Monday, April 28, 2014

New Moon Eclipse in Taurus: Celebrate Your Greatest Gifts



This New Moon Eclipse (at 1:13am on April 29th) marks the beginning of the Flower Moon phase…many things will be coming into bloom in our lives in the coming month, mirroring the blossoming Earth.  The degree of Taurus illuminated by our luminaries carries the symbol of ‘A decorated Christmas tree’.  This symbol may seem seasonally out-of-place, however, the meaning of the symbol goes much deeper than what it appears to be.  This is a time to celebrate the gifts with which we have been blessed during what may have seemed to many as a particularly dark or difficult time this past month.  It is a time of celebration, a conjuring up of some warmth and joy within even though the environment outside of us may have recently been either barren, difficult, or even hostile in some way.  We are beginning now to come off of the Cross of the previous week and into our new identity...the same soulful being, but one that has endured an experience that has elevated their outlook.  This symbol suggests that we transform the darkness and deprivation of a low point in our life cycle by celebrating the good moments, inviting them to return in abundance.  The symbol of the Maypole is one that holds a similar feeling of celebration more in line with our current season, and encourages fertility in its many aspects.  Perhaps those of us who celebrate Beltane at the beginning of May with maypoles and flower baskets will feel a bit like the Yuletide season stretched into Spring.  Or it may hold joyful echoes of the Yuletide to come.  ;)

Every New Moon is a time where an old cycle ends and a new one begins, but during an eclipse this initiation becomes even more powerful.  After those new opportunities from the New Moon present themselves, a glimpse at our collective shadow appears. After identifying what it is we need to do, and what it is we need to leave behind, in order to be the change we wish to see in the world…we may be backed into a corner by that which has held power over us for so long now. It’s important not to give in and go the easy route that takes little effort but has far-reaching drawbacks and debilitating limitations. There is light and shadow within each of us. Many of us hide from our shadows by playing the victim and pointing fingers outside of us…whether it be at parents, relationships, or the world around us. We have these experiences, though, to teach us the whole truth about ourselves and our interconnectedness to what we experience. Those people, those situations, those struggles…they are mirrors reflecting what we refuse to acknowledge about ourselves.

The shadow side of our personalities is the part of us we don’t want to identify with…the aspects of ourselves that we hide, repress, or dissociate after society teaches us various things that aim to correct what is ‘wrong’ or wild about us. We’re conditioned to watch our tempers, hold back our tears, look presentable, concern ourselves with money, keep our heads out of the clouds, not say something stupid or crazy, or any other variation on what blocks our self-expression. This is not to say that letting children run wild is the way to raise them. My parents laid down ‘the law’ for us, just as I find myself doing with my daughter now. But discipline is about teaching right from wrong and guiding along a morally sound path. Those are not the limitations to which I am referring. I’m talking about what makes us feel worthless, unloved, misunderstood, maladjusted, less than, wounded, afraid, disconnected or wrong. Harsh judgments stay with us, whether they come from outside or within. It’s those ideas that keep us from our highest potential. That is the shadow side at work…phantom pains from old wounds that demand that we heal them in order to discover our gifts.

This eclipse hastens us to begin or resume our healing process. Step out of self-defeating cycles and forge a new path filled with new discoveries. Identify your wounds, integrate your shadows in your healing and loving light, and identify yourself as whole in the process. Shed the limiting skin of the past and welcome the new you, The Healer.

This is a chance to focus the spotlight of the luminaries within and find previously undiscovered truths about life, and about ourselves.  Every eclipse offers us a new perspective.  This particular annular solar eclipse is rare because it is non-central (the central axis of the Moon's antumbral shadow misses Earth entirely while the shadow edge grazes the planet).  We won’t be able to see it, but as usual, we will feel it.  The eclipse will only last about 12 minutes…and its energetic influence will be relatively short as well, lasting about 2 months.  In a Solar Eclipse, the Moon occults the light of the Sun, showing only the Sun's corona.  This sight represents the brilliance of consciousness that we don't see everyday because we are blinded by the glare of everyday life.  In an annular eclipse like this one, we are able to see the outer ring of our consciousness by taking a step away from the 'core' of our lives (because, usually by this point, something in our 'core' has gone awry and we need a new perspective on life).

What's under the surface of how you've been presenting yourself lately?  When you take away everything that is superfluous, not really you, or accumulated from your environment or social upbringing...what reveals itself as the clearest path to your true aspirations in this life?  Remember that your circumstances, crises, and the stories about yourself that you've accumulated so far are not you...though they are likely representative of your previous actions.  We are meant to learn from our past only...not to take it with us for the long haul. What is important is the NOW of every moment.  The future will take care of itself, and the past is already taken care of.  In the now, we can actively create the world around us.

So, celebrate and create.  You’ve endured a lot, and it’s about time you had a chance to enjoy yourself, your life, and all of the amazing people in it.  Here’s a new start, so use it wisely.  Taurus is about our values and resources…so this would be the time to set them straight and accumulate more of what you really need for yourself and your loved ones.  You can’t create abundance while holding on to the debts of your past, so move forward with the mindset of ‘like attracts like’…attract those things you need in your life and allow them to blossom under the Flower Moon next month.



Love and Gratitude,
Felina Lune Kavi

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