Taurus

Of the four Elements of creation, Taurus represents Earth. At this level of symbolism, the Elements are principles rather than manifestations. So, Earth is about the condensing process, where life energy ‘becomes’ form. Everything is ‘becoming’ all the time, life as a continual creating: growing, changing, evolving and dissolving. I find it easiest to visualise this in nature: in spring, seemingly dead branches presenting new shoots from ‘nowhere’, growing, swelling, unfolding suddenly, spreading – leaves, flowers, pollen attracting bees, photosynthesis, reproduction – all processes that manifest life in the physical world - and the continuing cycle of Nature: fruiting, and then collapsing back into dust and soil and seed, waiting to become something new when its time comes.

After the harvest

This New Moon in Taurus is trine Pluto - the essence of this month is about accepting the shaking of our foundations. Pluto is not about the sort of changes that we can make directly. And Pluto itself is not causing breakdown, rather it is indicating that the time for breakdown has arrived.

We have to accept that what has been needs to break down completely, to allow for later growth of new forms. The breaking down is a process that gradually reveals the inner workings of all we have taken for granted. The systems we have created, like the monetary system, have reached a point in their cycle where their usefulness has been harvested. It is time for what has produced fruit to now collapse back, becoming the compost for the growth of a new way of organising ourselves.

Trying to prolong the harvest doesn’t work. At some point we have to relinquish our hold on how things have been, and mature into how they are becoming.

Suffering is optional, acceptance is more comfortable

The suffering experienced during breakdown is not from discovering that a system was flawed, nor from the process of its breaking down. We suffer from the loss of our misplaced sense of security, which was created by our expectations that life could remain the same indefinitely. Break-down finds us feeling very unsafe.

And yet, there is a recognition that real change is long overdue, we’re just not sure yet what needs to be done. Rather than doing anything to prop up what we have been leaning on, we need to be feeling out the extent of our dependence, and adapting our life-style to what is happening, as we go along. Constant adjustment maintains a healthy state of being, vitality and strength, and gives us time to adapt more smoothly to changing circumstances.

Think practical – Mercury is also in Taurus

As Mercury is about the movement of thought and communication, this month is a good time to work out what practical things we can do: healthy exercise, gardening, getting back to basics, to Nature. It is always good to start by clearing habitual behaviour that has been hiding the true state of affairs: comfort-habits that hide the body’s real needs, and relating-habits that hide our lack of real connection. We can work to clear away old attitudes that have kept us toiling for money to buy what we don’t need.

At every stage of life, there is a need for certain conditions to be met, and that which is needed is precious – it has value. An interesting exercise is to check what you appear to be valuing at the moment. You can recognise this by what you are choosing to spend your time, energy and money on. You may find that this is not what you really value most, and if there is a difference, it can be life-changing to make the adjustment – to support what you really value with your time, your energy and your money.

It is natural to want security and comfort on the physical level of life. Getting into our own daily round may seem off the bigger humanitarian track (Mercury square Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius), but the lessons we learn and the exercise we get will make us better equipped when more noticeable and public efforts are required. With our feet firmly anchored in being present with our day, and our actions supporting our true values, we can re-align with our innate practical adaptability in times of change. This is where our security lies, especially when we work together.

Let’s get personal with Mars and Venus

So Venus has just joined Mars at the beginning of Aries – there may be an impatient drive to get active, to speak the truth now, to tackle problems head-on, especially in our relationships. But any forceful efforts now, to make the changes deemed necessary, are likely to be ahead of time (Venus/Mars square Pluto).

In potentially explosive situations, the earthy first action is to clear away any negative attitude or judgement we have about it, because that will be obscuring the truth. Being right, trying to placate, being submissive or controlling, are all attitudes stemming from our personality’s fear of insecurity. Clearing them from our consciousness enables us to be present to what we feel at our heart, and it is the heart’s truth that needs to be offered when relating with someone.

Looking at any situation, we may know how we want things to be, but it’s too soon to know what action will bring that about. Yet even when problems seem insurmountable, if we will accept situations and people as they are, solutions will naturally rise into consciousness, in due course. And when they do, we will be ready to support them.

Just a thought about the names of things and people . . .

One way the truth of things remains obscured is through the names we give them. Naming something is labelling it, suggesting that we know what it is. Really, we do know that the name or label is not the thing. But we tend to assume that we know what it is because we can say what it’s called, and then we forget to find out the truth about it. So, naming or labelling is very close to making a judgement about a thing or a person, and of course we proceed to relate to what we think is there.

When things don’t work out, we may get as far as realising that what we expected to get didn’t match what we got, but do we realise that what we thought was there may not be what is truly there? And do we actually reach out, when misunderstood, to find out what was our contributing mistake?

Judgements are just our mental constructs about things and people we don’t fully understand – and maybe, moral judgements are those mental constructs to which we are emotionally attached. The mind triggers emotions about a reality we have not reached out to know. It is the heart, and the senses, that ‘know’ the truth. The heart does not block the truth with judgement, as the mind does. The mind is best observing; it is not equipped to experience the truth.

That’s a long way round of saying, be-aware of naming, because it is the first step towards judging, and it separates us from our surroundings. I’m not saying ‘don’t name’ because, of course, we have to name things to get on with daily life. We just need to be aware of its effect.

An exercise to enjoy is looking at what surrounds you, without naming anything. As soon as you are about to name what you see, look at the next thing. Keep your eyes moving, taking in shape and colour, placing, light and shade, without naming any of it, just looking like a camera. Everything is so complex and beautiful in its way – and it gets you present in seconds!