New Moon in Taurus 5*16*26

Saturday afternoon's New Moon in Taurus lands at just shy of 26 degrees of the sign of the Bull. New Moons happen when the Sun and Moon join at the same place in the sky, signifying a "new beginning" of sorts. In the dark of the New Moon, the purpose and individual will of the Sun meet the architecture of emotional needs and responses that the Moon signifies and they express through the archetype of the sign they are in. (Oh, is that all?)

Taurus is the fixed earth sign. It is practical, stable, steady, and predictable. It follows Aries. Aries energy wants to move - the faster the better. It wants to start things, take action, express itself, boldly go where no one has gone before. Taurus energy takes what Aries started and first, decides if it has value. Is this worth giving my energy to? Is it a good use of resources? Will it serve a recognizable purpose? If the endeavor meets this criteria, Taurus will consider what is needed to build a strong and stable foundation for the project. It will gather resources, formulate a plan, probably develop a timeline and then, when everything is available, it will begin the work of bringing the idea into material existence. And it will keep at it until the project is completed. Deliberately. Intentionally. Consistently. 

Taurus is the most sensual of the signs, meaning it experiences life through the senses. Taurus energy is the most connected to the body of all the signs. It needs things to feel comfortable, smell good, taste delicious, look appealing, sound harmonious - you get the picture. For Taurus, the body is a key source of information. In Taurus season, it is good practice to pay attention to messages the body is conveying. That tightening in your shoulders is asking you to look at what are you carrying. The constriction in your throat wants you to think about what are you swallowing instead of expressing. The pain in the knee suggests you look at  where are you resisting making changes you know are overdue. That pain in your lower back asks if you are finding it hard to admit you need support and ask for it. But the body doesn't just communicate through discomfort. This is also a good time to notice when you feel lighter. When you find it easier to take a deep breath. When you soften. Those, too, are messages. 

This New Moon is a great time to engage with your body and really listen to what it is trying to convey. On some level you likely already know, you just haven't brought the knowing fully into conscious awareness yet. This is the time to pay attention and at least start to make some changes that honor your needs. The thing with Taurus season is, you don't need to totally revamp anything. You just need to take one small step to get the ball rolling. Taurus energy will keep it going once it gets started. The challenge with Taurus is overcoming the inertia that comes with sticking with the known and the sense of comfort that predictability provides. 

Saturn, Neptune, and Mars are still in Aries here, so they are lending inspiration (Neptune), discipline (Saturn), and physical action (Mars) as well as courage and a dose of confidence (Aries) as a little push forward.  

Taurus is the sign of your resources, possessions, and values. It's important to recognize that Taurus deals with your own, personal resources, finances, and values. These are the things that you come with and bring into your relationships. Are you developing your resources responsibly? All your resources? It might be a good time to take an inventory of skills, talents, and past successes in addition to finances, time, and possessions. How do you demonstrate your values in your daily life? Look around at your space. Are the things you live with adding to the quality of your life or are they consuming your time and extracting your attention? Do you have enough space for something new to take root? How sturdy is your foundation? What do you think you need in your life to create security? Is this true? Are you maybe confusing comfort with security? 

A big challenge here is Mars at 28 degrees of Aries exactly conjuncting Chiron, the wounded healer. Chiron is reaching the end of its transit through Aries which began in 2018. Chiron is a class of orbiting bodies known as Centaurs who move between Saturn (limits/reality/the known) and Uranus (freedom/possibility/innovation). In Greek mythology, Chiron was a centaur, half-man and half-horse. His mother, horrified by his appearance,  abandoned him and he was raised by Apollo. Chiron was a gifted teacher and mentor to many Greek heros, one who accidentally wounded him with a poisoned arrow. Because Chiron was immortal he could not die. The wound caused him tremendous pain and in his quest to find some way to heal it, he studied and learned about different therapies, becoming a great healer and astrologer, sharing his knowledge freely. He came to wisdom because of the wound. Eventually, he made a deal with the gods to exchange his life for the life of Prometheus (who was being punished for bringing fire to humans), and was allowed to die. The gods honored his wisdom and how he shared it in his teachings by turning him into stars and placing him in the constellation of Centaurus.  

In astrology, Chiron is the wound that comes in with us. Like the myth, it is the rejection of some essential aspect of ourselves as when Chiron's mother rejected his appearance. It is through that wound we each have the opportunity to learn compassion and self- worth. Our Chiron wound is a doorway to our unique wisdom. While we each have a particular Chiron placement in our birth chart that shows our personal wound, we are all influenced by the current movement of Chiron. Since 2018, Chiron has been showing us the wound of our individuality. As it moved through Aries, the theme is being too much or not enough. How have you tried to "prove" your worth, your right to be on the planet? Do you believe you must earn having your basic needs met? How have you shrunk yourself to be more palatable? Have you held yourself back so as not to come on too strongly? Do you edit yourself to be more acceptable?  The wisdom of Chiron in Aries is to believe in the self, to honor the self and its unique, authentic, and honest expression while also being aware of how that expression affects others. It is the mature Aries, confident and assertive, rather than belligerent and impulsive. 

There is a pattern with the recent lunations. The April 17 New Moon had both Sun and Moon conjuncting Chiron - awareness of the wound and how emotional needs and expression have been affected. On the Scorpio Full Moon on May 1, Mercury conjuncted Chiron - giving voice to the wound. Did you speak from the pain point or did you pause? Were you able to access the wisdom the wound of identity helped foster? 

Now, Mars, the planet of anger, passion, and physical action, is conjuncting the wound. How will you use the information and understanding from the last two lunations? This placement is asking you to do something differently; to take action in a new way to show up as your authentic self. To refuse to play small or perform in any way. 

If by chance you have not taken advantage of the awareness from the Aries New Moon, or the ability to give voice to the wound from the Scorpio Full Moon, this Mars conjunction may come out as aggression or anger. Notice where in your body you feel these emotions. Remember, Taurus processes through the physical. Emotions are energies and all energy needs to move. Once you identify the sensation and the emotion behind it, do something physical. Stamp your feet, sweep your hands down your arms, yell (Taurus rules the throat), smash a pillow, cry if you need to. Find a safe space and stop pretending or performing. Be there for yourself.  

Then, consider what you are being shown. What pattern has become undeniable? It doesn't matter so much that you investigate it and go back to where it started. Too much emphasis on the wound means you aren't focused on the wisdom resulting from it. What matters is you take the awareness gained and choose differently. You sidestep the old default setting. You rewrite your story, retell your hero's journey, adopt a different perspective, one that celebrates you and how you have grown from reactive to empowered. And you practice, because it is a journey and a new way of moving in the world, building new relationships based on this version of you. The more you chose to take the wisdom perspective rather than the wounded perspective, the more the former becomes the new default setting. Taurus is a very patient sign, so the Bull will lend some of its quiet fortitude to this shift. 

Uranus entered Gemini at the end of April. Now all the outer planets are in their new signs. Pluto in Aquarius since November 2024, Neptune in Aries since this past February, and Uranus in Gemini. They are supporting each other, but every single sign is being challenged by these planets. The cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorn) are feeling Neptune's call to reassess their dreams and what they want to create. The fixed signs (Taurus, Scorpio, Leo and Aquarius) are being challenged by Pluto to stop performing control dramas and instead cultivate true power within themselves. And now the mutable signs (Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo and Pisces) are being shaken out of complacency by Uranus and being challenged to free themselves from old restrictive attitudes and beliefs. July and August will see further shifts and change moments as Jupiter enters Leo and the lunar nodes move from Pisces and Virgo into Aquarius and Leo. This isn't meant to elicit fear, but to inspire each of us to seize these moments when we have the opportunity to redefine ourselves and create from our ideal version of self. Aries lit the fire, Taurus is bringing the resources. Take each step in turn, deal with what is in front of you and choose the best available option that is aligned to your values and your value. Let the rest go. 

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."    ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson