This Taurus New Moon

and practices in embodying your pleasure/magic

Just two days after astrological Beltane (when the Sun reaches 15° Taurus) we are gifted an opportunity to reset our energy and set fresh intentions at the Taurus New Moon at 17° (on May 7th.) In preparation for this New Moon I have been resetting the areas of my life that most represent my Taurus nature; clearing out my fridge, reorganizing my closet, clearing and rearranging my altars. This is a moment to let go of the ashes of old spells and refresh your offerings to the gods. Under the influence of this Venus ruled sign, I am also considering the ways I relate to my own body; how I tend to my Earthly vessel, how I tend to my energetic system, how I adorn myself. Taurus season is an invitation to luxuriate in the senses and slow into self-centering practices that ground us in the matrix of belong.

One aspect of my witchcraft that has been calling out for more attention lately is my crystal practice. On the balsamic moon I could feel the crystals on my altar pulling on my awareness. As I cleared my altar I ritually cleansed each stone, connecting with their energy and realizing what stones wished to continue to hold space and ground my intentions, and which stones required a phase of hibernation or rest. Taurus teaches us that our sensations are as valid and important as our mental processes. Working with my stone teachers draws me back into an embodied connection with my practice, back into my clairsentience, and reminds me of the sentience of all beings and entities. 

Suggested ritual: Connect intentionally with the crystals and stones in your life. Check-in with them. Cleanse them with water and/or smoke and vibration. Tune into their own energetic capacity at this moment, and ask whether or not they would like to support your manifestation work. Through this level of attunement with your magical allies, we also attune to our own personal energetic capacity. What spells and rituals do you have space for? What level of manifestations are you prepared to ground into and hold? 

A Taurus New Moon invites us to get serious about the sensual aspects of our lives. Notice the ways in which you are called to fortify your health, allow for more pleasure to move through you, and to fully embody your spiritual truths. Listen to those urges and act on them. Follow them to their depths. This New Moon is a space for connecting with the sensuality of your soul, and for enacting soul rites as part of your daily routines. May your rituals be mundane! May your magick be humble and easy! This Taurus New Moon teaches us how to walk on our paths with sacred reverence for this Earthly experience. Any small intentional action will ripple forth with its own consciousness. Drop into trust as you cast spells for a better, healed, liberated future for all. Trust that every small individual shift in consciousness and in behavior will amount to significant collective changes as we cultivate communities and systems rooted in care.  

The New Moon at 17° Taurus makes a supportive sextile to Saturn at 17° Pisces, offering love and nourishment to the spells we choose to plant into fertile soil. Here, Saturn lends long-term sustaining vision, and the structure needed for our dreams to take root. The New Moon also forms a trine with the dwarf planet Ceres, who is archetypally connected with the mother goddess Demeter. As the Sun and Moon form a trine with Ceres, we may feel the pull to reassess our self-care practices, to ensure they are authentically nurturing and beneficial for our whole-system wellness. Ceres is also connected with the land, and how we tend to it. Earth worship, Earth devotions, and a recommitment to practices that honor and sustain your connection to our planet are deeply supported at this New Moon moment. 

The astral alchemy which may spark resentment or anger is the Mercury Chiron conjunction at 21 Aries. We may be feeling our ego wounds more acutely at this time, and be eager to act or communicate from those pressure points. Chiron reminds us that our scars are our teachers and healers, and Mercury wants to express how those wounds have shaped our realities. Having an awareness of the ways our hurt and trauma may bubble to the surface at this New Moon will support us as we navigate the healing process, both within ourselves and in relational dynamics. In addition to your sensual New Moon magick, also find time to process whatever rage, frustration, pain, or shame is craving your attention. The work of this New Moon is embodying your magical intentions, and doing so in ways that are honest and real for wherever you find yourself in personal process. 

For your New Moon rituals:

The Charge of the Goddess (an exerpt)

Whenever ye have need of any thing, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, then shall ye assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of She, who is Queen of all witches. There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these will She teach things that are yet unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in Her praise. For Hers is the ecstasy of the spirit, and Hers also is joy on earth; for Her law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. For Hers is the secret door which opens upon the land of youth and Hers is the cup of wine of life, and the cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of immortality. She is the gracious goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Upon earth, She gave the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, She gives peace and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before. Nor does She demand sacrifice, for behold, She is the mother of all living, and Her love is poured out upon the earth….

by Doreen Valiente