NEW MOON at 17 TAURUS
MAY 6, 3:29pm EDT, 12:29pm PDT, 8:29pm GDT
Image: Star Fairy greets visitors and tends the flowers at White Dove Gardens in East Montpelier, Vermont. Photo by author.
The MOON loves being in Taurus, a sign highly fertile and productive. Both the Moon and Taurus naturally foster growth, as long as the ground is properly prepared. The Sun-Moon pair is sandwiched between Venus—glorious in her own sign, loving the good things in life (flowers!)—and MERCURY, slogging slowly retrograde, rather like a bull plowing up the ground. Are things moving slowly for you? “Slow and steady wins the race,” as my Taurus friend just texted me— a good phrase to keep on hand.
With MERCURY retrograde in this sign, this is a great time to prepare your ground, to dig down deep, enriching and building up the soil with compost, etc. This gardening metaphor is well applied to your life situation. With an unusual number of planets retrograde right now, each one can contribute to this building up of the soil— going back over the ground, digging the compost and fertilizer in, having all tools and materials on hand.
The retrogrades include planets in all the earth signs—Mercury in Taurus, Jupiter in Virgo, Pluto in Capricorn—in a luscious grand trine that makes this Moon cycle all about careful planning for best outcomes, persistence and consistency. “Attend to priorities and getting things done —the right way,” says Jupiter in Virgo. “Let go of everything that is getting in the way and preventing progress,” urges Pluto in Capricorn. Clean out those closets and old files, as well as outmoded beliefs about what is possible and what is not, old habits and any tendency to take the easy way out. (“Don’t be sloppy,” chastises Jupiter in Virgo.)
This process takes time and consideration, both of which are on offer now. We are encouraged to take time and listen both to our common sense and to our intuition. The Mars-Saturn combo retrograde in Sagittarius offers a break from a speedy pace to revision what it is you want and what is promising and worthwhile in the long run. What is your vision of where you are heading? Target the goal rather than rush onward without knowing. If we truly listen to our intuition, we can get a sense of what directions we need to pursue. These are being inevitably adjusted in these weeks and months of multiple retrograde planets, as we question our old version of reality, seeking another way. It’s the new trail we are looking for. We may need to backtrack a bit if we missed the turn off that leads us there.
Astrologer Jenni Stone gives a thumbnail sketch of retrogrades:
“The retrograde is a sensitive time that acts as both a drive to look inward and a time loop that brings up ideas, issues and people from the past.”
I like Jenni’s practical take. “Timing is everything,” she reminds us. Look her up on Facebook.
Have you been finding circular pathways of unfinished business coming back around? These are meaningful clues to help you get down to the basic ground and meaning of your life. To what purpose are you dedicated?
Are you feeling a turning point in your life?
Read this from my longtime healer friend, John Trevett, on Maui:
“Turning points are the accumulations of experiences we have which gain momentum and propel us into new information. Our thoughts and feelings drive us toward action. These thoughts and feelings have substance, and as such they have momentum. The growing momentum in our thoughts and feelings develop fullness. This fullness carries power. The power of our momentum drives us forward or backward as each experience unfolds. When we develop a sense of complete fullness we pass through turning points.”
Read the rest of John’s piece at:
https://johnmassageonmaui.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/turning-points-what-are-they-and-why-core-spirituality-my-personal-journey/
He discusses turning points as crisis, realizations, power points, confusion and chaos, or access to our core spirituality.
Any or all of this sound familiar?
This highly retrograde year is building momentum toward such a turning point for each of us. Some people are in evident flux, in the throes of their turning point. Others are still building up steam, motivation and information that will propel them forward in the next few months. If you’re stuck, not feeling your way forward, this is the Moon cycle to increase your fluidity. Water the ground, so it is soft and moist bed in which things can grow. Hard dry ground is not fertile.
[If you need some help, consider my cosmic tune-up special below.]
Neptune is subtly influencing this New Moon, infusing wavelengths of sweetness, spiritual grace and compassion. Do take whatever time you need to stay tuned to this cosmic station, turning away from the static of outside influences and the numbing tendency of addictive “comfort” substances and illusionary avoidance behavior.
Whether we know it or not, whether we think about it or not, we all need something to look to for inspiration, that inspires faith and belief that life is worth living and it all means something. What is your heart’s aspiration?
Do you trust the universe or do you feel like you’ll be pulled into a dark black hole? That black hole might not be the worst thing! Who knows what is on the other side—renewal, vibrancy, a greater loving?
“Trust in dreams for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.” —Kahlil Gibran
Thanks for this quote, Eric Linter.
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ASTRO-SPECIALS
Schedule via email to kellhunter@earthlink.net.
Cosmic Tune-Up Special—Half hour astro-coaching session to zero in on where and how these retrogrades are moving in your chart, seeking strategies and insightful perspective that can “un-stick” you and free up some energy. Half hour, $65.
