TAURUS NEW MOON and MERCURY RETROGRADE IN GEMINI 18 May 2015

Moon exact at 5.13am BST, 12.13am EDT

Mercury retrograde – 18 May until 11 June

This is a very gentle moon in comparison to the Scorpio Full moon that preceded it, which involved a lot of purging, releasing and letting go and brought some not so pretty parts of ourselves into the light! New Moons are never as emotionally fraught as Full Moons because the dark of the Moon is much quieter; a time to go within and look at our lives from a more detached perspective. It is a powerful and potent time to contemplate what we need to let go of and then set intentions to help us move forwards and grow. It is the perfect time in the month for sowing seeds, both literally and figuratively, and none more so than on the Taurus New Moon, which is a very fertile Moon indeed. Taurus likes to put her roots down! Overall the energy around this Moon is fairly quiet and even restrained, giving us some time to stop and smell the roses and the space to decide what is really important to us in order to move forward and really blossom and grow.

The Sun and Moon are forming their monthly union in patient, sensual and loyal Taurus; Mother Earth. Taurus is a fixed Earth sign and is good at fixing things into place and making them solid. Her superpowers include patience and perseverance, although that can go too far sometimes and she can get stuck in situations far longer than is healthy for her. Taureans don’t like change! This is the sign of values, so this Moon is an ideal time to contemplate what really means something to us and what isn’t important anymore. Taurus does what she can to make herself feel safe and secure, and so this moon could involve us setting intentions that will bring us a sense of security and allow us to really put our roots down. Indeed, once Taurus puts her roots down she doesn’t budge, so whatever seeds we plant at this time have a good chance of really taking root and lasting. Taurus is also about self-worth and self-esteem, so this is a good time to think about what we need to make us feel better about ourselves. There is a practical element to Taurus that urges us to decide what skills and talents we need in order to survive and thrive.

Taurus is ruled by Venus, the planet of love and beauty. Venus is currently in Cancer, the sign of home and family, which is quite a warm and cuddly place for the planet of relationships to be. This Moon has quite a nesting quality to it; a sense that we are deciding what we need in order to make ourselves and our loved ones feel comfy, safe and nurtured. Venus is forming an aspect to the New Moon, increasing her power and helping us to relate on an emotional level. She is also forming a harmonious aspect to Neptune during this Moon, helping us to connect with each other on a higher, more intuitive level. There is a soft sweetness to this aspect, as we have a chance to interact with our loved ones  in a compassionate, selfless and empathetic way. Venus is also moving towards a challenging aspect with the waning Pluto Uranus square, which could shake thing up in the realm of our relationships and bring to light anything that isn’t working or doesn’t resonate with our truth. The energy of the Pluto Uranus square has the potential to bring breakdowns which lead to breakthroughs in the area of our relationships. Venus will oppose Pluto on Friday the 22^nd and square Uranus on Monday the 25^th, so the energy will be building during the New Moon.

Saturn and Mars are opposing each other and are also forming a loose, out of sign aspect to the New Moon, which could bring a feeling of restraint to the picture. Mars wants to charge ahead and get things done, while Saturn tends to rein our energy in somewhat, which could be a bit frustrating. This aspect is exact at the end of today, Thursday 14 April, but its energy will still be prevalent during the New Moon. Saturn and Mars could make us feel like there are obstacles strewn in our path and as much as we want to push forward we are somehow held back and asked to wisely consider our actions. This aspect doesn’t really help us feel very motivated or energetic, but there is probably some reason that we are being held back that will show itself with time. The key word here is restraint. Mars has just moved into Gemini, which could greatly stimulate debate and make our communication a bit more energised and even aggressive than usual. It makes me think of a war of words. Saturn is in Sagittarius at the moment, shining the harsh light of reality on our beliefs and curtailing our sense of freedom somewhat. The combination could bring about some serious discussions about our beliefs but could also cause us to hold back from asserting ourselves somehow.

Mercury goes retrograde five hours after the New Moon, and the energy is at its strongest on the days before and after he turns retrograde. As ever, Mercury retrograde has the potential to bring about miscommunication, confusion and delays in travelling. It is important to be aware of this possibility and be careful to check and double check any form of communication such as texts and emails, because this is the time when we could easily send an email to the wrong person accidentally or send a text that is somehow inappropriate! It is also important to read important documents very careful to check for mistakes.  We must maintain a sense of humour during Mercury retrograde and also understand that there might be a reason for any delays or miscommunications that might occur. Mercury mishaps don’t just “happen” to us – we have a part to play and are not just unwitting victims. This is the time of the year when the logical, left brain goes on holiday for a few weeks and we are invited to allow our more intuitive, imaginative, right side of our brain to take the reins for a while.

While Mercury is retrograde in Gemini we could experience confusion and mix up in our everyday communication and important information has the potential to go missing. It is also a chance, however, to go back over things in a less superficial way and go deeper, so that we pick up the hidden nuances. This is an ideal time to revisit projects to see what we might have missed and to look at them from a new perspective. Indeed, this is a perfect time to consider different points of view and experience a breath of fresh air in the way we think. Now we have a chance to look back, which can be very healing as we revisit our past and look at it with fresh eyes. Indeed, people from our past can pop up during this time, especially if we have unfinished business with them. It is a great time for retrospection. So, while we could experience delays in our travel arrangements, computers and gadgets breaking down, information going missing and communication going awry, Mercury retrograde also offers us many gifts. It is a retro-active period; a time to reflect, review, repair, revisit, re-do, re-iterate, re-work, re-evaluate, redress, rethink and above all, relax! This is a perfect opportunity to practice not taking things too seriously!

This is definitely a quiet New Moon with a hint of reserve and restraint. It really is a wonderful time to seriously contemplate what seeds we want to sow for the coming month, because Taurus is a very fertile sign indeed and the seeds have a good chance of taking root. There is a sense of us all having to slow down a bit, whether we like it or not, and consider what we really, truly want for ourselves. If we are being held back at this time there could be a good reason for it which will reveal itself in the fullness of time. This is a fairly practical New Moon, when we consider what we might need in order to survive, make a living and increase our sense of self-worth. We must not forget that Taurus is also Mother Earth so this is also a time to consider her needs. She has certainly been crying out to us in recent times, and her power unleashed has wreaked havoc on thousands of people’s lives and caught the attention of the whole world. What is she trying to tell us? How can we help?

Mercury enters retrograde shadow - May 4^th

Mercury turns Retrograde - May 18th

Mercury turns direct - June 11th

Mercury leaves retrograde shadow – June 27th

Much Love

Amy

xoxo

Photo: MOTHER NATURE by Amy Bird