Dear Mooncircle Friends, I'd like to take this opportunity to let you all know that I will be taking a sabbatical from my New and Full Moon Meditations. I have felt the need for some time to pause for reflection, in order to allow my inner well of inspiration to fill up once again. Taking my place is the magical, mythical astrologer Jean Lall. I have drawn on Jean's deep wisdom for many years, and I am delighted that she will now be able to share her astrological knowledge with a wider circle. Her fascinating bio - be sure to read it! - along with her photo, is posted on the site.
With great fondness to all those in MoonCircles, Pythia

Taurus New Moon Meditation for 2003:

Love Calls Us to the Things of this World

By Jean Hinson Lall

As Aries gives way to Taurus, visionary ideas take on sensuous form. Enthusiastic planning leads to focused implementation. The keynote of beauty in action, highlighted at last month's Full Moon in Libra, carries forward as Sun and Moon meet in Venus's other dominion of Taurus.

The Moon, the Mother of all, is exalted in Taurus: it is here in the Fixed Earth sign that her birthing, nourishing and sustaining activity can work to greatest effect. Taurus describes our primary experience of the material world through the senses. Think of the way a baby discovers its own body as separate from that of the mother and learns what brings pleasure and what brings discomfort or pain. A child who, in this phase of development, is physically nourished, affirmed, comforted and soothed will learn self-care, self-affirmation, and self-soothing - essential skills for a healthy and fulfilled life. These Taurean experiences provide the basis for a stable, embodied sense of self and a confidence in the reliability of one's perceptions of the world. As the Sun and Moon meet in this sign each year, we can renew or repair our connection to the senses, our joy in the body, our sense of proportion and our trust in the physical world.

At this New Moon, the two luminaries conjoin at the focal point of a Fixed T-square with Jupiter in Leo and Mars and Neptune in Aquarius, producing a highly concentrated creative energy. Venus, ruler of Sun and Moon, is in Aries and trine Jupiter; she is eager for action. Saturn meanwhile is in Gemini, semi-square the New Moon, creating pressure to act and precision in thought, but also worry, irritability and fatigue. You may feel intense pressure to push forward with an ambitious project that embodies high ideals or has global implications but needs to be brought down to the local and personal level. Mercury meanwhile is retrograde in Taurus and in close aspect to Chiron, suggesting the need for reflection and recuperation before charging ahead. Begin your New Moon meditation, then, by putting ideas and projects aside and following Venus into her realm of beauty, pleasure, and love for the things of the world. Venus teaches not only the proper appreciation and care of the body but also the soulfulness of stuff and the spirituality of everyday existence. Proper attention to her rituals helps assure that our big projects will serve the Earth rather than exploit and harm it.

Perhaps you already have your own Taurean rituals: gardening, painting, singing, writing poetry, hanging out laundry, baking bread. Even more fundamental is the care and adornment of one's own body. If you feel tired and stressed, it would not be impious to organize your New Moon meditation around a restorative bath! First, if possible, gather some flowers or bring in a small branch from a blossoming tree. At your meditation place, lay out a favorite tablecloth or piece of fabric and arrange a few special objects or icons on it, along with your floral arrangement. Cue up some soothing music; light a candle or some incense and carry it to the bathroom with you. Take a leisurely soak, using fragrant soap, bath salts, oil or perfume. Consciously love, comfort and affirm your body. Listen to its fatigue and minister to its aches and worries. Give thanks for it and promise to take good care of it in the year ahead. Towel off and massage your skin with lotion. Choose something attractive and comfortable to wear; take your time getting dressed and enjoy the texture of the fabrics next to your skin. Returning to your meditation place, let your refreshed senses embrace the beauty of the things in the room, extend your appreciation to each of them, then let the same love flow out through the walls of your home to touch the garden, the street, your city or town, and the whole body of planet Earth with all its living creatures, its mountains and seas, rivers and deserts, forests and skies.

From this foundation of love, imagine the things you hope to create in the coming year. Commit yourself to doing your small but significant part in the renewal of the world. Ask the Earth for support and the heavens for continued inspiration. Picture the first steps you will take. At the end of your meditation, do one thing - make a sketch, a schedule, a phone call -- to launch your project into tangible existence.

Look for the Scorpio Full Moon/Lunar eclipse May 15, 2003.