This New Moon cycle continues the intensity of recent lunations, especially since March Equinox. The New Moon @ 28+ Taurus is again cuspy, like the potent solar eclipse on April 20, with Moon and Sun shortly to move into Gemini. This is another “hybrid” New Moon with a transitioning flavor. The biggest news is Jupiter’s move into earthy Taurus, amplifying on and in-the-ground activity, sustainability being the key theme for growth and opportunity. What does that look like, feel like, taste like? Consider what you want to be experiencing and make your bid. The June 3 Full Moon sees increasing drama in the collective energy, with Venus, Mars and Black Moon Lilith in Leo. Venus turns retrograde in July and will be in Leo for an extended stay into October.

Note: Moons & Mythos #10, which amplifies the astrological dynamics of this lunar cycle, is soon up on Davyd Farrell’s youtube channel.

New Moon @ 28 Taurus 25
May 19, 2023 @8:53am PDT 11:53am EDT, 5:53pm BST,
May 20 @1:53am AEST

This New Moon has some powerful archetypal players in its wheelhouse. Two long-term collective factors sandwich the Sun/Moon to a high pitch of intensity.

AlGol, the Demon Star, is at 26-27 Taurus, evoking deep issues that last hundreds of years. In the constellation Perseus, AlGol is the ‘baleful,’ paralyzing Eye of Medusa, that stares at you “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”.  —Sylvia Perera, Descent to the Goddess

Algol exposes us to ourselves, similarly to Black Moon Lilith, but also, as a star moving slowly as a backdrop to our solar system planets, AlGol refers to collective issues.  Modern fixed star researcher Bernadette Brady, considers this star to contend with the rage and grief we feel from millennia of repression and suppression of women and traditional peoples and their values. In this era of the re-arising of the Divine Feminine, this variable Star signals for attention, winking and blinking at us as this double star eclipses itself, dimming and brightening every few days. Infusing this New Moon with its distant, mythic impact, AlGol is strengthened by the echo from the longterm issues represented by Sedna.

Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Arctic Sea, is well beyond the Kuiper Belt, discovered in 2003 as the most distant object yet seen in the distant dark reaches of our solar system. A tragic figure, betrayed by her husband and father, Sedna’s myth demonstrates, for one thing, the need to let go of dependence on others to find one’s own strength and power. Down deep in the dark frigid seas, as in a shamanic dismemberment, parts of her body became the seal, the walrus, and other arctic sea creatures. When she is honored, she allows the people to take them for their sustenance. Sedna is another evocation referring to Nature and traditional values, not quite like, but somehow resonant with AlGol.

Sedna, is cuspy (as so much else on this transitional New Moon) at 29 Taurus 39, about to move into Gemini for the first time in thousands of years! June 15 through November 2023 is the first take and then frp, April 27, 2024 into 2066 Sedna will be in Gemini, one of its shortest transits. With an estimated orbit of 11,400 years, Sedna is soon coming to its perihelion, closest approach to the Sun (and Earth), therefore moving faster through the signs.  As she transitions, we will be called to new experiences, like the fluffy dandelion parachutes that head out on the wind to new horizons, to plant themselves in some other dimension. Perhaps a time for interplanetary or even interstellar communication/travel. Perhaps we will no longer need to hold on to the steadfastness of Taurus.

Jupiter makes a big statement on this New Moon, just having entered Taurus on May 15 for the first time in 12 years. We might get some clues if we look back at 2011-2012. The Big Planet conjuncts the North Node and Mercury, suggesting BIG news and much (literal) ground to cover in the next 12 months. Taurus is an earth sign, about what has lasting value and meaning for how we live on this Planet Earth. We are called now to the basics of life (food, water, air, shelter) and to develop our capacity for self-reliance. We will learn more about the Earth, about her capacity for productivity and how to grow more. No lack in with Jupiter. Opportunity abounds.

There is much to learn in order to enter this New Era. So far, we’ve gotten just a brief taste of Pluto in Aquarius. This Moon cycle opens with Jupiter in Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius. Jupter in earth will help ground what we have experienced so far in this new Pluto cycle. While Pluto returns to Capricorn from mid-June into January 2024, Jupiter carries this early impact message forward. Next year Jupiter is too far into Taurus to square Pluto, but it will conjunct Uranus in April before shifting to Gemini in May. That should be something exciting!

Pluto is in a supportive trine with the Sun/Moon in very late Taurus. Activated by Jupiter, this suggests powerful and ultimately positive outcomes (though it may not seem like that in the ongoing chaos of global transformation). Big stuff is happening in the collective transformation which, according to Jupiter, can be challenging to our belief systems in the way that our reality is changing in Big Jupiter ways. In Taurus, we won’t miss it; it will be quite literally evident. Also, for several more months Pluto continues to square the Moon’s Nodes in this tipping point time in our collective destiny. We are reaching for the Taurus grounded abundance now, with more opportunities presented by Jupiter to enrich our practical resources.

Haumea, Hawai’ian Goddess of Birthing, is moving back and forth across the Libra/Scorpio cusp in her own sign and thematic transition. Haumea is a very special aspect of the Divine Mother and her creative birthing capacity through the holy womb. Perhaps that is the black hole in the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Haumea @29 Libra 27 continues close to the South Node @4 Scorpio. We are urged to continue releasing and flushing out what no longer holds vitality for us, to heal and clear toxic energy so that we create from a place of clarity and light. Haumea, having retreated back into Libra, is revisiting the Venus Star Point from last October 22, reactivating a choice point for rebalancing, finding a higher aesthetic, and reconsidering what we want moving forward.

Eris, a feisty Goddess/Warrior is making her presence known. She won’t put up with the status quo for much longer. At 25 Aries, she is part of the current square dance with Haumea, Pluto, the Nodal Destiny Line— and Mars at 29 Cancer on this lunation. Action Warrior Mars is the brother of Eris, stirring things up in his own way. Another cuspy factor, Mars immediately moves into Leo the day after the New Moon, stirring up heightened drama in the realm of leadership, creativity and Self-expression. Likely we witness global changes in top positions. As the Aquarian Era moves on, we will find collaboration works best, rather than the friction that we have suffered for so long. We each contribute as we find the courage to stand up and express ourselves, becoming role models for living from the Heart.

Waxing Moon Meaningful Moments

May 20— Mars enters Leo, as noted.
Things get hotter and spicier when Mars in Leo claims his due.

May 21—Sun into Gemini—
Energy lightens up. Busy like a buzzing bee, or is it buzzing like a busy bee? Are you curious about what is going on?

June 4— Mercury conjuncts Uranus
Retrograde since April 21, just before conjuncting Uranus, Mercury turned direct on May 15 @6 Taurus and finally meets up with Uranus. The Messenger planet has already been ramping up the news cycle—now what new surprises, shock and awe?!  The Full Moon!

Full Moon @13 Sagittarius/Gemini 18
June 3, 2023 @8:42pm PDT, 11:42pm EDT;
June 4 @4:42am BST, 1:42pm AEST

This Full Moon is full of movement, options, visioning and new directions. Sagittarius inspires imagination, a sense of direction and optimism. It is a highly intuitive sign, just don’t second guess yourself when you feel that bell of Truth ring inside. CHiron in Aries and Mars in Leo make a grand fire trine with the Full Moon in Sagittarius, lots of energy and confidence. Let the creative juices flow.

Interestingly, Venus replaces Mars at the cuspy end of Cancer, continuing the Grand Square of the New Moon, opposite Pluto and square Haumea/South Node in Scorpio and Jupiter/ North Node in Taurus. Venus, about to follow Mars into Leo, is accompanied by true Black Moon Lilith that zigzags backward and forward around the mean Black Moon in Leo. This Venus/Lilith conjunction is quite an evocation of the Divine Feminine as Divine Mother moving us beyond our comfort level and old habits toward spiritual growth. Jupiter accounts for growth in the material world, birthed by Divine Mother Haumea. The Mars factor at its best is an octave of the Divine Masculine, in an interesting dance with Venus.[For those especially interested in Mother Divine, you may be interested in visiting Divine Mother Center online and also on youtube.]

Saturn @ 7 Pisces softly but definitely squares the Sun and Moon, tuning in to subtle nuances as it slows and prepares to go retrograde next month. Most of us need extra quiet time these days to wash away the impressions and impacts of the day. Suggestions: be gentle with yourself, feel your particular direction of flow, dissolve self-limitations that feel too constricting, and remember:
“Row, row, row your boat gently up the stream
Lightly, lightly, lightly, lightly, life is but a dream.”

Especially impacted by Saturn now are February-born Pisceans.If you were born in April-September 1964 or December 1963-February 1965, you are having a second Saturn return. Almost everyone born in 1994 is having a first Saturn return. DO be kind to yourself. You can stop taking other people’s problems, trying to live up to expectations of others or letting others define your life for you.

Orcus @13 Virgo tightly squares the Sun and Full Moon. This Etruscan god of the underworld, orbitally similar to Pluto, is the overseer of oaths and agreements our soul has made. Some of these may be ancestral, past life, collective. Some are so deeply unconscious we don’t even know about them. Some are relevant but many are not appropriate as we enter this new era. Under this Full Moon/ Orcus square we contend with them. We may come up against some blocks that we need to work through in this field of promises or bindings that are holding us back from growing into our true Selves. Thankfully, there is awareness of this issue in the healing world. Another opportunity for such work will come when Saturn conjuncts Orcus next year.

[Personally, I have been working with Sue Cimino, who guides online groups in an illuminating and profound ‘Wholeness Alignment’ process to recognize and break some agreements which may not be in our best interest. Highly recommended, by donation. I have been suggesting this work to many folks who have Orcus strongly placed or activated in their charts; many have thanked me.]

Waning Moon Meaningful Moments

June 5— Venus into Leo, where she will stay until October 9.
This includes over a month of retrograde re-evalution, from July 23-September 4. For the rest of June and 10 days of July, Mars will also be in Leo, especially close the second half July, but no exact conjunction. Venus slows down to go retrograde before she meets up with Mars; I guess she needs some alone time. Retrograde Venus often indicates that need to step back from relationships, to turn within, to consult the heart and attend to the most important relationship, the one with our Self. More about this when the time comes….

June 11— Pluto retrogrades back into Capricorn
There is more old business to take care of: some we knew about, some has come up. The few short months of Pluto in Aquarius (since March 23) has made evident that some old ways of doing thing are not going to work moving forward. If you thought we were going back to the old normal after our harsh global experience of the last few years, you likely know better now, or will shortly. With Pluto, especially with its current square to Jupiter and square to the collective Line of Destiny (lunar nodes), really big things are happening and the active presence of Uranus in the news, really big things are happening. As always with Pluto, the personal challenge is to claim your power or give it to others. The hub of Power is changing. Let’s take hold of that ball and run with it as a team.

and

Mercury into Gemini.
In its own sign, Mercury had a lot to communication across a wide field of topics. Some is chatter, some makes one’s head spin, some we need to know. Use your discretion, your intuition and unplug as needed. Most likely we will all need to uplug for a while in mid-July, when Mercury squares Neptune. [FYI, Mercury retrogrades again in late August in Virgo. We can take that time to sort things out.]

June 15— Sedna into Gemini  (see above)
New perspectives that radically change the way we think about just about everything, including our history, science and Earth energy. especially the atmosphere.

June 17—  Saturn turns retrograde @ 7 Pisces. Right in synch with the next New Moon. This is as far as we get for now. We go back over and consolidate our experience, rework some things, tighten up the ship for any leaks. This is timely with Pluto’s temporary return to Capricorn. Continue to choose your experiences, remembering that you are more sensitive for this passage. Saturn goes all the way back to 0 Pisces before turning forward on November 4.

June 17-18— Next New Moon!