The 2009 Taurus Full Moon

by Stephanie Azaria

November 2, 2009

2:14 PM EST / 11:14AM PST/ 7:14 GMT

10 Taurus 30 / 10 Scorpio 30

The Taurus Full Moon is the first Moon event since Saturn moved into Libra and shifted our collective focus from perfecting the self to working on relationships. The first thing we get to do is look at what and how we share. This Full Moon explores the dichotomy between individual possessions, resources and worth and those that come from investing time, energy, emotion or money with other people.

Representing the individual end of the spectrum is the Taurus Moon, who wants and trusts what she can touch or otherwise experience through physical senses. The compliments and kind words of Libra are not enough for her. She wants a tangible exchange for her work, money in the bank, food on the table and a partner who comes home when promised and whose hand she can hold. The Scorpio Sun, on the joint end of the spectrum, is shining a light into the bigger, almost bottomless pot that holds not just what two (or more) people have contributed, but also sublingual desires and issues of power, possession and domination.

These are hardly minor issues, and the look we get at them will not be trivial or fleeting. The exploration that this Full Moon sets off is likely to be vocal, impassioned and escalating and to hit an impasse that takes a few days to resolve. The vocal part comes from the last planet that the Moon touches being Mercury in Scorpio, which will set gears of thought (and obsession) into motion, churning fears, desires, secrets and entries on real and symbolic balance sheets. Some of this may stay hidden, but some will be spoken, and not necessarily gently, especially when the Sun meets Mercury on Thursday. The impassioned, escalating and stalemated aspects come from Mars in Leo and Jupiter in Aquarius squaring the Full Moon and creating an aspect pattern called a grand cross. The energetic impact is feeling splattered or pulled in four directions, or pinned to a matte like an insect specimen. The energy forces attention to all points of the cross. We won’t simply clutch and protect our toypile; we’ll also look at the communal toypile, whip up a big scene about any discrepancies or shortcomings and make grandiose projections of what they mean for the future. Or we could turn Mars’ dramatic Leonine impulses and Jupiter’s bigger-is-better approach into playing (as long as we’re not going anywhere, let’s at least have a good time) or brainstorming more fun ways to go about things in the future.

The sense of impasse will break on Thursday, when the Sun squares the degree of the August 5 Leo lunar eclipse. This movement reawakens the return on emotional investment theme of that eclipse, which lit up love given and received. That eclipse revealed situations that did not appreciate, value or perceive our expression of our true selves. A similar examination will occur now. If, after stewing for four days in the Scorpio Full Moon, we see that our investment in or contribution to a venture isn’t being valued or bringing the expected/negotiated return, we will snap, and so will the agreement. If we’re still in situations that were spotlighted in the August 5 eclipse, they’ll break too.

The break will be on an attachment level first and foremost, but it could also happen in mundane reality as well. That’s because this Full Moon brings deep and clean cuts with it. The Sun’s ruler Pluto is well into the square with Saturn, which will build until November 15. The tension is dismantling or clearing out wobbly or unsupportive structures, including emotional and financial arrangements. They are in death throes if the joint pot isn’t brewing what you’d expected or agreed to, or if your continuing to fuel the joint pot is devaluing or wasting your personal resources. (One example: if you’ve put aside talents and abilities that you greatly value to stay in a relationship, your willingness to continue denying yourself may be coming to an end.) Exit doors are opening. You may not see quite what’s beyond the door or even how to get to the door, but you now know you are making your way to it.

Underlying the resoluteness and drama is the unwavering sense that all’s well. And it is. The Moon’s ruler Venus is trining Neptune and and making an inconjunct to Uranus. The heart is tapping into higher wisdom and embracing adjustments that allow expression of the self. Love, and not fear, is guiding us. Choosing love of the self unlocks us from situations and agreements that deny our basic nature and stifle the talents that we came here to express. The unlocking frees us to make new, deeper, more meaningful connections, in which we share ourselves and our gifts more fully. A joint investment of that caliber has present value and long term growth potential beyond what we have ever experienced. Get used to the concept: we’re about to dive in deep into relationships.

The Sabian Symbol for the Moon at 11 degrees Taurus is:
A WOMAN SPRINKLING LONG ROWS OF FLOWERS

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Commentary: ‘A Woman Sprinkling Long Rows of Flowers’ is a lovely picture of the rewards that come from tending a garden and being responsive to its needs. This can take perseverance and be hard work as there are weeds or other unwanted elements to keep an eye out for. Tending to the ‘Flowers’ gives the ‘Woman’ time to pause for a moment and breathe in the beauty of nature and her place in it. She can relax into nature and enjoy the moment as a lot of the hard work is finished; her garden has now come into bloom.

Oracle: This Symbol often speaks of the need to take time to nurture the physical self. Along with smaller, less able things that need care, your body needs water, sustenance and nourishment, too. Drinking plenty of water and nourishing yourself with good food is part of this. Hence there may be a need to pay attention to what your body is telling you. Sometimes the mind needs to take a rest, and the body needs to be allowed to come to bloom and bask a little in the sunlight. Now is the time to enjoy the fruits of one’s work. Also, looking after younger and smaller things so they may grow to maturity and fullness brings its own type of reward. This might require patience and a determination to work at something. Keeping an eye on things that you are responsible for will ensure that they don’t dry out and fade away ahead of, or before, their time. Weeding out undesirable factors will be a necessary part of this process. As the ‘Woman is Sprinkling Long Rows of Flowers’, she needs to be mindful not to miss the ends of the flowerbeds. Taking time out to actually water the garden may bring some wonderful realizations to your life. As fairies and nature spirits are said to live in gardens, meditating whilst ‘Sprinkling’ the garden, or pot plants, may bring nourishing insights to the question that brought you to the Oracle.

Keywords: Having patience and care. Nurturing and fertilizing creativity. External evidence of internal beauty. Looking after small details to reap treasures later. The Tree of Life. Stopping to smell the roses. Paying attention to detail. Flower essences. Sprinkling love and sustenance. Watering and fertilizing. Tending the soil. Care and love.

The Caution: Giving superficial attention just to keep up appearances. Neglect of things once they’re established. Giving up on projects half way through. Dehydration and neglect. Droughts or energy, love or feeling. Neglecting things in favor of other priorities.

Cultivate more joy by arranging your life so that more joy will be likely. George Witkin

Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul. Luther Burbank

Would that the little flowers were born to live, conscious of half the pleasure, which they give. Longfellow

Cultivate peace first in the garden of your heart by removing the weeds of lust, hatred, greed, selfishness, and jealousy. Then only those who come in contact with you will be benefited by your vibrations of peace and harmony. Sivananda

By cultivating the beautiful we scatter the seeds of heavenly flowers, as by doing good we cultivate those that belong to humanity. Vernon Howard

For the benefit of the flowers, we water the thorns, too. Egyptian Proverb

Some of the sweetest berries grow among the sharpest thorns. Gaelic Proverb

The Sabian Symbol for the Sun at 11 degrees Scorpio is:
A DROWNING MAN IS BEING RESCUED.

Commentary: ‘A Drowning Man is Being Rescued’ is a symbol of difficulties, relief, rescue and resuscitation. The ‘Drowning Man’ often indicates someone who’s fallen into something that is out of his or her control and out of their depth. They can feel like they’re being overpowered by their inability to cope with life. This can manifest on any level, emotionally, physically or spiritually. Here, he is shown as ‘Being Rescued’, and help is, or soon will be, nearby.

Oracle: Often we feel like we are suffocated by our marriage, job, friendships, life path, etc., or through the lack of these things. Although this Symbol speaks of a ‘Rescuing’, and this may indeed be at hand, sometimes it’s essential that we admit to the fact that we are losing control or ‘Drowning’ before a ‘Rescue’ can even begin to take place. People will often lend a hand and spontaneously arrive on the scene to help others out, but they need to know the depths of the situation that’s occurring. As the ‘Man’ in this Symbol is ‘Being Rescued’ it shows that the ‘Drowning’ has been noticed and that ‘Rescue’ or relief is imminent. People may indeed turn up to help out or this may be a more lonely passage, with you having to rely on yourself. However, continuing to struggle on alone may not solve anything – indeed, struggling can make things worse. This Symbol can also point to co-dependent types of relationships where there is a continual need to be available, to be on hand, and to be reliable. This can be a tiring responsibility for the ‘Rescuer’ as well as for the ‘Drowning’ person. A true ‘Rescue’ is often found when we look after our own needs, even if it entails a hand-up from someone else along the way. Concentrate on the shore, even if it feels as though it’s miles away from you. Reconnect with what’s possible and real, earth yourself and know that help is at hand, even if it’s your higher self that is performing the ‘Rescue’. Soon you’ll be able to “breathe” easily again.

Keywords: Resuscitation. Regaining one’s breath. Finding life renewed. Asthma, bronchitis, breathing difficulties. Finding help in moments of crisis. Needing a hand. Being rescued. Salvation on any level. Ventilators. Breathing equipment. Oxygen. Dependence. Last minute reprieves.

The Caution: Panicking in order to draw help rather than learning how to cope. Constantly finding reasons for losing control of situations. Getting into deep water on a regular basis.

The salvation of the world consists in the salvation of the individual soul. C.G. Jung

Each man’s task is his life preserver. George B. Emerson

The drowning man will clutch at a straw. Proverb

Anxiety is love’s greatest killer. It makes one feel as you might when a drowning person holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you in his panic. Anais Nin

You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there Edwin Louis Cole

If a man is destined to drown, he will drown even in a spoonful of water. Yiddish Proverb

As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might. Marian Anderson

Nobody heard him, the dead man, but still he lay moaning: I was much further out than you thought, and not waving but drowning. Stevie Smith

Drowning problems in an ocean of information is not the same as solving them. Ray E. Brown