Image: While we are having a Saturn Full Moon, this recent Cassini image from Saturn shows the birth of a new moonlet outside its main A ring. Photo by NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.
The FULL MOON on May 14, 3:16pm EDT, 12:16pm PDT, 8:16pm GMD, is at 24 TAURUS-SCORPIO.
SATURN and VENUS are the planetary “stars” of this Full Moon, as well as the “demon” star, ALGOL.
SERIOUSLY SATURN
When you look up at this Full Moon, you’ll see it shining alongside SATURN, the “get real” planet. We’ll have to imagine the presence of its small new moonlet along with its 62 other moons.
Saturn as the god of Time has a “deadline” type of feeling. It is TIME, says Saturn, to face your circumstances realistically, and deal with what is happening. This Moon highlights the Saturn in Scorpio process that has been requiring us to resolve issues, clear the ground of old debris and put old business firmly behind us. We confront and let go of underbelly stuff—resistances, judgments and muddy feelings that impede the flow of growth. What does this mean to you? Are you willing to do the work, take responsibility and step into your authority? Perhaps the new moonlet suggests new ways of doing things. Certainly it’s a first for scientists to observe the birth of a planetary moon!
With Saturn conjunct the Full Moon, we know it is opposite the Sun, indicating confrontations that push your buttons. Consider this a good thing, which gives you a chance to deal with those buttons push into. It’s about you as much as the other person, so don’t blame this worthy “opponent.” S/he is challenging you to bring your best to the game.
As the Moon wanes over the next two weeks, we can practically deal with things and get our affairs in order. Our experience will be quite different in meaningful ways by the next New Moon.
SPARKLING VENUS
On a completely different note, VENUS is smack dab in the middle of the overarching Uranus-Pluto Square, conjunct Uranus and exactly square Pluto. Venus, Mars and Jupiter are take turns square dancing with each other as well as with Uranus and Pluto. The intensity of April patterns continues into May, as Venus in Aries enters the fray and takes the lead, like a Joan of Arc, with flags snapping in the wind. Emotional sparks fly, as Venus in the sign of Mars and Mars in the sign of Venus face off across the sky, giving rise to interpersonal intrigue and values clarification. Although it’s touch and go, it looks like Venus takes the initiative as Mars, still retrograde in Libra, is stepping back — Ladies first.
There is an instructive tale from Arthurian legends about Sir Gawain, who married the “loathly lady,” a seemingly ugly witch who turns into a beautiful woman half the time. Asked whether he would prefer her to look beautiful in the day when they were seen together, or at night when they were alone, this gallant knight gives her the choice to make, thereby fulfilling the question of the tale: What is it that women most desire? The answer: To have their own will to choose for themselves. When Gawain gives her the choice, she remains beautiful all the time.
Intertwined financial and emotional matters claim our attention. Major money matters hit the headlines, proclaiming policy changes that spur on the global revolution one way and another. There are big losses and equally big gains. Surprising entrepreneurial initiatives benefit many. Anyone can win the lottery. In the arts, stunningly original works may stamp a key artistic turning point of the 21st century. After months of trying to make relationships work, some couples will separate, seeking emotional freedom and breaking repressive bonds. A rash of affairs indicates experimentation and a desire for new relational styles and lifestyle rearrangements. Some couples will find a deeper union. It takes a certain amount of patience to explore the sensitive terrain between two persons, especially in this rapid pace of change and consciousness shift. Are we still on the same page? is a question that can be answered only after each person clarifies his or her own energy space.
After this period of emotional clarification Mars turns to forward motion on the 19th with informed choices, ready to take action.
Surprise yourself! Things are opening up beyond rational expectations. The old guard is on the way out. New exciting possibilities beckon. If it feels good, go with it!
We are in an unprecedented change moment not seen in recent human memory. The pace of change has been increasing century by century. Within the last few decades we have identified billions of galaxies and hundreds of planets around distant stars. Discoveries in science are a reflection of changes in human consciousness. The pace of awakening is like Niagara Falls.
AEWSOME ALGOL
Another interesting note about this Full Moon: the Sun is very close to Algol (26 Taurus), the star that marks the Eye of Medusa in the constellation Perseus. A few words of “warning” may be in order. According to Homer’s Iliad, this star is
“the Gorgon’s head, a ghastly sight,
Deformed and dreadful, and a sign of woe.”
This star has also been called Lilith, so we are dealing here with goddesses of no superficial power. I’d like to share some material from the Algol section of my book, LIVING LILITH: FOUR DIMENSIONS OF THE COSMIC FEMININE (published by The Wessex Astrologer), to amplify the meaning of this Full Moon as already discussed. We walk with Perseus as he enters Medusa’s lair, as deep and dark as the plunge we have been taking with Saturn in Scorpio. He holds a shield polished like a mirror, and a sword made of crystal, both gifts from the gods.
“Carefully stepping backwards, feeling each footfall with jaguar stealth, Perseus kept his eye on the shield strapped to his left arm. He held it to his side angled like a rear-view mirror. As he retreated further into the Gorgon’s cave, irregular light rippled like waves across the polished surface of the shield, moving in slippery serpentine forms. Startled, he realized he was seeing Medusa. Her back was to him, filling the shield’s surface with dark slithering shadows, surrounding a faint image of his own face, seen as if from a great distance, haloed in undulating clouds. He felt suddenly as if he were underwater and took in a deep breath to steady himself. In that breath he could taste her musky scent, like some ancient salty perfume, evoking strange memories. Focusing again on the mirror, he was now looking into a vast single Eye, seeing his future unwind like a long dark tunnel….
“The Eye of Medusa. Is it open or closed? Is she awake or asleep? This powerful, penetrating and paralyzing Eye sees right through you and perceives ‘with an objectivity like that of nature itself and our dreams, boring into the soul to find the naked truth, to see reality beneath all its myriad forms and the illusions and defenses it displays,’ as described by Sylvia Perera in her rich volume, DESCENT TO THE GODDESS. The eye is the window to the soul. The mirror is another. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? It certainly isn’t Medusa…
“Perseus used a mirror-like shield of brass or bronze to avoid a direct confrontation with Medusa. The mirror reflected the demon’s image. We conquer our dark passions by reflection, otherwise we can be paralyzed by them….Perseus then wields the crystal sword of skillful means given by psycho pomp Mercury/Hermes. His skill in using the sword depends on the clarity of the mirror image. To effectively coordinate both is tricky; the mirror image reverses, like a telescope. He sees himself in the mirror as well. Or, in another version, he positions the mirror so that Medusa looks into it and turns herself into stone.
“The word mirror derives from the Latin miror, mirare, “to wonder at, to be astonished.”…In the mystery of the Lilith star [ALGOL] dwells the power of recognizing the essential beauty beyond the terrifying darkness of the unknown. The “awe-full” beauty of Medusa carries so much of our own untapped power that we dare not look her in the face. And if we do, we may be terrified of what we see. There is a Hindu word, bhey, that means a sense of awe bordering on fear, a fear of offending or dishonoring, particularly God. To see deeply into the dark side of life, its wilderness and chaos can be profoundly transformational and freeing if one can endure the intensity of this encounter that strips the ego bare, exposes the naked soul. Algol can bring us to this edge.”
May the light of this powerful Moon reveal what is most awesome about each other and ourselves.
It is ASTRO-SPECIAL time for Taurus until May 21st, then Gemini. Is it time for an astrological overview of your year, using the special window of your birthday chart along with current planetary cycles? One hour, $120, that’s 20% off. This special fee also applies to a birthday gift. Give a Gift of the Stars! I have special cards and e-cards you can use.
