!! OMG Stars: New Moon in Taurus (May, 2021) !!

New Moon in Taurus, May 11, 2021

On an recent episode of the podcast “What’s Your Sign?”, the three hosts go into a deep discussion about Taurus, in honor of this Taurus season. They dispel a lot of the mouths about the sign, and bring up some little-talked-about qualities. For example, they reject the idea that Taurus is lazy, and counter that the archetype is actually pretty active, given the Taurean love of the outdoors.

I’ll add to this with one of my favorite facts about Taurus: in my life outside of Astrology, I’m a dancer and choreographer, so a lot of my clients come from this field as well. Taurus is the sign I have noticed to be the most common among dancers. This is not to say that all dancers have important Taurus placements (I have none!) but rather that the large majority of working professional dancers I know have Taurus in an important part of the chart.

This makes a lot of sense to me: Taurus gets written off in meme astrology as pleasure-loving, obsessed with food and rest, but the reason Taurus loves those things is that Taurus is the sign most connected to the body. The sign most about the experience of being in a body, of feeling that body in contact with another surface. Dance as a practice ultimately is about being in a body and experiencing its sensations: of air against the skin, the floor underneath you, the proximity of other bodies.

This Taurus new moon is joined in the sign by Uranus, planet of innovation and upheaval, in a friendly sextile to Neptune, planet of spirit and confusion. While this is happening, Uranus is in a sextile of its own to Mars, the spicy boy. Although you may notice folks are a bit sensitive right now, and likely to be protective of themselves, it’s also likely to be a time to engage in some constructive rest and let yourself recharge.

This Taurus new moon, invite a renewal within your body. Slow down and notice sensations, and seek new experiences within them. The interior landscape alone can be thrilling.

Find your full horoscopes after the jump!

Horoscopes are written using whole house calculations and are meant as inspiration and affirmation of what you already know. They are written for both sun and rising signs, but specific information is calculated for the rising signs. You can also read the horoscope for your moon sign for extra emotional information. You can access your birth chart at www.astro.com or many other apps and websites using your birth date, time, and location. If you’re interested in getting a reading, you can book one with Amelia here.

Aries Rising and Sun

Notice what you value: notice how your objects reflect your beliefs; notice how what you keep describes what you desire. Notice that when you get rid of things you don’t need anymore, it brings with it a sense of renewal. Not to get too Kondo-esque, but this new moon is definitely a good time to go through your things and do some spring cleaning.

Be careful not to release anything too quickly, though: setting up an “out” box for things you think you want to part with and letting them sit there for a little while is the best way to prevent any rash decisions that Uranus might encourage.

Taurus Rising and Sun

Notice yourself: your skin, your eyes, your hair; the parts of your body that give you sensory input and what that sensory input feels like. The way you experience that input is particular to you, and forms part of your identity: the way something tastes to you might not be the same to anyone else, or you might see colours different from anyone else. A weird conundrum of life is being able to agree on these phoenomena without ever actually knowing how anyone else experiences them.

This new moon in your sign is your time to connect to yourself via the senses: I encourage you to sit in sensory wonder for a bit and think about the distinctive ways that you see the world.

Gemini Rising and Sun

Notice your shadow: the light you cast and that follows you around. The side of yourself that makes you uncomfortable. The side of yourself that others might see with more clarity than you do. The more you can actively engage with this side of yourself, the more you can work with it.

Denying that we have a side of ourselves that we don’t like doesn’t make it go away: getting comfortable with your own discomfort is the source of active change.

Cancer Rising and Sun

Notice the people around you. Notice their proximity or lack thereof: notice who has come to form your social circles. I read an article in the New York Times talking about how our social circles have shrunk over the past year. I’ve written so much about our changing social relationships in these horoscopes, because astrology acknowledges that community is a central part of human experience.

Cancerian people are deeply loyal, connected to their loved ones, and have a wide version of who a loved one is. Think of the various ways you connect with your community and trust they’ll be there for you, just as you are for them.

Leo Rising and Sun

Notice what you are putting out into the world. The content, shape, and matter of your external output: notice the sensations associated with what you release and how you want it to be seen. Leo as a sign is the most aware of what it is to be seen, and of any part of the zodiac, yours knows that being seen is as sensorial as is seeing itself. Think of how your body shifts when you know you are being watched: now expand this awareness to any of your output.

Whatever it is that you share the world is ripe for renewal right now, and by leaning into the sensorial aspects of that sharing, you can approach renewal with your whole body.

Virgo Rising and Sun

Notice the ways you might feel held in. Notice your need for growth, your need to take on new ideas and new challenges that will lead to learning. It’s tricky to want your growth to be predictable, but such is the Virgoan challenge, particularly for Virgo Risings. Use this moment to commit to a new cycle of growth. Identity a goal and build a path; come up with a dream and plan for it; start a new language on duolingo.

This new moon encourages you to think about what growth from the inside might look like.

Libra Rising and Sun

Notice your process of change. Notice what transformations you have been through, and how they have felt. And notice too how deeply they are felt: what inside parts of you change, visible or not, and what depths you can feel need renewal. Did you know that when caterpillars become butterflies, in the process of building their cocoons around themselves, they turn into goo?

They don’t transform from being a caterpillar by sprouting wings and proboscis, instead their entire caterpillar body breaks down into a liquid and rearranges itself into the body of a butterfly. And if you teach the caterpillar something, it will still remember it after it becomes a butterfly.

Think about this fact while you plan for whatever change may be coming your way.

Scorpio Rising and Sun

Notice your partnerships. Notice the people you form one-on-one bonds with, and the ways you hold onto them. Scorpio folks are deeply loyal, and Scorpio risings particularly so when it comes to your two-person connections.

Have any of these partnerships changed in your life recently? As hard as it is for a Scorpio to let go, it might be time to do that: either of partnerships that are over, or that have a need for a transformation of some kind. The good news is that this is a beautiful moment for forming new partnerships.

Who are you ready to commit to? Who keeps coming back into your life and seems to be here to stay? Once you are ready to let them into your life, they’ll be there for a long time – as is your nature.

Sagittarius Rising and Sun

Notice your habits. Try to slow down and see what you are doing that is rote and repetitive, automatic and quick. Then after you notice those, take stock of those habits as though they were items in your closet: which do you need? Which could go? What part of your day is missing a habit that might be helpful? Your daily life has been through explosive change for the past couple years (no shit 🦠) and this new moon might be reminding you of some of those changes, or else bringing up even more changes.

Think of the change that is yet to come in your everyday life and use this lunation to set little seeds of what you want it to look like.

Capricorn Rising and Sun

Notice your pleasure. Sit back and try to actively notice what feels good: what little things make you feel good, what small expressions of creative energy are sensorially pleasant. If you have any projects that need to get off the ground, this lunation is good for harnessing creative energy towards them. Thinking of new ways that they could come into being: and then as you think of that, notice that it feels good!

Coming up with new ideas gives you a pleasurable feeling in the body! I’m sure there’s some brain chemistry involved, probably it’s endorphins, but the feeling of going Aha is really unmatched.

Put your intrepid mind to work and let that work be a joy.

Aquarius Rising and Sun

Notice your home. Notice your dwelling, your residence, whatever it is that makes you feel that sense of comfort and commit to it. Plant an idea of what you want in this space: maybe there’s a new home, maybe you’ve rearranged the furniture, maybe you had a dream about your childhood home and you’re thinking about it anew. However home fits into your life right now, this lunation is good energy for working with it.

New moons are times for beginnings: farmers use new moons to plant seeds. This new moon is the time for those seeds to be planted in your own home, which is a beautiful and very tangible place to set down roots.

Pisces Rising and Sun

Notice what you say. Notice your movements about your house, your thoughts in your mind: the interior world as it meets the exterior. This part of you is deeply sensorial – which is true for everyone but for Pisceans especially. I invite you to think about F.M.

Alexander, the progenitor of the Alexander technique: Alexander was an actor and an orator, who found himself with jaw and neck pain after his engagements. He studied himself speaking in a three-way mirror and noticed that he tensed his neck as he spoke, causing the muscular pain: over the course of time he spoke in front of the mirror and trained himself to stop tensing while he spoke, thus changing his speech patterns and solving his pain.

This story might be useful for you as you think about how you want your communication to serve you moving forwards.

OMG Stars is an astrology column written by queer astrologer Amelia Ehrhardt (@soft_aspects). Every two weeks, on the new and full moons, Amelia interprets the upcoming astrology with a focus on how to navigate current events (astrological and global). Book an appointment with Amelia here.