Tarot University ArkLetters: NewMoon Notes, April 28, 2014

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By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 110, April 28, 2014

NewMoon Notes, April 28, 2014

What a powerful month this has been! Two eclipses, a perfect Grand Square in the Cardinal signs, a powerful surge of both stress and strength blaring through the headlines, and spring coming on like gangbusters after a cold, wet and persistent winter. I hope you are all finding yourselves on the up-side of the season, participating in the rising of the saps and the return of warmth and fertility to the Northern Hemisphere.

I must admit to being a bit exhausted from the exertions of the last month. In the spirit of the alchemical Solve et Coagula (which means 'dissolve the bonds of the past and then reassemble again at a higher level'), we here at Noreah/Brownfield Press (Christine and Michael land) have been falling through false floors and shedding old illusions just as fast as this Grand Square could push us along. This is not an emergency, by any means -- my whole career has been like this! I seem to "back into" each opportunity that has come to me. At this stage and advanced age, I'm not alarmed when a goal I've been working towards, or a person I've thought was on my team, suddenly takes a sharp left turn and heads unexpectedly in a new direction. My habit at these points is to say, "Oh well, something equally good or better must be on the way".

April 2014 has been a month full of surprising, unpredictable, and challenging events that suddenly morph into unasked blessings. Stressful as a Grand Square can be, there is no figure better suited to breaking up outmoded patterns and liberating energies into fresh forms! Therefore if you feel as if you are being "outed" from long-established poses, roles and identifications, try to access your gratitude amidst the chaos. This type of change is opening the way to a more integrated future that will be better aligned to your highest good. So mote it be, and so it is.

Right now, the Sun and Moon (Priestess and Fool) are completing their second eclipse, this time with the Sun in Taurus, realm of The Lovers. I'm reading this as signal that we can collectively de-escalate down from our adrenal fight-or-flight martial energy (Aries) and relax back into our bodies, to enjoy again the simple pleasures of the senses (Taurus). The rapid growth and blossoming of Nature at this point in her cycle means the air smells sweet and arousing, inviting us to leave our armour behind and greet Nature with naked feet and uncovered crowns. The blowing pollens, warming soils, rainbow skies and longer days all conspire to pull us out of ourselves, causing us look up and around at the burgeoning season that is pouring forth green vitality from every crack. Taurus is not an intellectual sign, nor does it delight in political machinations, complicated transactions or mysterious significations that require elaborate decoding. Taurus is simple, hearty, natural, sincere and close to the Earth. If we can keep our focus where Nature's is, we'll experience a lot more support and a lot less resistance going forward.

Our NewMoon Eclipse chart is still marked by the Grand Square in no uncertain terms, with the emphasis continuing to focus on the crossed oppositions. Pluto in Capricorn (The World in the realm of The Tower) opposes Jupiter in Cancer (The Emperor in the realm of Justice). Uranus in Aries (The Magus in the realm of The Hierophant) opposes Mars retrograde in Libra (Strength in the realm of The Hanged Man). I continue to root for the unpredictable individual (Magus) over the hair-trigger instinctive herd mind (Strength retrograde). I also strongly favor a compassionate community safety-net (The Emperor) in contrast to placing my trust in the industrial-military-financial triumvirate and their controlling institutions (The World).

I do appreciate the way traditional Tarots use The World card image to reformat the Primal Fire of letter # 21 Shin (which traditionally signifies the Wrath of God) into an introduction to God's Wisdom, Sophia, who is variously known as Shechinah, Gaia, the Matronit, or the Spirit of the World. This reminds me that Higher Power is capable of roping in even our currently- lawless trans-national corporations, to use as pawns and agents in the unfolding Great Plan. This just about sums up what this Grand Cross is driving towards, at least for us mere humans who have no aspersions to world domination. It serves us to remember that every stranger, every member of the crowd, every faceless soldier, bureaucrat or talking head on our news screens is just another puppet on the hand of God! Nothing that exists can stand outside the One that is All. Taking this attitude can help us relax a little and trust the flow. I don't think any individual or institution can ever control the full scope of the action unfolding on this globe, no matter who or what is scheming to turn affairs to their narrow benefit. Ultimately, the organism of the Earth, also known as The World or The Universe, is firmly in control no matter how things might appear from day to day.

The loose and subtle Grand Trine in the Water signs that I mentioned before is still showing through in this chart, with Saturn in Scorpio (Judgement in the realm of Temperance) and Neptune/Venus in Pisces (Death/Empress in the realm of The Sun) balancing with Jupiter in Cancer. The formal corners of the Grand trine consist of Saturn Jupiter and Venus, leaving Neptune to act as an intuitive resonator in the background. But here's an interesting pairing: with Neptune (#13, Death) now transiting the realm of Pisces (#19, The Sun), we get the suggtion of the Great Waters somehow massing in the Summerland, traditionally viewed as the place where souls wait out their time between rebirths. In The Tarot of the Holy Light, Trump #19, The Sun shows radiant Apollo holding his lyre, with his back turned away from the land of the living , getting ready to awaken a new wave of souls for reincarnation. I am intrigued with the spiritual and astral implications of this symbolism being attached to Neptune's transit through Pisces. Might this coincidence be pointing to the major change that's coming over our astral environment, coincident with the newly-understood science of spaceweather?

What this suggests to me is to follow the advice that Don Juan gave to Carlos Casteneda: Take Death as your advisor, carry it with you at all times, let it speak into your ear and remind you about the true significance of the challenges you face here and now. Life is a high-stakes game even in the best of times. Right now, due to the imponderable variables at loose at so many levels from micro through meso to macrocosmic tranformation, we are literally in a time when "all bets are off". Realize that at any minute one could be taken out of this life by forces beyond one's control. This kind of thinking brings the attentive mind to a true focus, highlighting priorities and abandoning distractions that have no importance to our immortal Being.

Since this Trine is happening in the water signs, it will offer us subconscious, nonverbal, immaterial impressions that arise from the dreamtime, the imagination, and the sensory net of the body/mind. No logic or rationalization is necessary or even effective in this realm. The salient behavior to take in the water signs is to be observant, permeable, authentic, vulnerable, sensitive and responsive. There is no relevance for cynicism, doublespeak, or dissembling in the realm of the intuition -- everything is apprehended directly as it is, nothing can be faked or camouflaged. We must all learn to trust our body-knowledge, so that the ego will know when to stand down and let the inner senses reveal the truth. By cooperating with our inner Gnosis, and feeling our way through events instead of using the mind or the ego, we can spare ourselves a lot of wasted energy and wheel-spinning. By sticking with the Earthiness of the Taurus NewMoon and recruiting the intuitive support of this Water Trine, we can drop faster to our ultimate bottom line, bypassing all the drama and trauma that comes from fighting the flow. This really works, I promise.

Find a way to Just Say Yes to the good ideas that are proposed to you this coming month. This is the simple devotion that Venus, ruler of Taurus and exalted in Pisces, asks of us. Open up, let it in, there is a new life coming and it will be an improvement. The new dispensation will start just as soon as we stop resisting and allow it to appear. Nature contrives the blessings of Taurus to seem instinctive and innate, just as easy and natural as rolling off a log. If your body has been fantasizing about a missing pleasure, or craving a deficient nutrient, or lusting after something lovely you have been denied, then don't be surprised if the opportunity comes up this next month to reach out and indulge. I'm not saying you have to, by any means! I'm just saying it's time to learn what your body wants and see how you can cooperate with that in safe and healthy ways. Also pay attention to what you are attracting to yourself this month, since this is the flip side of the desire coin.

Whatever we ultimately learn this coming month, it's all part of a larger pattern designed to move us from the past to the future. Don't let the ego be the last to know what the subconscious and superconscious are conjuring up! Relax, find your trust, open your imagination and see how the patterns are forming. Remember that Venus shines the Light of Nature on whatever she is examining. The Light of Nature reveals the true identity of whatever it illuminates. Once we learn to navigate by this Light, we'll seldom be led astray again. Our job with this NewMoon in Taurus, both individually and collectively, is to believe the testimony of the global body, believe our intuitions, believe our sensitivities, so we can shrug off the artificial dichotomies that the mass mind is trying to crucify us all upon (exemplified by the Grand Cross). As always, our best bet is to individuate fully and freely, 'let our freak flag fly', and don't look back. The Magus in Aries encourages all of us to pop our stitches and burst our stays. If fate deals us a blow to the old order, we can use the uncrushable tensile strength of the Grand Cross to rocket ourselves into a renewed sense of meaning and mission. This NewMoon Eclipse can presage an energizing, liberating and enjoyable break from marching in lockstep towards a cookie-cutter destiny that's not even one of our own choosing. Remember, find a way to Just Say Yes to the highest potential of whatever is clearly already happening. Conserve your life force and sweeten your experience by learning to live in the Light of Venus. You'll be glad you did!