HOROSCOPES FOR THE FULL MOON IN TAURUS
On Tuesday, November 12th, the Full Moon perfects at 19°Taurus52’ at 5:34am PDT.
In preparing to write your horoscopes this month I’ve been meditating on the mythology of Scorpio and Taurus respectively. Mulling over the myth of Artemis which teaches us about intimacy and intensity and the collapse of self-protective walls that gives way to true sharing. About hyper-vigilance and recognition. About revenge and rage and reactivity and the suddenness of death when it arrives. I’ve been chewing on the story of Europa, tricked, ravaged and raped by Zeus, a god who perhaps understood the word ‘no’ but never gave her the chance to say it. I’ve been weighing what it means to take anything we want, simply because we desire it, without ever pausing to interrogate the root of our desire. I’ve been pondering Europa’s disappearance and her family’s search for her. In that search, they never found what they were looking for but they conquered, claimed and named the land for her instead.
The land is beautiful, perhaps even more magical than Europa, but it was not the thing they set out to recover. Perhaps in this act they mimicked her predator. Perhaps they stumbled upon something so magnificent they couldn’t resist. Perhaps restraint and focus on the task at hand would have unearthed a miraculous evolution. Perhaps they would not have found her. But I wonder what could have been different if they had truly grieved what was lost. I’m pondering what it means to miss something or someone in a way that isn’t embedded in needing to possess it. I am curious how shifting the way we relate to anything would shift our devolving relationship to security. Why do we so readily stuff the orifice of death without standing for a moment in the gap it leaves? How do we relate to empty space? How do we connect to something we cannot possibly own? How do we become-with death?
As humans, we have developed an astonishing skillset of Taurean traits which, while not inherently bad or ineffective, are detrimental in extremes. We boast about our growth. The growth of our bank accounts. Of our crystal collections. Of our number of psycho-spiritual or educational degrees. Some of us long for luxury. Take pride in touching whatever we wish; fulfilling fancies and calling it “a radical act”. We exalt the notion of personal growth. We prostrate ourselves to abundance - of what? We fail to see that our desire for the concept itself, the concept of growth is perhaps part of the problem. Our incessant need for expansion comes at great cost and is no substitute for a sense of true security. Moreover, those of us on the outskirts; scientists, activists, and eager souls who care too much can concede that our definition of security in our current ecological climate is speculative fiction at best. What we are really cultivating is an insatiable, bottomless hole.
Yet, I am willing to risk the argument that we are not beyond remediation. We are monumentally creative creatures. Given enough emptiness, enough fear, enough sorrow, enough of a void, we will invent the most peculiar sublimations. Today we avoid the void, terrified of what lies in the mouth of our own beastliness. We must consider that this abyss might be the gateway for which we are so desperate. Taurus and Scorpio teach us about resilience. Taurus gives us necessary elements to survive. We have not learned some things from the Taurus/Scorpio polarity that we urgently need - but we can. Taurus can show us a healthy relationship to deficit. Taurus can teach us that genuine abundance emerges from single-pointed focus, from true desire, from effort, from giving and from moderation. Taurus shows us the special kind of creativity yielded by our natural urge to survive. If you plant a tree near a stream, its roots will grow in the direction of the sound of trickling water. Taurus can offer us opportunities to re-connect severed lineages.
Still, we cannot hold one sign without its polarity. The more I study astrology, the more I learn that reckoning with the state of the world is not about discerning the difference between right and wrong but about learning how to hold both ends of the spectrum. It’s about knowing how to sit in a room with people I disagree with and to see them as a human first, before I judge their ideas. It’s about checking my ego. Restraining my assumptions. Recognizing my rage not as a demon or a hero but a teacher. It’s about learning how to play on the pendulum the way a child plays on a swing. It’s being in the thrill of the highs and coming back down to earth, pulling myself out of the extremes. So, if our collective pendulum has grown roots and hooked themselves tightly into Taurean soil then our calling is to cut the growth and cultivate Scorpio’s ability to reap. Reap not in the sense of harvesting or taking but the act of destruction. Of removing obstacles and goals, no matter how much we desire them. In this context, reap means singing the song of the sting. Means restoring our relationship to death so that it is just as exalted and worthy and passionate as our lust for life.
We are fixed on finding solutions. On solving the water crises. On reducing our carbon emissions and our single use plastics. On rectifying equilibrium in racial dynamics with reparations. I’m not saying that any of these things isn’t a worthwhile effort. I’m saying that I don’t know if we’ve situated ourselves in the right consciousness when setting our goals. I don’t know if we truly understand the luxuries we need to be willing to sacrifice and if some of us do, I’m not convinced enough people will get onboard. I don’t know if we will actually be able to rehabilitate ourselves from the disease we have spread.
So I propose, like many of my idols, a reorienting of objectives, which begins with building a relationship to all that is taboo. As a mystic and an animist, I believe we all have a purpose in this lifetime. I believe that everyone has a karma they are here to fulfill and that when we focus on understanding that karma, we are better able to align with it. This is why I am currently a practicing astrologer. As much for myself as for others, the chart is a map. However obscure, it is the best divination tool I have found to interpret some iteration of individual and collective karma.
The chart, like a map, is not the territory. It shows us the work that is to be done but it does not do the work for us. As the Pluto in Scorpio generation surfaces new maturity, I want to know: what does it mean for us to die well? How do we establish a relationship to death? So much of what humanity has created - modern medicine and capitalist systems, GMOs and plastic bottles and mostly useless recycling programs - is a feeble attempt to package and prolong life. But death is catching up and we are still trying to outrun the inevitable. Many spiritual traditions teach both that we can transcend death to immortality and in that process we should not try to extend life beyond the time when our body is ready to go. These lineages have attentive and honorable relationships to death.
The answer to the prayer is the prayer. Prayer is an act of faith. Prayer says “I don’t know if this will work but I’m going to try anyway because I believe in the thing I want this to do.” Most social justice work is a prayer. Recycling is a prayer (sometimes a wish). Buying direct trade coffee is a prayer. Bicycling instead of driving is a prayer. Thrifting is a prayer. Writing a letter to a representative. Signing a petition and making my own ghee and imaging tarotscopes and calling my brother. Pranayama and meditation and weeding and talking about sage and palo santo and turning my phone off. All prayers. The answer arises in you. Stop searching for the answer and recognize that the answer is in your prayers.
Lately I’ve been realizing that the more I pray on social media, the emptier it feels. Maybe I’ll stop. Really, I think dying well is being in touch with the essence that sits on the Scorpio/Taurus polarity. It is recognizing attachment and learning to let it go without discarding desire. It is releasing the need to know and to grow. It is surrendering to limitless learning where you don’t get gold stars or thanks or pats on the back and where you still might die in an earthquake or lose everything to a wildfire. It is learning, living and loving anyway. It is not abandoning yourself while you allow it all to not make sense. Death doesn’t make sense. It’s not supposed to. Reconciling with grief is not logical but it is intuitive. It requires an atrophied skillset and much meditation. More than that, it necessitates our respect.
Your horoscopes this month encourage the respect that starts with authentic witnessing. We maintain respect not with analysis, but with wonder. Not with criticism but with sheer awe. At the irony of a situation. At the excessiveness of it. At how much more there is to see when you stop rushing and start gazing. This is true priestessing. This is what Scorpio is skilled at. This is the wild-eyed eagerness to be seen and felt and to see and feel and love even in the face of death. Becoming-with death is becoming intimate with life. In this we begin to balance the dichotomies.
If you know your rising sign and your sun sign, read both. If you only know your sun sign, that's okay too. If you like, you can read your moon sign for good measure. Horoscopes and forecasts are meant to be read as inspiration. The impact of planetary forces on our lives is more immense than we can see and a horoscope's level of resonance can vary from week to week. I suggest revisiting this page as often as you like while tasting the writing of a few other astrologers. Note which voices uplift your spirit. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. If you find support here, consider making a contribution.
horoscope for aries and aries rising
The fear of losing something does not need to quell my courage. Unfulfilled desire doesn’t preordain me to harmonic dissonance. When I am caught in the battle, winning or losing, I will remember I don’t even have to play the game. I can embark on the poetry of melting into passerby. What happens when I don’t have to earn every gift? What conspires when I offer away my effort? How would my world shift if I simply shrugged my shoulders and said “so what?” I will remember that this too, is a prayer for liberation.
horoscope for taurus and taurus rising
The law of karma is thus: “as ye sow, so shall ye reap.” When I put forth pain, I propagate aches. When I expose a glowing heart, I am met with tender heat. I will recognize any resentments towards others as misplaced injuries I have not healed in myself. My friends and enemies alike are my mirrors. My agitation breeds its own reflection. When I am frustrated, I will turn inwards. I will seek to understand that which wants to be understood. The best thing I can do in this world is untangle the thread of hurt. Is cut the cord of harm. Is offer a warm palm to the crying creature inside me. Is refuse blame and scatter seeds of reprieve. Where there is suffering, especially my own, let me bring peace. I will not force myself to love. Rather, I will rest in the space between breaths. I will enfold myself in the embrace of a mantra. I will put patience on a pedestal. I will sing silently until I feel my own source of sweetness.
horoscope for gemini and gemini rising
Stress is not a sin but it can be pervasive. Sorrow becomes a sickness when I allow it to echo. It is okay to be disappointed. To have irritable moments. To feel the vitalizing heat of anger rise from my under-layers. Yet sometimes these sentiments are symptoms of wounds I’ve let fester. Of habits I’ve allowed to slowly hurt me. I will notice my irritability without laying more blame on myself. I will get curious about why comments feel like they cut. I will recognize when my sensate reactions are scripted responses I prepared long before now. Sympathy is not an unreasonable request of myself or others. Compassion is not a cure but it can make it easier to connect with all sorts of creatures. I will scrape away the dead skin of pre-conditioned perspective. I do not have to bite my tongue to avoid stinging someone else. I will discern the difference between unsafe and uncomfortable. I will learn how being with the latter can liberate me. I will replace tired spirits with rituals that set me free.
horoscope for cancer and cancer rising
Recognizing patterns is a form of praying. Is my plea to me for tender attention. Is the answer I’ve been looking for in the form of a pause. Is appreciation for every effort that led me to this coil I’m currently unfurling. Success is rarely an overnight affair, though it may seem that way when I am an onlooker. I will lean into the luxury of time it takes to create something of which I am proud. I will hold close the secret of every small step. I will not allow my life or work to be linear when it could echo with the essence of a stone dropped into still water. When I could dance in the ripple of my own reverence. When I could constantly infuse the meaning of this moment with magic. I am the same soul all along my artistic path. I will release the drive toward the empty destiny of validation. I will honor the art in which I’m already invested by insisting on how vital it is for me.
horoscope for leo and leo rising
My need for privacy is not petty but it might be preemptive. Might be born from old fears. Might be a dying fire stoked with new sticks. I will stop grasping intensely when what I really want is intimacy. Controlling the situation is not wrong but trying to can keep me small. I will focus instead on commanding myself with care. My inner critic is a reflection of my inner kid. Whatever irks me today is another iteration of tortures I endured because I wasn’t taught how to deal. I will have compassion for the part of me that hurts and the part that does the hurting. I will not be in denial of damage done but I will love my inner destroyer for all its skillful strategy. A person who leads with love is too busy beaming to react rashly. I will love myself into letting it all go as many times as I need to release it.
horoscope for virgo and virgo rising
I don’t need to go to exhaustive lengths to learn. I don’t need to become something to be someone. Long-distance travel might bring me an experience but it won’t bring me closer to myself. I will not skip out on silence. I will not attempt to run away from right now. I will release myself from the prison of the past. I will let go of any lust for a future self. I will shed the skin of tension. Cut the thread of thoughts that bind me. Cease to identify with needing to earn anything in excess. Even Virgos have areas of overdoing. I will let up on any self-improvement projects. I will not push myself into the pains of growing when I can ease into the relief of unfolding.
horoscope for libra and libra rising
True wealth is a state of balance. I will not want my home to be hotter than the spring. I not try to be cooler than the fall. Moderation brings me abundance. Gratitude makes moderation easeful. Greatness is not measured by my bank but how much joy I can share. Bliss is not forced, but a product of yielding. Of slowing enough to center. Of two entities finding each others’ focus, like a yogi diving into a drishti or light catching a crystal. Sometimes my smile is a service. Sometimes I must simply allow the echo of another’s sweetness to embrace me. Prosperity is a state of well-being. To be well is to have abundant depths. I will focus less on what I can have, get or earn. I will pray to see the ways in which I am already profound.
horoscope for scorpio and scorpio rising
I cannot rip the skin off the snake before it is ready to be shed. Nor can I rightfully keep a hide that cloaks a soul ready to reveal itself. None of our deaths are untimely. Time cannot truly be measured or mastered. It can be observed and respected. It can unfold. It can propel us to worry or present us with pause. It can be a dear friend. Time may be marked with wrinkles, wounds and warts aplenty but it does not discriminate. It is a guide which exists outside the beat of our proverbial drum. I will allow time to give me grace. I will remember that I am always prepared for right now. That time could never give me a lesson I’m not primed to learn. Would not offer me abundance I’m not predisposed to allow. Will not remove something that is not ripe for its picking. The layers of my resilience are boundless; a story narrated only in the elegance of time. I will stay long enough to listen to it.
horoscope for sagittarius and sagittarius rising
In a world with no thrones, I can be neither king nor pauper. In an alternate reality I might relate differently to my roles and regulations. I will take this time to reflect on habitual perspectives that are poking holes in a bucket I’d like to fill. What if there were a way to be neither sick and suffering nor in a spiral of unmanageable maintenance? Being so busy making a to-do list can keep me stuck in a spiral of endless lists and empty tasks. Wading in self-inflicted overwhelm gets interesting the moment I realize I can touch my feet to the ocean floor. I am skilled at winging it. I will refrain from making lifeless lists. I will center myself by tending the wounds and worlds that matter most. I am not lost or losing when I set my own standard for success.
horoscope for capricorn and capricorn rising
Specialness isn’t born from validation. Isn’t solidified by a hundred likes. Doesn’t become real with gold stars or ample praise or tender thank you’s. Specialness arises from the work which inspires me. When I am jammed with jealousy, lost in a sea of feeling unconsidered, fuming under my own invisibility cloak, I must consider what system is wedging itself between me and my comrades. I must examine what ideologies are infusing me with unrelenting anger. I must catch myself before I step into the trap of conflict with my kin. Even if that conflict is unbeknownst to them. Especially when the battle rages within me. I empower myself when I step back from the circular firing squad. When I curb away from criticism. When I become intimate with all the talent that abounds. I rise to meet my higher self when I focus on lifting others up. I will create what I love no matter who shows up to lovingly witness. I will appreciate the ones who see me. I will propagate power-with my colleagues. I will be a living principle of priestesshood. I will grace and greet with world with utmost awe and respect.
horoscope for aquarius and aquarius rising
If I tell the Sun it is doing a great job, it will rise each day. If I tell the Sun it is a burning, mean tyrant, it will still keep shining. The karma of the Sun is to bring warmth, no matter what anyone thinks of it. I will be like the Sun over the rainforest, where the trees grow tall and the canopy is thick. I will not push the trees out of the way or cut them down. I will simply keep sharing my warmth. I will not worry whether the heat gets trapped or escapes. I will tend to the things I would do, no matter who watches with any kind of attention. What would I be doing if I were not bound up in ego battles? This is the work which legacies are made of.
horoscope for pisces and pisces rising
Speaking on the distinction between between a teacher and the guru, Ram Dass says “the guru is the way.” Any job I think I have right now is a facade. It is not to lead or to teach. It is not to get caught up in techniques and tools. It is not to grasp outside of myself nor to focus on some future objective or event. My task is to follow the way to the center. It is to clear the path in the present. Is to recognize myself as the tool. As the knife and the vessel and the destination and the gateway. Any object of my obsession is just an experience which I think sits at the threshold of some sense of peace. I will realize that my desire is not for this experience, but that which lies beyond it. I will hang up the long-distance call. I will stop pining for the plane ticket. Wherever I go, there I am. I will let myself land. I will love myself right here and now.
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