May 16 12:14 AM EST
This Scorpio full moon lunar eclipse marks the midway point of eclipse season! While the new moon solar eclipse in Taurus set the stage for this powerful month, this full moon shows us in many what is ready to be deeply shed and transformed in our lives. Scorpio is the sign associated with the snake, the serpent, that sheds its old skin as it continues to evolve. For many of us (most of us), this is a challenge. In contemporary Western society we are encouraged to accumulate as much as possible. This act of accumulation, of what we feel we need and want and desire, is an act of Taurus. In its highest sense we are following the prompting of our soul and aligning to what TRULY nourishes us and improves our lives and magnetizing that into our lives. Part of the task of this Taurus eclipse is separating out what that means for us NOW (self care, nutrition, healthy relationships, etc) from whatever else we have managed to accumulate ‘through the years’. What ‘does not make the cut’ is what is then recycled or transmuted through the energy of Taurus’ opposite sign and complement, Scorpio. That is what this full moon eclipse is all about, allowing the old to fall away gracefully, or transform into an updated and upgraded version.
The eclipse occurs at 25 degrees of Taurus / Scorpio, and is closely square to the planet of karma, Saturn, at 24 degrees of Aquarius. This forms a potent fixed T-square in the sky. And with the T-square aspect, the planet at the center of the T (in this case Saturn) is the “avenue” for the energy to be released. For this reason it’s worth re-visiting some of the themes of Saturn in Aquarius which have been very dominant since Saturn first entered that sign in March 2020. We can expect all of these themes to be front-and-center again during this eclipse, especially the “rights of the people” (Aquarius) and what “rules” (Saturn) are changing (Scorpio). On ‘both sides of the aisle’ here in the USA, people feel that there are troubling “power struggles” (Scorpio) at play that threaten to institutionalize/codify (Saturn) certain decision and strip ‘freedom from the people’ (Aquarius). Since eclipses have a duration of significance that is longer than the average new or full moon, we can expect this to be playing out for at least the next 3 months, if not all the way until the next set of eclipses in late October and November.
In our own lives as well, we are deeply enmeshed in confronting what we have accumulated in our lives (Taurus), are seeing what the results/karma from those choices have been (Saturn), and deciding what we want to be different in the future, especially how we can take back our own personal power (Scorpio). Releasing what no longer serves us is one of the primary ways we take back our power, but again this is something that culturally we have not been taught and we tend to ‘hold on for dear life’ even to things (or relationships) that we know have outlived their expiration date. If we can have the courage now to gently release them, and bless them as they go, we will be freeing ourselves from old karma (Saturn) and allowing for profoundly new and exciting opportunities to enter our lives. This is especially true since Jupiter, the planet of growth and abundance just entered Aries, on May 10th. Jupiter in Aries, at 1 degree, during the eclipse, portends the blessings that are on the way to us when we allow the old to go, and leave room for the new.
Another very encouraging aspect is Venus at 15 degrees of Aries, nearly exactly conjunct Chiron at 14 degrees of that sign. Chiron is the asteroid associated with healing, so this beautiful kiss between Venus and Chiron is another reminder that it is SAFE for us to shed, release, let go and be ‘re-born’ right now. Whatever kind of karmic shakeup this eclipse T-square with Saturn wants to release from our lives, and from our system, we are strong enough to withstand it, and there is a powerful soothing and healing balm that is at the ready to help us in our transition.
Likewise, the two co-rulers of Scorpio, and hence the co-rulers of the eclipse, Mars and Pluto, are similarly offering (uncharacteristically) gentle support to us now. Both Mars and Pluto are warrior planets, sometimes ruthless in their approach to ‘transitions’. But right now they are forming a supportive sextile to each other. Pluto remains camped out in the final degrees of Capricorn, at 28 degrees. And Mars is now in Pisces, at 23 degrees and conjunct Neptune at 24 degrees of that sign. It is worth noting that 23 degrees of Pisces is the degree where the Jupiter Neptune conjunction occurred in April. Mars activating this degree is a blessing indeed, reminding us of the many gifts that come to us when we are being lead (Mars) by our inner spirit and not our ego. Again, the more we can lean into this now, the more smoothly all of the shifts and transitions that are happing now in our lives will go.
If we resist these shifts, if we continue to try to force (Mars/Pluto) things or people to be as they were in the past, then we can have a bumpy ride. Saturn can dole out harsh consequences for our actions. And wildcard Uranus, at 15 degrees of Taurus and still loosely conjunct the sun and opposite the moon, will keep throwing us surprises to ‘try to help’ us see the writing on the wall. This can all feel rather jarring and unpleasant.
Add to the mix the old favorite : Mercury retrograde. Mercury is retrograde at 3 degrees of its home sign of Gemini, and conjunct the sun and ALSO opposite the eclipse. This is activating some of the energy of the last series of eclipses we had in 2020/2021 when the nodes of the moon were in Gemini and Sagittarius. The “information wars” over belief systems that are so connected to these two signs. All of that is likewise being activated now, with ever more ‘revisions’ (Mercury Rx) to the story. What has changed about our beliefs since these eclipses began in May 2020? What new information or ideas have helped us refine how we are seeing what is playing out in our lives and in the collective? Taking time to reflect on this could bring us some interesting answers, and again more information about what needs to be shed and transformed right now in our lives. At a personal level, Mercury retrograde in Gemini reminds us not to ‘force our opinions’ on others, and to be extra thoughtful about how we are communicating.
Ultimately, the planets are in prime position now to support our transition from the old into the new. It can be as bumpy or smooth a ride as we make it. Deciding that we are ready to see things differently, to do things differently, to allow people or situation or be as they are without trying to ‘change them’ or force them to conform to an old idea of what we wanted them to be, this is how we take back our power- what Scorpio is really about. And this is how we step into the PRESENT moment with as much clarity and power as possible to navigate situations as they are showing up here and now.
*art by @bree.karpavage
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