals to express it the way we see fit.
May 1, 2, & 3
Venus square Pluto
Pluto stationery retrograde
Mars sextile Pluto
The common astrological denominator in these few days is Pluto. Pluto the destroyer? The abductor? The transformer? The regenerator? The Great Composter? If we take Pluto as it has been handed down from Greek mythology Pluto is the enemy, the all-powerful force of death, loss and violent domination of those that have over those that do not. If we understand the stories we have been told as supports for a system that kills relationship and fosters alienation, greed and dominance then what story might we tell instead? One of loss. Loss is inevitable. No one likes to lose. But it is the Great Lesson, that which makes us fully human, Nature’s ultimate incomprehensible gift.
For more about this you might imagine Pluto as Persephone and consider an alternative to the story that first comes to mind.
May 4 – 6th
May the fourth be with you… all of us. These days, between the 4th and 6th are the exact midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice: the heart and soul of the season. Beltane, the exact opposite of Samhain which happens in November. Life returns to the land. Celebration is instinctive. Life goes on. We may not frolic with strangers on the verdant hills or midwife cow and sheep mothers but still the impulse to embody this sacred geometry lives in us all, an instinct wanting to be fanned into awareness and apprehended by our senses rather than comprehended with our minds. We are called to celebrate the gifts of the Earth. To do this, to actually ‘see heaven in a wild flower’, we must allow for its fleeting moment in this world.
A Clothing for the soul divine
May 06
Mercury conjunct Chiron
This is the third and last conjunction of these two heavenly bodies since March 20th; once before Mercury went retrograde (remember that?) once during the retrograde and now as Mercury is moving through the shadow of the retrograde soon to inhabit new realms. What have we learned in this time? What are we still learning? Life is the classroom and school is always in session.
May 07
New Moon: 18* Taurus: 11:21 PM EDT
Sun sextile Saturn
It’s alive and it’s real. Its appearance doesn’t last forever but it is powered by forever. Forms change whether we like it or not. Yet nothing dies. Mystical reality informs our intentions. Don’t believe in it. Perceive it. Don’t try to comprehend it. Apprehend it. We cannot truly understand what we don’t experience. Comprehension is fueled by what our senses tell us. In these times when so much is being born from chaos Matter matters.
Between May 8th and 12th there are no mutual aspects between planets. We travel by the wayfaring Moon as she waxes, encouraging us to join the dance, follow our enthusiasms, cultivate the intention we made:
· In Taurus – carrying our intention to live in a world that matters;
· In Gemini (7:20 PM May 8th) – activating the monkey mind, for better and for worse;
· In Cancer (11:12 PM May 10th) – reminding us that we belong here. This earth is our home. And we share it with all manner of kin.
May 13
Sun conjunct Uranus
Venus sextile Saturn
Astrology is useful or meaningful because we use it that way. It invites us into the imaginal realms. What could happen will happen to someone, if not you. We have this amazing ability to cast our thoughts toward the world we know is possible even as we live in one that isn’t quite there. It’s a kind of magic to live as if the possible has already happened. Imagine a world in which we care for one another more and click our likes less…
May 15
Mercury enters Taurus
The tension between what we are in the habit of wanting and how getting it effects the rest of the world: other people, the bees, the air, the waters, has never been so clear, so irreconcilable. Holding the tension without distraction or rationalization is a powerful tool for change.
May 17
Mercury square Pluto
Tension between what we are used to wanting and how getting it effects the rest of the world is high. The effects of our consumption on (for example) other people, bees, air and waters has never been so clear and so irreconcilable. Holding awareness of these tensions without distraction or rationalization is a powerful tool for change.
May 18
Venus conjunct Uranus
Sun conjunct Jupiter
Radical shift can hit the fan. It can also excite and challenge us to be the change in whatever measure we have going at the moment. Think before you tap.
May 19
Sun sextile Neptune
Mars conj NN
Be as still as you can be for as long as you need to feel yourself as part of the cosmos and the world. We, the All of Us, are being pulled through a portal of Great Change. Like it or not. Affirming may all beings be happy, peaceful and live with ease includes you.
These insights, are meant as contemplations. Astrology is a kind of sky writing which invites the muse. No two perceptions are exactly the same but any of us can find insight through the images if we look. These are mine, happily offered for you to reshape and fashion into something of your own. Follow the links, where you find them for further musings (mostly non-astrological) on the planetary aspects.