All wealth comes from the earth. There is nothing we can call wealth that doesn’t originate here: in her materials; on her “property”; in the elements that are of her; in the way she processes death and turns it into (s)oil; in her growth and expression of vegetation; in the compounds that are synthesized from her beginnings; in the bodies she made and now sustains… yours and mine; in the bodies who labor – whether through function of mind or muscle; in our bodies which are made of earth.

Look around your environment right now. What do you see? You see earth in various shape-shiftings expressing materially what human minds have conceived. Even the glowing screen these words are coming through was made of compounds and synthetics that came from earth. Trace the family tree back from the engineer’s fabrication, to the chemist’s laboratory, to manufacturing plants, to the mines, to the bodies, to the earth. Do it for anything. Do it for everything. See the reality you are surrounded by. See past the momentary expression.

All wealth comes from the earth. When you say that health is wealth, love is wealth, family is wealth, knowledge is wealth. What is health if it’s not in balance with the earth; with her cycles, seasons and shiftings? And who feels love but one who has a heart, and what is a heart but material and fluid that pumps breath through your system and creates the conditions under which you can feel love? And what is family if not bodies and connection and land? And what is knowledge but a constant coming back to and remembering what we already knew, which is how to create, which is the thing she does naturally without the need to justify, prove or test?

Now we enter the season of Taurus, fixed earth, middle of spring. Aries brought the idea of what we could be and the instinct to initiate. Now Taurus will build, manifest and form the idea into matter. In the season of Taurus we are awash in sensations of fertility and possibility, of life giving birth to itself.

Taurus is the opposite of Scorpio, and this axis represents the basic mystery of life and death. One begets the other. Connection can’t exist without separation. Inhale always creates exhale. What we build cannot be permanent and when we try to hold on forever we remove ourselves from the pulse of life and become ill. The lesson of this paradox is pleasure. There is no permanence, so enjoy what is now. Feel it, love it, live it, so that someday you can let it go.

How we enjoy what we have, nurture and attend to it, treat it well and create from it is the mystery of our species. Whether or not you believe it was a gift from God, our opposable thumbs and constantly seeking minds have taken dominion over the earth. So look around again and see what humans have created. There is plenty that was created for beauty, for love, for art. There is plenty that was created for greed or gain, without consideration of aesthetics or future. Consider the intention behind creation – was this made in generosity or was this made from fear? Was this made to easily return to Earth as a thank you for her generosity, or was this made as a fuck you that will disintegrate into toxins and run-off? How do we create with all that we have been given?

Your horoscopes and affirmations this week are reflections on Taurus and its embodiment through material creations, pleasure, sustenance and wealth. This new moon is the perfect moment to reflect upon your own offering – to examine your ability to receive and how you feel agency to give. These questions are hugely potent and powerful always, but especially now. We know what happens when greed makes the choices. We know what happens when pleasure is short-sighted and surface stimulation. We know what happens when lies about wealth pervade our consciousness and we believe our worth to be synonymous with the currency we carry. This is a moment to consider alternatives, to shift our relationships to resource and to experiment with creating as if we knew ourselves to be one with creation.

To learn more about the astrology of this new moon, listen to my podcast here

To assist you in integrating this astrology and using it to your best benefit, please listen and practice with this guided meditation on healing our relationship to food.

If you’re hungry to learn more about how astrology uniquely affects you, what your current life era is about, or how to work in best alignment with the stars consider signing up for a personal reading. I regularly hear from clients and friends that astrology is better than therapy! We don’t need to get into the backstory or explain all the how’s and what’s… An astrology reading can get right to heart of the matter, reveal elements that have been obtuse or hiding, and affirm and strengthen your own intuition. Learn more about the kinds of readings I offer here.

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From May – September I'm thrilled to be the artist/entrepreneur in residence at Works Progress Agency. I'll be offering monthly workshops on using astrology for creative business strategies, finances, collaboration, planning and work/life balance. Additionally I'll be offering 3 weekly sessions at discounted rates specifically for those of you who want to work with me on your artistic business and/or self-employment projects. Come to the opening on May 5th with collage artist Janna Dorothy for a shared show featuring her beautiful collages and my magical mantras. Learn more about the upcoming workshop series. Inquire about setting up a special astrology session to focus on your creative business.

ARIES
Your question currently is how to make sense of collective experience as personal resource. Let’s define collective experience for now as mass emotional current. Looking at today’s news we can see that there are a few currents which are strong. Populism, white supremacy and xenophobia are one current. Humanism and systems-thinking are another current. Anxiety about the future and excitement over new innovations are two more.

Currents, like currency, gain strength through accumulation. Accumulation needs impetus, time, gravity and speed. There has to be a reason, the reason must be more than momentary in order to have any real weight, and it must move fast enough that other options become a hard choice to make, if not entirely impossible.

It’s important that you feel which currents are carrying you, and it’s important that you recognize your options for response. To struggle against, or swim with the current first requires that you notice you’ve been caught in it.

Waking up to your participation means waking up to yourself as a collaborator. How do you create from the materials most of us take for granted? How do you sculpt your perception of experiences we all share in such a way that new information can come through? How do you speak to individuals who identify themselves through belonging to a group?

What choices would you make if you didn’t have to worry about boundaries? How would you choose your actions if you felt all of their effects? If all wealth came from the earth what would you seek to own? Your new moon affirmation is, “I have access to everything. Everything is at my disposal.”

TAURUS
How does the full weight of you – your body, your personality, your essence and all that you bring with you – fit into the construction of your greater social sphere? Are you able to see the specific elements that you bring to your interactions, and are you able to recognize which parts of what you bring are especially, uniquely valuable?

It’s easy to get caught in comparisons. It’s easy to experience ourselves through what we imagine another’s desires to be. It’s easy to forget our own uniqueness when we’re around it everyday.

Part of what you’re doing right now is defining boundaries. In the spaces between yourself and others there might be a million expectations, assumptions and ideals. You might be concerned that you don’t have what it takes to satisfy, and you might feel unsatisfied with the ways you’ve been setup to perform for other’s satisfaction.

What is necessary for you to learn right now is your own worth. In learning this, it’s also necessary that you learn to contextualize yourself within the spectrum of responsibility and capacity. Your worth does not depend on how well you satisfy the needs of others, but rather, on how well you satisfy yourself amidst their needs. Letting go of attempts to win anyone’s favor or to stay “in” with a group means that you embrace your self-sufficiency and become less dependent on other’s opinions.

The more you follow your own instincts and pleasures the more you will notice that those around you are enlivened and supportive. The bottom line is to count yourself as #1 and trust that by taking care of your own needs first you allow everyone else the space they need to love themselves first also. Your new moon affirmation is, “I am my greatest asset.”

GEMINI
You probably can’t see the full picture of what you’re building just yet. You might know the feeling of what you want, but the specifics aren’t yet identifiable. Something however, is taking shape in the background. Something is forming from the stuff of your unconscious. Remnants of past dreams that never materialized are shifting to take the shape of something new. Fragments of the world around you are sifting through your imagination and settling into different patterns.

This is the moment of creation. This is the moment of alchemy and magic. This is the moment of conception. Whatever the desire was has been acted upon. The first moves have been made. Something has started and will continue to gain strength now.

What it is feels like a calling. Perhaps your career, perhaps a need deeper than career. Let’s call it your life’s work and allow for the job title to be insignificant. The places you’re going to be working in are big – too big for you for you to wrap your mind around right now. These places are some kind of meeting grounds for human experience, collective resource and shared healing (which means shared pain.) Here are some things you probably know already, but might benefit from being reminded of right now:

• How you treat other humans on a one-to-one basis sets the tone for how you’re treated on a larger level.

• If someone treats you without consideration you should treat it as a learning moment, because in the future you will be able to choose whether or not to act like that.

• Group identities become a mass body. A mass body has all the same needs as an individual, just on a larger scale.

• In all iterations of this as a metaphor, but also literally, everyone consumes, metabolizes and creates compost. Everyone is healthier when we understand how to deal with the shit we produce.

Your new moon affirmation is, “I see light in darkness. I see form in chaos. I see creativity in unknown.”

CANCER
Putting boundaries around love may be instinctual, but is not definitely not an easy thing to do consciously. The catch in this is that the instinctual boundaries are usually the ones we’d be better off letting go of, and the ones we make consciously are usually the ones we need.

The instinctual boundaries we put around love most often have to do with deep wounds. Regardless of how they were inflicted, the result is some kind of disbelief in our own worthiness or lovability. The instinctual boundaries are defenses and protections wound tightly around the knot of self-hatred.

Conscious boundaries around love however, require a deep and steady self-love. They require the knowing that loving another is never about destroying yourself; that loving another is never about flat-out denial of your own needs, passions or personality; that loving another, no matter how scarce that love may seem, is never worth abuse in any form.

It seems that you’re currently doing some separating and clarifying in your belief systems. The pain you’ve been trying to metabolize (maybe for your whole life?) is now able to be seen as something that is beyond your personal responsibility to heal. Thank Goddess, because what this means is that your actual capacity to love is about to get freed up in a major way. It might seem counterintuitive to be disciplined in love, especially for one as empathic as you, but that is exactly what is needed right now.

You have some big dreams ahead of you, and a future that very much wants solidity, comfort and true satisfaction. One significant piece that is required to get to where you’re going is claiming your agency in love. Remember that just because you choose to not give your life energy or attention to others’ distress doesn’t mean you can’t love them. Your new moon affirmation is, “I am empowered in love. I lead with love.”

LEO
This horoscope is going to be a pep talk. I want you to know that you’re doing a good job. Maybe things have felt a little slow, or creatively blocked, or challenging lately… but actually that’s a good thing. It means you’ve been working some problems out. You’ve been addressing some deep, underlying issues that need to be addressed, and nothing is going to move forwards until they are.

Insecurity is a thing. It comes up with people – with lovers, friends, colleagues and especially anyone you think might have more power than you. It comes up around your ability, your creativity, your goodness, your attractiveness and your intelligence (really just about everywhere.) Sometimes you’re just going to have to let insecurity be a thing without trying to figure it out. This means that you can have it but still keep doing the work. You can know that it’s there but decide not to act from its influence.

There’s a new kind of creative, abundant energy that is entering your work in the world. Whatever that work may be, you’re in it for the long haul, you’re rooted and ready to grow. In order to let this thing be what it wants to, you’re going to have to admit to just a smidge more self-confidence. This doesn’t mean there won’t be insecurity, but it does mean that you practice not letting insecurity separate you from anyone, or anything else.

When you really let yourself see your own goodness, you’ll be ready to see it in everything around you. Tuning into this basic goodness and knowing yourself as that, is what is going to give you the confidence you need to perform excellently. At a certain point there is no other option. Your new moon affirmation is, “My mind rises above comparison and insecurity, and my heart expands infinitely.”

VIRGO
Notice what you put faith into. Notice what faith feels like. Notice the difference between blind faith and cumulative faith.

There is only so much you can do for someone’s affection, attention, need. There is only so much you can give, so much you can understand, so much you can hold. There is only so much before you need to be compensated for your efforts, appreciated and given back to. To push past that point becomes a burden on everyone and creates a toxic culture of resentment.

The last few years have been a steady process of unwinding your instincts when it comes to home, family, security and commitment. You’ve been doing important work separating blind faith from trust in proven outcomes. You know by now that just because the desire is there doesn’t mean the action is. And you also know by now that what action looks like can be different than what you might have hoped for or expected, but that doesn’t make it any less trustworthy.

What is called for now is an examination of your beliefs, your faith, your idealism. You do not want to move forward on blind faith alone. You need to know that what you trust is trustworthy. You need to know that the decisions you’re making now can both free you from restrictive obligation and embolden you to commit even more fully to your creativity, passion and joy.

One way to think about this is total refusal to be intimidated and scared. When you accept the inevitables like eventual death, aloneness and emptiness then you get to completely embrace the optionals like fully living, connection and abundance. Your new moon affirmation is, “My beliefs and expectations shape my present and future experiences of love, life and home.”

LIBRA
This year is about learning generosity with yourself. It’s about letting your brain change and thoughts shift from a constant need to attend to others, to acceptance that they can attend to you. A big part of this is learning to value how much you give; of really, honestly letting yourself see it, and claiming some pride in it. As you do this a funny alchemical shift is occurring. You’ll start to notice that those who you used to feel the need to only give to, now start to give to you. You’ll start to notice that by receiving what they have to give, you are extending more generosity than if you were not.

Everyone wants to feel their own value and usefulness. Most people enjoy the sensation of true generosity. For you, learning how to accept compliments, support and love might feel anathema to your own humility… but only until you recognize that accepting all this is an act of generosity on your part, and that it gives those around you the opportunity to feel they have something to offer.

If I could encourage anything for you right now it would be to consider selfishness. I would tell you that focusing on your own wellness, goodness and loveliness is like dropping an anchor into turbulent waters. Let the chaos swirl around you and know that you don’t have to take care of it. Removing yourself from those obligations is not only what you need for your health (physical, mental and emotional) but it actually allows those around you to become healthier and steadier too. Your new moon affirmation is, “Thank you.”

SCORPIO
There’s a moment in any creative project when it becomes real. It’s the moment of transition and settling of all the possibilities into a decision. In that moment there is often a strange kind of grief and the letting go of something that never got to live and express. There is also usually a quiet kind of contentment, a certainty that pervades with the magic of vision, intention and commitment.

Relationships are sometimes like this too. It might be the letting go of one for the next, or the letting go of many for the one. But there can also be a sadness in knowing that intimacy is fostered over time and consistency, and there simply will never be enough of either to give to very many. And when there is the decision I hope it’s because you feel a quiet kind of contentment, a certainty that pervades with the magic of recognition and mutual reception.

In both your creative life and your relationships there seems to be something akin to the sensations I’ve described above. Both areas of life are poised for change, are ready for it, are embracing it… Yet, there’s also a hesitancy and unknown of what will become. What’s coming isn’t quite ready to be seen, yet the feeling of it is huge and you can sense your equilibrium shifting, expanding and becoming less reactive and more accommodating.

May you tend the garden of your life with love. May you enjoy your life force and vitality and feel that it moves through you with playful purity towards all that you create. May your loves and partners bring a quiet settling to your heart and a softening over any ragged edges of your insecurity. May you trust that the growth now is good. May you continue to navigate your choices by the compass of your true values. May you easily awaken to habits that have kept you asleep and oppressed. May you know yourself as worthy of all the love you are given. Your new moon affirmation is, “I listen to my heart. I trust my heart”

SAGITTARIUS
Friend, this new moon’s horoscope will be fully written as an affirmation. You’ve been working hard, so take it in:

I trust in the strength of my own commitment. I see the power of my intention to change – from less-than-helpful habits to more helpful habits. I celebrate my dedication. I acknowledge my efforts and see their effect. I am motivated to continue.

I sense the presence of my own strength wherever it is easy to sense it, and I am proud of it. I experience the health of my body in whatever ways it is healthy, and I celebrate it. I recognize the acuity of my mind where it is clear and perceptive, and I identify with it. I feel my capacity to love, to heal, to forgive and to let go, and I appreciate my emotional balance.

In the places where I am less than certain and where doubt, insecurity and dis-ease are stronger I let the light reach, and teach, the shadow. I do not try to force or fix what I perceive to be broken or wrong, I simply choose to focus on what feels right and good, and I call my whole being to participate and be integrated.

The choices I make now are for the future: mine, yours, ours. The choices I make now are the growth of my relationships towards the light of shared intention. The choices I make now extend from my person into those around me, into our shared communities, into our young ones, into the world we shape together. The choices I make now are to shape my perception towards what I want to continue to create.

Your new moon affirmation is, “I make wise and loving choices.”

CAPRICORN
The hard work might just be starting to pay off. The struggle might be starting to subside. At least for this moment the chaos could be tempered, or feel more like excitement than fear. There’s light in the tunnel now, not just the promise of it, and it seems that there’s more certainty at least in your ability to move forward rather than back.

There’s been a recent resolution or separation that you have made internally, away from a certain kind of pain and towards a certain kind of acceptance and healing. This transition should be marked and acknowledged because you will want to remember its sensation in the future when you need it again.

There will still be changes. There’s still shifting in the ground beneath your feet. But it seems that now at least you can sense your balance in a different way, and perhaps are even aware that you can be the agent of change rather than its victim.

Take notice of your creative capacity. Put some effort into your artistic side. Have fun with your playmates and playthings and be a little less concerned with the outcome for a minute. In order to complete this transformation and journey you need a few tools in your toolbelt that you might have forgotten about. These are children’s tools of imagination, enthusiasm and total lack of self-consciousness over what one creates. The pleasure is in the doing, the experiencing is the pleasure. Let yourself have it now without projecting where it will go. Your new moon affirmation is, “I am a creative person and it excites me. I make art in my life and it sustains me.”

AQUARIUS
Sometimes the gift of travel is remembering an appreciation for home. Sometimes the gift of difference is the ability to acknowledge what was invisible before in its familiarity. Sometimes the gift of big ideas is in recognizing how they’re made of small ideas and acts. Sometimes the gift of faith is seeing it manifest in the spaces around you.

Let your values shift as you grow. Let go of what no longer needs to be held so tightly, even if (especially if) it feels foundational to your identity. Appreciate the moment in between taking a step and landing. Appreciate the jumping off from what was known into the future of what could be. Don’t hold yourself hostage to the healing of the past, remember that injury can be created by stagnancy as well as force. Life is always moving.

Invest in the place you find yourself now. Feel the ways that you know you’re at home even in unfamiliarity. Sense the difference between home as an anchor and home as a construct. Choose to construct your own anchor. Choose to anchor in the biggest, broadest most generous love that you can imagine.

Enjoy the perspective shifts between near and fear, small and grand. Enjoy them but don’t get attached to either – let one inform the other. Keep moving back and forth, forward and back between what is known and what is unknown. Watch as what was known expands to include what was unknown, and watch how the unknown becomes a trusted friend. Your new moon affirmation is, “I am at home here.”

PISCES
This is a new moon for recognizing the power of your mind. This is a new moon for acknowledging the gift of logic and rationality, and appreciating how practical it is to take your sensitivity in stride. This is a new moon for noticing what you notice and deciding whether or not it’s worth your while to notice all that you do. This is a new moon for appreciating boundaries that you can create with simple attention to the places where you are most permeable.

How you move forward into your future has everything to do with how you communicate about it. Can you articulate your expectations to those around you? Can you verbalize your desires without getting lost in someone else’s experience? How you move forward into the future has everything to do with whether or not you are cognizant of yourself as actor and agent of your own decisions.

Let your meditation for these next few weeks be simple. Whenever you feel yourself getting lost in sensation (this means physical, mental, emotional or psychic overload) take a moment to just pause and orient yourself in your environment. See colors and name them, smell smells, taste tastes. Be beyond preference, be simply in the noticing and locating yourself through senses and materials. Look at your body and name its parts. Touch your skin and feel your touch.

There is a lesson you’re learning right now about intimacy, which means all the interpermeating, liminal space between bodies, minds and feelings. In this moment it’s crucial that you understand the steadiness of your own self. In this moment it’s imperative that you know your own ground. Your new moon affirmation is, “My mind is steady and at ease.”