The plum and cherry trees are bedecked by white and pink blossoms, the branches laden with the potential of summer fruit. Warming sunlight calls forth new growth from the Earth, and the thick green grasses are bedazzled with daffodils and narcissus flowers. The spindly elven branches of the delicate dogwood trees are just starting to show forth the star-like white blossoms that bring the forest to enchanted life. Spring really is here, and Taurus season is nearly upon us.
The zodiacal sign of Taurus is full this lunation cycle, with Venus coming home to her domain and playing host to the Sun and Mercury, and to the lingering outer planetary guest Uranus. While this February a stellium of planets in Aquarius squared Mars and Uranus in Taurus, now a stellium of planets in Taurus forms the reciprocal square to Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius. The tensions between Saturn and Uranus continue to be the dominant archetypal complex shaping our zeitgeist, the old making way for the new—sometimes with unexpected schisms and breaks and sometimes with awakened maturity and responsibility. Orient towards creativity and innovation, but do not forget the lessons of the past, for it is only in the synthesis and integration of the two that a sustainable and regenerative future can be conceived.
Transits of the Aries-Taurus Lunation
*April 11 @ 7:31 pm PT* The New Moon in Aries aligns with Venus in a square to Pluto in late Capricorn, impelling a powerful infusion of sensuous, erotic, and aesthetic energies into the birth of a new celestial cycle that will ripple forth into the next lunation.
*April 13 @ 4:09 pm PT* The Sun in Aries sextiles Mars in Gemini, as the Moon conjoins Uranus and squares Saturn. The impulsive force of will to achieve and get tasks done may have to contend with feelings of heaviness and emotionally erratic behavior. Take action, but also tend to the emotional body with care.
*April 14 @ 11:22 am PT* Venus sashays into her home sign of Taurus, draping her gossamer gown over the flowering grasses, and settling into a throne woven of apple blossom branches. A crystal bowl of fresh strawberries and white rose petals rests by her side, while a glass of rare champagne sparkles in her radiant diamond light.
*April 15 @ 9:59 am PT* The Sun in Aries sextiles Jupiter in Aquarius, bringing warmth and joy, quiet celebration and subtle excess, an exuberance of being in the golden glow of life’s elevated heights.
*April 16 @ 6:27 am PT* The Sun in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn, while Mars in Gemini forms an airy trine to Jupiter in Aquarius. The boxer comes charging into the ring of life’s competition, and while good sportsmanship may prevail and darker, hidden contention may come to light in uncomfortable, shadowy ways.
*April 17 @ 9:00 am PT* Mercury in Aries has a highly active day, forming sextiles both to Mars in Gemini and Jupiter in Aquarius, and a square to Pluto in Capricorn. Digging to the bottom of the well of ideas may bring a great expansion of insight, but arguing the point too fiercely might lead to ostracization rather than a change in perspective.
*April 18 @ 6:50 pm PT* The Sun and Mercury conjoin in late Aries, directing the light of insight and awareness clearly and potently towards actions, activities, and activations of intellect.
*April 19 @ 11:59 pm PT* Both Mercury and the Sun ingress into Taurus, with fast-paced Mercury just ahead of the Sun by a few hours. A minute before midnight, the Moon in the first degree of Leo forms its waxing square to the Sun, making the opening move in a game of chess where thought and feeling play each side of the board.
*April 22 @ 6:01 pm PT* Venus conjoins Uranus in Taurus, and the Moon in Virgo forms the waxing gibbous trine to the Sun, marking Earth Day’s celebration of our life-giving home planet. Unanticipated desires may arise romantically and relationally, the heart beating with the pulse of dazzling fireworks, and eccentric aesthetics revolutionizing the way beauty is perceived.
*April 23 @ 4:49 am PT* Mars splashes into Cancer, and sizzling steam hisses off the warrior’s armor as the planetary archetype of action and fiery will cools off in the emotional waters of the Moon’s zodiacal domain. Find assertion through gentle paths and relational avenues, aligning actions with the emotional flow of life rather than trying to swim fiercely upstream.
*April 25 @ 3:19 pm PT* Mercury, Venus, and Uranus all conjoin in Taurus, forming a square to Saturn in Aquarius. Communicate relational boundaries with precision and clarity, lest unexpected cracks and schisms arise. Talk honestly about change, implementing it intentionally and with integrity, rather than after you have crossed the breaking point.
*April 26 @ 8:32 pm PT* The Full Moon in Scorpio marks the last full day all the planets are seen moving direct, for Pluto stations retrograde the following day and appears to traverse in reverse for the next several months. The multi-petaled lunar flower blossoms to its fullest, but the petals are a deep hue, tinged with shades of secret intimacy and yearning.
*April 29 @ 7:27 pm PT* Mercury in Taurus sextiles Neptune in Pisces, sanguinely singing poetic passages of heavenly harmonies, saturating the symbolic skull surrounding the mind and flooding it with fantastical images and symbols.
*April 30 @ 12:54 pm PT* The Sun and Uranus conjoin in Taurus, awakening the ingenious insight, igniting the impulse to revolutionize change, and striding forward heroically into a new and brilliant dawn of awareness.
*May 2 @ 3:38 pm PT* Mercury in Taurus trines a Moon-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, while Venus in Taurus sextiles Neptune in Pisces. Dreamy and fantastical webs weave from heart to heart, deepened by profoundly vulnerable emotional dialogue and communion.
*May 3 @ 12:50 pm PT* The Sun in Taurus forms the waning square to a Moon-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius, while Mercury in late Taurus squares Jupiter in Aquarius. By day’s end, Mercury leaps into its home sign of Gemini, opening up channels of abundant communication and rapid dialogue. The intellect may be active, but with Moon-Saturn square the Sun a more introverted, introspective, quiet space may need to be nurtured in order for conversation to feel welcome.
*May 6 @ 4:25 am PT* Venus in Taurus forms an earthy trine with Pluto in Capricorn, as the waning balsamic Moon in Pisces sextiles the Sun. As the Moon’s light declines into a sliver, Bacchus’s dryads dance in the dark woods, sensually swaying amongst the silvered shadows.
*May 8 @ 6:38 am PT* Venus in late Taurus squares Jupiter in Capricorn, before crossing the threshold into Mercury’s domain of Gemini. Graciously crowned in all the glory of her home sign, Venus takes a final celebratory bow before stepping into the more intellectual and airy realm of her cousin Hermes’ home.
*May 11 @ 12:00 pm PT* The warming spring soil of the New Moon in Taurus invites the planting of fertile seeds of blossoming intention, while Mars in Cancer forms a sextile to Uranus in Taurus. Sparks of impulsive energy move the soul to action, initiating the unfoldment of the next lunation cycle into motion.
Becca Tarnas 