New Moon in Taurus

Note: Anyone needing the New Moon Ritual pattern explained, please see the start of the Capricorn New Moon entry. Also note that i aim to put up a new post on or just before the Full Moon - so mark your calendar or send me an email and i can put you on the notification list.

Taurus New Moon 12 May 2021

The progression through the signs is an adjusting process in response to the excesses in the energy that came before. Aries was charge and GO! It requires a tremendous staying power that can put the breaks on that. Taurus does that and more. Taurus is fixed earth. Fixed, the least movable of the triad of modalities. Earth, that grounding practical energy. Taurus can be incredibly stubborn and incredibly stagnating energy for these reasons. It knows how to hold its ground and take its time. It knows the benefit of hard work and good rest. Its a tangible energy, it wants to work with its hands and use its body. It understands the animal pleasures – food, rest, sex, exercise – all those things which draw it deeply into the body and into the moment. All of these can be taken to an unhelpful extreme, for Taurus is nothing if not also self-indulgent. Taurus is ruled by Venus after all. It is where Venus gets her predilections for acquisition. Taurus is about accumulation – earth, building up, metabolism slowing down. Lazy, it understands most thoroughly. It is how Taurus can heal us from the intense high speed car race of Aries. Taurus wants a soothed nervous system. Peace and pleasure are its prime motivators. Taurus teaches us how to rest, how to slow down and pay attention to what is actually happening inside of our bodies. Taurus doesn’t mind hard work and can usually pull its own weight and then some, but it has to do it in its own time, in its own way and for practical, useful reasons. Taurus as an earth sign understands both time and resources are limited, that everything comes to an end and so it relishes being in the body – feeling its own aliveness is a big part of it. Taurus is about Gratitude. For Taurus there is an unshakable simplicity to life. Its very basic - simple solid pleasures. It stands in polarity with Scorpio for whom complexity rules. It takes that fireball of activity that Aries initiated and it tries to build something with it. Preferably something that leads to greater pleasure. It does this by tuning in very deeply to the rhythms and cycles of the world around it – particularly the non-human world of plants and animals. What Taurus listens for is the deep hum of Gaia herself. Taurus trust smells more than it does words, it understands actions more than thoughts. It has an innate attunement towards vibration and here we see why Taurus rules the voice and singing. Taurus is the natural ruler of the 2^nd house, sometimes called the house of money. I see it as the house of personal power, where we see to our own basic needs for food, shelter and safety. It is hard to have peace when those things are not met. Money is one way to do that. Our values are another, as is hard work. But Taurus listens more deeply and so knows when we are paying too much for our money. The 2^nd house represents our bottom line – where we can stand and not be moved from. It is the core. Taurus honors this core, this essence. This is where personal power is generated. So it wants to put its considerable strength and determination to that which really addresses this bottom line.

This New Moon we find Uranus also in Taurus – 10 degrees from the Sun & Moon. Uranus is the paradigm shifter, the rebel, the radical. Uranus is lightening and unexpected surprises. Taurus energy is very slow to anger, but when it does LOOK OUT! Any Uranian explosions take center stage will this month will be ones that have been a long time brewing. CHANGE is in the air with Uranus. Taurus may fundamentally not like change, but when it has to, it does. And when it does, it does so completely, because for Taurus, when it makes its mind up, there is not much that can move it. So we really want to harness this Taurus momentum wisely to what Uranus is opening up within us. Uranus is about the collective. The Sun and Moon are about the individual. We change the collective story by each of us individually taking responsibility for the reality of our own lives and our actual effort. We shift the narrative by hoeing our row – whatever that is. How we know is by listening deeply to our bodies and what instinct is telling us. What vibrations sound like peace and pleasure. That is what we can shift the story into….and not in a namby-pamby, flight into light, head in the sand kind of way; not by waiting for help to arrive or for someone to fix it or for it to become fair. No, Taurus knows the work that needs to be done and just gets on with it…. It wants to finish, have a shower and eat a good meal before it slides into sleep.

Intentions: pick up what is yours to carry and get on with it. Don’t listen to all that noise out there telling what is what, tune into your own body, trust your own instincts. Choose to NOT have your feathers ruffled. Step away from drama – whatever form it takes be it self-generated or media/social hype. Listen to what your own senses are telling you and take responsibility for that. Believe your body, more than your mind. Our minds can often convince us of things that wreak havoc on the body. This is time to move towards peace, stillness, gratitude. Put your roots down. If you are facing choices this season, pick the ones that seem the most practical, especially financially as Taurus rules money. Practical in terms of the health of your body, your quality of peace, the amount of time it gives you. These are the things Taurus values. Decide to make lifestyle changes that bring you closer to these simple truths.

Actions: go do something with your hands. Find a way to work up a good sweat. Get a massage. Do some yoga. Spend time in the kitchen making something amazing. Do a sauna or a sweat. Work in the garden or in the yard. Wear your comfiest clothes. Sing! Studies show that singing is the number one thing we can do for not only our emotional and psychological health, but for our physical health. Singing – particularly if you sing something you believe in, creates resonance within the body that helps to flush toxins from our cells and increases out internal vibration. Basically raising your Qi. Simple songs can be used as mantra or as a way to commune with others without needing to involve our minds so much. Song is the First Gift and is used in every culture around the world as an offering of gratitude. Here is a really good simple song that utterly embodies the Taurus vibe. I encourage you to learn it and sing it and teach it. There are many versions of it on the internet, here are two of my faves:

https://soundcloud.com/heather-houston-2/put-your-roots-down-all-parts/reposts

https://soundcloud.com/user-811262828/mindful-music-sangha-put-your-roots-down-original-by-arielle-solomon

Ritual: whatever you do, make it outside, make it unplugged, have something delicious to eat, burn fragrant herbs and sing! A beautiful ritual well suited to Taurus energy is to ground by simply saying “Thank you”. Its a great way to begin your day with a gratitude salutation – just go outside and listen. Use all of your senses, see and feel and smell, then for everything that touches your senses, say Thank you. “Thank you Sun. Thank you warmth. Thank you sky. Thank you birds. Thank you trees. Thank you tired. Thank you people. Thank you traffic. Thank you mosquito. Thank you breath. Thank you shadow. Thank you time. Thank you peace.” And so on. Take your time, give yourself time. What usually happens is that there is a deep sense of connectivity and humility that fills us. It can be incredibly cathartic and deeply soothing. You can do this with others, you can do this alone.

You can use this New Moon to begin a change of lifestyle and a ritual is a perfect way to make the intention tangible, but don’t stop there, that’s lazy Taurus – entirely available to you for sure, but what a waste when you could pick up one simple practice to keep working for the next two weeks. As I said, Taurus has tremendous sticking power, so if you have been trying to change your diet, quit a habit, get more sleep, unplug more, exercise more – whatever it may be - try picking one actual thing that you can do for the next two weeks and DO IT! I am talking about the 2 weeks beginning on the New Moon and ending on the Full. This is the most potent building time for energy. You will find that there will be far less resistance to this lifestyle change and it will give you momentum to continue to follow through even after the Full Moon. Same goes for a project you need to knuckle down on and put some hours into. And throughout the next two weeks continue to really check in with your body, how it is feeling and what you are doing about it. Are you listening or are you ignoring it? What vibrations are you picking up on and what are you choosing to sound yourself?

No doubt there will be some unexpected surprises unfolding for the collective. These are the times we are living in. We all have free will to choose how we respond to these times. Our minds are only part of the equation, our bodies – the earth – is another part. Take time to really tune in to what the earth and what your body is saying to you and then pick up what you are responsible for and own that choice. Taurus is about owning your personal power and standing strong there. How we do that is by anchoring to our bottom line. Make your bottom line more than just money, more than just feeling good in the moment – like all earth energies Taurus wants things that hold water, things that stand the test of time.