TRANSCRIPT Ep. 344 | Taurus New Moon: Embracing the Physical World!

TRANSCRIPT Ep. 344 | Taurus new Moon: Embracing the Physical World (5.11.26)

Hello Invisible Friend, April here, and the date today is May 11, 2026. Welcome to Episode 344 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.

This week, Mercury in Taurus slows down, sextiles Jupiter, and decides that maybe we don’t have to take every opportunity. The latest Sun-Mercury cazimi prompts a look at a Sabian symbol technique. The Taurus New Moon is a time to enjoy being in our bodies. And communication and travel get a bit of a jangled boost as Mercury enters its home sign of Gemini and almost immediately merges with Uranus. Plus, I answer a listener question about how to get started in learning astrology.

Mercury sextile Jupiter (May 12, 2026, 9:44 pm PDT)

Mercury sextiles Jupiter on Tuesday, May 12, at 9:44 p.m. Pacific Time. That’s at 20 degrees 45 minutes Taurus and Cancer.

Mercury sextile Jupiter tends to bring an embarrassment of opportunities. But it’s also a reminder that we don’t have to take every single opportunity that comes our way. And that’s especially true with Mercury in Taurus, where it would rather move more deliberately than make our schedules even more hectic.

And as Mercury aspects Jupiter in Cancer, many of these possibilities and opportunities have to do with big moves in your home life and with your family. You may have an urge to plan a big home remodel, meet with an architect, make decisions about the floor plan. Family members could be moving. You might be thinking about your summer vacation plans. It can be hard to say no to new opportunities if you feel that they’re going to benefit the people that you care about most.

The best you can do this week under this aspect is to entertain possibilities, but maybe hold off on making commitments that will be hard to get out of if you decide later that it’s all just a little too much.

Mercury conjunction with the Sun (May 14, 2026, 7:24 am PDT)

Mercury conjoins the Sun on Thursday, May 14th at 7:24 a.m. Pacific Time at 23 degrees 48 minutes Taurus. The conjunction between these two is exact at 7:24 a.m., but Mercury is within 17 minutes of orb of the Sun, a condition we call cazimi, between 1:48 a.m. and 1 p.m. Pacific Time. This is a good time for brainstorming new ideas, for reviewing projects or proposals for anything that you might previously have overlooked, because the combination of Mercury and the Sun is very sharp and very observant.

When Mercury is outside these specific bounds, though, of the 17 degrees of orb of the Sun, when it’s within 8 degrees of the Sun, it’s in a condition called combust, and it’s considered weakened and kind of burned by the Sun.

This conjunction takes place on Sabian symbol 24 Taurus, A mounted Indian with scalp locks. It is an extremely aggressive and fiery image, and always one that’s made me a little uneasy, and maybe that’s the quality of this Sun-Mercury cazimi.

But I covered this symbol in a recent webinar about the Sabian symbols, and I was reminded of Lynda Hill’s practice of considering the opposite symbol and the two that square it, and in this case, it’s very instructive. The symbol opposite this one is 24 Scorpio, Crowds coming down a mountain to listen to one man, and it paints the picture of a striking, charismatic figure. The first symbol that squares this one is 24 Leo, An untidy, unkempt man, maybe someone who’s so consumed by his thoughts or by a task that everything else gets lost by the wayside.

And the other square, 24 Aquarius, is A man turning his back on his passions and teaching from his experience. That’s almost the opposite of the picture we get from 24 Taurus, which is passion personified. The pure cazimi energy here, the true potential, is possibly the opportunity to channel or combine all four of these figures: The man of passion, the charismatic man, the unkempt man, and the rational teacher. If you want to know a little bit more about cazimi planets, check out episode 259, where I answer a listener question about this topic.

Taurus New Moon (May 16, 2026, 1:01 pm PDT)

And now it’s time for the Moon Report, and we begin as always with the week’s major lunation. This week, that is the Taurus New Moon on Saturday, May 16th at 1:01 PM Pacific Time. It’s at 25 degrees 57 minutes Taurus.

This New Moon is in the sign of its exaltation, and Taurus tells us, above all, to be in our bodies and enjoy life’s simple pleasures. If you take nothing else away from what I say about this New Moon, that is it: Love being in the world, being in a body. I always think that there are things maybe we couldn’t learn any other way, so we decided to incarnate.

Even the Sabian symbol for this New Moon is 26 Taurus, A Spaniard serenading his señorita. Love, romance, singing, what could be more appropriate for a Taurus New Moon?

The chart for this New Moon is not terribly dramatic, as some that we’ve had recently. The Sun and Moon are in a lovely sextile with Jupiter in Cancer, and this promises familial affection and coziness at home. Venus in Gemini is approaching a sextile with Mars in Aries, bringing the element of romance that we see with the Spaniard serenading his sweetie. There is tension building in the background over the next couple of weeks, especially after Mars enters Taurus on May 18th and then begins approaching a square to Pluto, which is exact on May 25th. That’s always a pretty combustible combination.

But during this New Moon cycle, celebrate enjoyment, with good food and drink, loved ones, music and dance, and the beauty of the outdoors.

Lunar Phase Family Cycle

This is the New Moon in a lunar phase family cycle that will unfold over the coming three years, with major lunations near this degree every nine months. Whatever your intentions at this New Moon, and they’ll be of the nature of Taurus, it will be how can you make yourself more secure, make your life more stable, attract the kind of prosperity that you desire? This will be the focus of what unfolds over this lunar phase family cycle.

There’s a First Quarter Moon on February 13th, 2027, very near this New Moon degree, at 25 degrees, 23 minutes Taurus. That’s a moment to take action on some of the things that you were envisioning for yourself at this New Moon. Nine months after that, there’s a Full Moon on November 13th, 2027, at 21 degrees, 31 minutes Taurus, when you should be able to get a clearer view of the things that you were intending at this New Moon. How are they suited to you and to your life? And how might they possibly need to be tweaked a little bit? And then at the Last Quarter Moon, nine months later, on August 13th, 2028, at 21 degrees, 14 minutes Taurus, it’s time for final action toward these goals.

And whereas the First Quarter Moon is an action point that is a little bit more naïve, where we’re not necessarily really clear of what we planted at the New Moon, at the Last Quarter Moon, we are acting from a place of knowledge, where we have been watching this cycle unfold for a couple of years, and deciding what it is that we need to do to complete this cycle, to realize the goals that we set out for ourselves. And then for the following nine months, we are working through that Last Quarter Moon cycle.

Void-of-Course Moon periods

Let’s look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week.

On Tuesday, May 12th, the Moon in Pisces squares Venus in Gemini at 3:04 AM Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for 14 hours and zero minutes, and enters Aries at 5:04 PM. Communication with others could be a little difficult during this Void-of-Course Moon period. Finding just the right words to express your feelings, that can be really hard to come by during a square like this one. Consider using art or music as a way to express your feelings, especially if you need to talk to someone about a difficult topic. Use this Void-of-Course Moon period to develop the habit of approaching uncomfortable topics a little obliquely rather than head-on, maybe through poetry or song, art or fiction. And also, to use humor to diffuse difficult feelings.

On Thursday, May 14th, the Moon in Aries makes a conjunction with Mars at 2:33 PM Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for 4 hours 58 minutes, then enters Taurus at 7:31 PM. With both the Moon and Mars in Aries, the tendency will be to act impulsively with little to no thought about how our actions might affect other people. And of course, this can lead to hurt feelings, which could lead to anger and aggression. So, this is an important Void-of-Course period to practice finding a way to use the strength of this combination productively without giving in to things like road rage or arguments about unimportant things. If you do find yourself in a heated situation, practice counting to 10 and saving those feelings for a later time when you’ve cooled off.

And on Saturday, May 16th, the Moon in Taurus makes a conjunction with Mercury at 6:02 PM Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for 1 hour and 21 minutes and then enters Gemini at 7:23 PM Pacific Time. This conjunction is happening with the Sun and Uranus close by, so communication could be a little bit erratic, a little bit self-centered, maybe. Miscommunication and technology mishaps could happen.

Rather than tempting the gods by say going out to dinner, where all kinds of feathers could get ruffled and things can go wrong, maybe use this Void-of-Course Moon period to tap into the calm, methodical spirit of Taurus. Maybe just prepare a quiet dinner at home with your nearest and dearest and avoid the drama of the outside world.

Void-of-Course Moon Webinar

And by the way, I will be offering a webinar all about the Void-of-Course Moon on Saturday, May 23rd, beginning at 10 AM Pacific Time. For more information about that, just go to my website, BigSkyAstrology.com and click on Learn in the Main Menu.

Mercury enters Gemini (May 17, 2026, 3:26 am PDT)

Mercury enters Gemini on Sunday, May 17th at 3:26 AM Pacific Time. Mercury will be in Gemini until June 1st, so it’s a pretty quick transit.

Mercury is at its strongest in Gemini. The mind doesn’t stay very long on a single subject or a single focus of attention. There’s so much to see and experience in the world, and Mercury in Gemini wants to take it all in. Ironically, the Sabian symbol for the first degree of Gemini is, A glass bottom boat in still water. We begin this brief transit in a state of stillness, floating on the water, looking beneath the surface at the great undersea world.

This is Mercury emerging from the quiet of Taurus, still in a state of relative calm and quiet. But enjoy this Sunday up until about tea time, because that is when Mercury will make a conjunction with Uranus.

Mercury conjunct Uranus (May 17, 2026, 5:10 pm PDT)

Mercury conjoins Uranus on Sunday, May 17th at 5:10 PM Pacific time, at 1 degree 14 minutes Gemini. And at this point, the stillness of Mercury in its first degree really shifts. Those still waters are suddenly filled with waves. You begin to notice everything around you.

It could be difficult to get people to listen to you because everything has suddenly changed and everyone is feeling it, so it’s hard to concentrate and focus. Uranus can make it hard to speak out, too, for fear that the people around you might find you a little bit different or odd or just see things very differently than you do.

But if you do speak out or decide to write something or create something in communication, your words could have a really important impact. What makes you different suddenly makes you fascinating. So, embrace your quirkiness and your weird brilliance.

The Sabian symbol for this conjunction is 2 Gemini, Santa Claus filling stockings furtively. Some feel that it speaks of unexpected gifts coming as though through magical sources, and also about having faith in unexpected abundance. It brings to mind the gifts and joy of Christmas morning. Put that imagery into the words that you express today and the writings that you create.

Listener Question: Learning Astrology

This week’s listener question comes from listener Hannah who writes, “Hi April, I’m new to learning astrology and I find it so fascinating, but also overwhelming. There is so much to learn and I feel like I will never know it all! How did you learn and get to the point where you know so much about it? And how do you recommend that a new student get a good education in astrology?”

Well, Hannah, you’re very kind, thank you. And I absolutely empathize with your question. There is so much to learn about astrology and I can pretty much guarantee that you will never know it all.

And that puts you in the same boat with every single other astrologer. But that’s also what makes astrology so compelling. It’s exciting to study something that can keep you learning as long as you keep studying.

I’ve spoken with a lot of astrologers, clients, and students over the years, and I found that my own story to learning astrology is not that unusual. I became an astrology fan when I was 12 years old, which, that age, is maybe a little unusual, but not completely unprecedented. And I ran across a copy of Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs when I was visiting my stepbrother. There was no internet, of course, in 1973, so I just started reading every book I could get my hands on. And that wasn’t very many.

I did teach myself to calculate charts by hand and I kept notebooks filled with the birthdays and planetary placements of my friends and classmates, and family members. But I didn’t actually meet an astrologer until I was 28 years old and met the woman who became my first astrology teacher. And that’s when I got the opportunity to sit in her classes every week and learn from her and my fellow students. I became a professional in 1990, and I left my job to be a full-time astrologer in 1991.

And that is where you find me all these years later. And even so, all of the stuff that I don’t know about astrology is a lot, even after studying for 53 years! And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, how should you get a good astrological education? Well, in many ways, you’re way ahead of where I started. Look at all the free resources, the podcasts, YouTube channels, websites, and even paid opportunities like online courses or books that are available to you. Anything you could hope to learn about astrology is literally at your fingertips.

But I do understand that this is also a double-edged sword. Because how do you know who to listen to? How do you know whom you can trust to teach you about all the basics, the houses and planets and signs, and then guide you through the more advanced stuff? What house system should you use? How can you find your way through mastering aspects and things like that? It’s a lot. Because probably what would be ideal is someone to curate all the knowledge that’s available and feed it to you a piece at a time in a way that makes sense to you.

What I tell my clients and others who are interested in learning astrology is this: Try to find a teacher you can go and learn with in person. Mind you, this is my bias, of course, because it’s what I did. But this is valuable because you’re forced to sit in a chair every week, or however often, and pay attention to the teachings and to the charts.

I’m all for learning online. Heck, I teach online. But I know that people’s learning is so much better when they show up live in the class rather than trying to just watch the replay later.

So, you find your teacher, and you learn with them. You use their house system at first, because why wouldn’t you? And don’t jump around from one house system to another. Choose one and live with it at least until you know enough about house systems to decide for yourself which one you want to use.

And that’s only one example. Learn your teacher’s planetary orbs. Learn their approach to reading a chart, where to start, what’s important. If you’re brave, let them teach you to calculate a chart by hand. I was a dyed-in-the-wool math-phobe, teaching myself, and I learned to calculate charts by hand. I got to the point where I could do it in about 15 minutes. Anyone can do this, and very few people seem to anymore.

Be patient with yourself. Be patient with the process. And most of all, have fun. Oh gosh, I would love to go back in time when everything about astrology was completely new to me and fascinating, and I just couldn’t get enough of it!

Hannah, thank you so much for that question. I didn’t see it on the list of questions I’ve answered before, and yet I keep feeling it’s a very familiar story that I’m telling. But again, it’s probably because I’ve given a version of this story to every potential astrology student I’ve ever spoken to. And now I’ve given it to you. My very best wishes as you continue your journey through astrology!

If you have a burning question about astrology that you would like me to answer on a future episode of the podcast, please leave a voicemail of one minute or less at speakpipe.com / bigskyastrologypodcast. Or send an email to me at april (at) bigskyastrology.com and be sure to put “Podcast Question” in the subject line.

Donor Thanks

Well, that is everything on my show sheet, so I’m going to wrap this one up.

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That’s it for this episode. Join me again bright and early next Monday, and until then, keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars!