5:53  am  AHST  5/19/2023
 8:53  am    PDT  5/19/2023

 11:53  am    EDT  5/19/2023
 3:53  pm   GMT  5/19/2023

Five planets (Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus and the New Moon) grace the sign of Taurus at the beginning of this lunar cycle. Jupiter, having coursed through the active sign of Aries for the past year, on the 17^th entered the first and fixed sign of earth, bringing us a sense of slowing down into our bodies, caring for ourselves and for our larger body, the great planet Earth which makes everything in our lives possible. Mercurial communications, no longer retro, are also steadied and slowed by Taurean influence.

One would think that with all this emphasis upon solidity and grounded energy that this New Moon would bring us a sense of peace and greater appreciation of the natural world, our bodies and the joy of being alive. And while this is true, there is also behind the scenes a dynamic T-square happening with Pluto opposed Mars, both forming 90˚ angles to Jupiter.

Remember that these aspects in lunation charts apply to us individually as well as collectively. Since the Moon is so powerfully influencing our bodies and thus our psyches, charting its course through the heavens lets us know how we’re being influenced by these unseen forces. Each New Moon is a restart energetically and the chart tells us how to navigate our days in the cycle.

Mars, our physical take-action energy is now in late Cancer, about to enter the energetic sign of Leo. But when it opposes Pluto we are being asked to look into the depths of our actions, and how we use our energy. Pluto deepens, exposes, pushes us toward self-scrutiny, and for those who neglect to inventory their actions, heralds “fate” to step in and shift our reality to reflect our state of awareness.

And then the challenge to look at the root of our actions also tests our ability to feel safe and grounded in the ever-changing physical world (Jupiter in Taurus). Jupiter is also conjoined the North Node, which is our future destiny and how we approach it. On a global level, Jupiter square to Pluto brings dogmatic and fundamentalist beliefs into the foreground, with Pluto exposing the underlying insecurities that we all feel which contribute to the rise of fear-based actions and beliefs. Even the holiest of spiritual viewpoints can be co-opted by fear, resulting in rigid and authoritarian attitudes. We are seeing this on the world stage today, especially in the US. This New Moon brings these issues to a head or crisis point.

We are being pushed and tested to see if we are going to fulfill the promise of our collective (and personal) evolution, or “cut off our nose to spite our face”, for instance, to hold the US hostage by refusing to allow it to pay its bills and therefore go into default. The negative astrological expression of Pluto is power-wielding, such that whole populations of people suffer, just so a few people in command can feel powerful. On a personal level, look to see where in your life this might apply, where stubbornness (a famous Taurean trait) or willfulness might be preventing you from opening to new and shared experiences.

Uranus has been in Taurus since 2018, where astrologically it is in its “fall,” opposite the sign of its exaltation. This symbolizes a period (approx. 7 years) of a kind of blockage of our desires to live with a feeling of freedom (Uranus) and instead to experience constraint, the heaviness of responsibility, especially around what Taurus represents, the Earth herself, and issues of money, resources, prosperity and ultimately, our values. In a sense, this speaks to our being prevented from evolving further unless we pay attention to the destruction of the biosphere that is the signature of this Anthropocene era, due to the overwhelming materialism in our values, both religious and political. If we continue to think we are separate from, rather than a part of the Earth, we will not be able to evolve.

Interesting that what acts as a release point for the T-square is nebulous Neptune, which forms harmonious aspects to both Pluto and Mars. Neptune is in its own sign of Pisces, calling for us to re-vision ourselves and our role here on Planet Earth. Pay attention to your dreaming these next two weeks and look for guiding imagery. And the New Moon (Sun conjoined with the Moon) is also acting as a release point for the T-square. I read this as we are being called to take a step forward into a new version of ourselves, personally and globally. New Moons are always new beginnings, and Uranus represents the spirit of revolution, pushing us to let go of outworn beliefs and ways of treating our bodies and each other. And, as always, the real revolution begins within each one of ourselves. Essentially, this is a Moon cycle where healing can be initiated on a grand scale, as well as in our individual lives. How we let ourselves be affected by this energetic signature is up to us.