May 2021
Welcome to Illumination & Cosmic Interweaving of Magical Proportions
Words carefully woven to accompany your Soul’s Expansion, deep Embodiment, and powerful presence.
This month’s Cosmic Innersight radiates:
* Mysteries of duality
* The deep ocean of interconnection
* Archetypal feminine and the Divine Mother
* Pleasure and responsibility
* Travelling between the subconscious and conscious realms
* Uncovering our shadow
* The great voidal no-thing
We cover energies from Gemini, the sensitive water signs with Mars and Jupiter, a Taurean New Moon squaring Aquarius, Evening Star Mercury and Venus, Mercury and Saturn in retrograde, the Lunar Eclipse at Antares star in Sagittarius, and timeless wisdom from the asteroid Ceres and Black Moon Lilith.
I pose reflective questions as we move through, to offer you a pause for inner sight, to behold yourself in this moment, to perhaps journal. You’re invited to continue mulling, like an aromatic wine, and to come back to these & your words as you journey this month, creating your own magical alchemy.
Let’s begin…
{ The following is written for planetary transits occurring from May 1st | All images used with thanks to Unsplash. }
The Spring fires have been lit, we are aware of where we want to go, or at least the sense of longing to act, to move, and to curiously consider. Mars is the ruling planet for Aries, where the dawning of Spring Equinox occurs. Throughout most of March and April this planet has been powerfully marching through Gemini; a place of outward connection, communication of all the ‘good or bad’ possibilities, and often an overwhelm of nervous activity. With our collective North Node also in this sign, Mars has been stirring up a lot of mental focus on our shared destiny, which may have been overly distracting, ungrounded and flighty. Gemini stands for the twins of the mind, the two pillars of extremes: ‘light and dark’. Without this duality, or binary coding, we would not have a circuit through which our physical brains and nervous system can communicate. It is when we judge and create separation between this and that, where we tend to lose track of who we are. We are both of these: we are neither fully right or wrong, black or white, left or right…
For example: questions of gender, sexual orientation, and general fluidity portray the immensity and complexity of our interconnecting ‘opposites’. Our modern, western society has created polarity, straight lines, a sense of ‘us and them’. This can cause us to panic, to choose our side, and to create safety for ourselves. But, the inherent truth beneath all this surface layered interaction, lies interwoven in a harmonious web of inter-relational balance: where we find ourselves as simply one thread of a gigantic patchwork quilt, spreading across all space and time.
To prioritise a conflict of appearances, apparent disharmony or victim vs perpetrator, whilst does deserve some attention, is merely the tip of the iceberg. An iceberg where all the outward jutting peaks (the pinnacles of opposing parties, who fight each other, set up camps to preserve a separate identity, etc…you know the deal), are truly all one beneath the surface of the ocean. We come out to find ourselves through the distance and separation, but we don’t need to live from here. We can anchor ourselves in the union of humanity, mingled together with all living beings of this planet, washing and flowing through the currents of the waters from which we were born. Water is a maternal element, attached to Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, where Cancer is viewed archetypally as the mother. We return to the ocean of the womb, held by the characteristic of Scorpio, so we might receive and share our healing through all of Life.
Pisces is a central piece to our sense of intuitive, empathic healing qualities. Such characteristics will likely receive extra expansion and directed paternal guidance from Jupiter this month, when the oracular priest of Mount Olympus returns to his fluid home, before returning back to the land of his strict father, Chronos/Saturn, for 6 months, then pressing ahead again.
Almost in tandem, Mars has now returned to the ocean home of the eternal Mother, the zodiac of Cancer, where the Moon reigns as Queen. Technically speaking, Martian qualities do not settle well here. There is an ease, a releasing of overpowered steam, a nurturing of the fast-paced, driven ego, which often is short-sighted and side steps compassion, both for one’s self and of course for others. Whilst this part of our psyche might feel drained of direct action or self-assertion, we might be wise to receive from this calming yin medicine of surrender to the voidal embrace. Reflection: How can we balance our linear, often ‘urgent’ action plan, with the letting go into trust? Perhaps by bowing down and surrendering our swords of division and trailblazing, knowing that a fuller manifestation comes as we plant our forward-thinking minds face-down upon the cool, moist, inward security of Mother Earth.
New Moon
This medicine of the archetypal feminine is felt strongly in the constellation of Taurus, where the New Moon takes place on the 11th May at 8pm (read on for Full Moon – Lunar Eclipse). The rays of the Sun burn brightly in alignment with Uranus for a little while (end of April – 1st May), calling us to remember our Soul’s agreement to experience an upheaval and total revolution of how we engage with the matrix of our Earthen structures. What best serves our independent and secure acquisition of long-term stability? And perhaps this will take much time to mull over, to trial and enact. Taurus asks for intimacy with our intuitive, slower, embodied knowing of our natural sense. This comes by taste-testing, dipping our toes in to feel, listening to our inner voice, seeing with our own eyes, and discerning the fragrance which most deeply resonates with our floral nature. Reflection: How might you enjoy this, in the coming weeks, how might you lavish such abundance upon the royalty of yourself?
Go steady, step by step, take the revolution into your own hands and pace this out day by day. This is likely the mantra repeated rhythmically by Saturn, day in day out. The square all year between Saturn’s hermit house of Aquarius, and Venus’ paradise of Taurus, invites us (or more like makes!) to hold both sides at once: the loss, the barrenness and remote experience of how distant we might feel from our vision for the future, alongside the hunger and thirst for just a taste, a sip, a roll into the soft, velvety furls of Aphrodite’s flowing gown of love, grace, peace… Is it possible that we be fooled by trying to manifest our intentions too quickly, drunk with love, passionate and overcome with devotion?
Though this is beautiful in itself, we are challenged by the strict and disciplined measures of the stern Father. We must look beyond the outer constriction, apparent limitations and recurring ‘holdbacks’, to peer into the vast wisdom of what Chronos brings forth. The gift of the time-lord is the embodiment of our own backbone, that which will eternally hold us, and keeps us held in the mundanity of our physical bodies, reminding us of how to ground our dreams, and wear these against and into reality. Saturn will retrograde from the end of May through to October, drawing our attention back: reassess our steps this far, our outdated beliefs, our unnatural mind programmes… Reflection: How can we keep coming back to humble service of All, of appreciation of the entire Cosmos, and of future generations to come, with concrete & responsible action? This is the crucible of Aquarius. And furthermore: How might we tend to discipline, whilst ensuring we mediate the areas of our life where we may be too hard on ourselves i.e. the taskmaster?
Beltane’s astrological degree falls halfway through Taurus, at 15 degrees on the 5th May. This is the mid-point, the angle of transition, between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, the brightest day of Sun energy. This could point to a developmental step in one’s journey between the fiery revelations of Equinox, towards a certain grounding in the Earth element of Taurus. Reflection: How can we experience the pleasure, abundance and sweetness of pouring our hearts into the coming fullness? What might be budding more into bloom in your life? How can the fertility of the garden of your soul, body and spirit be ecstatically celebrated?
Three planets moving through their home signs
Jupiter in Pisces, Saturn in Aquarius, then Venus in Taurus, shortly moving to Gemini where Mercury enters and finds domicile. Both Mercury and Venus are currently Evening Stars, seen on the setting horizon, and exude a strong nocturnal yin nature, travelling beyond the known tangible realms, into the psyche, the dreamworlds, and navigation of our personal underworld and subconscious, so we might emerge in conscious embodiment of ourself, which continues into the year.
Mercury takes this a step further by entering into retrograde motion by 29th May up until 22nd June, residing in Gemini. Whilst Venus will be retracing her retrograde steps from last year in Gemini, where she experienced the unmasking of all her beauty and strength, Mercury will similarly be entering its own parallel phase. Our Venusian psyche consolidates the jewels from her previous steps, consciously aware that she will be revisiting the depths of her unravelling again, soon (Retrograde Dec. – Jan 2022). You might like to ruminate on your experiences in May last year, particularly if Venus is very resonant for you in your life / chart. Reflection: How have you worked with the new growth and awareness you’ve developed since then? What was perhaps illuminated for you then? Perhaps you were rocked, strongly moved by the civil unrest last year.
With Mercury retrograding over similar points, culminating at a tricky duality cluster in the centre of the Orion stars of Gemini, perhaps we will be talking, unveiling, re-evaluating some of these related issues. Consider your connection to the Earth, stabilising your immune system and nervous tension, being careful with over stimulation in methods of etheric communication (i.e the internet), the energy you pick up from others, the confusion we can sometimes get tangled up in. And again, retrograde = reassess, re-evaluate, re… Reflection: Is there anything coming to surface for you, about this? How can you tend to your physical grounding, and to calming and/or protecting your nervous system? Perhaps there are practices in nature you love, meditations, herbs, oils, and so much more.
Full Moon
A Lunar Eclipse on 26th May is where the Moon is eclipsed by Earth, who obstructs the Sun’s rays. This will occur very close to a fixed star named Antares, known as the heart of the Scorpion, shining in the zodiac of Sagittarius where our shared South Node draws us into our history, our old karmic tendrils, and past learning experience. Antares star is a super alchemical energy for unveiling the very core truth of a matter, with all the ways of Scorpio; by delving into the taboo, the unspoken, the shrouded. As the Lunar Queen is blacked out and seemingly ‘removed’ from the sky, we might sense strong impulse to project all our energy into Gemini’s polarity, where the Sun shines powerfully in yang quality, and radiates its light into avenues of multiple different viewpoints or ‘facts’, directing us to intellectually research our own truth. Imagine looking under garden rocks, wavering between: discovering an ugly, scary reality you couldn’t see before, and other-times marvelling at the incandescent beauty of the crystal stone before you. Which one is it? The rock is both beautiful, and yet also conceals a lurking ‘otherness’ beneath it. We are destined to meet our duality. Reflection: Do you sense your own chameleon-like nature within you? How can you bring more daily awareness to these changing appearances or shadows? And what do you truly believe, think or feel about a matter?
Ceres
Ancient Mother of the Grain, primordial Priestess of death and life rites, initiates us to nurture our physicality, our sensuality, our grounded common sense, as she moves into her Taurean experience (8th May). She calls for us to nourish the arena she is in, to embody her quality towards ourselves. We are our own mother, connected with grace and ease to the Mother of all.
The Lady of agriculture in a zodiac primarily based on steady, long-lasting agriculture, is a sure sign to take this more seriously to heart. Reflection: What can we sow, tend, bring to life for our embodied wellbeing, not only for ourselves, but for our whole community, in harmony with both Earth and Lunar cycles? Without this steady balance, we become barren. Both in terms of human fertility, but also our land. Our wellbeing and survival is interwoven with the that of earth. We are already seriously beyond a danger zone of over-colonialisation of soil, of toxic pollution, and of unsustainable inorganic food production. This is a call to wield empowered loyalty to our physical needs, to our fierce independence from the unstable, harmful systems we have created, and to raise our voices in whatever way serves the collective evolution (Taurus relates to the neck and throat). Reflection: Are there any topics you have felt tightness in your throat about, that you have longed to express, or felt repressed? How might you find the creative means to let these out, in safe and wonderful ways?
Black Moon Lilith
Not an asteroid, but a beautiful and powerful astrological point in the Moon’s orbit around Earth. The New Moon this month conjoins the sensitivity of Black Moon Lilith. Her energy is like a deep and voidal opening to the beyond. It is as if she were the Cosmic Womb itself, the zero-point space of total surrender. An image of being swallowed up by darkness comes to mind. Not a darkness of evil, as the adapted myth of Lilith portrays, but a pure, primordial and perfect nothingness: the radiant silence before physical form emerged, as told in the Genesis creation story. This aspect of God, Source, Creator allows us the grace to radically free-fall from everything we are… into the bosom of Sophia, Divine Mother. We are the no-thing, we live and breathe from the empty nothing, we move and act from this pointlessness. It is in realising our total enrapture into creatrix energy, that we no longer see ourselves as separate, but come to embody this velvety galactic cauldron of alchemy, that we pour forth as deep psychic healing for all others, and our planet. Perhaps consider how you might be able to let go of a little more, into this great whirlpool of cleansing and rebirth, particularly over this Dark and New Moon. I like to think that this offering to Earth creates an investment towards longevity, stability and physical abundance, held in the loving embrace of Taurus. It’s also worth noting: her point of connection with us begins to create a trine-line of mastery and amplification with Pluto, retrograding in Capricorn Earth. This energy further empowers a deep structural, foundational, maybe physical letting go, as old frameworks, our subconscious and even the collective soul undergo some form of ‘death’. A passing of what no longer serves the creation of sustainable Earth structures, creating a voidal pause, perhaps, as something new comes to be formed in the Womb of Earth…
Deep Bow, and Heartfelt Thanks to You
May You Know Yourself with Grace, Ease and Depth of Love
In Love and Service,
Emeline Makin
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Emeline can be found musing deeply on the Celestials, navigating realms of self-worth, embodiment and Divine communion from within. Emeline channels her intuitive healing qualities through sharing poetic reflection, developing her practice as an Astrologer, a Yoga teacher, and continues on her journey of Nutrition, Herbalism and the wonders of Womb & Menstrual wisdom.
She invites you to discover her Shamanic Astrology readings, and weekly Yoga classes, infused with Goddess inspiration, Kundalini, Womb practices and Dance. Both are currently by donation.
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