Paul Cezanne (1890s) Rocks in the Forest

Full Moon in Taurus

The Full Moon in Taurus on October 24 illuminates our shift toward the depth of the season, and as foliage falls into rebirth during the increasing darkness in the northern hemisphere, so does the Full Moon draw us within internal regeneration to discover the seeds of new life to nurture in the season ahead. The Taurus Full Moon has an extreme emphasis on water and earth, zodiacal signs that are considered nocturnal, yin, and receptive with an energy drawn within to source action rather than an emphasis on external projection. Listening closely to the surrounding soul of our environment and the unspoken underlying the spoken within relationships will support the reshaping of elements within life, allowing the material we are working with to help guide the path we follow.  The Full Moon in Taurus is united with Uranus in the stabilizing earthy home of Venus, while forming a flowing trine with Saturn in the initiating earth sign of Capricorn. While the planets in water elements (Sun, Venus retrograde, Mercury, Jupiter in Scorpio; Neptune in Pisces) are supporting a dissolution of old forms and boundaries, the planets in earth elements (Moon and Uranus in Taurus; Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn) will foster capacity to discriminate and discern choices through separating and making distinct the elements of life we are ready to reorganize and renew.

The Taurus Full Moon peaks within one degree of  Uranus in Taurus and is also forming a square to the lunar nodes, while the Sun in Scorpio is approaching a conjunction with Venus retrograde in Scorpio. It’s a Full Moon more likely than normal to dredge up previously hidden desires, feelings, fears, as well as inspiration from subconscious sources. It may not be perfectly clear within the silvery light of the lunation which step to take next or which felt emotions are fleeting or substantial, but there’s strong likelihood the Taurus Full Moon will be coinciding with changes in mind and/or circumstance.  As a result if action is not being demanded regarding a situation, it may be best to let yourself exist within a regenerative state of flux in the week following the Full Moon rather than forcing decisions. There’s an intensified process of shedding at work, and so we may need to more fully experience the release of old identities, values, or feelings before being able to gain crystal clear clarity.

The Full Moon in Taurus is at the southern bending of the Moon, meaning the Moon is forming a square to its own nodes while being at its lowest point of southern latitude. This means that as the Moon begins to wane following the lunation it will change direction and begin to rise in latitude until eventually intersecting the ecliptic when it forms a conjunction with the North Node in Leo on October 30. As a result the Taurus Full Moon is at a dynamic point of change within its monthly orbit, an activating quality quickened and heightened by its additional union with Uranus. Additionally, the Full Moon comes at the midway point in between eclipse seasons, forming a square to both the eclipses that came in July –  August 2018 as well as the eclipses coming in January 2019. It’s also the final Full Moon to occur with the North Node in Leo and South Node in Aquarius, as the true nodes will switch into Cancer and Capricorn on November 6 during the Dark Moon of the waning half of the lunar cycle. Within this trajectory of eclipses and astrological change, the Taurus Full Moon has a volatilizing impact as it will deeply stir material mixtures, move emotions to the surface to be released,  and accelerate development.

Notably, the Taurus Full Moon combines the monthly polarity of the Sun and Moon with the yearly opposition between the Sun and Uranus retrograde, the heart of the retrograde cycle of Uranus when it is closest to Earth and as illuminated as it ever gets by the Sun. Furthermore, Venus retrograde in Scorpio is also only a couple of days from reaching the heart of its retrograde cycle in which it is also as close as it ever gets to our planet in orbit, though in contrast it is cloaked in darkness as it becomes consumed by the rays of the Scorpio Sun. The lunation’s alignment with Uranus can bring the electrified spark needed to finally change a deep seated pattern or habit, as well as incite a far ranging vision of larger goals to stretch our smaller daily targets toward. Yet due to also occurring in the heart of the Venus retrograde transit in Scorpio, it may be necessary to first work through heavy emotions before contacting the liberating lightness of Uranus.

Hilma af Klint (1915) Tree of Knowledge

Turning aside, she led them toward the southern slopes of the hill of Caras Galadhon, and passing through a high green hedge they came into an enclosed garden. No trees grew there, and it lay open to the sky. The evening star had risen and was shining with white fire above the western woods. Down a long flight of steps the Lady went into the deep green hollow, through which ran murmuring the silver stream that issued from the fountain on the hill. At the bottom, upon a low pedestal carved like a branching tree, stood a basin of silver, wide and shallow, and beside it stood a silver ewer.

With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke. “Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,” she said, “I have brought you here that you may look into it, if you will.”

The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf -lady beside him was tall and pale.

— J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Mirror of Galadriel” from The Fellowship of the Ring

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s cosmology underlying The Lord of the Rings, Venus as a bright Evening Star is a legendary ancestor dear to the elves and their Lady Galadriel.  I thought of the above passage from The Fellowship of the Ring when contemplating the intense combination of the Taurus Full Moon being united with Uranus while also being ruled by Venus at the heart of its retrograde, only a couple of days away from being reborn in the golden fire of our Sun. In the scene the brightness of Venus shining above is brought by Galadriel down into the earth, and within the waters of her silver mirror she offers visions of what may come to pass, as well as what is passing and has passed already.  Venus is not visible at the Taurus Full Moon, but while she is invisibly passing in between the orbit of our home planet with our Sun, the full light of the Moon combined with Uranus can illuminate the previously hidden depths of dreams and visions, while also bringing luminosity to reflections regarding the past and present.

Galadriel’s advice regarding the visions seen in her mirror is worth considering with regard to what we may sense at the Full Moon: “Remember that the Mirror shows many things, and not all have yet come to pass. Some never come to be, unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent them. The Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds.” With Uranus so strongly involved with the Full Moon, it will be best to focus on embodying whatever feels authentic in spite of any fears arising from awareness of the potential consequences that could come from following a genuinely enlivening path rather than external expectations. We may gain deeper realization of what we simply must do, and deciding to commit to our intrinsic purpose in the end will be more important due to helping us find our true path, rather than holding back because of whatever setbacks we fear we will have to overcome on the journey ahead.

Venus retrograde in Scorpio will finally form an exact opposition with Uranus on October 31, and so the tension between them will be continuing to build in the week following the Full Moon. Since they are both moving retrograde with the stationing direct of Venus coming in mid-November, it means that Venus and Uranus will essentially remain in close opposition from now through the beginning of December, as Venus will form its final exact opposition with Uranus on November 30. Remarkably, Venus and Uranus are forming their opposition while simultaneously being in square to the transiting lunar nodes, and this amazingly animating grand square will also persist into December as the lunar nodes will move into Cancer and Capricorn in the beginning of November around the same time that Venus moves back into Libra and Uranus moves back into Aries. This long persisting, change inducing transit will force the opposition of Venus and Uranus even more strongly to the surface than normal; it will be an unavoidable dynamic to face in personal and collective events.

The opposition between Venus and Uranus in collective events will be felt in both the unexpected events and crises that dramatically and quickly reshape storylines as well as protest movements that become catalyzed in reaction to threats against ideal values. On personal levels, the opposition between Venus and Uranus will amplify the process of  intensified change normally associated with Venus peeling back in retrograde motion and then stationing direct in stillness. If you are used to attaching the security of comfort and stable routine to the pleasure principles of Venus, be ready to shift and learn to embrace a Uranian flavor that may feel jarring to those unaccustomed to the unorthodox, raw, wilder, emancipatory and rebellious side of Venus. Commitment within relationships may be maintained and sustained, but it will be important for the bonds to allow for individual liberty and freedom of expression. Attempting to hold on too tightly or force control of situations will invite a lightning strike of Uranian fire in response.

Woods Twilight (1899) Edward Steichen

The Full Moon is ruled by Venus retrograde applying to a conjunction with the Sun. The return of Venus uniting with the Sun while retrograde is called the inferior conjunction as Venus aligns with the Sun on our interior side, in between the orbit of Earth with the Sun. The union of Venus retrograde with the Sun signals a fiery rebirth of Venus, seeding a new cycle of Venus in its Morning Star phase which will come in November. As the inferior conjunction of Venus occurs two days after the Full Moon on October 26, it means that Venus is being purified and cleansed at the end of its cycle as the Moon peaks in light, a phase we can also liken to finishing a process of putrefaction that ultimately brings fertility and new blooms of growth.

The last time Venus was reborn in union with the Sun was on 9 January 2018 at its superior conjunction when Venus was direct and on the other side of the Sun in orbit. The last time there was an inferior conjunction of Venus retrograde, however, was 25 March 2017 at five degrees of Aries.  Some may note a deepening of the personal narrative being developed at those previous dates as Venus now re-enters the heart of the Sun, whereas others may realize how vastly different their relationships are now from those past dates of the previous Venus cycle; the common ground is that the current transit of Venus can bring deeper reflection upon the arc of storylines developed since then, and intimations of new growth coming.

When Venus forms its conjunction with the Sun on October 26, within its solar regeneration its Venusian significations can be strengthened during the time of the union. Since Venus will continue to be retrograde until November 16, however, the fiery rebirth of Venus serves best as a time of internal illumination at the dead center of the Venus retrograde transit that began October 5. Venus will still be invisible until the beginning of November when she will emerge again as a Morning Star heralding dawn, and similarly its more likely Venus will only then bring light to our own awareness of the Venusian shifts presently brewing. Since Venus simultaneously will be returning to her home sign of Libra at the beginning of November, it’s likely that increasing Venusian movement and change will come after we cross the traditional threshold of Samhain, All Saints Day, and the Day of the Dead. As this is a time of working with Spirit, the spirits of relationships no longer with us as well as ancestors will be an additional source of guidance.

Amplifying perceptions, Mercury and Jupiter are co-present with the Sun and Venus in Scorpio with Mercury applying toward a conjunction with Jupiter that will become exact on October 29. Moreover, on October 26 when Venus retrograde unites with the Sun there is also an opposition formed by the Moon in Taurus in polarity to the conjoining of Mercury and Jupiter in Scorpio. Our experience of Jupiter in Scorpio is almost complete, and the week following the Full Moon ramps up the penetrative intensity needed for a final lesson. Mercury during its union with Jupiter is twinkling as an Evening Star in twilight, in Scorpio in a place to foster curious questioning and deep digestion of whatever emotional and relational experiences coincide with a dive into Scorpio during the final days of October. Mercury and Jupiter together in Scorpio bring extrasensory perception beyond words, and we may need to wait until the beginning of November when Venus has moved into Libra and Mercury has moved into Sagittarius in order to communicate clearer about our changing state. The presence of Mercury and Jupiter in Scorpio as Venus is reborn signifies that even amidst difficult experiences of strife that growth and wisdom can be eventually cultivated.

Picture of the Starting Point (1920) Hilma af Klint

An immense shift in astrological atmosphere comes in November as the Moon wanes in light, including a remedy of the lack of fire signs being occupied at the Taurus Full Moon.  The first change comes on October 31 when Mercury enters Sagittarius and Venus moves back into Libra.  Next Uranus will move back into Aries on November 6 on the same day that the true nodes of the Moon leave Aquarius and Leo and enter Capricorn and Cancer. A day later comes the New Moon in Scorpio on November 7, followed by a major driver of change: the entrance of Jupiter into its fiery home of Sagittarius on November 8.  With so many changes happening we can predict this will be a period of accelerated shifts, with some elements breaking down to be released completely while other parts of our life experience rapid growth. In particular Mercury and Jupiter entering Sagittarius will be a welcome warming of inspiration to respond as needed.

As a result, it will be best to keep in mind that the events and insights experienced during the full light of the Taurus Moon are a precursor to greater change coming in November.  It’s by no means the end of the story, but rather only the beginning.

5 of Pentacles by Pamela Colman Smith

Taurus 1 Decan

The first face of Taurus where the Full Moon in Taurus culminates is connected with the Five of Pentacles card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The Five of Pentacles is often associated with worry and fear over not having enough money or resources, or experiencing bodily or material hardship.  Yet the poverty stricken figures in front of the stained glass window of a cathedral suggest that resources can be found in even the most dire of circumstances, as charitable sources of sustenance can be found in communities.  Mercury rules the first face of Taurus, linking the commerce of Mercury with the fertile, earthy nature of the sign of the Bull.  Mercury makes the connections we need for our livelihood, and in the first decan of Taurus we discover our capacity not only to gain enough resources for our own survival but to also contribute assistance to those in greater need.

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Plow” to the first face of Taurus, noting the “face is traditionally connected to all of the sciences necessary to draw forth fruit from the land,” adding that we must also realize that “the mind, heart and body are all ripe fields, which offer abundance when cultivated” (p. 69). Coppock noted that though the first decan of Taurus “reveals the ways one may work with whatever one has to gain more,” that the images and interpretations associated with the Five of Pentacles card bring up the shadow of fear that we will not have enough money, food, or material resources and that bleak times may arise if we disengage from our constant planning around cultivating resources. Thus the threat of not having enough in the future inspires us to work hard and plan for how to not only gain enough resources for the moment but also to save for later times of need.

The Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed Charis to the first decan of Taurus, linking the Charites of mythology to the charity we can find in the image of the Five of Pentacles card as well as the meaning of the first face of Taurus. The Charites are the same as the three Graces you are most likely familiar with, commonly known as Splendor, Mirth, and Good Cheer, though various traditions have additional names as well as numbers for these charming, fertile beings. As Venus is reborn in the days following the Taurus Full Moon, focusing on cultivating your inner agriculture of soul will align you with the good graces. While a cold wind blows across collective events as darkness increases, the inner light we nurture within our own darkness will become available to share with and inspire others.

References

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.