Scorpio Full Moon Lunar Eclipse: May 5
The Full Moon lunar eclipse at 14°58 Scorpio rings the bells on astrological Beltane, Friday, May 5, when the Sun marks the mid-way point from the Vernal Equinox to the Summer Solstice. Beltane is a Wiccan fertility festival when we celebrate the return of life to the land. We’re 6 weeks from Summer and the world feels full of possibility again. But the Moon waxes to fullness at the Samhain degree of Scorpio, which is celebrated on October 31st, 6 months from now, when the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest. On Samhain we embrace death and the inevitable endings that come with the cycles of change on Earth.
The pagan cross quarter days hail the mid-way point of the Sun’s progress through fixed signs: Imbolc on Feb 1, Beltane on May 1, Lammas on August 1, and Samhain on November 1. These are places of great power in the zodiac because fixed signs anchor the season. They’re responsible for maintaining the conditions that facilitate the unfolding of birth, growth, death, and rejeneration. In Taurus season we root into the earth, connecting with the living organisms around us, and receive nourishment from the soil. Each season has a purpose and fixed signs create the container that guards against threats to the cosmic order.
Taurus is, of course, deeply devoted to the promotion of life, creativity, and sexuality. Everything we rejoice in at Beltane. Scorpio is, quite literally, the opposite. Fall is the threshing time when we harvest what we’ve grown. Samhain is about death, loss, letting go, and the transformation that occurs on our journey to the other side. The Sun is conjunct Uranus and Mercury retrograde in Taurus, in its psychopomp role of guiding the recently departed through the transition into the Underworld.
Many spiritual paths teach that death is a great healer. After we take our last breath, we leave our body but retain our personal perspective for a short time. In that liminal space, we can grasp the totality of our experience, and all of existence, from a divine point of view. We understand more than our individual consciousness could comprehend about the importance of how we lived and why. Mercury retrograde is helping us to access this mindstate while conscious.
Thoth Tarot Death Card
Scorpio correlates to the Death card in tarot, and Samhain reminds us that we don’t have to physically die to achieve the wisdom of death. It's the only final guarantee but we experience it all the time. All periods of growth will end and new phases begin. How we handle loss and impermanence determines the quality of our experience in creating something new. That is the interplay between Beltane and Samhain.
The joy we feel at the unfolding in Taurus season, is directly related to how well we let go at the end in Scorpio. At new moons we seed intentions and at full moons we observe what has manifested. The spotlight of the Sun from the Beltane degree illuminates what is preventing our growth, where the pipes have gotten clogged up so that blockage is preventing the free flow of new forms. This Samhain lunar eclipse reminds us that our motivations at the start determines how well we finish.
The Scorpio-Taurus eclipse cycle that began with the Taurus Full Moon in November 2021, has revealed how we cope with instability in our terrestrial environment. Uranus has been closely aligned with many of these lunations, destabilizing not just the material conditions but our sense of self and identity as well.
The Lunar Nodes moved into Taurus-Scorpio on January 18, 2022. The North Node in Taurus has been asking us to cultivate emotional safety and financial security with those we share space and resources with. There have been fewer eclipses in Scorpio, but they have felt annihilating on a fundamental level. The South Node has asked us to release our patterns of self-protection that manifest in controlling behavior towards others. Most people would not consciously say they wish to manipulate and dominate others. But simply allowing the world to turn without seeking to achieve our agenda by any means possible feels antithetical to the fixed sign mission of protection and defense.
The Full Moon lunar eclipse on May 5, is the final activation along the Scorpio axis. It’s not an easy one because the Moon is exalted in Taurus and said to be in depression or fall in Scorpio. Our sensitivity gets heightened when Luna transits Mars’ water sign of intense searching for emotional truth. Similar to how antennas attune insects to a specific smell, our body becomes focused on danger and defense in Scorpio, which does not make for a chill time.
Tarot Full Moon Lunar Eclipse 2022
Themes from last fall may be revisited now as this lunation has a correlation to the Taurus Full Moon lunar eclipse on November 8, 2022, which was conjunct Uranus at 16° Taurus. Notice if you’re able to approach what was difficult then from a more resourced place. Eclipses can drain us in unexpected ways, so guard your energy wisely. The entire cycle will conclude with the Taurus New Moon solar eclipse on October 28, 2023.
Eclipses represent a blotting out of life or vitality so we shouldn’t expect to feel our best this weekend. In fact, it's recommended for you to do as little as possible on Friday. If possible, take a Taurus self-care day and stay home journaling and soaking in an epsom salt bath. This lunation is ruled by Mars in Cancer, which has been highlighting how childhood wounds are still resonating in our system. If we experience rejection, abandonment, or too much chaos at a young age that trauma can imprint on such a deep level we don’t even recognize it. Eclipses are peculiar because the light is obscured and we’re able to peer behind the veil, similar to Samhain.
Although this lunation will most likely not feel good, it’s granting us the gift of perceptive sight. If you’ve been operating from an unconscious position of fear, and most of us have for the last few years, this eclipse will show you why. The insight need not have the big reveal of a repressed memory to be significant. Nothing actually has to change for us to let go of emotional positions that are causing constriction. Family issues may get triggered, but they could be a portal into an area of yourself that has been closed off for a long time.
The Scorpio Full Moon is a cosmic colonic designed to flush you where you need it the most. Sometimes it's necessary to spend the day in the bathroom. Most of us would prefer not to be a sodden mess, crying in the tub or sweating on the toilet, but it's a very human part of life. And it can ultimately provide beneficial for our overall health and happiness. Make friends with what you find gross about that and book yourself a spa treatment if need be. Scorpio rules the genitals and won’t let us forget that everyone poops. Spring cleaning requires a profound purge this year. You’re flushing the stagnant waste to make room for a fresh and clean beginning. Go gentle with this delicate process.