May 7: Taurus New Moon
The Taurus New Moon is reborn at 11:22PM ET on May 7, at the height of Spring. This bonny Beltane Moon grounds us into sensual earthly delights of the Empress.
The tarot Major Arcana III card, The Empress is creativity and pleasure in full bloom. Often depicted as ripe with child, The Empress is the manifestation power of Mother Nature as she creates through giving, getting, and loving. This delightful New Moon at 18°02 Taurus asks: what do you like and how can you have more of that in your life?
April was one of the worst astro-months of the year, and many folks have told me they are having a hard time connecting to joy. When life is hard for a long time, and difficult things continually happen, we can lose our ability to relax–always imagining the next calamity coming around the bend. If love felt like a battlefield with Venus in Aries from April 5-29, we’ve been asked to let go of fighting and enjoy the slow, sensual stroll through Taurus’ green pastures until Venus departs for Gemini on May 23. The erotic aliveness underlying all of creation can help us transcend the pain that shuts us down and cuts us off from experiencing the source of life.
Venus is ruling this lunation from Taurus, where she has been since April 29, empowering us to name our desire and find what feels good in our bodies. The Taurus New Moon is the perfect evening to draw a warm bath, add sweet smelling oils and cleansing salts, and let yourself soak–totally relax in the tub. As you do, consider: what does pleasure look like, feel like, taste like, smell like, sound like, and move like? Venus is our aesthetics and what we do for fun. Contemplating enjoyment is a way to connect us with ourselves on a very personal and individual level. Astrology reminds us that there is no one else in the entire galaxy just like you. Art and fashion are ways that we uniquely self-express.
If you have time after your bath, move to your bedroom and consider: how do you feel when you feel pretty/handsome/fetching? Perhaps look through your closet and note the outfits that make you feel especially cute or sexy. Which ones do not? What clothes have you not worn in years? The dark of a New Moon is a great time to make a fresh start. Venus is under the Sun’s beams and not visible in the sky. This exploration of beauty may be just for us and is perhaps best conducted in privacy with no one else watching. Patriarchy teaches us to put our bodies on display for others, but this hidden phase of Venus is more interior. What we’re exploring may not be shared for quite a while, but that doesn’t make it less significant if it's just for us. The receptive energy of the Empress reminds us that we have to be centered in ourselves before we can give from a place of abundance to others.
The title Empress means “she who sets an order” and Taurus season encourages us to trust. The Empress is the May Queen who is aligned with the cycles of nature. She is rooted in her power yet gentle in her actions; judicious with her time and does not expend more energy than is necessary because tension is harmful for growth.
Saturn in Pisces is sending a supportive sextile to this lunation. The plant world is organized through complex cosmic forces that reveal an underlying wisdom humans can align with to live in harmony. Growth begins on a subconscious level. We are pulled towards something before we consciously understand what's happening. Taurus season connects us with the wisdom of the body that knows before understanding why. The Empress asks us to listen deeply to the messages in our physical form. Many modern people suffer from food allergies, chronic fatigue (some connected to viruses), and nervous system disorders. On a collective level, these diseases of mysterious origins point to a need to reexamine the food chain, labor practices, and access to healthcare.
The Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Taurus on April 20, affirmed the revolutionary connection we have to each other on the planet. That aspect is still active at the Taurus New Moon, and will be highlighted on May 8th. What is done to one of us is felt everywhere in the web of creation. Our basic needs dictate our human rights and we have a responsibility to be good stewards of this precious land and life we’ve been granted. Unchecked capitalism has allowed large companies to poison the land and waters, clear cut forests, and exploit communities as harshly as they mine the earth for minerals. The privileging of profits over people is an unsustainable practice. We must rally for Gaia and ourselves but we will not accomplish much if we are exhausted.
Taurus season invites you to take a rest, to throw off the shame of having a body with needs wants, and desires, and let yourself unfurl into the arms of your lover, soft embrace of the grass, or silky fur or your beloved animal companion. Seek contentment while the Sun is in Taurus until May 20. Wherever you find rapture, savor it, and do it slow. Let yourself build up a container of satisfaction so that you can emphatically answer with an enthusiastic affirmative when someone asks you what you care about. It matters and you’re worth it. We all are.