On May 5th, at 12:34 p.m. CST, the full moon in 14°58′ Scorpio opposes the Sun in Taurus, activating a lunar eclipse. This eclipse stimulates emotional intensity and brings unexpected plot twists and endings that illuminate the parts of ourselves that we would rather not look at. However, new perspectives bring a new understanding of our hidden motivations and we become more open to accepting ourselves and, through this process, uncover the motivation to heal and transform.
This is the second of two eclipses in two weeks and the final eclipse of this eclipse season. It is also the last eclipse in the series that began on December 22, 2021, on the Taurus and Scorpio axis, bringing to completion a deep cycle of activation and transformation. The moon’s nodes will cross into Aries and Libra on July 12, 2023.
This eclipse is also a penumbral eclipse, occurring when the moon is in alignment with the earth and the sun, the earth’s shadow falls on the face of the moon and the outer edge of the earth’s shadow masks the moon.
This penumbral eclipse will be visible in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, the South Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
Eclipses reoccur in 19-year intervals.
The last time there was a south node lunar eclipse near this same degree was May 4, 2004, at 14°42′ Scorpio.
Thinking back to that time, what endings and new beginnings were unfolding? What life events and themes birthed new growth and empowerment? Where is life now calling for significant changes?
Eclipses reveal the work we need to do to clean up our life’s dimensions. They bring what isn’t working to the surface so that we realign with our soul’s intention.
Lunar Eclipses Are Times of Shadow Inquiry
Lunar eclipses denote closure and endings. We uncover what is ripe and ready for completion and emotional processing. Sometimes it may feel like an ending that was a long time coming but wasn’t fully recognized until now. As we enter the eclipse portal, things move more quickly, and we are able to see things more clearly. The events in our life confirm what chapters are ending and where we are guided to transform our circumstances.
Lunar eclipses are pivotal moments for us to understand and integrate our shadows. They are times of revelation when our shadows are illuminated so that we can face all of who we are. Unprocessed emotions surface to heal, suppressed memories arise, and we uncover new truths about our motivations, behaviors, power and projection.
The lunar eclipse heightens our awareness of what was previously unconscious or hidden, and this one specifically urges us to let go of fears or disempowering behaviors in order to move forward to the next stage of our evolution, personally and collectively.
This lunar eclipse brings extra intensity and alchemy for a few reasons. First, Pluto began its yearly 5-month retrograde process on May 1st. This period invites us to examine our underlying motivators so that we can integrate our shadow and shed that which no longer serves us. Second, the full moon is in the sign of Scorpio which heightens our psychic sensitivity and emotional reactivity. Third, this eclipse aligns with the South Node in Scorpio. This alignment deepens our fixations and attachments to our familiar forms of security, some of which we may be asked to shed. Finally, Pluto squares the nodal axis activating a powerful shedding of what is dead and decaying in order to bring nutrients to what is being birthed.
Who we once were is offered back to the earth to be decomposed, and we are asked to nurture the raw, vulnerable new part of ourselves that is emerging. We are being summoned to release toxicity so that we can invest in a life that matches our values.
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.”
Joseph Campbell
The Collective Shadow
This eclipse exposes the collective shadow and what is out of position with natural law. Truths will be revealed and new information that has been hidden will be brought to public view. Specifically, by the middle of May, we will witness more shadow patterns and players coming to light that are toxic to collective energies and guiding us to purge more of the old paradigm.
Nature herself shows us where we are out of balance and guides us back into alignment with the earth. We will witness more twists and turns in weather patterns and models of disconnection from our natural world. It is a time to practice sacred reciprocity and honor the energy exchange of all life and to offer respect to our planet.
We are in an accelerated phase of healing and transformation. More and more people are awakening and opening to new perspectives. Resistance to change and growth is also very pronounced, as is projection, so all levels of relationship dynamics during this period have the potential to be heightened. We are called to release toxic relationship dynamics to connect our joy and authentic expression.
Align With Alchemy
As we come into the final eclipse of this 18-month cycle, we are asked to integrate deeper layers of the Scorpio-Taurus polarity, which requires us to get honest about our beliefs about transformation. By probing deeper into the origins of our current perspectives, we can shine a light on any tendency to practice magical thinking we might be doing in order to avoid difficult feelings. This eclipse brings big emotions to the surface, activates deep vulnerability and triggers emotional outbursts. There is a potent opportunity for healing if we are willing to make space for all that is arising.
Our archetypal teams that work to manage and avoid pain are activated and in overdrive. This may include our Addict, Codependent and Hedonist. It is crucial to bring awareness to the places where we are skilled at avoiding our pain, scapegoating and projecting onto others. Instead, hold a neutral curiosity for what our genuine feelings and sensations are guiding us toward and explore our capacity to be with sensation.
Our longing for real transformation is connected to our why. Our soul prayer guides us beyond our ego’s agenda to make an impact in this life. The Taurus archetype is our teacher in discovering what it is that we are truly living for. We connect to joyful presence, deliberate intention and embodied pleasure.
In Scorpio, we need deep intimacy, radical honesty and emotional reasons for living.
This polarity, ignited by Uranus, the great awakener, provides an unwavering veracity that walks with us out of our comfort zones and unites us to our deeper soul hunger. We connect to our reason for being here at this time. Trust in the power of our intuition to guide us to new truths. Trust in our body’s ability to feel and heal. Trust in the unfolding of mystery and our place in this world.
There is powerful alchemy here, but what’s required to receive it is surrender and non-attachment. This eclipse portal becomes a container that agitates what is no longer serving us. It is time to bring deliberate intention to witness the state of our reality, shed that which is toxic and bring conscious endings to prepare for new growth.
New structures are being created with a solid foundation that aligns with who we are now. Any spiritual work that we embark on must have strong roots to support our new seeds breaking ground.
“If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.”
J. Krishnamurti
We Shed Illusions Around Metamorphosis
We live in a culture that longs for the quick fix, magical pill solution. We love the idea of change. It’s charismatic and sexy, selling seven figures in an arena of self-help and spiritual capitalism. We are also impatient, so when it comes to change, we want it now, without putting in our due diligence. Rooted in our notions of big breakthroughs are layers of magic thinking. We yearn for a mystical moment in which we are suddenly transformed without any pain. Our cultural conditioning and religious imprinting that suggests we give our authority and trust over to a higher power has been misinterpreted and misrepresented by the patriarchy. Underneath, it is a false fault line that strips away our own responsibility and agency to create the life we truly desire. We wait for the big miracle and forget the tangible steps required to meet the shift. Lasting change asks us to stop doing what is in the way of our desire and implement supportive tools. It’s important to know ourselves enough to know what our most authentic soul desire is, and what it feels like in our body when we are connected to it vs. the magical thinking that can become a barrier to reaching our goals. Powerful transformation arises from embodied soul prayer and the agency to make supportive choices to nurture our prayer into form. Breakthroughs aren’t necessarily passive, and these alchemical energies seek to break the spell of illusion.
We now have epic opportunities to heal and transform in ways that are truly long-lasting if we are willing to get real and practice shadow inquiry. That requires radical honesty to any shadow allegiance toward spiritual bypassing and understanding how that pattern runs within our minds. By bringing our shadows into the light, we can shed outdated programming, connect to our own real magic and consciously choose who we get to be within the structures of our own soul contract.
Through presence and radical honesty, what is in the way of our soul evolution comes to light.
This eclipse calls us to address what we have been avoiding. It’s impossible to walk through a portal of death and rebirth without tapping into some pain. Long-held attachments to security and comfort are now uprooted, guiding us into the deeper parts of our psychological selves to be released. Synchronicity illuminates the necessity to move toward spiritual maturity and take ownership of what we are creating. We have no choice but to face ourselves. Old seasons of our life come to completion, revealing new possibility and potential, if we choose to claim our value.
Power energies guide us to embody our role as an Alchemist. In order to fully receive this medicine, our desire for transformation must be stronger than our resistance to discomfort.
“Anything that helps an individual heal, stretch, and grow requires confrontation: updating a previous belief, reworking old patterns that no longer serve, overhauling your spiritual systems, implementing an elimination diet. Comfort is not a companion of change.”
Pixie Lighthorse
Cosmic Weather
Uranus is conjunct the sun and plays a powerful role in this eclipse chart, activating unexpected events, shock and plot twists that support a powerful release at this time. Uranus cuts through the illusion and guides us to see the truth clearly. We are called to embrace our authentic selves.
The full moon is opposite Mercury in this eclipse chart. Both Mercury and Pluto are in retrograde, guiding us through new ways of intuitively perceiving the events in our lives and teaching us about the deeper layers that surround our relationship to power. Pluto squaring the nodes reveals the ways in which we are disempowered so that we can create new pathways toward transformation.
This eclipse portal bridges the spiritual and material realms. By embodying our alchemy and integrating the mystery of the cosmos with practical matter, we receive clarity around what we wish to manifest and what is truly sacred. This eclipse’s alignment with Vesta reminds us to tend to that which is revered. Magical moments are possible, but this energy is also asking us to ground our desire into form.
Jupiter is in an out-of-sign conjunction with the North Node in Taurus, activating our expansion into the next stages of our destiny. Jupiter will enter the sign of Taurus on May 16th, bringing more focus and magnification of where we are invited to grow.
“It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are, without any self-deception or illusion, that a light will develop out of events, by which the path to success may be recognized.”
Debbie Ford
The Invitation
This eclipse offers an opportunity for a genuine connection with ourselves and new insight into our deeper motivations. What has been hidden is now exposed so that we can come to know ourselves fully and surrender the emotional density that has been weighing us down. The more that we can hold space for the depths of our full being, the greater the wisdom that will arise.
Life beckons us to achieve new heights of emotional strength and capacity. To get there, we are challenged to navigate our threshold of security and psychological self-awareness. What was once safe and secure has shifted. Our old ways of being resourced change during different seasons to teach us to become resourced from inner strength. We let what needs to die to fall away so we can embrace what feels fully alive. Through this transmutation, we uncover more of our soul gifts and our embodied sensation of what we are longing to live for.
“I am so grateful that surrender had taught me to willingly participate in life’s dance with a quiet mind and an open heart.”
Michael A. Singer
thank you Stacy, What you are saying resonates deeply with my at this time <3