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Moon Goddess - Taurus
Best evening for ritual: November 12 (Wednesday)
Theme: Building Permanent Security
This Full Moon finds the Sun and Moon forming a strong, symmetrical kite pattern with Jupiter and Saturn. It’s a rare opportunity: the forces of creation and constraint allied in the service of our conscious and unconscious needs. The Sun is closely and symmetrically flanked by Mars and Mercury, not closely enough to be strongly connected to the pattern, but creating some additional context.
A Taurus Moon is about stability and physicality; persistence and pleasure. It can manifest something desirable and keeping it safe and sound for continued enjoyment.
This is a time when you can put some passion and emotional energy into securing your accomplishments on the material plane. Although nothing lasts forever, tonight you can make something strong and durable for yourself – something that may last months, years, or a lifetime. It can be a new career, a new home, a lifestyle shift; it’s up to you.
Affirmations for this Moon:
What I build now endures.
I am rock of constancy.
I am master of accomplishment.
I have everything I need.
For more on upcoming full moons and dark moons, see Moon Magic at Starweaver’s Gems from Earth and Sky.
Theme: Listening to your Body
Today’s Dark Moon actually occurred this morning, with the Sun and Moon conjunct in the middle of Taurus. This is an especially magical Dark Moon, coinciding almost perfectly with astrological Beltane. Mercury is in rulership in Gemini at this time, adding some verbal energy to what is otherwise a very physical, sensual atmosphere. Venus is also in rulership, in Taurus along with the Sun and Moon.
Use this Moon to question your relationship with your own body: sex, diet, health, comfort. Pay attention to yourself. Notice the processes we usually take for granted: breathing, digestion, posture and motion. Our bodies hold memories of past emotions and events, and they also can hold our natural wisdom, if we learn to listen to them and release what is held within. Use the Mercury energy to translate those internal bodily feelings into wisdom you can articulate and share.
Try some divination tonight, perhaps something basic, like scrying or casting stones. Here are some questions you might ask of this Moon:
What gives me physical pleasure?
What does my body remember that my mind has forgotten?
What does my body know that my mind needs to learn?
How do I stay aware of my bodily experience?
Venus enters Taurus tomorrow morning, where she will stay for a little less than a month, leaving for Gemini on May 24.
Venus rules Taurus, so she is very alive and very much in her element here. With Venus in Taurus, we are drawn to all things beautiful, pleasurable, and sensual. Spring is in full blossom this month, and the days are becoming long and warm, although we are still far from the oppressive heat of summer.
Venus may encourage a certain hedonism at this time: self-control is not one of her virtues, especially when she is in a roll that comes so easily to her. Rich foods, fine wine, beautiful, comfortable clothes, sensual love-making – these are all appetizing and enticing during this “spring fever” time. For those of us who live in our heads or are driven to accomplish things, these desires may create some confusion or distraction. For those at home in their bodies, however, it is a welcome revel heralding in the light half of the year, just in time for Beltane.
Today, most people think of Venus as a love goddess, inextricably associated with romance and partnership. This is closer to her expression in Libra, which is about interaction, communication, flirtation, and interpersonal harmony. In Taurus, Venus is more earthy. It’s less about connection between people and more about the pleasures of the senses. Right now, a chocolate dessert hits the spot as well as (or better than) sweet conversation over dinner.
Venus also has a strongly nurturing, almost maternal side when in Taurus. She wants to make sure everyone is comfortable, and that no one’s needs are neglected. The food, the clothing, the hugs and caresses, are all ways of taking care of ourselves and others. In Venus’s world, the earth is abundant with everything we need – warm sunlight, soft grass, sweet flowers, fresh food, shelter, and companionship. She is the beautiful bearer of this cornucopia of delights, and she shines in that role.
I hardly need to give advice on how to work with Venus in Taurus this month, as I expect most of us are doing it already: taking time to enjoy the delights of spring and appreciate the pleasures of the senses.
The Sun enters Taurus tomorrow, so I thought I would share my understanding of the energies represented by this sign. (For the previous post in this series, see Aries, Finder of the Flame.)
My mnemonic for this sign is “Keeper of the Valley”. Taurus is a fixed earth sign, feminine in polarity. Taurus is loyal, sensual, acquisitive, and gentle. Taurus can serve as a protector, friend or lover, stabilizer, and healer. Taurus is Earth-Mother energy, rooted in a place, and presiding over growth and abundance. Imagine a sheltered valley in the full surge of spring, with all the plants leafed out, strong seedlings erupting from the earth, and an abundant population of animals caring for their recently born young.
The image of the bull turns some people’s thoughts to masculine power and strength, and makes Taurus seem somewhat dangerous or angry. But this is not really the nature of Taurus astrologically. Taurus is a protective energy, like a mother keeping her children safe. Taurus accumulates material things, not because of ambition to become rich and powerful, but out of a need to create a secure and comfortable place in which to live and grow.
The traps into which Taurus can fall include possessiveness, stubbornness, and self-indulgence. Taurus can be so intent on building its own lair that it refuses to release anything, or to shift its position. Taurus’s identity is very much invested in the things it acquires and keeps. Taurus can become very focused on the sensual, bodily routines of life – a favorite couch, a particular food preference. Taurus can become quite inflexible when anything threatens its sense of security and comfort.
Taurus is ruled by Venus, Goddess of Love and Beauty. With Taurus, the beauty aspect is emphasized. Taurus’s interest in the sensual and physical has a strong esthetic component. Taurus surrounds itself with things that give pleasure and comfort.
Those born with Taurus as their Sun sign seek comfort and security for themselves and others as a life mission. This is not something that is necessarily understood early in life, because it is an underlying drive that can manifest in different ways: career, marriage, family. But a person with a Taurus Sun who tries to live an unrooted life will eventually find something lacking. Learning to understand and honor one’s own body can be an area of important learning for a Taurus Sun.
The Moon in Taurus is a very easy configuration for most. A person with a Taurus Moon finds emotional comfort in the physical trappings of their life: good food, comfortable and attractive surroundings, sexual pleasures, and at least a modicum of financial security. The Moon in Taurus is much less driven than a Taurus Sun, and so is less inclined to stubbornness and defensiveness. Taurus Moon takes the pleasures of life where it finds them.
With Taurus Rising, one is inclined to wear a mask of stability, calm, and dependability. Such people can be calming influences on groups and relationships. The difficulty arises if one’s Sun is in a fire or air sign, seeking a greater degree of self-assertion and openness to change than the Taurus persona easily allows. The challenge for a person with Taurus rising is to accept the fact that they are more than just a dependable anchor, and allow themselves some opportunities for spontaneity.
Mercury will be leaving Aries tomorrow, and I for one will be glad for the change. These last couple weeks have worn me down with conversation that is just too pushy for my sensibilities – even though I’ve been responsible for my share of it! To make it worse, I ended up not taking my own advise too well and taking it too personally. Oh well – blame my Saturn in Capricorn I guess.
Mercury enters Taurus next, where he will stay until May 2. Most of us connect Mercury very strongly with air – he is the messenger god, the communicator, the wit and conversationalist. He does have an earthy side, too, however. He rules Virgo, where he expresses his mythological connection with craftsmen and traders. It is also interesting that Mercury’s Etruscan manifestation, Turms, was very much a god of property, territory, and land. Symbols of the god were erected at the center of each farmer’s plot, so that others would know it was claimed. The Etruscan Mercury thus has an earthy, almost Saturnian quality about him. Mercury is more than merely glib and articulate, he can also help produce, maintain, and defend our concrete resources.
In Taurus, Mercury becomes more subdued and more grounded. We can expect conversations to be more premeditated and sensible. Mercury also forms a trine with Saturn during the first part of his time in Taurus. If you are working those Saturn in Virgo issues, this weekend will be a good time to sit down and plan out your course of action. Saturn provides the motivation and sense of gravity for the undertaking, and Mercury lends his skill with details. Maybe you need a business plan, a budget, or to schedule your time for the months ahead. This is a good time to do it.
For those of us picking up on this change in Mercury, there may be a feeling of needing to slow down and consolidate our thinking on the matters of importance to us. What are the core issues? Which of those opinions that we expressed so eagerly early in April really deserves a place in our lives? This pausing and sifting is a good thing, but watch out for Taurus’s notorious stubbornness: ideas can be quietly expressed, but nonetheless forcefully held.
This transition also brings Mercury out ahead of the Sun, who will not enter Taurus until Saturday. For a while now, Mercury will be the usher, bringing in new ideas that impact our sense of identity and purpose. Things may appear suddenly, with their significance only becoming clear some days or weeks later.
The next couple weeks will also be a good time for making purchases or securing other material benefits. Make those decisions carefully, but do make them.
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