Friday afternoon, we reach the Full Moon in Taurus. This is a Supermoon, the last of this calendar year, which means the Moon is closer to Earth and will appear larger and brighter in the sky.
Ancient astronomers and astrologers paid close attention to the size and brightness of celestial bodies. Changes over time were considered important. So a Moon larger and brighter in the sky would be seen as notable, a sign that this Full Moon would have a greater impact on earthly affairs than usual.
What we modern folks know is that this Moon is conjunct the planet Uranus. Impact is definitely on the table.
Uranus is the first of the outer planets discovered. Historically, it was a time when revolutions were underway across Europe and so Uranus is associated with the idea of revolutionary action.
Astrologer and historian Richard Tarnas believes Prometheus would be a more mythically appropriate name for this planet, Prometheus being the Titan who stole fire from the gods to protect humans, giving us more power to direct our own destinies.
The Full Moon opposes the Sun in Scorpio. We are poised between the needs and comforts of the manifest world (Taurus) and the deeper awareness of what cannot be seen or said. Scorpio knows what is hiding in the shadows.
Oppositions are seen as challenging aspects, as the word “opposition” suggests, But keep in mind that at any opposition, but especially at Full Moons, the two bodies are fully illuminating each other.
Think about having a face-to-face conversation. These are usually intense, but not always bad. Sometimes intensity leads to breakthroughs, deeper understandings, and new ideas for moving forward. These are certainly the kinds of conversations Uranus supports.
When we consider the Moon–Uranus conjunction we might be looking at a call to radical authenticity grounded in the body. We might be called to reconsider how we’re living on this Earth, how we treat our ecosystems, and how this affects our own well-being.
The Moon is exalted in Taurus. Loves being in this sign of fixed Earth. Loves the comfort that Taurus brings, the comfort of good food, cozy warmth, and personal safety. Uranus is asking whether those comforts are real. Are they secure? What are they costing?
A Scorpio Sun opposing the Moon and Uranus is ready to pull back the curtain and look at realities we might prefer to avoid. The Moon may not be on board with this, but Uranus understands the necessity of facing the truth.
There are big issues to be grappled with, as reflected in the two other planets aspecting the Full Moon.
Pluto at the very end of Capricorn trines the Moon and Uranus, while sextiling the Sun. Neptune at the end of Pisces trines the Sun while sextiling the Moon and Uranus.
Yes, this Full Moon is in intense conversations with all three of the powerful outer planets.
Each outer planet carries its own message of change.
With Uranus, radical change is part of the basic package. Pluto and Neptune are change agents of different kinds, and both are reaching the very ends of their signs. This too signals big change.
Pluto will enter Aquarius on November 19 and not return for well over 200 years. We’re leaving behind what we survived and learned during the Pluto in Capricorn years. We’re shifting from Earth to Air, from the structure of our world to the structure of our ideas, from a commitment to tradition to a desire for the new and innovative.
Neptune won’t enter Aries until March 30, 2025, yet we still sense how the zeitgeist is changing. Neptune, modern ruler of Pisces, is letting us feel how currents are shifting as she reaches the end of an entire zodiac cycle, ready to reinvent herself next spring in Aries.
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This Taurus Full Moon is likely to highlight how each of us feels about all this change. A Taurus Moon craves stability, security, the knowledge in our bones that the the Sun will rise tomorrow as it always does, spring will come, flowers will bloom, and crops will grow.
But even as I write this (and you read or hear it), we all feel doubt. Concern. Anxiety about what the future, close up and farther out, will actually bring.
What are our options?
Mercury and Jupiter oppose each other in Sagittarius and Gemini. They are in each other’s signs, supportive in mutual reception. Here we have new ideas blooming and buzzing. Jupiter expands Mercury’s horizons. Mercury gives voice to Jupiter’s hopes.
Mercury and Venus are both out of bounds while also being tightly parallel, which is like a conjunction but in latitude instead of by zodiacal position.
This makes Mercury even more generative and filled with innovative ideas.
Venus newly arrived in Capricorn, is ready to build solutions that are creative and outside the box. Venus squares the Nodes of the Moon, moving in the direction of the North Node. It’s time for boots the ground. Things are gonna change and we need to be involved.
One theme that fits this Full Moon is the idea of finding common ground.
It’s all too easy right now to feel isolated. Marginalized. Targeted. At risk.
While we are each responsible for our own evolution, our decisions and responsibilities, we can none of us achieve, or even survive, alone.
One example of the importance of finding common ground comes from coalition building between the environmental movement and the labor movement in the 1980’s.
In the early days, conservationists were seen as anti-labor. Goals focused on protecting land, fighting against the building of new factories or roads, which management framed as being against the interest of workers.
In the 1980’s issues of toxic chemicals that corporations refused to reveal or even discuss came forward. Neither consumers nor workers knew what we were being exposed to, and this provided common ground. Environmental groups and labor unions worked together to push for legislation requiring corporations to disclose what workers and consumers were being exposed to.
The issues confronting us today and in the future will require ingenuity, innovation, and the creation of coalitions. The Taurus Moon might prefer to stay home and be cosy, but the energy of this chart overall tells us we need to engage with the changes that are coming.
As we feel anxious about what all that might mean, I will close with a well-known quote from Mister Rogers, who is a Taurus kind of person if ever there was one.
He said that when he was frightened by news events as a child, his mother would say, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Then he said, “To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”
At this Full Moon, we’re called to find common ground with the helpers, and to be a helper, too.
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