These are the signs most affected by the new moon solar eclipse in Taurus

WORDS Clarisse Monahan PHOTOGRAPHY Unsplash PUBLISHED Fri, 29 Apr 2022 - 4:30 pm

We have a new moon solar eclipse in Taurus on 1 May. That’s quite a mouthful. Let’s mull over these terms to see what this transit has in store for us.

New moons are cosmic moments to set intentions for the day, week, or fortnight. If a new moon crosses through our money zone, for example, we might use that lunation to think about saving a certain amount of cash for a little end-of-month getaway with friends. Simple enough.

The thing about new moons, though, is that each one has a certain flavour, determined by the sign it’s crossing. In our example above, the new moon may be highlighting our finances, but it might be doing so in the sign of the Ram. This moon-in-Aries placement should alter our intentions somewhat. How so?

Aries is rash and reckless. It’s not for planning until the end of the month and waiting around for that getaway. Instead of saving for something further off, we might work better with this lunation by calling for an impromptu retail therapy session with the crew. This would align with the new moon, its Ram flavour, and that part of our chart where planet and sign coalesce.

Now let’s imagine a scenario where our money zone gets lit up by the new moon in Taurus (a scenario that will be happening for some of us on 1 May). Unlike impetuous Aries, Taurus is more slow and steady. At the same time, the Bull loves luxury. We might, therefore, set an intention based on these Taurus qualities: save up for those vintage YSL earrings and get them next week, month, etc. In practice, the moon’s flavour should shift intention and redirect action.

Great. Now how does the upcoming solar eclipse fit into our Taurus new moon schemata? Eclipses, in general, occur when the earth and its luminaries (sun and moon) tussle somewhat. When the earth blocks the sun from the moon, we get a lunar eclipse. When the moon blocks the earth from the sun, we have a solar eclipse instead. Eclipses can be partial or total – the latter being rare and epic.

In ancient times, solar eclipses, especially total ones, were considered super ominous. Imagine it’s 200 BCE. You’re looking into the noon sky. You watch it go dark and have no Wikipedia, Twitter, or Facebook to explain the phenomenon. Such was the sad fate of those living very long ago. Rather than having a YouTube channel go through the nerdy technicalities of an eclipse, ancient people had to make up stories and tactics to ward off the apparently foreboding nature of these rare events. Some societies would beat kettle drums to try and create a rhythm on Earth to counteract the disorder solar eclipses implied. Others viewed the king as vulnerable during these lunations and would hide him away until the bad moon passed.

Modern astrology doesn’t necessarily recommend beating kettle drums during solar eclipses, but it views these transits, nonetheless, as intensified or heightened ones. They amplify. If the new moon is a time to set intention, the solar eclipse is really a time to set intention and bring forth change.

A new Taurus moon amplified by a solar eclipse is naturally going to broadcast Taurus themes more than usual. We should expect something like an intensified need for security and stability, for instance, around this transit. Intentions will likely gravitate more toward home and material comforts, regardless of sign, as fixed-earth Taurus energy will be grounding us more in the world than, say, the atmospherics of Gemini.

And the shadow side to all this grounding and stability? Digging our heels in, doubling down, stubbornly refusing. All very Taurus. While being bull-headed with a spouse or friend during the lunation could very well manifest in our behaviour, perhaps a deeper concern here is having no self-awareness about it. Indeed solar eclipses can heavily disrupt how we view ourselves. The sun, after all, is always connected to our ego, self, identity. If it is being blotted out by the moon, it stands to reason that this will obviously impact how we self-relate. This is all to say that we may feel especially disconnected from ourselves or others during this solar eclipse, as our sense of self gets shrouded like the sun.

To add another layer of astrological intrigue to things, we should also remember that Venus rules Taurus. Venusian themes –love, beauty, cash– should infuse the Taurus moon/solar eclipse. We all want love, but this Taurus new moon could make us extra needy for it. Because the moon, our emotional centre, is also involved here, our feelings about ourselves or others can become exaggerated or distorted during this transit. We might find ourselves strutting too tall or, conversely, engaged in a kind of overly harsh self-doubt with intensified emotions at play.

Some signs, of course, will feel this solar eclipse more than others. The Fixed (that’s you Scorpio, Leo, Aquarius and Taurus) will be particularly sensitive, as the moon forms “hard” aspects (oppositions and pesky squares) with your sun. But rather than end on a “hard” note for this lunation, let’s instead end on a dulcet harmony by dear old William Lily, choice astrologer of yore. He has this to say on Venus-ruled eclipses, such as our upcoming one. Prepare for "temperate blasts of wind, moyst and fructifying…successful Navigations…perfect understanding between Magistrate and the vulgar people…and plenty of all manner of working Cattle.”