The lunar eclipse in Taurus comes at the end of a particularly bloody month, so it seems appropriate to remind you that lunar eclipses are often called ‘blood moons’. This name refers to the red glow sometimes seen on the surface of the Moon – and this is the reason why: as the light of the Sun is blocked by the earth, the light that reaches the Moon has to pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and this gives it a brownish red colour. It’s a celestial phenomenon most noticeable during a full lunar eclipse, but this month’s lunar eclipse is a partial one, so the blood coloration may not occur.
Astrologically, this doesn’t mean that the lunar eclipse is weakened in any way – far from it. This is a significant lunar eclipse, as it is the final one in the Taurus-Scorpio series of eclipses that began with the lunar eclipse in Taurus, way back in November 2021. This lunar eclipse represents the end-game of of the events and occurrences that began with that eclipse nearly two years ago, so in this post, I’m going to look at where we are now, compared to where we were then, as the themes of the Scorpio-Taurus series of eclipses have played out over that time.
The Taurus – Scorpio Eclipse Cycle: Overview
So, where were we back then? When the lunar eclipse in Taurus occurred two years ago, it was in a t-square configuration with Jupiter in Aquarius and trine Pluto. The pandemic was still headline news and the beginnings of what would become the biggest news items were in place – Jupiter in Aquarius signalled a movement towards significant public unease over a wide range of issues (including the economy and the environment) and the trine to Pluto showed the process of irreversible change was going to happen – and fast.
I made the point in my post at that time, that there was a theme of being confronted by things that were unpleasant or hard to deal with, largely because they push us the the extremes of our tolerances. I want to jump to the next eclipse in the series – the solar eclipse in Taurus that happened in April 2022, with difficult aspects to Mars and Uranus. The big news item at that time was the proposed takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk; that subsequently took place and it’s now “X, the platform formerly known as Twitter”. To call something, ‘X’ is as Uranian as it gets – and it’s certainly been a contentious (Mars) re-brand.
I have to say, that if your product has to be referred to by its old name, your re-branding exercise may not have been as successful as you hoped it would be – though the late ‘Artist formerly known as Prince’ didn’t seem to suffer in that way; different times perhaps. There is, however, a real relevance to the take-over of a major social media outlet; when the balance of power changes to reflect the values (Taurus) of a plutocrat (Scorpio), it has an impact on the kind of information that is available in the public domain, and the result of eroding checks and balances means being confronted with growing (Taurus) extremism (Scorpio).
Let’s dig deeper into the Taurus-Scorpio axis. What do those two signs represent? Values and power – and when you have power, it’s your values that are going to dominate the debate. Issues of values, money – and exactly who has the power to control public discourse – are certainly some of the matters that have become increasingly prominent over the past two years, together with entrenched (Taurus) and extreme(Scorpio) values – and as these are fixed signs, it’s a polarity that has appeared difficult to resolve.
However, the issues that have been prominent also have a Taurus-Scorpio signature – sexuality and gender has become a contentious issue; the wealth (Scorpio) and earnings (Taurus) gap between rich and poor is regarded as obscene(Scorpio) and morally unjustifiable, and issues around who controls (Scorpio) and profits from our natural resources (Taurus) is also a major battleground.. Let’s look at just one of these to give you an idea of the dynamics of the Taurus -Scorpio eclipse series.
Global warming causing environmental destruction (forest fires and catastrophic floods) is certainly evidence of Taurus-Scorpio in action. Here in the UK, raw sewage (Scorpio!) being pumped into our seas and rivers has become a visible and well publicised problem in the last year and a half. Water companies have refused to deal with the issue and all the while have transferred huge sums of money to shareholders. It’s a classic example of this polarity: corporatism (Scorpio) vs. the environment (Taurus). It’s a classic signifier of the push for transformation (Scorpio) being opposed by vested interests (Taurus).
Of course, these inequalities happen all the time, but eclipse cycles act to bring particular issues to our attention so that something can be done and the balance re-set. When we reach the end of a particular eclipse cycle – as we are now with this October 2023 lunar eclipse in Taurus – that is when things ‘hit the buffers’. An eclipsed full moon is a profoundly evolutionary moment; the key words are ‘adapt or die’. All full moons bring things to culmination – but a lunar eclipse means a significant shift of direction – with no turning back.
That sounds dramatic – and all eclipses can be that way – but what this lunar eclipse in Taurus represents is that evolutionary moment – with an added emphasis from being the end of a particular cycle. So, it represents a moment of profound change – and when we look at the lunar eclipse chart, we may start to appreciate what the past two years have been leading us towards – and that is true in our personal lives too.
Lunar Eclipse In Taurus: The Chart
Lunar Eclipse in Taurus: The Aspects
This lunar eclipse in Taurus is found at 5˚ 15′ of that sign and it’s a partial lunar eclipse. The Moon is conjunct Jupiter retrograde in Taurus, and is opposite the Mercury – Mars conjunction in Scorpio. There is also a minor trine aspect pattern involving Saturn, currently retrograde at 0˚ 33′ Pisces. So, there is an earth and water emphasis in this eclipse – both literally and symbolically – as earth and water represent the things we need to sustain ourselves at both a material and an emotional level.
Taurus and Scorpio are fixed signs, so there has been a lot of holding onto some fairly entrenched positions (Taurus) – and that always makes transformation (Scorpio) a more painful process, as process itself is also dominated by the Taurus-Scorpio dynamic. The aspects that shape this lunar eclipse are a clue to both what is in play – and how it may unfold. There is pressure (Taurus) to purge (Scorpio) – and purging is the abrupt removal of that which is undesirable. The question is, who defines what is meant by undesirable?
A purgative expels everything that the body does not need – it’s essentially Scorpio in nature – whereas the Taurus impulse is to hold on and accumulate – hence the association with all forms of greed and material gain. The middle ground is to take only what you need – and fortunately, there is the potential for that in this lunar eclipse.
Lunar Eclipse in Taurus Conjunct Jupiter Retrograde
I’m beginning with this aspect as conjunctions are so powerful. Jupiter represents our belief systems – and in Taurus those belief systems are deeply held. When in conjunction with the lunar eclipse in Taurus, Jupiter represents beliefs that may be deeply held – but they may also be self-defeating. When Jupiter is in retrograde motion, belief systems may be challenged – often by due legal process as well as popular opinion.
The law (in its various forms) may become a mechanism for challenging certain beliefs. It may also become mechanism for reinforcing them. Those are outer manifestations of Jupiter, but Jupiter retrograde is often internalised and that means your perspective on life – or world view – is under pressure to be radically transformed. At a personal level, that may occur for many reasons; events in your personal life may prompt a change of view or change your understanding of a situation, or you may simply experience this as a reaction to larger events occurring in the world around you.
In mundane astrology, Jupiter represents many of those things that are causing concern right now: the law, religion, the super-rich, the banking system – all of those are conjunct the lunar eclipse in Taurus – and that may signify that they are ripe for transformation by being exposed for what they are. Many of the issues the world is currently facing, may be laid at Jupiter’s door. The opposition of planets in Taurus and Scorpio is representative of where we are now; the lunar eclipse conjunct Jupiter is opposite a Mercury Mars conjunction in Scorpio – and that’s a volatile combination.
Lunar Eclipse in Taurus Opposite Mercury in Scorpio
I’m going to deconstruct this opposition into it’s constituent parts – and focus on Mercury first. A shorthand take on Mercury in Scorpio is ‘extreme speech’. When people articulate extreme positions, or internalise extreme beliefs, it makes them extraordinarily resistant to having any empathy with (Moon) or understanding (Jupiter) of the feelings (Moon) of other people. Jupiter is also fully in play in this aspect – and it acts to amplify whatever is going on.
So, extreme speech, ideas and beliefs (Mercury in Scorpio) become even more extreme because of the presence of Jupiter. Subjectivity, emotional bias and the inability to understand a different perspective or point of view – all of those become all of those become ramped up to new heights because of the presence of Jupiter. And Jupiter retrograde may prevent the thing that is most needed at this time – the ability to look at the big picture and appreciate difference as a thing of value (Taurus) rather than an existential threat (Scorpio).
I don’t think I need to amplify further on that other than to say it’s highly polarised. The lunar eclipse and Mercury in opposition leads towards distorted perceptions of reality, confusion and bad judgement together with insensitivity, offensiveness and a whole host of other symptoms I’m sure you are familiar with. Where we are now, appears to be a situation where we’re going to have to navigate (Jupiter) our way through a whole series of minefields. So, in that situation, would you use your head (Mercury) or feel (Moon)your way?
Lunar Eclipse in Taurus Opposite Mars in Scorpio
Mars represents confrontation and escalation. In situations where we have deeply polarised opinions (see global warming et al above) and so many things (Jupiter) becoming polarised issues, the last person you want to see on the scene is Mars. When Mars appears trouble follows. What Mars brings to the situation is a tendency to act out in defence some of the attitudes described above – and that makes impulsive actions, verbal aggression and even physical aggression more likely to occur – especially if it’s based on what someone said (Mercury) or in defence of your beliefs (Jupiter).
Mars is tied into the whole lunar eclipse and Jupiter conjunction – and Mercury’s opposition to that conjunction – by its own close aspect to Mercury in Scorpio. This matters, because in mundane astrology (the astrology of global and societal things), Mars represents military action, war, terrorist acts and conflict of all kinds. It’s confrontational and oppositional – and as Mars is the force that promotes action, challenges are likely to elicit a response. And Jupiter’s presence only fans the flames.
So, this is not a peaceful lunar eclipse. It’s filled with wars of words – and actual fights. That’s where we are now, so the stepping off point for the transformational potential of the Taurus-Scorpio eclipse cycle is not going to be an easy one. As a final thought, I want you to remember that we are also now in the early stages of the Aries – Libra eclipse cycle, so the next couple of years may involve a lot of aggravation (Aries) and taking sides (Libra) before we reach the point where relationships can be improved.
Lunar Eclipse in Taurus Sextile Saturn Retrograde in Pisces
If astrology highlights the problems, it also points us towards resolution. The final significant aspect made by this lunar eclipse in Taurus is a sextile to Saturn retrograde in Pisces. Saturn in Pisces is not the easiest sign for the location for the Lord of Karma – and when any planet is situated in Pisces, it represents the end of a natural cycle. As Saturn is at 0˚ Pisces, the cynical astrologer could interpret that as, ‘the beginning of the end’. That’s too depressing (even for me), so I’m going to take a more realistic position: Saturn shows the potential for realism and understands the structure of duality – so how do we work with that?
The sextile shows that the door is open for us to work hard at coming to terms with our differences. Coming to terms with things is a Pisces speciality – it’s called acceptance – and acceptance is an essential component of resolution. Without it, resolution simply does not happen. Saturn shows that we have to work hard to make that a reality, and the sextile aspect shows that we have options. Either we get defensive and rigid (Saturn) and bury our heads in the sand (Pisces) or we develop the cool-headed maturity (Saturn) to required to overcome division (Pisces) and foster some sense of a collective spirit.
However, open doors are easily closed, And may never be re-opened. So, there seems to be one chance – and one chance only – to make that decision. Our responses to the events that will unfold in the wake of the lunar eclipse will decide whether we transform our lives for better or worse – in both global and personal terms. Whatever happens, there will be no turning back – so make the right choice.
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© Sara Shipman 2023
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