19 Apr Eco-Feminism ~ Taurus Season – April 19th-May 21st, 2022

On April 19th, 2022 the hot flames of Aries season will soften into the mellow yellow of the Sun in Taurus. The transformation of cardinal fire into fixed earth signals a time to slow down and relax so that you can develop your taste for life. When the agitation of ticking time melts down into a languid rhythm, you come into harmony with the wisdom and necessity of patience. 

You are now in the heart of springtime, the stable conjunction that lies in-between fire and air, action and ideas. In this place, the only thing that matters is the quality of time. 

As a Venus-ruled sign, the arc of development throughout Taurus season is meant to inspire a deep communion with nature in her most lush and fertile forms. 

“Surely something resides in this heart that is not perishable – and life is more than a dream.”

The climactic soul purpose of Taurus is to transform a barren wasteland into a pleasure garden. A cultivated paradise on earth represents the perfect harmony of co-creation with nature, where human needs and primal fruits converge in ecstatic bliss. Thus, within the heart of Taurean energies there is always a seed intention to fructify, beautify, and flourish.

Stirred by fertile flowers and lingering warmth, when the Sun is in Taurus the touch, taste and fragrance of everything becomes elated by a new richness and depth. 

To live in appreciation of the quality of time is to see the world through the eyes of a poet. The gift of the season is to appreciate the quality of time with a patient mind and full embodiment in the pleasures of the senses. To sink into the senses is to let everything make an impression. These are days remembered for their softness, their scent and the warm breezes twirling through the curtains. 

But this year, the presence of Uranus and the upcoming eclipses in Taurus will disrupt the stability of fixed earth with a tremendous quaking. Primed to catalyze major shifts in awareness and transformations, this kind of radical energy can really amplify the potential for unexpected challenges turning up the need for adaptability.

“It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world.”

The world is still saturated in the echoes of pandemonium, hyperinflation, and war. It is understandable that the news of a volatile eclipse season ahead is not very welcome. Nobody wants to hear about more uncertainty right now.

But Taurus represents the wisdom of the earth, which thrives on patience and adaptability. In nature, when evolutionary pressure arrives, an intelligent response emerges to continue growth under any and all circumstances. When concrete suffocates the dandelion, that delicate flower miraculously finds the strength to break through.

This Taurus season, try not to focus on your fears of loss.  Instead, focus on the potential that this eclipse season has to break through any stagnation that has been dragging down your relationships, finances, and/or creative work.

You’ll need the virtue of patience and some dark humor to carry you through the journey ahead. And desperate times call for radical new visions!

And radical new visions often emerge from seeds planted in the past.

The Heart of Mother Earth

The best way to get to the heart of Taurus’ wisdom is to study the life and work of someone born under this sign. And though there are many to choose from, the spirit of this volatile Taurean season is best expressed by the ingenious political philosopher, Mary Wollstonecraft.

Born in England on April 27, 1759 with her Sun, Moon and Mercury in Taurus, Mary Wollstonecraft expressed an earthy common sense by emphasizing the importance of the environment for healthy human development and the growth of virtues such as independence and self-sufficiency.

Most people know Mary Wollstonecraft as being the mother of Mary Shelley, who authored Frankenstein.

But Mary Wollstonecraft was an extremely controversial figure in her time, mostly due to her most famous essay, A Vindication of the Rights of Women. This was her clear prescription for how to heal society through the education and advancement of women. 

She was bold, brilliant, and brave. Though she was not an aristocrat, she chose a career in writing against all odds. And everything she wrote was founded upon common sense and ecological wisdom. In the 18th century, her ideas were mostly disregarded and vilified. A generation later, Wollstonecraft’s vision of womanhood is thought to have inspired the many memorable characters in Jane Austen’s novels. Over 200 years later, history now regards Wollstonecraft as the mother of feminism. But with her whole mind and heart tuned into the wisdom of the earth, I would say that Wollstonecraft was the first eco-feminist.

According to Wikipedia, ecofeminism is: “a branch of feminism that sees environmentalism, and the relationship between women and the earth, as foundational to its analysis and practice.”

As a consummate Taurus, Wollstonecraft deconstructed many preexisting moral ideas concerning sexual equality using botanical imagery to depict her ideas. For example, in describing the fallacy of woman’s inherent dependence on man, she describes:

 “the graceful ivy, clasping the oak that supported it.” 

Her purpose for this metaphor was to remind the reader that in a natural ecosystem, neither ivy nor oak is entirely independent nor dependent. And she suggests that there is a false romanticization that the clinging ivy is somehow submissive to the dominant oak, because that interpretation misrepresents the natural symbiosis of nature.

Wollstonecraft’s use of natural imagery also revealed how the feminization of nature had led to the industrial-era notion that both women and nature are there to be dominated by men.

It was the spirit of the dominator that was at the heart of the industrial era. And this was why Wollstonecraft was extremely critical of the Rousseauist notions about nature, which she claimed produced an artificial sentimentality rather than a real tangible relationship with the earth. In her mind, this lack of real relationship with nature was the source of everything that was wrong with society.

In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, she also tackled the issue of children’s education. She had been a schoolteacher for many years and spoke from personal experience. 

With great Taurean wisdom, her plan for the education for both sexes involved physical activity held outdoors with an emphasis on learning about the natural world. She hoped to illustrate lessons with examples drawn from nature to invite a wholeness of mind, body and spirit.

She believed that the negative conditioning of children began by confining them indoors, creating a mental dependence:

“the child is not left a moment to its own direction, particularly a girl and thus rendered dependent.”

And she goes onto say that if children are confined indoors for too long:

“the pure animal spirits, which make both mind and body shoot out and unfold the tender blossoms of hope, are turned sour, and vented in vain wishes and pert repinings that contract the faculties and spoil the temper; else they mount to the brain and sharpening the understanding before it gains proportional strength…”

Wollstonecraft believed that confining children at home and school for long hours only teaches them dependence and servility, which in turn poisons society as a whole. 

Her natural antidote to the corrupting conditioning of dependence and servility was to encourage children to spend time in nature, where they could be free of the corrupting effects of society and discover their true selves.

In the 21st Century, it is easy to believe that society has come a long way. But 18th century industrialization has spawned the nightmare of corporate globalization and children are still educated in confinement: subjected to all manner of behavior modification and drugs to nullify the pain of their discomfort. 

The reality is that the 18th Century eco-feminist Mary Wollstonecraft remains radical to this day. And that’s because she was translating the wisdom of the earth, the very heart of mother nature, into moral philosophy that still rattles the many cages that post-Enlightenment era societies have built.

Wollstonecraft’s legacy lived on through her daughter, Mary Shelley, whose novel Frankenstein prophesied the unholy iniquities that science would unleash if it remained possessed by the spirit of the dominator. 

And here we are in the 21st Century with science and technology having tampered with every living thing on the planet, all for profit and the satisfaction of dominating nature. And technocratic culture is based upon a condition of dependence and servility.

“Slavery to monarchs and ministers, which the world will be long freeing itself from, and whose deadly grasp stops the progress of the human mind, is not yet abolished.”

The sensual sign of Taurus rarely gets credit for being the radical or the innovator. But the more that human society is in disharmony and discord with nature, the more that the natural wisdom of Taurus will seem controversial and threaten the power structures. 

Remember Mary Wollstonecraft as this volatile eclipse season of Taurus unfolds. There are many twists and turns ahead. But it is always possible to use all the breakthroughs and breakdowns to come into more harmony and alignment with nature itself. And it begins by breaking out of your confinement and letting nature become your greatest teacher of how life is truly meant to be lived.

Taurus Season Forecast

April 19th – May 21st, 2022

Transits

Taurus season in 2022 has a lot more action than usual. This season will bring two eclipses, the transit of Jupiter into Aries, and a Mercury Retrograde. The solidity of fixed earth will feel more like shifting sand. By the end of this 30 days, you may be set upon an entirely new path. 

April 30th ~ Solar Eclipse in Taurus 

The month of April concludes with an electric Solar Eclipse in Taurus conjunct to Uranus and sextile to Mars in Pisces. There is so much energy present in this moment to fight against gravity, oppression and self-doubt.

This eclipse is a breakthrough moment that will change the direction of your life in a subtle or dramatic way, depending on how much adjustment you require. The currents of Uranian energy will inspire you to try something new, to experiment with your art, your work, or your routine. 

A solar eclipse is a super-charged New Moon. And because the Moon is exalted in Taurus, this eclipse is a fertile elixir for germinating the seeds of prosperity. Envision an orchard where there is now only a seed. Take pleasure in every stage of the process of development, from the first blossoming and on unto decay.

May 2nd ~ Venus in Aries

It would be nice to remain wrapped in the graceful arms of Venus in Pisces, but on May 2nd, Venus will be reborn into the fire sign of Aries, the sign of her detriment. 

When Venus is in Aries, it is difficult for her most celebrated qualities to manifest. In Aries, Venus ignores  mutual reciprocity in favor of expressing the raw power of individual self-hood. But she has the brilliance of a jewel, full of fire.

“Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.”

May 11th ~ Jupiter moves into Aries

Jupiter leaves his sign of rulership in the oceans of Pisces for the bold and fearless fire sign of Aries. Along with Venus in Aries, this brings a dramatic shift in tone in the middle of Taurus season, one that is enflamed with courage. 

Jupiter in Pisces illuminated the power of dreaming. But when he moves into Aries  a torch will be lit that burns with the spirit of self-confidence and independence. During this transit there will be courage in spades to boldly go where your dreams are calling you to go. Anything that breeds dependency or servility is anathema to the spirit of Jupiter in Aries. 

Jupiter is the planet of wisdom and expansion meaning that in Aries good fortune and spiritual growth will be discovered in taking risks, having faith in yourself, and fighting for personal freedom. 

May 12th ~ Mercury Rx in Gemini

The Sun in Taurus will inspire patience and adaptability, two virtues necessary to tap into when Mercury goes retrograde in his sign of rulership.

Before Mercury retrogrades back into Taurus on May 21st, his days moving backward in Gemini will bring a surge of misinformation and glitching technology.

During Mercury retrogrades, the consensus seems to be that the reliable rhythms we come to depend on start to skip a beat, communication breaks down and technology becomes unpredictable. 

The more dependent upon the algorithms of technology you are, the more fragile you become. In a world where information is moving exponentially faster and faster, any unexpected ripple in the stream of data is considered to be an unholy aberration. 

Mercury retrogrades are retrospective and contemplative times where you can strengthen your sense of history as well as respond to unexpected challenges. 

Anyone who has a modest understanding of neurological function knows that intelligence demands flexibility, otherwise known as neuro-plasticity. Rigidity is the beginning of decay, so think of Mercury Retrogrades as opportunities to stretch your mind and remain nimble.

May 16th ~ Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio

On May 16th, 2022 there will be a Lunar Eclipse in the dark waters of Scorpio. A lunar eclipse is a super-charged Full Moon and this one is ripe for deep alchemical transformation, which begins in the darkness of death and destruction.

In a harsh square to Saturn in Aquarius, this Moon is a real horror show. With eyes wide shut, you may try to hide from what wants to be revealed. But the Moon is in its fall in Scorpio, bringing a gaze into the darkness of personal and collective fears. 

The Moon in Scorpio reveals the shadow, dredging up all the feelings that you’ve rejected and denied in yourself. All the pain you’ve swallowed will come back to haunt you now. Under this influence, a smoldering heat burns, coming out as rage, lust, or hatred. 

The more forbidden the feeling, the more narcotic it becomes. The shadowy energies of this Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio will be intensified by the watery trine to Mars and Neptune in Pisces, representing the dangers of falling into a trance. What happens when you yield to the hypnotic effects of drugs, television, and your own romantic delusions without considering the consequences?

It is time to face the darkness of the world within and without. What you resist now will haunt you for the remainder of the year. So use this opportunity for catharsis wisely.

May 21st ~ Sun moves into Gemini

The Sun’s transit into Gemini transforms fixed earth into mutable air. If Taurus season can be likened to the slow bloom of a fragrant flower, Gemini season is like the buzzing excitement of the pollinating honey bee. In Gemini everything lifts off of the ground, stirring the flowering of thought, language and culture.

 

Much Love,

Rachel

 

*All artwork by Maria Sibylla Merian