Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio 🦂 May 5, 2023

“The Queen of the Night” by Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Friday, May 5 @ 11:22 am CDT

Happy full moon, happy lunar eclipse, and happy Lunar Beltane! The May full moon is called the Flower Moon. It is sometimes also called the Hare Moon, Corn Planting Moon, or Milk Moon. The moon will rise at sunset, peak at midnight and set at sunrise all over the world.

Eclipses can be full or partial. The earth’s shadow consists of two parts: the shadow cast directly behind the earth is called the umbra, and the fainter, fan-like shadow surrounding the umbra is the penumbra. This full moon is a partial (or penumbral) eclipse. More from TimeandDate.com: “During this penumbral eclipse, the Moon passes deep into the outer part of Earth’s shadow (known as the penumbra). The umbral magnitude of this eclipse is -0.046, which means the Moon just misses the darker, inner part of Earth’s shadow (which is called the umbra). By this measure, this is the deepest penumbral eclipse until September 2042.”

This eclipse will be highly visible in all continents except North & South America.

*** Mercury will be retrograde at this time ***

Sun and moon oppose one another in solid Taurus and enigmatic Scorpio: the axis of all that can be seen, versus all that cannot. Together these constellations rule, among other things: finance, inheritance, property, taxes, and material possessions. Taurus and Scorpio narrate tangibles and intangibles, form and dissolution of form, conscious thought and subconscious desire, straight paths and winding staircases.

The scorpion journey is inescapable and irreversible. The Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio takes us beyond fear, like a tidal wave ripping us out by the roots, carrying us, screaming and naked and bewildered, over a waterfall of change and joy and more change.

Taurus is simpler. She is home, security, beauty, harmony, nourishment, bright fruits, gentle flowers in the sun, wood and leaf and twig. She nurtures our bodies and gardens. Taurus is here to work, beautify, eat, make love, relax, and curl up in her mountain of blankets and cats.

The Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio takes us down to the lower chakras, like a submarine from the sea of mystery. Scorpio slinks through total darkness, through tombs and invisible oceans. She inquires, probes, grips. She is a winged creature, clawing her way out of a chrysalis that has become much too small.

When astrologers talk about Scorpio, power and control are common buzzwords. It’s true, Scorpio is very much tied to these dynamics. The essence of Scorpio, however, is really about self-control; it is ourselves whom we must learn to trust. So trust yourself, shadow and all. Forgive yourself. Take deep breaths.

At this full moon a few years ago, I attended a workshop in Iceland with the Dutch “Ice Man,” Wim Hof. In a giant conference room in a convention center on the Reykjavík seashore, 450 attendees breathed together, ascending to a state of joy and lightness.

This was a preparation for the ice bath. We began chanting HU! HA! HU! HA! HU! HA! Our voices filled the vaulted room and turned to raucous laughter, then tears of joy. Together we moved outside, chanting and yelling and cheering, and together we sat in the ice baths, making soul-piercing eye contact. I spontaneously started singing and chanting deep notes and one by one the others joined me.

What I learned on this unforgettable day is the power of inner fire. This is the nature of the scorpion: at once cold as ice and hot as Mars; pure blood and adrenaline, pure fire-ice.

It feels like…rain clouds and sizzling sun, black smoke and dancing fire, merging and emerging, spark and glow, conflict and fervor, change and adaptation.

It feels like…deep dark hot water bubbling up from the center of the earth, holding and soothing the body, nourishing from the inside out, fear and pain draining away, energy and power flowing in.

This is going to be an intense one with the moon opposing not just the sun, but Uranus in Taurus as well. Expect the unexpected, have a back-up plan for your back-up plan. Please rest. In meditation, focus on the solar plexus chakra. Weave your web with Scorpio Yoga. To find your personal moon sign, click here.

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