This Earth Day will be lit up by the Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon. The Sun in Taurus is all about Nature and our human nature. We have been sold the lie that humans are separate from Mother Earth and that She is only dead matter. And look where that's gotten us! Today we remember our Mother, our Home, our true nature--that we are part of Mother Earth's ecosystem. Let's start taking care of our home.

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The Cosmic Story: Scorpio Full Moon 2016

Earth Day

If You Build It, They Will Come

At this Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon we stand at the threshold of the full blossoming of Spring, which we celebrate on Beltane (May 1-6). What began at the Aries New Moon (conjunct wild and unpredictable Uranus) as an impulse, an energy jolt, an awakening--like those surprising first crocuses and daffodils lining the roads--is ready to stretch and move forward.

Even as our Mars desires turn within to grapple with what we really want since Mars turned retrograde on April 17 ^th . The age-old question: What do women desire most? can be applied to both women and men if we change the focus: What does our Soul desire most? Like the hero in our Aries' story of The Hymn of the Pearl/Hymn of the Robe of Glory , the time is ripe to awaken and search for our own pearl of great price.

The pearl is our Higher Self, whose enlightenment and wisdom we access through our awakened soul or psyche. This pearl is the manifestation of our true Self, our destiny and our unique gifts . Like the Buddha who once sat under this Full Moon and received enlightenment, we are invited to face our demons and desires and allow our immortal Self to arise from the ashes of these old personal and cultural stories to fertilize completely new stories.

Happy Earth Day

Taurus is the most earthy of Earth signs, the very Nature of our planet. Ancient societies lived close to Nature, grateful that it sheltered and nurtured them. But more important, they learned to understand and live with Nature's laws, knowing they too were part of Nature. They understood that life and death are connected, just as the signs of life (Taurus) and death (Scorpio) are connected. They only had to look to Nature to see this truth.

During the last 800 years or so of patriarchy, we have gradually lost touch with our relationship to the Earth, until the scientific/capitalist story about the world insisted that Earth was dead matter which we could manipulate and use as we desired. Westerners thought we could own the Earth and so we lost respect for Her. And we believed we were cut off from Nature and our divine Mother. We've seen the deadly results of that belief. An Earth teetering on the brink of global disaster. Death everywhere.

That's why as we celebrate Earth Day this year, let's remember that Nature is not only something outside of us but is intrinsically a part of us. It's time to listen to our human nature as well as our spiritual nature. Mother Nature is trying to help us set things right. We're the ones who keep messing up because we refuse to listen. So this Earth Day, begin to respect the Nature within you so you can listen to and understand what Mother Nature needs from you as a vibrant and vital part of her ecosystem. The Earth and all of Nature is standing by to help. We just have to ask for it.

Sun in Taurus/Moon in Scorpio

We begin to take on form while the Sun is in Taurus just as we release form when the Sun is in Scorpio. At a Full Moon, we combine the energies of our two heavenly lights and find a balance that comes through new awareness. At this Scorpio Full Moon facing the Taurus Sun, we need to release dead forms so we have renewed energy for our new life. The remains of last year's harvest make a rich compost for this year's new life. Mother Earth tells us out of death comes new life. The new flowers blooming now come to us because they died and decomposed last year. When we really 'get' that notion, we begin to live in Earth's cycles and appreciate the beauty of the moment.

As for me, my storyteller Bard wants to take on more form and so I am going to let go of old forms and follow the lead of my favorite bardic teacher, Scheherazade, and tell you the Cosmic Story through myths, dreams and fairy tales as well as astrological news (with short videos as well for those of you who don't want to read all this).

For those of you who aren't familiar with Scheherazade, she is the heroine of the 1001 Arabian Nights , a collection of stories from the Middle East. So let me introduce her to you, because she saves her world! She is a shining example of how a conscious woman can change the world. Scheherazade does it through storytelling. How marvelous is that! She doesn't fight or kill anyone. Instead, she uses the power of the word, of story, metaphor and symbol to change the world, by speaking to the heart and the imagination of the oppressor. This word-gift has always been my path of devotion.

Scheherazade also channels Wisdom, a woman who consciously takes a stand, using her imagination and belief to manifest her ideals--no more DEATH. Whoever she was, Scheherazade lived in dangerous times, but instead of giving in to fear and hopelessness, she took up her Aries bravery and came up with an idea that not only stopped the death and saved her people but also transformed the very heart of her oppressor. For more on her story, please visit my website Star of the Bards .

As we work within the chaos and confusion of our changing world, we can take a stand like Scheherazade and face the death of our culture as it transitions into a new age. Whatever our gifts and talents, it is up to us to help the old ways die so others can see the path into the future.

It is said that the Buddha was born on the Full Moon of May in a most beautiful and peaceful garden and that he sought enlightenment under another Full Moon of May. Both Taurus and Scorpio deal with our desires and their fruits, the very issues that the Buddha's teaching addresses. As Siddhartha Gautama sat meditating under the Bodhi Tree, the demon Devaputra Mara, lord of death and temptation, tried to disturb his concentration with fearful apparitions which all turned into flowers and rainbows as he sat unmoved by fear. ( And I dreamed I saw bombers turning into butterflies ). Then Mara tried to tempt him with beautiful women, but they could not disturb his concentration. Then Mara declared that the seat of enlightenment belonged to him and not a mere mortal, but Siddhartha reached his right hand down to the Earth, and Mother Earth spoke and bore witness to Siddhartha's right to enlightenment. And so Mara disappeared and Siddhartha became the Buddha, the Enlightened One, the Knower (Gnostic).

Mother Earth supports our search for enlightenment. She doesn't want us to stay slugs making our slow, blind way through the dirt. She wants us to open to our heavenly nature since it will augment our earthly nature. We incarnate here on Earth as spiritual beings having a human experience. We forget where we come from, but Mother Earth and the cosmic laws of life are here to assist us in remembering that. The belief that there is a better life someplace else has led us to disregard our Earthly Home, resulting in a whole lot of death and destruction. This is an old story that needs to go.

The power of this Full Moon is about the power of life and death. We can't have one without the other, as much as our Western society can't seem to accept it. In Ursula Le Guin's epic Earthsea Trilogy , she speaks of this fear of Death as a shadow, a shadow that drains all the joy and color out of life. The Archmage Sparrowhawk and his young King Arren go on a journey to try to restore the balance of life and death on Earthsea, which has been disrupted by a sorcerer who is so afraid of death that he has opened the gates between life and death and now can't close them. (Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Perhaps Monsanto is such a crazy sorcerer.)

As they journey, the young king wonders why men are destroying trees and the Earth, and how one man's fear could cause so much pain and suffering, and Sparrowhawk tells him it's because people have no guidance on how to live in balance. And as this one man's fear is echoed in all those who are so afraid of death that they are willing to sacrifice anything as long as they survive, they create death in life, a false immortality where nothing new is born and everything stays the same. In many ways, this seems to be the endgame of patriarchy--never-ending progress, an ever-expanding economy, corporations who pose as human beings, with the patriarchs always in charge. But Sparrowhawk concludes, " Only what is mortal bears life, Arren. Only in death is there rebirth. The Balance is not a stillness. It is a movement - an eternal becoming.'

As we embrace the death of patriarchy and our consumer-driven society and create new ways of living in collaboration with Mother Earth, we will once again strike the right balance, aligning with the flow of Earth's energies as they cycle around the year in our eternal becoming.

Yet, while we acknowledge that Death is a necessary part of life, the Taurus Sun says it's time to concentrate on Life. At this Full Moon, let the depth of Scorpio's vision align with Taurus' 'bull's eye' that is the enlightened 3 ^rd Eye to envision the form we want to manifest this year for ourselves and for our world. Make it Big, make it Beautiful, make it Wondrous! Let's all be Big Dreamers!

We are building a new life, a new story. And what new life we build depends on our beliefs. We are still dancing with three planets involved in changing our beliefs now. Neptune sends out waves of images, dissolving old beliefs, freeing up old forms. Jupiter wants us to integrate those new images into a coherent vision of ourselves and our purpose, while Saturn challenges us to make sure they are grounded in the Truth of Life. Their negative manifestation is what we see today in the US presidential races and around the world. Dogmatic and fanatical beliefs have been pushed front and center all over the world, and they are so over the top now that people are rejecting and taking stands against them.

We are changing our belief system from a Newtonian world-view to one based on the Quantum Field--moving from cause and effect to synchronicity. When we live in a story believing in only cause and effect we stay lost in the patriarchal mindset. When we transition into a belief in the Quantum Field, than we begin our story with the vast fields of possibilities. We imagine and then create with our intention. We take Aries fire and turn it into a field of dreams.

Please remember though. Taurus and Scorpio want us to examine our values and the values of those we are intimate with. What is important to me has to be important to you in some way. What we desire for ourselves must also feed into the desires of the world. It's time to live by the values which define us personally and as an American society. Freedom must top the list here. Then we need to add courage and honor, creativity and love, generosity and integrity, passion and compassion, justice and mercy, equality and balance, resilience and most of all, our willingness to stand up for the Truth. It is our time to speak out and help shape the future goals for our communities and the world.

Like the unexpected vision in the movie, 'Field of Dreams' , if we build it, they will come . Kevin Costner's character is bewildered by his inner urge to build a baseball field in his cornfield. Yet in the end, it is redemptive not only to him and his father, but also to everyone who comes to bathe in his dreams. This Full Moon wants to illuminate how our dreams can heal our lives if we can sacrifice our old rational mindset and open up to the magic of the imagination, shaped by our principles and blessed by Spirit.

Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon

This Full Moon occurs on April 21 at 10:24pm PDT and on April 22 (Earth Day) at 1:24 am EDT/ 5:24 am GMT.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 3* Taurus is: Natural steps lead to a lawn of clover in bloom.

This symbol speaks to us of letting things blossom in natural ways, which allows all of nature to thrive and which in the end produces honey. The bees will especially appreciate us not using artificial fertilizers. The gifts of Mother Nature are given to us freely if we don't stop them, kill them, ignore them or poison them.

Clover has always been associated with luck, especially the 4-leaf clover. The first leaf is for fame, the second for wealth, the third for a faithful lover and the fourth is for good health. And clover is associated with faeries and most especially unicorns! It is said that unicorns love to lie down in fields of clover on Full Moon nights. While you might not see a unicorn, you will be bathed in clover's aura of good luck, which will help us as we begin a new life. So find a field and see who comes visiting.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 3* Scorpio is: A house-raising party in a small town with the community helping. There is something special happening in the world today. People are gathering and working together to create a new way of living that is in synch with Nature and each other. We are leaving behind the old patriarchal lie--Every Man for Himself--and remembering that only when we work together can we create a just, compassionate and open society. This is a good time to go into our communities and work to create that better world with like-minded people.

The two primary energies at work during this Full Moon are Taurus', focused through its ruler Venus while Scorpio's energy is focused through its rulers, Mars and Pluto. Both Mars and Pluto changing direction so close together can make for volatile explosions like the recent earthquakes and volcano. But this Full Moon weighs in on the side of Venus conjunct Uranus, for both Mars and Pluto retrograde are now inner directed. Since Venus is so connected to the life force which is rising with the return of Spring, let's give her the power over the gods of death and war.

Venus joins up with Uranus in Aries just hours after this Full Moon, opening our hearts in surprising ways. This combination instills in us a fierce love for freedom, adventure and originality, while opening us to new ideas and groups of people. With both Mars in Sagittarius and Pluto in Capricorn starting to move backwards and within, we can support Venus' journey by examining our beliefs, our desires and our true motivations (Mars in Sagittarius and Scorpio) while also understanding how our cultural identities no longer serve us (Pluto). Pluto keeps drawing up the poisonous attitudes of our governments and economics, and people all over the world are responding to these revelations with personal power and courage.

As many people have noted, four and soon five planets are retrograde. Here's a quick look at them.

Jupiter has been retrograde in Virgo since January 7 ^th and will be slowing down to turn back to direction motion on May 9 ^th . Jupiter's expansive energies have been working on us to expand our understanding of who we are, as Virgo's motto is Know Thyself !

Saturn has been retrograde in Sagittarius since March 25 ^th , turning its focus on what we believe and how we stand up for our truths. Saturn will retrograde back in Sagittarius until August 13 ^th .

Mars just turned retrograde on April 17 ^th in early Sagittarius and will travel back into Scorpio until June 29 ^th , grappling with our ego to understand and admit our true desires.

Pluto , at 18* Capricorn, turned retrograde on April 18 ^th until September 27 ^th . The image for that degree speaks about political power. So I guess this summer we all get to meditate on what political power really is. What a good time to give back power to the people.

Mercury is set to turn retrograde again next week on April 28 ^th until May 22 ^nd . The Sabian symbol for Mercury at 24* Taurus is: A Native American warrior, riding fiercely, human scalps hanging from his belt. Native warriors in many cultures either claimed their enemy's head or scalp as a trophy and as a proof of their prowess. In many cultures, hair symbolizes power (think Samson and Delilah) and so this was a way to take on another warrior's power. Hair is also magical, in that it keeps growing so it contains our life force. Since the US Supreme Court has declared that 'corporations are people' lets turn our scalping on them--cut off their misinformation with our truth-speaking.

Mercury retrogrades are good times to re-think things. In Taurus, with its emphasis on values and worth, we can once again check in to see how well we're living those values we embrace. Are we really being courteous, compassionate, cooperative? Are we dancing with the Light and ignoring our Shadows?

These few weeks can be a mini-time out for us, where we can take the time to play with our new story and begin to gently live our new life. What better way to enjoy the Spring (or for our friends in the South--the early Autumn).

As we celebrate Earth Day this year on this intense Full Moon, may we embrace our life as part of Mother Earth's ecosystem. What we do affects all of creation. The Earth is a being of beauty, complexity and creativity. We are Beings created to express Love. Let's get on with it!

Walk in the Light,

Cathy

When the Shoe Fits

FROM THE CHINESE OF CHUANG TZU

Ch'ui the draftsman
Could draw more perfect circles freehand
Than with a compass.

His fingers brought forth
Spontaneous forms from nowhere. His mind
Was meanwhile free and without concern
With what he was doing.

No application was needed
His mind was perfectly simple
And knew no obstacle.

So, when the shoe fits
The foot is forgotten,
When the belt fits
The belly is forgotten,
When the heart is right
"For" and "against" are forgotten.

No drives, no compulsions,
No needs, no attractions:
Then your affairs
Are under control.
You are a free man.

Easy is right. Begin right
And you are easy.
Continue easy and you are right.
The right way to go easy
Is to forget the right way
And forget that the going is easy.

~ Thomas Merton ~ (Dark Before Dawn)

Authors Website: http://www.cathypagano.com

Authors Bio:

Cathy Pagano is a spiritual advisor and Jungian psychotherapist, storyteller, author and teacher.

She is the author of a book on the return of the Goddess, "Wisdom's Daughters: How Women Can Change the World".

Cathy trained at the C. G. Jung Institut-Zurich in dream interpretation, has an M.A. in Counseling Psychology in Feminine Spirituality, and is a certified Life Coach.

As an astrologer and storyteller, she weaves the Cosmic Stories written in the stars. From The Bard's Grove, she writes about emerging archetypal themes in movies and books.

Cathy works with the tools of the imagination - dreams, alchemy, myths, astrology, symbolic language, storytelling, ritual - to awaken the Soul's wisdom.



I believe that Americans are called to a higher consciousness at this point in our history. We are called on to live up to our ideals and create the country our forefathers imagined. Inner consciousness needs to be acted upon for social justice.



Cathy believes that our writers and artists must take up our responsibility to create art that inspires, teaches and heals our humanity.



Cathy writes about political, psychological/spiritual, and cultural issues.