Still, sturdy, stable, steady, stubborn, plodding, immovable, generous, generative, naturally abundant and slow as a flower opening to the spring sunlight. Taurus. This fixed earth sign doesn’t talk much. It prefers to sense its way into a situation. Taurus doesn’t need to prove much besides its ability to build bit by bit and day by day. Taurus teams up with the regenerative regime of the spring and demonstrates a faith in its own fortitude, an ability to stay the course and a talent for being a landing pad for many a flighty friend.
Sunday, May 17th at 9:13 PM PST there will be a new moon in Taurus. The moon loves comfort and a steady hand. The moon loves being in Taurus. It’s said to be exalted here. New moons in this sign offer us a thematic excuse to indulge the senses, indulge in beauty and indulge in anything that feels good.
However.
This new moon is surrounded by some intense and interesting astrology. New moons generally signal a time of beginning, but this one is particularly slow to get going and grows in ways that might not be readily apparent.
Hampered by an opposition from Saturn and a conjunction with Mars (out of sign and a little wide but because the moon is applying to both aspects they are more than relevant) this new moon is temperamental and testy. Mars wants to move forcefully forward and Saturn wants to impede the speed. The combination can offer its participants a choppy ride and a bumpy beginning to this lunar month unless we take it as an invitation to sit down and gather ourselves.
Mercury, the planet that rules communication, is stationing retrograde in Gemini within the same 24 hours of Luna’s renewal. Gather ourselves indeed.
This is no time to spring into action without considerable consideration. This astrological event creates a perfect excuse to take a momentary meditation retreat. The halting action of Saturn demands it. Saturn loves a good obstacle. Saturn creates them. Saturn solidifies them. Saturn sees the benefit in them. Sometimes we need to be held in place. Treadmills train us. Lifting the weighted objects in our path make us stronger. Having to sit and contemplate what we want and why we want it can make us wiser.
Being angry about what isn’t happening, what isn’t moving and what isn’t coming into being wastes our precious life force energy. We can worry, fret, fear and denounce our whole life away. Or, we can observe our relationship to what is happening and get curious about how better to relate to it.
This new moon is also occurring on the fixed star Algol, known to the Greeks as the blinking eye of Medusa’s severed head. This new moon carries an extra dose of hot damn. Medusa, the snake haired Greek goddess, is related to much older iterations of African snake Goddesses. Snake goddesses proliferated throughout the ancient world and were generally revered for their healing powers of prophecy, their ancient wisdom pertaining to the snake-like act of shedding skin, and the renewal process that is menstruation. The miracle of child-birth and the wisdom of witches that could prohibit pregnancy or end an unwanted one was often embodied in the snake-Goddess.
Unfortunately Medusa and others like her end up being punished for their wisdom, for their sexuality and for their power because they were a threat to systems of domination. Many goddesses became despised and disowned by religious leaders. Their intricate knowledge of mystery traditions and their lineages of initiating humans into such traditions were hidden and driven underground.
The depiction of these ancient mothers turns from generative, life-giving Goddess to destructive demonic sorceress. These ancient elders end up being betrayed by their sisters and abused by their brothers. They are demonized and excluded, executed, abandoned, set apart and turned into the monsters that we fear.
Patriarchy is efficient if nothing else.
Medusa, even in the beheaded state she eventually ends up in (placed on Athena’s breast plate as a protection against evil), is still a significant symbol for our journey. Wrath-some deities are often guardians of the gate, forcing us to reconsider if we are ready to enter into certain practices. They also keep out those that are uninitiated, unwelcome or unsavory. The star Algol depicts a tremendous passion, power and potency. Medusa has a fierce and penetrating gaze that halts the trespasser in its tracks. She keeps us away from places we are not meant to tread.
Fury is sometimes just compassion in disguise.
If you have been halted, frustrated, fearful or fretting lately try entertaining the possibility that whatever your situation you have everything that you could possibly need within you to find your way through it. Entertain the possibility that your life is conspiring to bring you the circumstances that you need at this moment to bring you a new level of self awareness. Entertain the possibility that whatever difficulty you face right now is a gateway to creating a deeper relationship to yourself.
Anchor yourself to something sane and dependable, like your breath. Discomfort is dismantled one conscious inhale and exhale at a time.
Because of Mercury’s station retrograde so close to this new moon, it’s a good time to turn our listening inward, noticing the meaning that we make out of the events of our lives, especially when things don’t go the way we think they should.
Some questions to ponder are Do I end up thinking that rejection means that I’m not worthy, relevant or deserving of love? Does my thinking help or hinder my ability to feel successful? Am I able to recognize opportunities when they arise or am I constantly belittling my abilities and focusing on my failures?
Medusa often reminds us not to look straight into our pain or to get morbidly fixated on it because otherwise we become paralyzed by the immensity of it. Pain can often become archetypal, becoming too large and too removed from the personal to be digested and integrated. This new moon reminds us that focusing on what isn’t working doesn’t work.
Venus, the domicile lord of the moon in Taurus, is in the sign that the moon belongs to, Cancer. There is a mutual benefit here for both planets. They govern connectivity and relating and in these signs they are wanting to do so through stabilizing, building and emotional bonding. Connecting helps to heal longstanding heartbreak and so does looking at another instead of just gazing into our own pits of pain.
New moon blessings,
Chani
Please join me for a new moon intention setting class. This one-hour recording will be full of astrological insights, practical exercises to anchor your new moon intentions and helpful tips on the upcoming Mercury retrograde cycle. This is a pre-recorded call. A downloadable link will be sent to you by 8 PM PST on May 16th. The link never expires and you can listen to it whenever you like.