Full Moon @17 Taurus-Scorpio 20
May 7, 2020, 6:45am EDT, 3:45am PDT, 
10:45am GMT, 8:45pm AEST

A Full Scorpio Moon is an intense subterranean dive into an inner well to tap the deeper wellspring. Has something been bubbling up in you as the April 22 New Moon has been waxing to present fullness? This is a powerful moon with many positive patterns that support growth.

This Full Moon follows the Uranian New Moon that inaugurated a lunar month of electric storms, in consciousness and the weather. This heightened Scorpio Full Moon awareness is the tipping point of this lunar cycle to let go, shed old ways, clear space and allow the cosmic empowerment to stand your ground. 

With Uranus in Taurus, the ground continues to shake under our feet; therefore the need for sending our taproots down to steady ourselves. Taurus is earthy, slow, deliberate, textural, practical and self-reliant— basic and simple, no frills, value-driven. Scorpio channels passionate, regenerative, all or nothing drive; subatomic undercurrents, desires and motivating factors that fuel the life force, invisible fields that give rise to the material world. What are the motivating factors in your life? What kind of results are you experiencing in the tangible world around you? If we desire to change, we dive into the darkness of the unseen, wrestle with our devils in the shadowy world of the subconscious that harbors unresolved issues and ingrained constraints. If we resist change, that provokes another depth of wrestling.

This is not the easiest of times, as we meet multiple challenges on many fronts. We have been letting go of so much this year and, especially perhaps, during this rigorous time of “sheltering in place,” “lock-down,” “social distancing,” confronting many limitations that have sideswiped our “normal” lives. Pushed deep into ourselves, old and automatic ways of being are being challenged and stripped away. As much as we try to hold on to what was, it is no longer. We have a sharply heightened realization of this, that this is life in its essence. 
No more placid sitting back. We need to wake up.

Inspiration awakens us. Like this piece, “In My Troubled Days,” shared by Barb Jungr, a longtime Cosmic News reader. She sent me this link to original beautiful music in response to the April 22 Awakening Earth New Moon edition of Cosmic News. I am so glad and she is so glad to share this wonderful, prayerful song that resonates so deeply with this moment. Barb’s lyrics for this earth/heart message are so meaningful to our current time, along with her wonderful photographic images. The music shared with joy by the whole group. It’s not glitzy, it’s real.

Another wake-up inspiration is this poem by Alice O Howell, found in your wonderful book, The Web in the Sea: Jung, Sophia and the Geometry of the Soul.

The Surprise
You planted
crocuses to spell ‘I love you’
one fall afternoon
while I was busy baking.
The moles were deeply touched
all winter under the snows.
Come spring
the crocuses couldn’t spell at all
but I got the message from
purple, white, and yellow shouts
of glory random in the green.
We laughed
looking out the kitchen window
and talked of putting in the screens soon
for summer
but really we were thinking—
another spring,
still together.

This poem (currently more relevant for the northern hemisphere) follows the four seasons, appreciating the textures of love in daily life while also acknowledging inevitable loss— the Taurus/Scorpio polarity.  As we let go of ways of living that are no longer viable, we can invite more of what it is we want to be experiencing. What has grabbed on to you in ways that make it hard to unhook? This could be habits, beliefs, ideas. We can identify such things by our reaction and resistance when they are challenged. 

We are drilling down deep. The transformational planet Pluto, named for the underworld god of death of rebirth, turned to backward motion on April 26, going deeper as it goes back over to clear out more of what has been getting in the way of healthy regeneration. Next week, Saturn and Jupiter also turn retrograde, cooperating with Pluto’s agenda to continue deconstructing and de-structuring in order to thoroughly re-construct on terms that are long lasting. Large movement forward is being halted in order to reevaluate and consolidate our gains, to review and edit our operating plan to make it better and more productive. Untenable underpinnings are being exposed, like a decaying tooth that needs attention, to be healed or pulled. What is coming up to the surface for you that needs to be attended to? Find a place in you that is fearless because you KNOW that it is time to let go. 

Another relevant resource is an article by Paul Lenda, that evokes the challenge to empowerment of this glorious Full Moon.He writes about letting go when stuck in negative self-identity, a pertinent topic for the deep-digging Scorpio-Taurus polarity. He focuses on victim mode, but this can apply to other identity fixations that resist change. Much of this is held in our lunar subconscious, often highlighted and exposed by a Full Moon that is zeroed in to your chart patterns. He reminds us that opportunities open up in the wake of a perceived crisis, that invite us to shift our attention toward empowerment rather than self-undermining, to rise above challenges that we face rather than letting them define us. Powerful stuff. You can read his article here. 

To let go into a fuller, richer experience of living! Some call that Eros, the creative energy that emerged from chaos with Gaia, the desire of the life force to express itself passionately in life. Both Taurus and Scorpio seek such richness, Taurus in the material world through sexuality and eating some of those sexy dates! Scorpio seeks the emotional richness of pure desire for fusion of body and soul. Taurus may be satisfied with a level of contentment—but not now when planet Uranus is there!  Scorpio always seeks to go deeper, processing through any resistance to tap the erotic life force. We can allow this Full Moon to pull us there. 

In A Return to Eros: The Radical Experience of Being Fully Alive, authors Marc Gafni & Kristina Kincaid write:
 “Our bodies and hearts know that Eros is our birthright. It is not merely an intensifier of the ordinary. Rather it points to the extra-ordinary energy at our core, which is the true marker of our deepest desire. The failure of Eros is the loss of aliveness…a deadening of all experience…” 

This Week’s Nodal Shift
This week of the Full Moon, we experienced a sign change of the Nodes of the Moon from Cancer/ Capricorn into Gemini/ Sagittarius. The Nodes mark eclipse points and are also called the Dragon’s Head and Tail, and the Line of Destiny. We start with what we bring from the past, the South Node in Sagittarius, a sign which knows a lot and knows what is true, or thinks it does. We take it to the North Node of Gemini, which as a curiosity for new information and experience, questioning everything. That is the new theme for collective and individual tennis game, seeing how those two signs bounce the ball back and forth. 

Next Week’s Multiple Retrogrades
The three major planetary players in Capricorn that are transforming and reshaping our experience have stopped their forward motion as if to signal this is as far as we are getting right now. Pluto turned retrograde on April 26. Saturn turns on May 10 and Jupiter on May 14, stepping back to let Venus have her say. Venus goes retrograde in Gemini on May 12-13, to align with the North Node. We need to take stock of our current situation, which has significantly changed. We can consult with Venus to reevaluate, go back over what has happened, consolidate our gains and edit our plans with fresh priorities. 

Joy is the way of Venus. While retrograde in the curious sign of Gemini she will speak and teach and show us various options that we can choose. Let us choose what brings most joy and love into our lives. More on that next time and for many weeks hereafter.

Find this article in the Cosmic Feminine section of this website to get you started on the magical journey of Venus retrograde: http://heliastar.com/cosmic-feminine/honey-in-the-heart-venus-retrograde/

Now, let’s enjoy the glorious Full Moon and take on its challenge for empowerment.

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