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Our Song & Our Stability: Taurus
“LAUDATO Si, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord.”
In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home
is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.
“Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.”
~ Pope Francis’ opening lines of his Laudato Si Encyclical
We’ve had some blessed, green-gold days here in Sonoma County this month, with colored floral burstings and happy birdsongs to delight the soul. It is indeed a time to praise the Earth. And yet, as with all things in this precarious time, the weather has been ‘mixed’! Currently we’re locked in a stymied holding pattern of cold gray days—not uncommon for April or May in these parts—which seems to be being mirrored internally by feelings of tiredness and constriction. In my court, at least!
I’ve been slowed way down with physical health matters of late, as have some of my friends, making Aries’ ‘forward movement’ rather elusive. I trace this to the climate of political upheaval that affects us whether we read the news or not, and the earthly seasonal change – a time of rebirth here in Northern CA that is at times inconsistent and confused in coming— and as well, the persistence of significant Pisces/Neptune energy in our starry brew, even with the imminent New Moon in Taurus on April 27th.
The astrological keynotes of this time include Neptune (newly) in ‘just do it’ Aries along with Mercury, and the Sun-Moon conjunction at 7° Taurus; however we still have a few weighty lingerers in Pisces, these being Saturn, about whose stay in Pisces I’ve focused on greatly over the past year, along with Venus, and the North Node.
We cannot err to excess in deepening our understanding of the Pisces archetype at this time, with Neptune, its ruler, having just turned the page on its 14-year tenure in Pisces (the sign it rules), and entered the 0° Aries “world point.” This marks the initiation of a 168-year cycle of Neptune through the signs. With Neptune now in Aries, in an out-of-sign conjunction with Saturn, which also enters Aries at the end of May, we have a complex assignment that can be interpreted in many different ways.
I will have more to say about the Saturn-Neptune conjunction next month, but meanwhile, with Saturn and Venus in the final degrees of Pisces, where Neptune recently passed, we are signaled to undertake a final ‘purging’ phase, a letting go, of our old, dissolving egoic behaviors, including our ways of thinking, and our identities—our ‘false self’ as some call it—so that we may step into this next phase that will be ‘new’ in many ways (and not just on the order of the horror show!) with greater openness, clarity, and courage.
[For my longer take on Pisces, see here, and more specifically on Saturn in Pisces, here. For specifics on the Moon’s North Node (our ‘true north’ directional indicator for the coming year-plus), see last month’s blog.]
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Setting our house in order
Taurus is traditionally concerned with matters of security and stability – shelter among them. This notion applies both outwardly and inwardly. As such, the second house in the zodiac, which Taurus rules, informs matters involving both our material plane resources (including money), and our inner tools and resources. At this time of great instability, the concept of finding our inner resilience is ever more important, with financial volatility the new normal, and many of the world ‘s peoples forced, through climate change or politics, into a state of migration.
[Here I’ll point you to some beautiful Resiliency Cards that I’ve recently acquired, which feature stunning floral mandala images and resilience practices in many domains: writing, self-discovery, breath, touch, movement, connection, practical activities, and expression.]
In many respects, we are called at this time to refine our sense of inner stability, which asks that we ‘put our house in order’ in an inward sense. Astrologer Lynda Hill, who writes at length about each astrological degree’s “Sabian symbols,” shares that Pisces 25 (with “25” being the Sabian symbol one looks at to describe planets at the 24th degree of a sign) is imaged by “The Purging of the Priesthood.” (Sabian Symbols are a set of 360 phrases that correspond to the degrees of the zodiac, created in 1925 by astrologer Marc Edmund Jones and clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler. The symbols provide insights and meanings connected to each particular degree.) Depth/transpersonal astrology forefather Dane Rudhyar in his book, An Astrological Mandala (1973), wrote this about the ‘purging’ degree of 25 Pisces:
Every man is a Church that has the Soul as its god, but most men forget the Soul and live according to dogmatic rules and habits which not only have become empty of inner meaning, but very often have been perverted by the demands of the senses and the emotional nature, and by the ego with its rationalizing intellect. A purging or catharsis is needed to restore not only fresh and creative spontaneity, but even more the contact with the Soul and the God-ordained dharma.
It’s interesting that the new US administration has in its first 100 days been hell-bent on this purging directive, albeit with questionable intent and dangerously unschooled methods. This is very much from the playbook of Pluto in a new sign – in this case, Aquarius, in which the planet of death and transformation now sits at 4°. As I’ve written before, when Pluto first enters a sign it tends to make mayhem exploring (and hopefully clearing out) the sign’s worst shadow qualities, which for Aquarius means autocracy/despotism, and technology run amok. Sort of like the unruly boys in elementary school being very bad boys, and playing with dangerous toys. Only yes, this is a country, and a world, we’re talking about. Sadly, we know, and we see.
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But the directive for those of us doing our inner work at this critical time (which Saturn in Pisces still urges us to) is, as Rudhyar suggests, to retrain our focus, so that we ground our solid sense of beingness not in the senses, the emotions, or the rational intellect, but in something deeper within. This is a tall order! And, it is not that we don’t use the senses or the intellect, or listen to the emotions—they have much to teach us about ourselves as we embrace the task of letting go of old reactive patterns.
It’s that we practice bringing these modes of sense perception back into relationship with the realm of Pisces—that of the divine, of spirit, of our unique way of connecting to the creative Source, and to the larger interconnected whole of which we are ever and always a part. This, with the knowing that all of our acts—in response to what we are touched by— of virtue, inspiration, compassion, creativity, and kindness, however small and seemingly unseen, affect the fabric of all life.
Practices that bring us in into awareness of the breath are another primary tool for weaving our earthly bodies with that of that larger oneness that holds us. And, in this season of the Sun’s pass through fixed earth sign Taurus, we are called into Presence with the embrace of the Earth Mother in her myriad unfolding manifestations—without clinging to or hoarding that which we are given in this realm. Instead, the archetypal invitation of Taurus is that of seeing our bodies, our senses, and the natural world we are inherently one with as loci where the divine incarnates, for a time.
The bliss we are invited into when we tune into the quiet hum of bees busy with lavender and borage blossoms, or when we behold an unfolding tapestry of lupine in an oak woodland, is a witnessing that we are here to offer up to the divine – as expressions of gratitude and love for the Earth. Our savoring and love nourish her in return.
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Change the direction we’re looking in
Twice in two days I’ve come across the concept of needing to redirect our focus when looking for fulfillment. One of these instances was in words from astrologer Maurice Fernandez, in his book on the Neptune/Pisces archetype, which point to the fact that our true “happiness” (as he calls it) is founded not in earthly pleasures, achievements, or success, but in a grounded connection to the larger stream of all life. Never more than now is this redirect needed.
Meanwhile, the archetype of Taurus is known for its capacity to go deep into the senses, into sexuality, into luxury and physical pleasure (think The Empress card in the tarot) in order to feel satisfied and nourished. Yet, the excesses of a world gone awry with greed and excessive wanting and taking of the Earth’s natural resources, which are needed to produce all the things we think we must have for our comfort and security, have become far too evident.
We are at a critical point on planet earth where, as indigenous scientist/author/teacher Robin Wall Kimmerer says, “Recognizing ‘enoughness’ is a radical act in an economy that is always urging us to consume more.” It shouldn’t be this way. We shouldn’t have forgotten to honor the mother, and the deeply interconnected, let limited nature of her precious resources and creatures—which indigenous cultures haven’t forgotten. Enough with the stuff! [For more commentary on Kimmerer’s discussion of her recent book, The Serviceberry, see my Capricorn blog, where I also touch on the upcoming Saturn-Neptune conjunction.]
Also highlighting the fact that we must turn our attention towards the Piscean realm of the “larger mind, or quantum ground, the Ground of Diversity (G-O-D)” is writer, mystic, Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault. (She attributes the G-O-D phrase to “the physicists”.) In words delivered at the beginning of the recent Lenten season, she points out how our acts of integrity create ongoing ripples within the field of life, suggesting that the more we participate in the field of larger mind where reside Justice – Integrity – Truth – Mercy, the more we ourselves are changed, and the greater the rippling waves. In speaking to the goodness and integrity that Christianity can embody—as exemplified by deceased Pope Francis—here is Cynthia’s homily on The Temptation in the Wilderness.
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Care for the Earth, the Mother
Pope Francis began his final Easter Mass message—delivered by someone else due to his sudden health decline—by speaking of Mary Magdelene, returning to her several times throughout the address. He also requested to be buried in the St. Mary Major Basilica at the outskirts of Rome, not in the Vatican itself, which is highly unprecedented. This, due to his deep devotion to Mother Mary.
The sudden passing of the Pope, just after Easter, a historical day when Mary Magdelene played a crucial role in being first to recognize her risen ‘teacher’ (Rabboni), whom she first mistook for the gardener, coupled with our learning of Francis’ devotion to Mother Mary speaks poignantly to the Taurean impulse, which is inherently of the Feminine. For Taurus speaks to the capacity for deep receptivity to the divine that is found in the arms of our larger Mother, signified by Taurus in its association with our earthly and earthy origins.
With the passing of the Pope, regardless of who comes next, it feels the invitation is for each of us to carry on his noble work, of tending to ‘the least of these’ among us—the marginalized, the poor and underprivileged, and the most disrespectfully trodden upon—the Earth. His Laudato Si Encyclical will go down in history as a deep testament to love and concern for the health of our Mother and all her creations. A summary essay on this Encyclical from the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, written by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, states:
Pope Francis could not have chosen a more central or pressing topic than the human role in ecological degradation and climate change. He critiques our “technocratic paradigm” (sec. 101) and “throwaway culture” (sec. 16). He calls for a transformation of our market-based economic system that he feels is destroying the planet and creating immense social inequities. Indeed, the Encyclical is highly critical of unfettered capitalism and rampant consumerism. He sees unregulated economic growth as problematic for the long-term sustainability of the community of life—both human and natural.
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Taurus New Moon
Alongside the Pisces and Aries planets I’ve mentioned, the primary influence of this new lunation—and it’s a kicker!—is a fixed sign T-square to the Moon-Sun conjunction in Taurus from the Mars-Pluto opposition in Leo and Aquarius. This is the third and final time in many months that these two high-octane planets of action and upheaval have faced off. Having their tight opposition involve a square to the New Moon suggests that there will be a lot of quickfire intensity in the air, with tempers and reactivity quick to flare.
We do well to pause before responding to any triggers or provocations, dwelling in the capacity for Taurus to sink deep into itself, rather than lashing out at outside influences. If we feel blind-sided by an unexpected slight or attack of some sort, best to hold steady (one of Taurus’ prime skills) in our own experience, rather than engaging in discord. Taurus is known for its stubbornness, so we might look at this part of us, if it comes up, and consider softening.
Fixed signs tend to dig their heels into their own opinions, but here too, we’re asked to focus elsewhere than our own sense of righteousness, especially as reacting to provocations of anger or fear tax the nervous system. There is help from Pluto’s trine from Neptune, which encourages us to consider, once again, that we are all in this together, even with those to whom we feel opposed. If upheaval comes our way, the ‘big picture’ view helps center our boat. Keeping ourselves calm and grounded ultimately helps others do same, which serves the whole.
Taurus, ruled by the planet Venus, lover of beauty and harmony, rules the voice, and is thereby connected to music, particularly to singing.
“Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet
never take away the joy of our hope.”
~ Pope Francis, from Laudato Si
To this end, I leave you with a poem of voices raised in praise to Dawn, illustrative of Piscean devotion channeled through the rich musicality of Taurus, a collaboration between Hildegard von Bingen and modern composer Meredith Monk.
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