A Kiss of the Earth

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Earth is moving forward in Taurus at a time when Mercury is moving backwards in the same sign underscoring our deepening appreciation for the abundance of life. Under the influence of Aries impulsive, impatient, and reckless actions erupted during the past weeks wreaking havoc and destruction. Now, under the wise council of planet Earth and Mercury, we are given a second chance, the celestial gift of recovery, by going back over a well trodden path in our life with the awareness to build something new and long lasting. When we are under the influence of Taurus we seek material security and gravitate toward securing our resources, stabilizing our values, and deepening our self- worth. Taurus is that aspect in each of us pricking our senses with lusty vitality and awakening our reverence for being alive.

Taurus is the universal principal and archetype of fertility insuring that the original spark of life ignited by Aries impulse “to be” will grow in abundance and prosper in wealth. Our ancestors living in the Northern Hemisphere practiced ritual sacrifice by offering fresh blood to the womb of Earth as collateral for the renewal of life at Spring and a bountiful harvest at Fall. The collective unconscious of humanity is thought by many to hold at the deepest waters of human consciousness every thought, feeling, and action of the species, which may explain why we mime the archaic ritual of blood sacrifice and fertility rites in the brutality of war by allowing the blood of life once vital and alive to seep deeply into the molten womb of the Earth.

Nothing on Earth is as uncannily reminiscent of the destructive force of an atomic bomb than the chthonic power of a volcanic eruption spewing forth a  bilious cloud of ash, nor as reminiscent of a river of blood as the explosive ejaculating of molten plasma flowing from the Earth’s womb. With breathtaking accuracy the awakening of the Eyjafjallakull Volcano in Iceland delivered a prophecy of stunning proportion reminding us of the preciousness of life in the wake of overwhelming destruction and irrevocable change.

If we use the lens of astrology and look at the recent eruptions of the Eyjafjallakull Volcano we see  the archetype of Aries, the impulse for new life, surge forth awakening the sleeping beauty of Eyjafjallakull after 200 years of somnolent death. The first eruption was on March 20 as the Earth orbiting around the Sun entered 00 Aries coincident with the Vernal Equinox awakening Spring. The second eruption was on April 14 at the Aries New Moon when the Sun and Moon conjoined in Aries proclaiming an active month of self-exploration and discovery. Three days later, on April 17, Mercury in Taurus stationed retrograde challenging us to re-evaluate our resources, values, and self-worth, which is exactly what many people were forced to do when the second eruption of Eyjafjallakull engendered the normal flow of communication and transportation leaving thousands stranded and millions worth of revenue on ice. On April 20 the Earth entering 00 Taurus shifted our attention from self-exploration to self-preservation.

2010 promises to deal more than a few wild cards during the year, and the eruption of ” Sleeping Beauty” celestially timed on the birth of Spring suggests to me a year of chthonic change percolating at the deepest core of our being ready to burst forth with new life. A dear friend recently said that the meaning of his life is his death, which is an idea shared by the spiritual and secular alike reflecting the truism that nothing garners the depth of our gratitude and appreciation for living as our awareness of dying. Not surprising that Buddha was born in the month of May under the grace of Taurus, nor that the opposite sign of Taurus, Scorpio, is the archetypal principle of death and regeneration. What Taurus builds Scorpio destroys, and  in turn, what Scorpio destroys Taurus builds with new awareness.  Taurus is our capacity to regenerate our life, which is the celestial gift given this month for those of us working to preserve the wealth of resources on Earth that nourish body, mind, and soul. Our greatest reward this month may well be our slow and steady growing.