Archetypal Astrology, Tarot & Counseling by Maud Gemmeke
The New Moon arrives on May 11th 2.59 pm ET / 8.59 pm CET at 21 degrees Taurus. The Full Moon in Scorpio from two weeks ago was an intense one. We’re approaching eclipse season with the first eclipse of this Summer arriving at the end of May. This New Moon in Taurus is the calm between two storms.
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A lovely alignment occurs in Pisces when the Moon finishes her cycle and starts a new one. When the Moon journeys through Pisces later this week, she meets up with Venus and Neptune after which she conjuncts the Sun. The New Moon occurs on March 13th 5.21 am ET / 11.21 am CET at 23 degrees Pisces, with Venus at 19 degrees Pisces and Neptune at 20 degrees Pisces.
This is a lovely New Moon, for connection and relaxation. Carve out time in your calendar for a relaxing ritual bath, intimate romantic night or for drinking wine with friends. Or if you want to go a step further; spirit work, tantra, LSD, the like. This New Moon is about your relationships. Your relationships to your friends / lovers / spirits / gods and goddesses, whoever or whatever comes to mind as you read the word relationships. How do you relate to that entity? Have your feelings or thoughts on this relationship changed since Pisces season started? Venus in her sign of exaltation, combust the Sun (meaning she’s super close to the Sun) and conjunct Neptune; Aphrodite is releasing old relationship baggage and gaining clarity where there was confusion.
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This coming New Moon has some Eros and Thanatos vibes. Most people know Eros and Thanathos to be the instinct for life and the instinct for death, as described by the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. He named these instincts after the Greek God of Love and the Greek God of Death.
Eros is the Greek God of love. He is a winged God and is the son of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite and Greek God Ares. Aphrodite is the Goddess of love and beauty, and Ares is the God of war. Eros has the ability to make mortals and Gods fall in love by shooting them with his bow and arrow. Eros is portrayed as nice, compassionate, loving, and full of life. This is how Eros came to represent the instinct of life in the works of Freud.
Thanatos is the Greek God of death. He is the son of Greek Goddess Nyx and Greek God Erebus. Nyx is the Goddess of the night and chaos, and Erebus is the God of darkness. Thanatos is associated with violent death and would be called upon by Gods who wished to inflict death upon one another. Thanatos often manifested anger, violence, and aggression. This is how Thanatos came to represent the instinct of death in the works of Freud.
As a teenager I was into black and white analogue photography. I’ve developed numerous of photos in darkrooms. Even though I haven’t been in a darkroom (or adobe photoshop) for years (I don’t even own a camera anymore), I’m still very much a lover of photography. I especially love black and white portrait, fashion and nude photography. I have a weak spot for the works of Helmut Newton. A true artist, known for kink photography. The photo that I choose on top for this article is quite virtuous. Most of his work captures not just Eros but also Thanatos. I guess that’s another reason why I love his work so much: I’m a lover of the dark, taboo and hidden while at the same time I adore beauty, softness and light. Photography is an art that plays with light and darkness. Its essence is capturing light and capturing darkness. In honor of Helmut Newton and to share with you Eros and Thanatos vibes / kink photography, here’s some more work of one of my favorite artists:
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Sweethearts! Finally the horoscopes for the mutable rising signs are here! Sorry that I’ve kept you waiting for so long. When Mercury stationed direct I finally got some flow in my writing again. Though I’ve also been distracted by hair issues which caused some delays. This lady is going blonde again, which is easier said than done; but I miss my natural colour. When I was younger I used to dye my hair regularly. In the past eight years or so I haven’t. I just kept my natural blonde colour and loved it. But then this April Uranus touched my ascendant while Venus just entered her pre retrograde shadow period and I decided to throw some red dye in my hair. An act of rebellion and empowerment. At that moment I already knew I would regret it. And I do regret now. On the other hand. I want to live an exciting life and thus I rather make mistakes and fail than live a safe and boring life. Ah well I’m talking about hair here, it’s a first world problem! And things change anyway. So will my hair. One day it will be grey. And I will love it. All things change. Which you mutable signs know all too well. Everything in life changes. Nothing stays the same. And life becomes a lot easier when we can go with that flow. The art of letting go, while at the same time daring to ride the waves. The mutable signs have a gift for flexibility that I find inspiring. Of course it depends a lot on other placements in your personal chart whether you identify with that flexibility. But there is a part of you that definitely seeks or brings changes in life. Dear mutable rising signs, here are your horoscopes for the second half of 2020. (The horoscopes for the other signs can be found in the previous two articles.)
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The first half of 2020 was certainly interesting, I think for all of us. Apocalypse and all… What to expect for the second half? I wrote down some insights on what’s to come for humankind in general in the article on the last Full Moon (click to read). I also wanted to share horoscopes for the different signs. These horoscopes turned out to be quite large. And I only touch on a few transits. So these horoscopes are still incredibly general (not to mention that I can’t give specifics because that depends on the individual birth chart). Anyway, I share the horoscopes in groups. Here are the horoscopes for those of you with the ascendant in a fixed sign: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. (You can find the horoscopes for the cardinal rising signs in the previous article. I will publish the horoscopes for the mutable signs soon.)
In the horoscopes for the fixed signs I zoom in on the Uranus in Taurus transit. Which also means that your horoscopes are actually not that much about the second half of 2020 per se; a lot of what you read below holds value for a bigger time period. For some it may resonate a lot, based on the experiences you have had in the past two years. For some it will unfold in the future. Because I’m talking about a transit that lasts from 2018-2026 and you won’t notice its effects everyday over this whole period (luckily). Anyway, this transit is all about breaking free and revolutionising yourself! All the fixed signs have a chance to do that. You guys are actually forced to do it. Breaking free of chains seems exciting huh? Revolutionising yourself sounds awesome. In reality it’s often terrifying. So often we stay in our chains out of fear and sometimes even out of comfort. So often we come to love our chains. Chains can provide stability and safety. But, they won’t let you grow and develop yourself. They hold you back from chasing your dreams, even if you still have no idea what those dreams are. Uranus is trying to break you free from the chains, without your permission. To stand free, open and vulnerable in the world is scary. But goddamn there is so much potential too. Ok, enough introduction. More specifics in the horoscopes.
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The astrology of 2020 sucks. It just sucks. We see it reflected in the world: pandemic and other crap. The world is a mess. As above so below. The transits of the luminaries and planets throughout 2020 are not just intense, they are destructive and purge all toxicities out of the repressed unconscious trauma and sadism of humankind. This needs to bring transformation, healing, revolution and growth. But it will take a while until we get there. Throughout 2020 we get to face our global karma. In 2021 the healing starts. As I’ve repeatedly stated: the malefic planets are strong throughout this year and in conflict with each other, while the benefic planets are either as weak as they can be (Jupiter) or in okay-ish and with moments weakened state (Venus). We don’t just see the crap astrology reflected in what’s happening in the world. It’s also reflected in our personal lives. The way in which the transits in 2020 impact you, however, depends on your personal chart. It’s not that nothing good happens in 2020. It’s just an intense and quite difficult year for the most of us.
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The Full Moon in Libra, also known as the Pink Moon, falls on Wednesday the eighth of April 04.35 am Amsterdam time / CEST. Full Moons are about culmination. When the Moon is full she is in complete power. This Full Moon wants to remind us to take care of the group. Libra is the cardinal air sign that is ruled by Venus. Libra is focused on connection, care, justice and equality. Libra wants everyone to be able to receive health care, no matter what age, gender or cultural background. Libra wants everyone to feel save, seen and acknowledged. This Full Moon reminds us that every single human soul is beautiful and that everyone has human rights.
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On April third Venus moves into Gemini. For the past month Venus has been transiting through Taurus. Taurus is one of the two signs that is ruled by Venus. So in the past month Venus has been feeling at home and that made her strong and confident. It was the best period of Venus for all 2020, in terms of Venus feeling powerful. And as yours truly is a Taurus rising girl and needs the support of Venus, she’s grieving a bit now that the Goddess is moving into her neighbors home. Does this mean that Aphrodite has done her best for work 2020 and has no more love to give? Not at all!
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