The Moon looks full tonight, but arrives exact tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27, at 8:05 EDT, just about sunrise. This is the Full Moon in Taurus, another Supermoon, third in a row this Fall, and extra-bright in the night sky tonight and tomorrow.
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This is the Harvest Moon (our second this year), also the Hunter’s Moon, and we can see why both names fit: Autumn is winding down, nights are cooler, and soon winter will close in. Whatever we need to do in our gardens, woods, and fields to secure food and fuel for the cold months, now’s the time.
Taurus, sign of the patient gardener, reminds us to take care––of ourselves, of those we care about, of our world. The Sun moves through Taurus in Springtime, when all is burgeoning and blooming. Now, as the Scorpio Sun drags us toward the shadows and the dark, the Taurus Full Moon arrives to remind us to prepare.
As gardeners know, it’s not all about planting and growing. The strength of a garden is in the soil, and soil needs to be tended, fed, and allowed to rest. Taurus comes along, illuminating the night to ask: What needs tending in your life? What needs to be uprooted? What needs to be fed deeply? What needs a time of rest?
At each Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are opposite, which is how the Sun illuminates the Moon completely. At a Supermoon, the Moon dips closer to Earth, making her tidal pull stronger.
This Full Moon, in the fixed signs of Taurus and Scorpio, pulls at the balance between what is seen (Taurus) and unseen (Scorpio), between our normal senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) and our clair senses (clairvoyance, clairaudience, and all the others), between what is above the earth, and below it.
So, it’s interesting that the strongest aspects to this Full Moon come from Saturn and Neptune, planets whose energies reinforce what’s already happening.
Neptune, who brings artistic and psychic sensitivity, dreams, visions, and also addictions and loss, trines the Scorpio Sun and sextiles the Taurus Moon, adding a magical and possibly confusing vibe. Imagine a night in October, a walk in the dark woods at sunset, a mist arising. You feel the strength of the trees around you, the solid earth underfoot (Taurus) but now you can’t quite see your way (Neptune) and it suddenly seems as though the shadows are alive, and reaching for you (Scorpio).
Saturn, lord of pragmatic patience and hard work, forms an inconjunct aspect to the Moon, and a semisextile to the Sun. Inconjuncts are edgy, pushy: What does Saturn need to push a Taurus Moon for? Aren’t they already in sync?
Well, sometimes Taurus can become complacent, happy with the status quo. Saturn is the taskmaster, reminding Taurus that although much hard work has been done, more is needed. The reward will go beyond food and fuel, including insights into our own depths, gifts of this time of year.
Notice that all is focused on this idea of taking care. With Scorpio, we’re reminded to be careful because we don’t know what might be waiting around the corner. With Taurus, we feel the desire to take care of ourselves and others because it feels good.
Venus rules this Full Moon, as she rules Taurus, and she is involved in many more aspect patterns than the Moon and Sun. She rides through mid Virgo, a sign of caretaking if ever there was one. Right now, she is between Mars and Jupiter, both also in Virgo. These three have been dancing around each other these last weeks, and will continue a bit longer before their orbits separate them.
This Virgo vibe has been helping us clean out garages, build woodsheds, increase our productivity, and make plans for the future. Earlier, Venus, Mars and Jupiter were catching energy from Pluto, amping up the strength of change and getting us moving in new ways. It’s felt good, and still feels good.
At the same time, Chiron the wounded healer has been opposite the Virgo trio. Chiron shows us where we’ve been wounded, so that, in remembering, we can understand and heal.
Perhaps this caretaking Full Moon will highlight what happens when we work harder, smarter, increasing productivity. Do we feel like drudge and rebel? Do we get anxious, second-guessing at every step? Maybe we fear success more than failure. Maybe we tell ourselves we’re not good enough.
We’re approaching Samhain, the turning into the dark half of the year, the time of the ancestors, of the pull of the deep psyche, the past, all that has fallen into Shadow. It’s good to remember that not only “bad” traits fall into Shadow. The Shadow holds everything unacceptable, anything not “normal,” often the most unique, quirky, artistic parts of ourselves. Maybe some of these will be highlighted at this Full Moon, asking us to care for these neglected talents and bring them into the light.
As always, our birth charts offer clues to how this Full Moon will illuminate our world. My New Moon Wishes page offers tips for figuring out where this Full Moon, falling at 3 degrees of Taurus and Scorpio, will touch your chart. This Full Moon falls in my Ninth House of journeys, and trines my own Virgo Moon, so perhaps I will see new ways to get out of my own way as I work toward goals.
There’s been so much edgy, transformative energy around, the relative calm of this Full Moon offers respite. Yes, Full Moons can be crazy, but this one can be crazy-good: the best massage ever, a new way to bake bread, a wonderful connection with a friend or partner, and a new insight that lets us leap ahead.
There’s gold in the Shadow, and the bright light of the Taurus Full Moon might show us where it’s buried. The woods may be dark and deep, but we know the way, and there’s a bright fire and a hearty dinner waiting for us. Let the moonlight of this Full Moon light your way home.