Friends with Sun, Moon, or Rising Sign in Taurus, I really feel for you. This total lunar eclipse in your sign (it is also, incidentally, the Sign of the Moon’s exaltation) is already intense for you because it’s occurring in the zodiacal First House of your very Self, calling so much of your very identity and how you show up in the world into question/reevaluation.
Yet the intensity is ratcheted to an even greater degree for you more than any other sign (Aquarius claims a close 2nd place in the eclipse intensity factor) because of the “wild card planet” Uranus’ conjunction with the Moon (at 16° Taurus, and trust me, the degrees matter!) and the Dharma-Bearing North Node (at 13°) while opposing no less than a stellium of four planets in Scorpio (the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Karma-Clearing South Node) AND squaring dour Saturn, the Inflexible Lord of Karma, Who currently transits 18° Aquarius at the time of the eclipse. Phew!
It’s a lot to take in, not just for you patient (and stubborn/resistant to change) Taurus folks, but for us all, every person aboard Spaceship Earth, as the very structures of our societies and how we envision the concept of “good governance” are up for a complete overhaul, which has many people in power (whether they deserve to be in positions of authority or not) completely scared out of their wits (and for good reason!). For those of us in the United States, this Taurus Full Moon Total Lunar Eclipse just happens to be taking place on our day dedicated to the 2022 Midterm Elections, which are fraught with all kinds of apprehensions, expectations, and deep-seated fears. There’s much here to unpack, so let’s dive right in!
The Fix Is In! The Backdrop of a T-Square Involving Fixed Signs
The Full Moon Total Lunar Eclipse at 16° Taurus exactly conjunct Retrograde Uranus will be exact at 5:02 a.m. Central Standard Time (USA). Please adjust accordingly for your time zone.
This is my biwheel for the eclipse based from the perspective of the natal chart for the City of Chicago. Ignore the House placements that you see but be mindful of the aspects the planets that are major players in this eclipse are making with each other: those affect you no matter where in the world you live.
The T-Square is something that you can see in the chart below. Visualize a capital letter “T.” Its right flank in the City of Chicago’s chart is located in House 11, where we have the stellium of planets, including the Full Moon, in Taurus. Opposite them, the left flank of the uppercase “T,” is the stellium of planets in Scorpio (the 5th House in the example of the City of Chicago). Taurus and Scorpio, the Fixed Signs of Earth and Water, respectively, oppose each other (it’s a 180° mathematical angle) in the zodiac. And what they have in common is they both square (each forms a 90° angle) the Fixed Air Sign of Aquarius, where Saturn transits at 18° and forms the “leg” of our capital letter “T” in the heavens. So that’s how a T-Square is formed: two sets of signs that oppose each other at a solar or lunar eclipse, and the focal point is the “leg” of the letter “T,” the avenue of mediation of the celestial energies. In this case for this eclipse, again, it’s Saturn at 18° Aquarius.
Focal Point of Saturn and the Ongoing Story of the Uranus-Saturn Square
Saturn is the metaphysical entry point for Manifestation from the Ether or Ain Soph Ur (the Unmanifest/Unactualized Potentiality) in Kabbalistic terms into the world of Form. Saturn, and His ruled Earth Sign of Capricorn, is greatly concerned with Form, Structure, the Limitations placed on us by Necessity. Structure in our bodies in the form of bones. Structure in societies in the form of governments and the rule of law, civilizing force and the apparatus in place to maintain everything. Structure in the Cosmos through the Law of Karma, of appropriate responses/reactions meted out to specific actions. Besides the Roman God Saturn, Who became diluted into the folksy character of the scythe-bearing Father Time we sort of acknowledge every New Year’s Eve, a fitting Deity to think of as having Saturnian energy, to me, is Lord Vishnu, the Maintainer and Preserver of What Is. (Brahma Created, Vishnu Maintains, and Shiva Destroys, to look at one version of the Holy Trinity afforded to us by Hinduism.)
Energetically, on the opposite end of the spectrum of Saturn is electrifying and innovative, youthful, paradigm-shattering Uranus. Uranus, the planet of Shock and Awe, rebellion. He Who brings rapid, often unforeseen changes with lightning-bolt speed (think of The Tower card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot: that’s Uranian energy par excellence). Uranus began His transit into the Fixed Earth Sign of Taurus in mid-May 2018 and He will stay there until April 26, 2026. Taurus focuses on What Is Valued. What do we value? In our late-stage capitalist Western world, we value currency (although what precisely that is is subject to redefinition since Uranus in Taurus brought us the innovation of cryptocurrency), so yes, Taurus is concerned with the accumulation of wealth and the life of comfort that wealth brings. A Full Moon in Taurus would normally be an excellent time for magically working on Money Manifestation Mojo, but with this square to Saturn, expect the global financial markets to once again be in acute turmoil.
It’s not just finances, but fit leadership and the questions of what constitutes a fair and equitable society where wealth and resources are fairly distributed that are being highlighted by this eclipse, and the buildup has been happening for weeks. The glaring news headlines have been calling attention to leadership crises on the world stage, not just here in the U.S. where a deep and bitter political divide, once that’s been widening since 2016 (when Uranus’ square to Pluto began causing massive social upheaval), has been running on a parallel to a much more encompassing series of “culture wars”: there’s been a rapid succession of Prime Ministers in the UK; a recently disputed Presidential election in Brazil with a far-Left candidate excoriated as illegitimate by the incumbent Right-Wing party; social revolution in Iran in response to the misogyny-fueled murders of women; and the increasingly distressing escalation of the war in Ukraine. Forces for progress battling the status quo. But what ought to become the new status quo? That’s what this Uranus-Saturn square is highlighting.
The Sting of the Scorpion in the Square to Saturn
On the opposite side of the T-Square, we have the Fixed Water of Scorpio planets (the South Node highlighting what needs to be cleared away at 13° Scorpio, communications master Mercury at 15°, the Sun at 16° exactly opposite the Taurus Moon and Uranus at the time of the eclipse, and fair Venus at 20°) also squaring Saturn. Scorpio is the Cosmic Detective, unearthing tightly kept secrets and outing them with all these planetary squares to Saturn. Scorpio brings a passion to the drama of exposure. Scorpio, ruled by Pluto (but co-ruled by Mars), knows that transformations cannot occur without the necessary deaths (of outmoded ideas/ways of being and thinking…but also literal deaths in a physical sense) beforehand. And don’t forget that Saturn as Father Time is also the Grim Reaper, bearing His scythe, mowing us down like so many blades of grass. So this eclipse time, taking place as it does during the Pagan calendar period of Samhaintide, when the Ancestors huddle close to us in the encroaching darkness and we become uncomfortably aware of our own mortality at the onset of Winter (in the Northern Hemisphere), is very much a time of profound endings and loss. It’s a time of grief, personal and collective. What are we doing to mourn our losses? Are we expressing our grief? Do we have outlets? If not, what we repress will only fester until it all really explodes.
Fuel for Fantasy: Enter Illusion-Weaving Neptune
“There is no truth; there is only perception.”
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
The Trine from Scorpio Planets Plus a Grand Trine in Water Signs on 11/12/2022
The unfortunate planetary backdrop to something as momentous as Midterm Election Day in the U.S. has to do with the fantasy and spin brought into the picture from reality-warping Neptune. What’s really real? Can we state with absolute certainty what’s true? Will vote tallies be disputed? Will accusations of voter fraud and demands for recounts mar and tarry the results, state by state? Yes. Count on it. In the immediate aftermath of November 8 Election Day, a series of trines from planets in Scorpio to Neptune in Pisces will occur. Venus at 22° Scorpio trines Retrograde Neptune at 22° Pisces on November 10, with Mercury following two days later, the same day that the Moon will be at 8° Cancer, also trining Neptune. This will be a Grand Trine in Water Signs (November 12), not the best day for making clear-headed decisions and left-brain thinking in general but excellent for writing poetry and speaking to spirits in a séance! (Just test the spirits to make sure they are who they claim to be!)
The Square to Neptune from Retrograde Mars in Gemini
At the time of the Grand Water Trine, Retrograde Mars in Gemini (24°) will be squaring Retrograde Neptune in Pisces (22°). This exacerbates the frustrating feelings of confusion, of not being able to discern truth from falsehood, the “real news” from PR and spin. Gemini is interested in fielding information, but Retro Mars is not at His best, and who knows whether what Mars digs up at this time will be useful or true. Both sides across the political aisle in this country are sure to accuse the other of trafficking in “fake news.” This doesn’t bode well for the post-election assessment period.
More Post-Eclipse Fallout
November 9 brings a concerning exact opposition between the Scorpio Sun to Retrograde Uranus in Taurus, both at the 16° mark. If you have planets at or near that degree, please take the utmost precautions to safeguard yourself against violent accidents, electrical fires, arguments that spiral out of control in nanoseconds. This aspect will also adversely affect energy grids, so storms taking place at this time can bring nasty power outages. Be ready!
On November 11, St. Martin’s Day in the Catholic calendar and Veteran’s Day/Armistice Day acknowledging the sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces, the Scorpio Sun will form a square to Saturn in Aquarius. Literal roadblocks are likely, so have backup routes in mind for your travels, as are problems with authority figures. This is not the day to mouth off at a cop when being issued a speeding ticket or to make a snarky comment before a judge’s bench. Just don’t! More broadly, this square is something of a reality check. Do your plans pass muster? Are your goals in alignment with what’s actually feasible? Push away the Neptunian illusions and delusions that are building in advance of the November 12 Grand Trine in Water Signs.
Any Signs of Hope? Yes!
Jupiter as Dr. Feelgood to the Rescue!
I know I’ve been coming across as a Debbie Downer with this post and my noted cautions for all of these troubling aspects, but there is good energy coming mid-month, starting with a series of trines from the planets in Scorpio to jolly Jupiter, currently Retrograde (but still a luck-bringer) at 28° Pisces. Venus trines Him on the 15th, accelerating the drive for the pleasures of sex and shopping; fleet-footed Mercury trines Him the following day, making job interviews and business negotiations and writing and teaching projects successful; and then the Sun trines Jupiter on the 20th, and optimism will abound.
Seeding a New Lunation Cycle: The Sagittarius New Moon
On the day before Thanksgiving here in the U.S., November 23, the New Moon will occur at 1° Sagittarius at 4:57 p.m. CST. This energy will bring a needed sense of emotional lightheartedness after all the intensity of the November 8 eclipse. Sagittarius energy is all about expansion and optimistic orientation towards new horizons, be they literal or metaphorical. Set your intentions for expanding your horizons on Jupiterian themes, as Jupiter is the planetary ruler of this Mutable Fire Sign of Sagittarius: higher education, legal pursuits, writing, publishing, advertising, the media, philosophy, religion, metaphysics, explorations of other cultures/regions of the world through long-distance travel. Mutable Fire is not just amenable to change, it seeks it out, and independence and honesty are the traits Sagittarius values most. These are welcome energies to kickstart thinking about the upcoming holiday season and which goals can be accomplished in the short term to bring in a sense of accomplishment as the year draws to a close.
So How Will the November 8 Eclipse Affect You? Sign-by-Sign Breakdown
I’ve devised a little chart for each sign and the corresponding House that will likely be “hit” by the Taurus Total Lunar Eclipse. I strongly encourage anyone who follows a Pagan/Witchcraft path to incorporate the themes of their Houses into some magickal workings at this potent time! Full moon eclipses are detonation events, so what do you need to clear out, thematically, in the appropriate House for your sign? Don’t just look at your Sun Sign, think on your Ascendant and Moon Sign as well, especially if you have Taurus, Aquarius, or Scorpio or signs that “play well” with those signs (my Virgo Sun is at 16°, for example, and Taurus and Virgo are Earth Signs that trine each other). Look at planetary placements you have at or near (within a 5-degree orb of influence) to the magic number of 16°!
| Zodiac Sign | House Being Affected by the Eclipse |
| Aries | 2nd House of Earned Income |
| Taurus | 1st House of Self |
| Gemini | 12th House of the Hidden/Occult/Action Behind the Scenes |
| Cancer | 11th House of Groups, Associations, Friends |
| Leo | 10th House of Career, Worldly Status |
| Virgo | 9th House of Expanded Horizons: Philosophy, Religion, Long-Distance Travel, the Law, Higher Ed, Metaphysics, Publishing/Teaching |
| Libra | 8th House of Intimacy/Sex, Death, Transformation, Other Peoples’ Money |
| Scorpio | 7th House of Partnerships (Marriage, Business) |
| Sagittarius | 6th House of Work and Service, Health |
| Capricorn | 5th House of Pleasure, Romance, Hobbies, Children |
| Aquarius | 4th House of Home and Family, Ancestors, Foundation |
| Pisces | 3rd House of Communications, Short-Distance Travel, Sibling Relationships |
The Moral of the Story Is Be Good to Yourself and Each Other
Make no mistake, there are forces at work in this world that are keen on having people divided and conquered. Tribalism is a double-edged sword: yes, it’s important to feel that you belong to a community, but it’s equally just as important to reach out to others beyond its confines/labels/ideologies. That’s really all we have to go on, a promise to be good Earthlings to each other and the fragile whirling blue ball of a planet we call home.
If you’re interested in taking a deeper dive into the specifics of your natal chart and your personal transits and planetary aspects for now up through a year from now, hit me up for a natal chart reading or transit report! I also can create synastry charts for couples. I was most recently asked by a young mom for the natal chart of her newborn son, probably my favorite charts to do! Just email me at jackalmoondesigns@gmail.com and let’s get talking!
Have a good month, be safe, mind my cautions, and be sure to look up at the moon during the eclipse if you can! Here in the greater Chicago area where I live, the best window of viewing is from 4-6 a.m. tomorrow. I’ve got my camera at the ready; I just hope the skies will be clear! *crosses fingers*
Always remember to shift your perspective from pissed to blissed, that’s the best way to shirk off evil influences! Blessed Be!
amor et mortem 