We reach the Full Moon in Taurus in the midst of difficult and challenging circumstances of all kinds.
In the US, where I am, early voting in midterm elections has begun. These elections will determine whether this country can turn back from looming disasters or will slouch over the edge right into them.
Many countries around the world are seeing widespread protests of students, of those in need of housing, of those in need of basic services. Now add in extreme weather events showing us how close we are to environmental breakdown. It’s not an easy time to be alive. For far too many, it’s an actively dangerous one.
Yet here we are with a Moon in Taurus, the cozy Moon, the Moon who makes tea or hot chocolate with cookies, the Moon who gives hugs.
The Moon is exalted in Taurus, and especially in the first decan. Here we connect with all the good things we do have, starting with the air we breathe and the ground we stand on. We revel in the gifts of the Earth, our home planet.
At a Full Moon, the Sun opposes the Moon, illuminating her fully. This Sun is in the first decan of Scorpio, not a wonderful place for the Sun to be. Here, in the Scorpio’s dark underworlds, the Sun has no dignity. And yet, Scorpio is never without power.
Early Taurus and early Scorpio illuminating each other bring together our deepest desires (Scorpio) and the incredible abundance of the Earth (Taurus). Yet somehow it’s not working. As individuals, we rarely feel we have what we want. Or, if we have it, we worry we’re about to lose it. It seems as if our greatest desire is the very thing we cannot grasp.
How can this Taurus Full Moon help us?
The chart is really complex. We’ve seen a lot of complicated charts lately and this is definitely one. Hidden within the full chart, though, are two patterns that are key to understanding this Full Moon. The patterns overlap, but intersect only with the Sun and Moon.
One pattern includes the planets and points at the end of their signs. In different ways, the end of each sign of the zodiac signifies endings. The energy and focus and gifts of each sign are fresh and bright at the beginning, busy and accomplished in the middle, and getting worn out at the end.
To make it possible to see these patterns clearly, I’ve included two extra charts. They appear at the end of this post although with the full Placidus and Whole Sign charts I always include.
Let’s look at the pattern of endings. This one is called a mystic rectangle because it includes oppositions (which can be challenging) surrounded by trines and sextiles (which tend to be supportive).
Note that the Sun and Moon are included, even though they are early in their signs. This is because the Sun and Moon are close enough to count, even though these are degree-based conjunctions. The Sun and Moon are in different signs, but only a few degrees away.
The Sun is conjunct Venus retrograde. Venus, back in Libra, is just separating from her cazimi and still combust: So close to the Sun, we cannot see her. Nor can we understand what she’s learned.
Let me note that Mercury has just stationed retrograde in late Scorpio. Mars in mid Leo, ancient ruler of Scorpio, is slowing down for his retrograde early next year.
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The Moon is in similar degree-based conjunctions with Chiron and Eris in late Aires. Chiron brings attention to where we need personal healing work. Eris, a chaos goddess, points to the needs of the world. Our cozy Taurus Moon is fully aware. She does not ignore what’s going on around her.
The other axis of this rectangle is formed by the Nodes of the Moon, with the North Node in late Aquarius and South Node in Leo. Jupiter in late Leo is conjunct the South Node. Here we’re asked to explore our own balance between the personal and the global. Leo is our personal creative power. Are we deploying that power for ourselves alone, or are we aligned with wider needs and values?
This pattern connects challenges with the power to address them, if we pay attention and choose to do the work.
The other chart shows how the Full Moon connects to the outer planets. There are three patterns here.
The shallow triangle has connected the three outer planets for many months. Pluto trines Uranus as both sextile Neptune. This connection reflects the sense we have that all these big issues connect. How we solve one will affect all the others. Nothing happens on its own.
The Full Moon is in a T-square with Pluto, deepening the intensity of the Full Moon and reminding us that even our most personal issues happen within wider frameworks. I’m not sure we need that particular reminder at this point, yet there’s Pluto making sure we don’t forget.
Then there’s a yod with the Sun at its apex. Uranus and Neptune form the corners at the base. A yod is awkward. There’s no easy way for these three to talk to each other, or work together. They come from very different places: The Sun is fixed Water, Uranus is mutable Air, and Neptune is cardinal Fire. It’s like we can see the issue but can’t find our way to a solution, which is all too familiar.
The solution to a yod is said to be opposite the apex, which is the Taurus Full Moon. So here we are, back at appreciation. At the capacity to live in abundance even when things are hard. Here we’re reminded that sometimes the answers are simple. They start with caring for the person next to you. With opening doors rather than slamming them shut. With sharing what we have.
This calm and restful Moon is herself a refuge. A reminder that the cycles of the Earth are deep and slow. That matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only transmuted into other forms.
In preparing for each New and Full Moon, I look for inspiration in the writings of others. This time, I found something new to me that felt so perfect for this Full Moon. It sounds like poetry but is a paragraph from a blogpost by Celina Su in coordination with Wah-Ming Chang. Celina Su is a Professor of Political Science whose interdisciplinary work focuses on participatory democracy, civic engagement, and racial justice. She is also an accomplished poet.
In this collaborative blogpost, Su responds to photographs by Wah-Ming Chang with poetical words. Here is one of her responses that, for me, fits this Full Moon in Taurus:
“There are some, I am told, who never walk with beauty, though I am as yet unable to believe it. She is in the folds of a cotton sleeve. She is in the indentation of a pillow, she is in gesture, she stains, she multiplies and she withholds. Once in a while, she places the horizon far from us. This is so we can watch our impossible hopes form, and then approach us as a tall, undulating wave, as sensuously folded as that sleeve.” [1]
At this Full Moon in Taurus, may we each find the beauty in the seemingly ordinary. May such beauty support us in the times ahead.
[1] Fathom Deeply: Celina Su and Wah-Ming Chang in Conversation
Title adapted from an image by Teemu Paananen on Unsplash
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