May 5, 2024 | by Silvianne K. Delmars |
This week’s astro update begins on Tuesday, May 7, with a luscious New Moon in Taurus, launching a whole new lunation cycle. We end our week on Wednesday, May 15, with the Second Quarter Moon in Leo. Here are the highlights (all times in PDT).
Tuesday, May 7: The Taurus New Moon
The Sun and Moon meet at 8:22pm at 18 Taurus 02. This is an accelerated New Moon, amped up by both Jupiter and Uranus following in late degrees of Taurus. Remember that both these planets are change agents that egg each other on when they come together! And on the other side of the New Moon, we also have Venus in Taurus, on the way to her exact underworld meet-up with the Sun early next month.
This puts a lot of emphasis on earthy, sensuous, pleasure-loving Taurus. In the midst of this potent, chaotic era of change, here comes a deep invitation to practice a radical new level of simple beingness. Pay attention to what our bodies – and souls – are longing for in the here and now! Now more than ever we need to slow down, connect with nature, foster the opportunities offered by everyday intimacy with the beings closest to us. Make the commitment of time and attention necessary to enter more fully into the felt experience of your body so you can access true heart wisdom!
Messy transformation will continue to accelerate as this year unfolds. Taurus is here to remind us that we are not just in the evolutionary process of ascension, expanding our consciousness up and out, but that this process must be rooted in the involutionary process of down and in, the process of embodiment. We have come at this Turning of The Ages to bring Spirit more fully into the sacred ground of this beloved creation – perhaps more deeply than any civilization before us has been able or willing to go.
The Sabian Symbol for this Taurus 19 degree, “a new continent rising out of the ocean”, offers a vision of the potential renewal that awaits if we can (re)access the ancient and future frequency of primal spontaneous Taurean pleasure in the simple wonders of this earthly existence. Admittance to the New Eden is being determined by the vibrations of our hearts, not our minds. Our deep exploration of what it actually means to be spirit beings incarnated into the matter of our bodies is the path through.
This is a vital process, one that gains more urgency as Jupiter and Uranus, fresh from their exact coming together a couple of weeks ago, continue to generate seismic waves of change to dismantle the dysfunctional systems all around us.
Continuing the recent trend of major planets concentrated in just a few signs, at the time of this New Moon we have all of the personal planets in only two signs: In addition to the line-up in Taurus outlined above, we have Mars, North Node, Chiron, Mercury and Eris all in Aries.
Aries is an initiator, boldly acting on its intuitive knowing, as it leads the way into new territory, relishing the challenges it meets along the way. With this actional, communicative, transformative concentration of planets centered on the North Node in the fiery first sign of the zodiac, there is a relentless inner impulse to make something happen. We are being deeply supported this month to apply that energy to rooting out and transmuting old patterns that are blocking our most authentic expression, so we can participate more fully in the future-oriented change these times are demanding.
Neptune and Saturn are just next door in numinous Pisces, supporting the establishment of spiritual ideas in the world of form. And composter Pluto, who turned retrograde on May 2, is taking up the rear-guard position in early Aquarius. Which means all the major planets, inner and outer, are concentrated in just these four signs, in only one third of the zodiac wheel.
Notably, the four major asteroid goddesses are spread across the vacated space on the other two thirds of the chart, along with the South Node of the Moon. It is time to re-integrate the scattered, split-off parts of ourselves, maligned and distorted by thousands of years of dominator culture. With the South Node in Libra at the center of this array, I feel we are being asked to restore the principle of right relationship, purged of unhealthy co-dependency. Time to birth a radical new mode of collaboration – on the inner and outer realms – based on a healthy knowledge of our true self and the deepest desire of our soul.
New Moons are always an invitation to set our intentions for the weeks and even months ahead. This Taurus New Moon is a particularly potent time for co-creative ceremony, rooted in the primal joy, innocence and courage of Aries and Taurus working together. Time to invoke our juiciest, most optimistic, most radically sensuous, most stunningly beautiful vision of our desired future and to be open to the messages that come through, in all realms.
Wednesday, May 8
Today, the Moon goes out of bounds again until May 13. It’s in late Gemini / early Cancer, so it will be in its northern declination. Look for it to rise and set markedly north of the Sun’s path. These out of bounds Moon timings can only occur every 18-19 years and will continue through 2025 – learn all about the Lunar Standstill! We are being urged to free ourselves from the boundaries of consensus reality.
The Moon is conjuncting both Uranus and Jupiter this morning, highlighting the energies of their exact meet-up in Taurus back on April 20, the seeding of a whole new cycle of change in our relationship to Earth and to our own bodies. A timing that invites us to ask ourselves: As the waves of change continue to swell and break around me, what can I do to feel connected to my deeper essence? And how can I best invoke this energy of transformation to initiate needed changes, releasing attachments that no longer serve my deepest soul’s unfolding?
Thursday, May 9
Mercury reaches its greatest morning sky elongation at 26 degrees from the Sun. It will be very low on the horizon, hard to spot from the Northern hemisphere, easier from the Southern hemisphere.
Friday, May 10
The waxing crescent Moon will be traversing Galactic Edge (opposite Galactic Center) this evening. Look for it in the west, setting before midnight. It will be visible between golden Capella and Betelgeuse, the red star that is the shoulder of Orion. This area of the sky is revered by many cultures as the place where souls enter. A great time to tune in to this “outlier” Moon and ask what wisdom it might have to share about what we are currently birthing, individually or collectively, free from the constraints of a dying, dysfunctional culture.
Saturday, May 11
The Moon reaches its most extreme out of bounds position. A good time to note how far north it is setting on the horizon in relation to the Sun’s position.
Sunday, May 12
Still in the area of the Sacred Hoop, the waxing crescent Moon will be hanging out near the stars Castor and Pollux, the feet of the Twins constellation.
Monday, May 13
The Sun will conjunct Uranus in the early hours, a once-a-year timing, and another exclamation point in the ongoing Uranus and Jupiter in Taurus change energies. Great change is upon us! The most useful question we can ask is probably not, “How do I slow it down?” but rather, “How can I most joyously participate in where I am being led?”
Vesta, the asteroid goddess that represents our ability to focus on what is most sacred to us, will be squaring the Aries/Libra North and South Nodes this evening, at 14 Cancer 53. A reminder that in humanity’s current unfolding into a more vibrant sense of individual freedom and responsible leadership, free from unhealthy co-dependence, the seeking and providing of grounded, authentic nourishment for ourself and others is vitally important.
Wednesday, May 15
Having begun its new Aries overstory synodic cycle when it turned direct on April 25, Mercury enters Taurus this morning. It is in its Apollo, Morning Star phase until June 6, when it will disappear to make its exterior conjunction with the Sun. As it traverses the earthy, grounded sign of Taurus, what is sparky, direct-knowing Mercury learning about how to better communicate? We can take this as another nudge from the cosmos to listen more fully to the wisdom of the body in these volatile times.
Our lunation week ends with the Second Quarter Moon at 25 Leo 08, squaring the Sun in Taurus. The Moon will be traversing the night sky near Regulus, the bright star at the heart of the Lion constellation, currently located at the first degree of the sign of Virgo. The Moon will rise about noon and will be visible with the Lion from sunset until about an hour after midnight.
As we prepare to enter the next moon quarter and commune with this royal star, revered throughout the ages, make sure to savor this wonderful opportunity to sit under the night sky. How might the ancient wisdom of this constellation of power and sovereignty be informing the Virgo mysteries, and what it means to be an earth-centered priestess or priest, at this potent Turning of The Ages? Why no share about your experience in our free, private and secure TOTAMS Community Forum!