TAURUS SEASON

Happy Taurus season! With the sun moving through this Venusian fixed earth sign we’re thinking about processes of growth. Specifically, what they feel like. The ease and pleasure of a slow stretch, seeing seedlings break out of the soul, the unfurling of a rose bud, feeling a song’s bass vibrating through your body. There’s a steadiness about Taurus that is rooted in the body, in the material of being alive. Taurus season teaches us about being meticulous without gripping; careful about our desires while giving them space. 

This feels especially important after the buzz and overstimulation of the Vegas PTD shows, and in the space before the June comeback (that still doesn’t feel real!). As we’ll see, this time is quite active astrologically. 

Taurus season opens with four planets – Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Neptune – in Pisces. Jupiter is separating from Neptune, but with Venus forming its own conjunction with the outer planet on April 27th, the next few weeks will still be imbued with a layer of surreality, fantasy and tendency towards delusion.

Mars moving out of Saturn’s dry, cold environment and joining the mutable water party may have us feeling more inspired, especially when it comes to collaboration. In Pisces, the action-oriented planet galvanises us to make things happen, especially when united by common values and beliefs. What this looks like could be anything from political organising to going out dancing with your friends – spring is the time to get the waters of your body moving. Let yourself be guided by a sense of flow and possibility, by your own excitement and joy.

At the very end of April and once we move into May, the pace picks up significantly. On April 30th, Mercury enters one of its home signs of Gemini. In the mutable air sign, the planet of communication, learning and mental processes can fully carry out its desire to be an information pollinator, have fast-paced conversations and explore new ideas. That same day, we get our first eclipse lunation of Taurus season (more on that later).

On May 2nd, Venus enters Aries as the Sun moves to meet Uranus. This starts the shift from the gentle waters of Pisces into the cardinal, fire-starting part of the sky. In her exaltation in Pisces, Venus wants immersion in intimate connection, magical worlds and sensory experiences that transcend the body. In Aries, Venus is hungry. She wants to feel, to throw herself into the fray, to experience the edge of aliveness and combustion. Venus in Aries doesn’t play with desire, she chases it. 

This sets the tone for the rest of the sun’s journey through Taurus. And before long, Jupiter joins its fellow benefic, ingressing into Aries on May 11th. This marks the end of Jupiter’s 5-month stay in its own sign. Through the Saturn-heavy first few months of the year, Jupiter has been bringing comfort, joy, dreaminess and a good dose of escapism to the Pisces house of our charts – a helpful counterbalance to the pressure and reordering happening in Aquarius. 

Jupiter’s 3-month transit through the fire sign shifts the tone towards movement, growth and disruption (of the positive kind) in the Aries part of our charts. When the planet of big thinking, collective activity and expansion meets cardinal fire we get revolutionary ideas, bold pursuits and breaking free from traditional ways of doing things. It’s hot chaotic summer! 

Jupiter in Aries wants fresh blood, wants rejection of the status quo, wants you to try things purely because you believe in them. It wants you to understand that not everything has to be long-lived, that you can experiment and play with the intersection of your desire and dreams. Jupiter in Aries tells us that we can embrace the excitement and the adrenaline. It also teaches us that sometimes we’ll crash and burn, that we’ll get hurt, that there will be inevitable comedowns because the fulfillment of desire is often painful – it is, after all, an ending. Jupiter in Aries says living through all of it is the point. The learning.

Underlying all of the transits is the fact that this Taurus season is the first eclipse season of the year. In fact, it’s the first full one since the nodes moved into Scorpio and Taurus. What does eclipse season mean? In short, it’s the month-or-so during which the new and full moon are eclipses due to the relative position of the sun and moon to each other. The lunar nodes are mathematical points that represent this relationship. 

What this means is that, for approximately the next year and a half, we get eclipses when the sun is in Taurus and Scorpio. There’s a lot I could write (enough for a whole separate blog) about the nodes and eclipses in general. I wrote a little here last year. What I’ll add for now is that they are about tension, dynamic oscillation, and control. Some astrologers talk about eclipses and the events that surround them feeling particularly fated. The north node is an insatiably hungry point, the south node is a place of incessant release. In my experience, they shift the ground and reality of our lives in ways that ask us to hold complexity. To find balance between surrender and agency, hunger and grief. 

What the story of the next year and a half is for you will depend on where the Taurus and Scorpio houses fall in your natal chart. But as they are ruled by the nocturnal planets Venus and Mars, the experience of these eclipses feels like one that is particularly embodied. They ask us to be willing to get into the weeds and wilderness, to venture into the forest just as much to see beautiful flowers as to honor the bones of fellow living creatures. How do we contend with longing for tangible forms of relationship, knowing the impermanence of all things? What survival strategies and painful kinds of hunger no longer work for us? What do we need to soothe the fear of letting them go? How do we hold the paradox of desiring satiation and contentment?

The new moon solar eclipse in Taurus brings these questions to the surface, and with Saturn squaring the nodes, there’s a real tension between wanting containment and security, and the underground shifts beginning to occur. As always, I recommend taking care of the basics of your wellbeing around eclipses, especially if you’re a Cancer/Leo rising, or a fixed sign rising (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) during this Taurus/Scorpio series. 

Having said all of this, here is a tarot spread that I hope can help you claim pockets of grounding, pleasure and sweetness amidst all of the (exciting!) chaos.

Card 1: What is unfurling for me, demanding my care and openness?

Card 2: How can I best get my needs met as I grow and adapt to change?

Card 3: What roots and unseen structures are here to support me?

Card 4: How can I make the space for slowness and pleasure during this time?

Wishing you a delicious, juicy, exciting and restful Taurus season – let us know and tag us if you try the spread! I’m sure we’ll get lots of goodness as we build towards the comeback so see you very soon!