The astrologically auspicious Full Moon in Taurus occurs this year at 12:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time on Monday October 26th, synchronous with the intense Scorpio Solar Festival, as we prepare for the autumnal spiritual festivals that celebrate the thinning of the veil between the worlds.
Hades Abducting Persephone, wall painting in the royal tomb at Vergina. Macedonia, Greece, Le Musée absolu, Phaidon, 10-2012, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
For astrologers, the Moon is exalted in Taurus, which means that at this time positive Lunar qualities manifest in their highest and most beneficial forms, and any deleterious effects from negative Lunar qualities tend to be minimized.
Taurus Full Moons are generally known to create a rosy glow featuring magic and romance, good fellowship and even material success. Veils thin between worlds and we enjoy easier access to transpersonal realms of consciousness.
But in this month's Full Moon Chart, Pluto is the focal point of an intensely energetic, conflicted outer planet T-Square in Fixed Signs that promises to plunge us all into the unmapped, uncontained realms of the collective subconscious.
The collective subconscious is famously a transpersonal realm, in which group thought forms, ancestral patterns of behavior, long repressed animal instincts, oversize fears and karmic complexes threaten to overpower our egoistic personalities .
Our task is to rely upon our intuitive guidance and finely tuned sense of discernment to navigate this lunar cycle's tumultuous psychological and social landscape with ease and grace.
We have the power to channel this eruption of Plutonic energies, as advanced yogis channel the rising Kundalini energy, for meditation and healing.
Kundalini Rising, Tantric Painting from RajasthanUnknown 18th century Indian painter, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In the astrological chart for this Full Moon in Taurus and Scorpio Solar Festival, Pluto sits at 3º 05' Aquarius in a tense, tight T-square with both Sun and Moon.
The Sabian Symbol for that degree of Pluto is "A Hindu Yogi Demonstrates His Healing Powers".
The disciplined use of spiritual energies helps restore the natural harmony of body, mind, biofield and collective consciousness disturbed by man's disruptive attempts to transcend nature through mind control.
The meaning of this symbolism has tremendous power to guide us during what could be seen as a Dark Night of the Planetary Soul during the next lunar cycle, and beyond.
I wrote that blogpost in 2004, but it is even more relevant today.
I wrote: "At this time, the human population is reaching the end of a long period of evolutionary history which highlighted the advances of the individuated consciousness, the rational mind, and the scientific model of reality as applied to the material world, considered as separate from the observer and separate from the world of energy, ie spiritual worlds."
"Thus we find ourselves trapped in a materialistic culture that worships material success and power over nature.
"The technologies conceived by rational materialist thought confer users with power over nature and over other sentient beings, and the negative karma created by the culture manifests as extremely self-destructive behavior.
"The social structure of this society is a reflection of this moment in evolutionary consciousness, highly structured, hierarchical, and driven by mental considerations of perceived self-interest on the part of small elites who govern on the principles of fear, greed and obfuscation.
"However, the next evolutionary step for human beings is to re-establish conscious ancient connections with the web of life, with the extended consciousness of the human over-soul, and with the multitude of spiritual beings in higher worlds, to offer in self-sacrifice our highly developed individuated consciousness to the Higher Self, and to establish the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth.
"This is the task of the next Cosmic Day, the Age of Aquarius, as we progress from the depths of the Kali Yuga, and the Piscean crucifixion on the cross of matter into the Dawn of the Aquarian moment of stellar synchronicities, which are the material manifestation of spiritual energies accessible to the human mind, and of the dawning of scientific spirituality."
During this long Dark Night of the Planetary Soul it is our task to become like St. Pantaleimon the Healer, pictured above, to become like the energetically powerful Hindu Yogi presiding over this month's Scorpio Solar Festival.
We too can connect with Divine Source, and learn to effectively channel Universal Life Force Energy for spiritual awakening, healing, and restoration of the wounded set of ecosystems we call Mother Earth.
The stellar influences during this Scorpionic time of year support our efforts to fulfill that Higher Purpose.
At the time of the Scorpio Solar Festival this Full Moon, Sun and Pluto are the two main focal points of this month's extremely kinetic, action packed Full Moon chart.
The Sun in Scorpio conjoins Venus retrograde in the last degree of Libra, creating an energy signature supportive of artistic and creative activities, soulful meditation, prayerful communing with nature, and the performance of ritual activities designed to heal and renew our bodies, hearts and minds.
The Sun in Scorpio is inconjunct both Uranus and Neptune, meaning that both outer planets form 150º angles with the Sun, creating a Yod formation, also known as the Finger of God.
Uranus and Neptune form harmonious aspects to one another, lending this stellar configuration a flowing, harmonious, if somewhat challenging nature.
With Scorpio Sun forming a 150º angle to Uranus, we would all do well to practice impulse control, because this astrological aspect indicates strong stellar energies that may incite reckless behavior in those who are determined to force their will upon others.
This aspect can indicate eccentric, rebellious behavior, but this same energy signature provides excellent support for those who are working to manifest visionary and creative projects of all kinds.
Street Artist, Photo by Yasin Onus on UnsplashSun in Scorpio inconjunct Neptune in Aries combines the energy of two Mars ruled planets to further fuel our visionary and creative projects, while creating an element of potential Neptunian self-sacrifice.
Beware of powerful forces willing to sacrifice you and yours to fulfill their self-serving goals!
Beware Neptunian deception because this Scorpio season we will be witness to an unprecedented outpouring of oh-so-Neptune-in-Aries gaslighting, scapegoating, infighting, and victim blaming.
This Full Moon we are called upon to balance our work on the path of Spirit with the demands of daily life.
Because this is an extraordinarily turbulent moon cycle in this turbulent year of the Fire Horse, achieving inner balance requires constant dynamic adjustment to unexpected, dramatic changes in the social landscape and in the collective consciousness.
A quantum angel rides a flaming horse across the globe.
Rulers rise and fall.
Populations rise and rebel.
Peoples at war escalate conflicts, only to plumb new depths of destruction and self-destruction.
Sensitive and creative souls are crowned by the Fiery Spirit abroad in the world Soul.
Saint Sophia the Almighty Wisdom, oil painting by Nicholas Roerich, Public Domain
This Full Moon in Taurus Yod features a Sun/Venus focal point.
Overall, the Yod signals work to be done on the Sun and Venus.
The Sun in Scorpio, representing self-transformation, is conjunct retrograde Venus in Libra.
In this case, there is work to be done so we can fully express the power of Sun in Scorpio and retrograde Venus in Libra.
Retrograde Venus in Libra represents the surfacing of past imbalances in relationships, and seeks to express a new balance that will honor all parties and heal old wounds.
So any Scorpionic work done to heal karmic wounds is well aspected during this Scorpionic season of 2026.
This could include energy healing, past life therapy, psychodramas, shamanic rituals, soul releasement work, and more!
Constellation of Scorpius, Hevelius Star Map, Johannes Hevelius, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In addition, every person on the planet needs extra protection right now.
There is a danger that the current international wars could expand into previously protected zones.
There is a danger that civil unrest could spark protests and violence throughout the globe, as we have seen across Europe and India the last few weeks.
We all need to be careful not to place ourselves in dangerous situations, when possible.
We all need extra psychic protection -- extra energetic protection from ambient Plutonic negative thoughts and emotions.
The best protection is a strong auric field.
Whatever your path of Spirit, if you have best practices for protection, use them, perform them frequently during this Scorpionic month of the year.
We recommend using the protection techniques in our blogpost entitled The Purifying Violet Flame of Alchemical Transformation.
When invoked with reverence, the Violet Ray descends from the Highest Source of Universal Life Force Energy into the crown of the head, and from there travels down the spine into the heart, where it bursts into a spiritual flame, cleansing and purifying the physical body, the etheric body, the emotional body, and the astral body – the entire human bio-field.
In addition the Violet Flame stimulates the human biofield, and its high frequency energetic excitations create certain qualities of Unity Consciousness – mercy, truth, justice, freedom and forgiveness -- through a process of resonant attraction.
A good way of using the Purifying Violet Flame of Alchemical Transformation would be to invoke it in the morning and again in the evening for protection both day and night.
We can't have too much protection this lunar cycle, because on top of all the inflammatory and profoundly challenging aspects we've already discussed, both Jupiter and Mars are in regal, warlike Leo, and both luminaries will be interacting with the planetoid Eris, named for the Goddess of Discord and widely understood to be the harbinger of unbridled war and cut throat competition.
The Golden Apple of Discord, Jacob Jordaens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Eris is a relatively new planetoid, discovered in 2004, and Eris' orbit takes the dwarf planet far outside the orbit of Pluto.
Being so far from the Sun, Eris is a slow moving planetoid, and everyone born between around 1925 and 2044 has had and will have Eris in Aries.
In Greek myth, Eris threw a golden apple with the inscription "To the most beautiful" into a wedding party where gods and goddesses cavorted with human revelers.
Hera, Venus and Minerva all claimed the prize and asked Jupiter to act as the judge of the divine beauty contest. He refused, and Paris, Prince of Troy, was forced to choose.
Venus promised Paris Helena, the most beautiful woman in Greece, as a prize, and so Paris named Venus the winner.
Paris abducted Helena from Sparta and the Trojan Wars ignited, soon to immolate an entire generation of Greek and Trojan heroes in a seemingly never ending conflict.
An AI generated image of Donald Trump, the current President of the United States of America as Jesus, while healing a man resembling Jon Stewart.Artificial intelligence, algorithm presumably requested and created by President Donald Trump, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This Jupiter-Eris trine suggests that an established ruler utilizes the energy of Eris to obtain his goals, so we could easily expect maximum Trumpian chaos and conflict featuring competition between alternate realities this November.
What will happen when the gloves come off and both Democrats and Republicans are faced with what they determine to be an existential threat coming from their opposition?
I suspect we are about to find out.
By the 14th of November, Mars in Leo trines Eris in Aries, and the battle will be joined in earnest.
Then on November 15th we will see a Mars/Jupiter conjunction in the combustible sign of rampant egoism, Leo.
This is an incendiary aspect, usually indicating escalation of conflicts in all realms of life.
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The political battles triggered by the November 3rd election in America are almost certain to escalate for the rest of the year, and lawfare will continue through the installation of the new Congress on January 3rd, 2027.
So we have looked ahead beyond this lunar cycle and now let us zoom out and look at the big picture here on planet Earth.
It's the Year of the Fire Horse, and the outer planets are in Fire and Air signs for the medium to long term.
There is clearly an excess of belligerent fire and mental air elements in the collective consciousness, and a lack of the grounding and compassion that earth and water could provide.
So it must be time for a ceremony to elevate the energy of the potentially destructive elements of fire and air, inject some love and ground the energy so that healing work can begin!
Burning the Hag Torch, photo by Jane Sherry, Winston Salem, NC, October 2026
First Jane and I used Wiccan ritual, Reiki and powerful Energy Healing Wands to clear and clean the six directions of our garden. Jane called in the protective energies of the Four Directions and the Mother-Father God.
Jane placed marigolds, sage, lemon verbena, and chrysanthemum flowers in a vase on the table on the patio.
Jane had fashioned a hag torch from a mullein seed stalk, covered it in hot beeswax and then covered the surface with rose petals and lavender from our gardens.
Jane and I lit that torch.
I pulled three Tarot cards at random from one of my decks. I got Tarot Trump XI or Lust, the three of wands, and the six of wands, all cards of elemental fire.
I skewered them and burned them over the stainless plate in the picture.
They turned quickly and totally to ashes indicating a successful outcome.
Tarot Trump XI, Lust, Thoth Tarot
The Lust card, also known as Strength in other Tarot decks, represents rampant Universal Life Force energy, uncontrolled and uncontrollable.
The three of wands is called virtue, and represents the Middle Way of moderation recommended by the Buddha.
On the Middle Way one practices neither asceticism nor unregulated sensual indulgnce.
The three of wands also represents the primary flow of kundalini energy up the middle or Sushumna channel, while the subsidiary channels are also energized and activated.
The six of wands represents Victory, and astrologically it represents Jupiter in Leo.
And as we know, Jupiter has been in Leo since June 30th and will remain in Leo through July 2027.
Six of Wands, Victory, Thoth Tarot
I have often associated this card with Caesar crossing the Rubicon.
For years prior to his Rubicon moment, Caesar was stationed in Gaul, where he triumphed and expanded the borders of the Roman Imperium, while his rival Pompey amassed power in Rome.
Their struggle had gone on for years, and involved lawfare and accusations that opponents could or would or had already subverted election results.
Finally Pompey convinced the Roman Senate to declare Caesar an enemy of the state.
Two days later, Caesar crossed the small Rubicon river from the North, on the way to Rome, where he would again triumph and crown himself Rome's first Emperor.
Vercingetorix throws down his arms at the feet of Julius CaesarLionel Royer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
When Caesar responded to the imminent threat from Pompey by leading his legions towards Rome, he was required to face his deep seated fear of triggering a destructive Civil War that would kill multitudes of his fellow Romans.
Caesar confronted his deep seated fear of bypassing the existing political system to seize power, and a psychologist might say, his deep seated fear of becoming his true authentic self, by fulfilling his destiny.
Overcoming his fears allowed Caesar to take action that aligned with his true nature and his own unacknowledged deepest desires.
That is the true Esoteric meaning of Victory -- To be true to one's Self in the face of external threats, fears, doubts, and worries.
May we all achieve Victory in our own lives this Scorpionic Season, and may we all undergo the necessary complete self-transformation that Victory will bring us!
Jane Harvesting Herbs October 2026 Winston Salem, photo by Curtis Lang
Jane and I affirm that we all receive the grace, guidance and increased protection we require during this turbulent season of global dislocation, war, upheaval, civil strife, religious warfare and climate catastrophe.
See you in the ethers!
Meditation Moment: Contemplations While Holding Sunchokes During a Blizzard, by Yesenia Montilla
I want to be surrounded by splendor, but beauty is capitalism. This is to say
purchase power is how I was taught to love things & now I am exiled
in a country where living is only spectacle & roses, never bread.
How do I feed a village when my only skill is personal acquisition, not
distribution? My god, how wrong I was to covet dresses over firearms,
poetry books over agriculture. Ross sends me sunchokes from his garden
& I squint my eyes at them, trying to imagine the texture of drawing
food from the earth—my hands in dirt turn into rope pulling Good & asking
for forgiveness. They are killing us & we are all just going to the office,
watching tv & ordering out. I thought we were supposed to be resisting.
The deaths will accumulate like the snow & we will all be forced to forfeit
our lives for the revolution. I’m tired of hearing how nuanced it all is. It’s not.
They say it has everything to do with money & power, but what they want
us to forget is that it is about how we love. We are fighting for the right to
spend a storm inside
making soup & sourdough
& no one gets shot—