The New Moon in Taurus, which just happens to coincide with the annular Solar Eclipse occurs at 8 degrees Taurus at 11:14 pm PDT on April 28^th.

Many of us feel exhausted from the Astrological events that have unfolded since the Full Moon in Libra/Lunar Eclipse on April 15^th.  The days following that catalyst were a game changer for many, with one door closing, and another door opening, but many of us can’t quite see where that other door is leading us to just yet.  We only know something integral has shifted, and some of us are likely feeling a bit fragile, blinking at the light of the new day. Then, on the heels of the eclipse came the Cardinal Grand Cross, which exacted between Sunday the 20^th and Wednesday the 23^rd.  No one could blame you if you feel depleted, shaken, and wanting to hide beneath the covers.

Well, just in time, like a gentle balm from the Goddess, the New Moon in Taurus comes along to soothe our frazzled nerves, and take us away like a Calgon bath.  It is traditional Taurus wisdom that any hardship can be made better with a good bowl of soup and a hot bath.  And, in our complex times, there is solid, old-world good judgment in that practical cure for what ails us.

If you have been living in your head too much, tapped into a world of abstractions and internet worship, this New Moon is just your aspect to get your feet back in the dirt, turn your face to the sun and inhale deeply of the connection of the Earth and your body.  Dig in the garden.  Eat something grown in the ground.  Bake some brownies.  Have sex.  Refrain from intellectualizing about religion, spirituality and sex for just one day, and dance with the Goddess and the God on Beltane Eve.

The Beltane festival perfectly embodies the archetype of Taurus, and the Taurus New Moon easily takes place within the parameters of Beltane season.  Although the day has come to be celebrated on May the 1^st, intuition and common sense let us know that this New Moon, being only 48 hours away from May Eve, is the first thread weaving together the subtle energies in a magical weft of time; a time that is meant for releasing new intentions, and celebrating the gift of being in a body.

This is the time to make and send out intentions around beauty in all its forms: our body image, self-love, and beautifying our surroundings.  It’s also a great time to make goals around security and finances.  What do you want to cultivate in business this year?  What kind of clients do you want to work with? Are you willing to show up in a way that will align with your perfect vision of right livelihood?  Taurus is a Fixed Earth sign, and is associated with Venus, the goddess of love and beauty herself.  Even more ancient than her Venus connection, Taurus resonates with Aphrodite Pandemos – “Aphrodite common to all the people”; an earthy, lusty, fertility goddess.  And if you go back even further, Taurus is an emblem of Innana/Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love, sex, and war.   Taurus is connected to the Empress card in the Tarot; lush, fertile, abundant and comfortably living in accordance with the Earth.

Annular Solar Eclipse

Not only do we have a New Moon and Cross Quarter Festival on tap, we also have the Annular Solar Eclipse, which makes this a very powerful and significant New Moon.  Solar eclipses often herald momentous change, and the effects usually tend to unfold over the next six months.  If you are a Taurus born within April 24^th and May the 4^th, you will feel the effects of this eclipse in a personal way.  However, you will also be able to tune into the energies of this New Moon/Eclipse and actively co-create the changes coming up in your life.  The other fixed signs, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius born near 8 degrees of their sign, will also experience this threshold in a visceral way.   All of us will experience this New Moon somewhere in their chart; in a particular department of life. Check your chart for where you can expect to experience change.  Eclipses bring something to light that often necessitates a new direction.   

Guiding Goddess Archetypes

Although there are many goddesses you may choose to work with that resonate with the Taurus archetype - Gaia, Lakshmi, Venus, Hathor, Epona, and Flora - to name just a few, the following ritual calls upon Aphrodite in her earthly aspect.  Men can do this ritual too.  Use your judgment to tailor it for yourself.

New Moon in Taurus Ritual: Aphrodite’s Bath

When I was a dancer, many moons ago, I would do a similar variation of the following ritual.  I called it “Getting into the Zone”, and it was part of my preparation for a performance.  This ritual is designed to remind you that you are beautiful, and born in a body to enjoy pleasure.  Our culture has so much stigma around body image and beauty.  On one hand society tells us that appearance is everything, and makes us feel bad about ourselves for not measuring up to a societally constructed ideal.  However, the flip side is that we can feel conflicted for wanting to be attractive, or for enjoying ourselves “too much”.  We need to find a sane balance.  Everyone wants to feel attractive, and everyone deserves to have pleasure.

 What You Will Need

• Sage or cedar for smudging
• Candles
• Flower petals
• Essential oils
• Salt scrub – simply use sea salt or earth salt
• Drumming music (try Layne Redmond)

Smudge yourself and your ritual area.  Do some Savitri breathing to ground and center yourself.  (Breathe in to the count of seven.  Hold for the count of seven. Out for the count of seven.  Repeat as long as you wish, but at least three times).

*Light the candles

*Slip into the tub, and remember you are a sensual being, born into this skin to experience and enjoy pleasure and bodily sensations.  Do not allow yourself to feel guilty for taking this time for yourself. 

 Aphrodite Affirmations for New Moon in Taurus:

"I am a beautiful woman designed in the likeness of the Goddess"

"I am prosperous, abundant and fertile" (this can be creative fertility, or fertility of the body)

"I am content, and enjoying the sweetness of each unfolding moment in my life"

"I am in this body to enjoy the pleasures of the senses"

Get out the salt scrub, and purify your body, head to toe.  Visualize gently cleansing yourself of any old programming that tells you you’re anything less than a goddess.  When you’re ready, pull the plug on those old and untrue ideas.  See them washing down the drain.  Emerge shimmering and deeply calm; confident that you are a woman of beauty and power; a living embodiment of the Goddess.When was the last time you danced? Put on the drumming music, and abandon yourself to the throbbing cadence of the beat.  Dance, sway, undulate, to the rhythm as long as you would like, but try and get into it for at least 10 minutes.Let the dance be a meditation. Allow yourself to feel each movement as deep and delicious. There is no right and wrong way to move.  Let Her guide you.  You will know when it is time to stop.   Ask the Goddess if she has a message for you to take away on this New Moon.  It could be a word, an image, or an object.  Trust that what comes is given to you as a talisman to guide you in the next six months.