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| Photo of May Queen from Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh |
Full Moon/ Penumbral Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio: A Bustle in your Hedgerow
Moon opposite Sun (Lunar
Beltane)- 5/5/23 @ 12:34pm CDT
Sun at 15 degrees Taurus
(Solar Beltane)- 5/5/23 @ 1:19pm CDT
In the fullness of eclipse
season, this penumbral lunar eclipse has plenty of intensity packed into a very
slight shadow. If it’s stirring up anything
significant in your natal chart, you may be surprised by how emotional you’re
feeling lately. And since this eclipse
is at the south lunar node, there will still be more to purge from the active
confrontation of shadow that began this lunation (April 19th).
Two weeks ago, the Aries New
Moon was pushing for a definitive ending to something that had run its course
in our lives. Now, as we reach the Full
Moon in Scorpio, there is more clarity about what that is. But there are likely
some unanticipated turns in the path of letting go.
Moon-Uranus Opposition
The next aspect the Moon makes,
after opposition with Sun, is an opposition with Uranus. Uranian energy awakens, stimulates, and
progresses things in unpredictable ways.
Opposite Moon, it can bring up new insights about the past, accelerate
our emotional waves, or flip us out of our comfort zones to make changes in
routines.
This is not a day to insist on
consistency, or to resist out-of-the-blue adaptations. Leave some wiggle room in your plans so you can
move with the offbeat, get weird with it…and probably shock some squares in the
process. Embracing the fun in the
unfamiliar can help to mitigate the nerves of realizing what’s beyond your
control.
Moon-Mars Mutual Reception, Again
Beginning this lunar cycle,
Moon was in Aries…the diurnal fire sign of Mars. At this Full Moon midpoint of the cycle, Moon
is in Scorpio…the nocturnal water sign of Mars.
And Mars has been in Cancer throughout this time…the sign of the
Moon. So Moon and Mars in mutual
reception is a key theme within this whole eclipse season.
As mentioned in the New Moon
post, mutual reception is usually a good thing between planets…but it’s pretty
tricky between Moon and Mars, especially in this combination with Scorpio Moon. Sure the Moon and Mars can still help each
other navigate through these waters…but they’re both susceptible to falling
overboard. And the growing trine between
them can amplify both the depth and the choppiness of the waves.
Pluto Prominent, Again
During New Moon, the
luminaries were square to Pluto…highlighting Plutonian themes like
transformation, rebirth, and uncovering things hidden below the surface. This time, Pluto is prominent too, but for a
different reason. Earlier this week (May
1st), Pluto stationed retrograde.
During a planetary station, as the planet appears to slow down to a halt
to shift directions, the themes associated with the planet tend to saturate the
Kairos (the quality of time). For outer
planets like Pluto, the station endures well past a week. This suggests there’s more that will be
unearthed and stirred into this Eclipse Cauldron.
Full Moon T-Square with Hygeia
At New Moon, the goddess
Astraea was highlighted…inviting us to let go of something we’d been holding to
for too long. At this midpoint in Moon’s
cycle, Hygeia comes in with some preventative medicine to ease the
tension. You may feel some pressure to
make healthier choices while the luminaries move to square off with
Hygeia. There is some necessity for a
cleanse or detox of some sort…either physically, mentally, emotionally, or
spiritually.
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| 'Hygeia' by Gustav Klimt |
Lunar Beltane and Solar Beltane
Every year around the 5th
of May, Sun reaches 15 degrees of Taurus which marks the midpoint between March
Equinox and June Solstice. This is known
as Solar Beltane, or Astrological Beltane.
Though most celebrate Beltane (from Scots Gaelic ‘Bealltainn’) or
Bealtaine (Irish pronunciation, ‘bee-YEL-tuh-nuh’) from the evening of April 30th
through the day of May 1st, I’ve come to prefer the cosmic timing to
the calendrical dates.
Bealtaine/Beltane, which means
‘bright fire’, is both a Gaelic name for the month of May and a cross-quarter
holiday that marks the shift from spring to summer in the Northern
Hemisphere. It leads into Summer Solstice
in June, which is referred to as ‘Midsummer’.
This is a time to celebrate
the fertility of the earth and the warmth of the growing daylight. Many of the traditional customs of this
holiday have to do with protection…especially for the family and
livestock. Walking the boundaries of
your land while singing or humming, picking and placing yellow flowers/petals,
jumping the bel-fire or walking your animals around it counter-clockwise…just
some of a few traditions that work as protective spells.
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| Our son, Felix, at the maypole during his blessing ceremony |
Lunar Beltane, also known as
the Flower Moon, is the Full Moon of May.
It just so happens that both Lunar Beltane and Solar Beltane happen on
the same day…with less than an hour between them. There is quite a bit of magic in the air at
this time. If you feel you need some
protection or some luck on your side, you may want to leave some milk and honey
out for the fairies.
So that ‘bustle in your hedgerow’…this
is a good time to address it. Not sure
what the phrase means? Consider that a
hedgerow is a border of bushes meant to mark a boundary. A bustle refers to movement or activity. So it refers to a part of one’s life that
they didn’t think would move (or change) that is now becoming active. Very simply, it is an opportunity for change…one
where things get shook up just enough that a new path might be chosen as a
result. Be open to moving beyond your
current boundaries and trying something new.
Rather than reacting with alarm to changes…you may be able to see that ‘it’s
just a Spring Clean for the May Queen’.
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| My husband and me, playing the May Queen and the Green Man |
Love and Gratitude,
Felina Lune Kavi
