The planetary context at the beginning of Taurus Season
The Sun enters Taurus on April 19 applying closely to a Square with Saturn, setting the tone for a Saturn-tinged Taurus Season. Mercury, having passed through a retrograde and other disorienting misadventures in Pisces, begins Taurus season in much better condition moving quickly through mid-Aries. Venus is slowing down in Gemini in preparation for her retrograde period. Mars and Saturn are both in Saturn’s home sign of Aquarius. Jupiter and Pluto are both in Saturnian Capricorn along with the inauspicious South Node.
Notes on the astrology of Coronavirus/COVID-19:
The exact Saturn-Pluto conjunction in January coincided pretty closely with the spread of the new Coronavirus picking up momentum.
Several signifiers in Capricorn indicated “massive expansion” or “exponential growth.” Pluto is associated with extremes of scale (like a grain of sand compared to the size of the galaxy), and astrologer Alan White used to say that Pluto makes big stuff small, and small stuff big. A perfect example: something as small as a virus spreading to inhabit the entire world. Jupiter, another signifier of expansion, joined Saturn and Pluto there at the start of December, around the time of the first known cases in Wuhan, China. Jupiter is usually a positive influence, but is pretty much doing the bidding of strongly placed Saturn, who rules the sign they are sharing. Mars joined the group in mid February, lending speed and malefic influence to an already dire situation.
Saturn and Mars in Aquarius
Saturn and Mars entered Aquarius and conjoined there late in March. Since the exact conjunction, the two planets have been separating. Slow moving Saturn has stayed in the early degrees of Aquarius while Mars has continued marching on through that sign. But with the two traditional malefics in the same sign for the majority of Taurus Season, it is still one of the defining signatures of this time.
Mars tends towards speeding up while Saturn tends towards slowing down, and the two often don’t combine well (as we have seen from their time together in Capricorn since mid February. So far, we have seen:
a will to quickly get individuals tested for the virus come up against regulatory tape and delays and problems with the tests
rapid spreading of this disease simultaneous with the slowing down of daily life and economic activity as more and more people are staying in.
As Taurus Season begins, we are seeing a fractured response to the pandemic in the U.S. with a few states speeding to reopen (Mars) while most so far are remaining under some version of stay-at-home orders (Saturn). We can expect to see a lot more of this tension between reopening the economy and staying isolated for public health and safety at least until Mars enters Pisces on May 12. Peaks in this tension may occur around April 20 (Sun square Saturn), April 28 (Mercury square Saturn), and especially May 10 (Mercury square Mars as Saturn stations retrograde). I don't hold much hope for national agreement on the issue or a more cohesive federal response anytime soon. The first window for something closer to a consensus (or coordinated) approach may be late June with Mars and Saturn in their domiciles (Aries and Aquarius) in a harmonious sextile with one another, though this is a short-lived transit with many positive and negative indicators occurring simultaneously. More on that transit in future posts….
Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter all go retrograde
The end of Taurus season is primarily characterized by three planets stationing retrograde in quick succession: Saturn on May 10, Venus on May 12, and Jupiter on May 14.
Saturn retrograde in Aquarius, heading back toward Capricorn.
I’m not expecting Saturn’s retrograde station on May 10 to trigger any major fireworks (leave that to the Mercury-Mars square on the same day). The significance of Saturn’s retrograde period this year—in keeping with the outermost visible planet’s slow nature and slow retrograde cycle—will take time to actualize, with most of the drama occurring after Saturn moves back into Capricorn in early June, shifting the world’s attention back to some of the Saturn-Pluto difficulties we’ve already seen (disagreements over borders, inequality, isolation) and perhaps peaking in the fall when Saturn approaches within 3 degrees of Pluto before stationing direct and heading back towards Aquarius.
Venus retrograde in Gemini
Astrologer Nick Dagan Best has described Venus retrogrades as times when social conventions come up for review. For this Venus retrograde in Gemini from May 12–June 25, it is pretty easy to pick out a few social conventions that are in the process of changing (social greetings, face masks, isolation, etc.), though there are bound to be some surprises as well.¹
Jupiter Retrograde in Capricorn
With Jupiter in fall in Capricorn, in the domicile of strong and malefic Saturn, and under the influence of Pluto (also in Capricorn), Jupiter has been less indicative of his usual positive significations like abundance and more indicative of malefic twists on those themes like the “abundant” spread of a virus to become a global pandemic. This retrograde won’t help Jupiter get back to his benefic self; in fact, the retrograde motion will lead to two more conjunctions with Pluto—one in late June and one in November, both of which are near to Saturn whose dark influence reigns Capricorn.
Notable Transits:
Apr 20 Sun square Saturn: Extra emphasis on Saturn. With the bright, hot sun squaring dim, cold Saturn, there is a tension between opposite alternatives.
Apr 22 New Moon in Taurus: Though the moon is exalted in Taurus, a square with Saturn and applying conjunctions with Uranus make this New Moon very unpredictable.
Apr 24-25 Mercury squares Pluto and Jupiter as Pluto stations retrograde: We may see important information coming out about Covid 19 and the government response to it. With Mercury in the inferior position to Pluto and Jupiter it may seem too little too late, or it may be dwarfed by more negative, sensational news.
Apr 25 Sun conjunct Uranus: This may be a particularly restless or rebellious day.
Apr 27 After racing through Mars ruled Aries, Mercury moves into Taurus: I’m not expecting the news cycles to slow down too much, but many will find it easier to stay grounded despite the noise with Mercury in Taurus. Overall, Mercury transiting Taurus (4/27-5/11) is good for taking time to process the information that’s coming in and sort out what is useful and accurate (though this may be more difficult around April 30 when Mercury conjoins Uranus).
Apr 28 Mercury square Saturn: Extra emphasis on Saturn.
Apr 30 Mercury conjunct Uranus: This transit may come with disruptions in communication and technology, but may also come along with fresh, groundbreaking ideas.
Apr 30 First Quarter Moon: Though not close degree-based aspects, the Moon is making a sign-based opposition with Saturn and Mars, bringing strong malefic influence to this moon phase.
May 3 Venus square Neptune: Many will experience this as a creative and nostalgic time. Venus has been closely chasing a trine with Mars that never goes exact, which potentially brings in a romantic element or passion project that never quite goes anywhere. Pretty things and creature comforts may be particularly distracting around this time.
May 4 Mercury cazimi: A moment of insight, or secret coming to light.
May 4 Nodes enter Sagittarius and Gemini: After a year and a half in Cancer and Capricorn, the lunar nodes (points where eclipses happen) shift into Sagittarius and Gemini. We haven’t yet seen the last eclipse in Cancer or Capricorn, but this is still a welcome shift away from the constant emphasis on the Saturn-Pluto action that we’ve seen with the most recent eclipse cycles.
May 7 Full Moon in Scorpio: With the moon in Fall in Scorpio applying to a square with Mars (and a sign-based square with Saturn), this is a particularly rough Full Moon not well suited to manifesting anything positive.
May 9-10 Mercury trine Pluto and Jupiter: These may be days for good (or at least somewhat reliable) news regarding the spread of COVID-19
May 10 Saturn Retrograde: A little extra emphasis on Saturn, though the biggest implications of the Saturn Retrograde will come in June and later in the year as Saturn moves back into Capricorn and nears Pluto. (See above for the details).
May 10 Mercury square Mars: Communication may be aggressive, and potentially negative. This may also be a day where we hear more about reopening from COVID shut-downs (Mars) than we hear about the shut-downs themselves (Saturn).
May 11 Mercury ingress Gemini: Mercury enters their domicile Gemini in the best shape they’ve been in for quite some time.
May 12 Mercury trine Saturn: News may skew back toward shutdowns (as opposed to reopenings.
May 12 Mars ingress Pisces: Mars gets a little space from Saturn (giving us a little breathing room too). Mars in Pisces with Neptune gives off Don Quixote vibes (railing against imagined enemies), so we can expect this to mark a time of misplaced aggression based on bad information, conspiracy theories, or just unchecked impulses.
May 12 Venus Retrograde: Changing social conventions (see above for more details)
May 14 Jupiter Retrograde: Further weakening of Jupiter, who may be even less able to stand up to the malefic influences of Saturn and Pluto.
May 14 Third Quarter Moon in Aquarius: This 3rd Quarter Moon, co-present with Saturn in Aquarius and applying to a conjunction with Mars, has a strong malefic influence.
Moon Phases:
Apr 22 New Moon in Taurus
Though the moon is exalted in Taurus, a square with Saturn and applying conjunctions with Uranus make this New Moon very unpredictable.
Apr 30 First Quarter Moon
Though not close degree-based aspects, the Moon is making a sign-based opposition with Saturn and Mars, bringing strong malefic influence to this moon phase.
May 7 Full Moon in Scorpio
With the moon in Fall in Scorpio applying to a square with Mars (and a sign-based square with Saturn), this is a particularly rough Full Moon not well suited to manifesting anything positive.
May 14 Third Quarter Moon in Aquarius
This 3rd Quarter Moon, co-present with Saturn in Aquarius and applying to a conjunction with Mars, has a strong malefic influence.
Astrological Elections for Taurus Season:
Electional Astrology is the practice of choosing auspicious times to take an action or begin a project based on the astrology of that moment. Here is an election I noticed while studying this time period.
May 13 5:52-7:43am. In my area, Somerville, MA, this is especially good around 6:05am with Mercury on the Ascendant and the moon on the midheaven. If you are somewhere else in the world, be sure (at the very least) that Gemini is rising. This election is great for 1st house matters (the self, physical appearance), 4th house matters (the home), and 9th house matters (travel, higher education, spiritual development). Avoid initiating anything related to relationships or career. Topics related to children, creative projects, and mental health may have unpredictable outcomes.
May 14 5:50-7:40am. In my area, Somerville, MA, this election will work best at 6:55am with Venus on the Ascendant and the moon on the midheaven. If you are somewhere else in the world, be sure (at the very least) that Gemini is rising.
Notes:
Every eight years, Venus goes retrograde at almost the exact same day and almost the exact same spot in the Zodiac. We can look to these eight year repetitions to see what themes may present themselves in the upcoming Venus retrograde in Gemini. Very close to the time Venus stationed retrograde in Gemini in 2004 and 2012, important events in the history of U.S. marriage rights occurred (the first legal same-sex marriage in the U.S. and President Obama’s public endorsement of marriage rights for same-sex couples, respectively). Perhaps the institution of marriage—or at least traditional weddings—will be “up for review” as early wedding season comes when there are no major gatherings happening at all.
I present to you “The Cherophant.” The Hierophant is the Major Arcana card in the tarot that is associated with Taurus. Cher is everyone’s favorite Taurus. I originally made this image in collaboration with Jeff Hinshaw for the Queen of Taurus segment of his podcast, Cosmic Cousins.