Tomorrow’s New Moon will be exact mid afternoon in my time zone. Whatever time of day your New Moon is exact, one thing is still true: The Moon will be dark, invisible to us in the sky. She will be so close to the Sun, its brilliance will hide her completely.
The darkness points us to one of this New Moon’s keys: We are being invited into a quiet, calm, contemplative place where, instead of giving in to anxiety, we’re asked to find simplicity.
Given the world today, reading that sentence might have made you laugh–or even cry. How can we find a sense of simple goodness when we’re surrounded by dangerous challenges?
That very question, though, is the heart of this New Moon: How?
I love the Moon in Taurus. This is the coziest, calmest, most solid Moon ever. Grounded and also ready to be comfortable and enjoy good things.
The first decan of Taurus brings a sense of planning. Spring is here, but most places have not reached their frost-free date, so, buying seeds, maybe starting some under grow lights, baby ducks, farmers’ markets. This is all the Taurus vibe.
Yet the key aspect at the heart of this New Moon chart is a tough one.
The New Moon squares the Mars–Pluto opposition. This is the gnarliest aspect of this spring. It will be exact tonight, April 26, at 9:05 pm EDT. Because of the extra orb allowed the Sun and Moon, it will still be very much in play tomorrow as part of this New Moon signature.
So this New Moon asks us, explicitly, to find a way to be at peace with whatever Mars–Pluto tosses up. By extension, this Taurus New Moon asks us to practice staying calm in the face of everything happening right now in the world.
No. (I am sure some of you are saying that.) No! How can I? This is a dangerous time. It demands all our focus and attention. How can we not be distressed?
It’s important to be clear.
The message of the Taurus Moon is not “get over it” or “let it go” or “ignore it” or, heaven knows, “you’re overreacting.”
Instead, this Taurus Moon invites us to explore what it means to be calm in a hurricane. To maintain our peace in a firestorm. To chop wood and carry water when it feels like everything is crashing.
This is the path of the Dao.
Lao Tzu’s first teaching was simplicity. One translation of this first precept is:
The kernel of this is the Daoist belief that we can only act truly when we are aligned with Nature, with the Earth herself. The best way to align is to live simply, move slowly, and pay attention. Only then can right action arise.
This is very difficult when we are staring directly at Mars in Leo and Pluto in Aquarius in a face off. What will they do? How can we prepare? It’s going to be big! We have to be ready!
Here we can notice that the modern world and the many serious challenges we face are designed, sometimes quite deliberately, to destroy our peace. To frighten and overwhelm us. To leave us feeling small and weak.
Finding our authentic place and action calls for slowing down, centering, grounding. We need to be still. Find our roots. Once we do, right action will emerge.
Notice that this is not about leaving the world, or ignoring what is happening around us. Instead, it’s about observing without being taken over. Finding that still place where we can know what is best for us to do.
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Change is happening at speed. There’s no doubt about that. Uranus in late Taurus still trines the South Node of the Moon while sextiling the North Node, Saturn, and Venus. More shocking news will emerge.
Yet the simple wisdom of the Taurus New Moon remains. We’re asked to keep our feet on the ground. Stay hydrated. Eat well. Get good sleep. Take care of those around us.
Out of these simple actions, the path will emerge.
During this waxing cycle, we’ll reach Bealtaine, which falls on May 5 astrologically, when the Sun reaches 15º Taurus.
On this day, we’ll enter the bright half of the bright half of the Celtic calendar, one of the hinges of the year when the veils between the worlds are thin. Bealtaine is a celebration of life, fertility, baby animals, green and growing things, music, dance, and feasting.
Looking ahead, I will tell you that at Bealtaine, the Moon will be in Leo trining Mercury in Aries. Venus in early Aries will be conjunct Neptune. A time for bright dreams and celebrating a simple life.
These are not easy times. The challenges are many. Yet the Taurus New Moon asks us to slow down and align with the Earth, not to avoid challenge, but to take the time and develop the presence to understand our best path forward.
This is an important Moon for checking your chart. This time, we want to look not only at where the New Moon is (at 07º46’ Taurus) but also where Mars (04º08’ Leo) and Pluto (03º48’) are. The Mars–Pluto opposition signifies power struggles, along with deep personal as well as societal issues.
Mars in Leo grabs the mic and starts talking. Not everything he says may be true, but it’s bound to be interesting and something is sure to land.
The significations for Pluto in Aquarius are still emerging. They definitely include tech, Big Tech, and scary aspects of both. Pluto in Aquarius can also reveal the hidden underbelly of our highest aspirations. Do we mean what we say? And does what we say actually mean what we think it does?
The Sun squaring these two brings light to whatever the situation is for us.
So, early Taurus in your chart can point to places where you can find comfort, or places where you want to build that sense of stillness and simplicity to get to the place of comfort.
Mars and Pluto in early Leo and Aquarius can point to where power struggles are, and have been. These struggles can be internal or external, or both. In other words, this opposition can highlight the inner workings of your psyche, or focus attention on relationships in your life.
Since this is the final exact Mars–Pluto opposition in this grouping, we ought to have some clues as to what it’s about and what we might need to do about it.
We are in a time of wrapping up some of this spring’s challenges. Mercury leaves their retrograde review period today, April 26. Venus enters Aries April 30 and leaves her retrograde review May 16. Mars leaves his retrograde review May 2.
May the calm, quiet energy of the New Moon in Taurus help us sort out what we’ve learned, what we still need to integrate, and what we can let go of.
Simplicity, calm, and alignment are the path.
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