Take a large stone, put it into a sufficient quantity of boiling water; properly season it with pepper and salt; add three or four pounds of good beef, a handful of pot-herbs, some onions, a cabbage, and three or four carrots. When the soup is made the stone may be thrown away.
~ Original 'recipe' from The American magazine of wit, 1808

It's hard to dismiss astrology when there's a Solar Eclipse in Taurus, conjunct Uranus, with a stationary Pluto, in the same week that social media platform Twitter is seized by the richest person in the world through a hostile takeover.

Translation: Taurus is about wealth, possessions, assets, and the procurement of same. Uranus is related to technology, especially involving the Internet and virtual communities. Pluto is linked to dominating force and wealth, in Capricorn which is associated with authority and control, and the uber-powerful plutocracy that these can buy.

Obviously there are other kinds of manifestations, activities, themes and purposes that could and will come from this potent eclipse. But no matter how the Twitter change will be managed going forward, it is currently sending shockwaves through online and business communities.

Welcome to the first Eclipse Season of 2022!

This eclipse chart has more sextile aspects per cubic parsec than any chart I've seen in quite a while. Sextiles (60°) typically join planets in signs that have different but compatible elements – Fire and Air or Earth and Water. In this case, the majority of the chart's planets are in Taurus and Pisces – Earth and Water.

Sextiles are generally seen as "positive" aspects – they provide opportunities, creative and innovative imagination to bring dissimilar resources together and construct something new. You could think of it like "stone soup" where a little of this and a little of that are brought together and create something greater than the sum of its parts.

The "stone" in this case could be any place you feel stuck – that is just sitting there in your life, unmoving and without much purpose or activity. And yet, by bringing new, perhaps unrelated intention, energy and resources to that place, it may be filled with something fresh that can nourish and support new growth in your life. The useless 'thing' can become an innovative point of gravity that creates something useful.

There is no such thing as an aspect that is all good or all bad, though. While sextiles can certainly be a blessing, they still take effort and action to make their benefits come alive, and as such they could be underestimated, ignored or taken for granted.

On the "bad" side, there is also the warning that just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should. Sextiles can also be manipulative, and may force something into being that perhaps should not be.

Signs that have different but compatible elements also have the same polarity, traditionally called masculine vs feminine or sometimes positive vs negative. Masculine signs have the element of Fire or Air, while feminine signs are Earth or Water.

Unfortunately, these traditional names seem to imply a meaning that's not necessarily intended or valid. For example, the masculine-feminine polarity seems to suggest sexual stereotyping that's largely seen as outmoded, not to mention our world is now starting to acknowledge that human gender identity is far more complex than the conventional two options.

As a result, modern astrology has struggled to find new terms to describe polarity in ways that don't stumble over cultural baggage. Some common alternatives are active vs receptive or yang vs yin. Either way, these polarities indicate a quality of external vs internal, objective vs experiential, or action vs reaction.

Embrace contradictions
for they make up
all of life:
You will eternally be
looking for yourself and
seeking ways to lose yourself.
~ Kamand Kojouri

So, this chart is knee-deep in sextiles and saturated with feminine/receptive/yin signs. The Sun and Moon are in Earth sign Taurus, along with Uranus which is conjunct the Sun and Moon. In addition, there is a 4-point Stellium in Water sign Pisces: Mars, Neptune, Venus and Jupiter. And Pluto continues to steamroll through Earth sign Capricorn.

Pisces and Taurus share a love of peace and harmony – Pisces seeks bliss and tranquility through the spirit or essence of being, while Taurus seeks pleasure and fulfilment through the 5 physical senses. So, we are challenged to find ways to bring both together, or perhaps to bring heart and body into better balance. Activities that could fulfill both sides could include art, music, dance, yoga; physical movement that uplifts the spirit, or emotions that move you to physical expression (preferably in a positive way).

Trying valiantly to offset this avalanche of Earth and Water are 3 planets in Air and Fire signs – Saturn (Aquarius), Chiron (Aries) and Mercury (Gemini). These planets in masculine/active/yang signs speak of honing our awareness and mental focus in order to bring healing to our sense of individuality, independence and courage.

Instead of sextiles between these planets, however, there are a some dynamic aspects that are stressful yet motivating – Mercury square Saturn (90°) and Mercury semisquare Chiron (45°). Two of them are in their own signs – Mercury in Gemini, and Saturn in Aquarius – so there is considerable energy and strength to draw on.

With Mercury square Saturn, there may be something you're reluctant to acknowledge that still needs to be dealt with, or perhaps there's a need to speak about something difficult from a place of authority. Chiron in Aries is at their midpoint, pulling them together with a challenge to realize you don't have to be invincible to do what needs to be done – you just take the next step. In fact, the best action might even involve acceptance rather than trying to change the situation.

It takes two to Tao.
~ Ana Claudia Antunes, The Tao of Physical and Spiritual

Meanwhile, the New Moon in Taurus is conjunct Uranus so surprises, disruptions and awakenings are likely to be the norm in some way. As previously mentioned, this coincides with Elon Musk breaking through Twitter's resistance to his hostile takeover. In other contexts, Uranus' role could be to turn the lights on to reveal a truth, an opportunity, or a realization that there may be a new, innovative way to find pleasure, fulfilment or security.

Mars is sextile to the Sun and Moon, which can provide the motivation, assertiveness and energy to take the steps necessary to make something new happen. It's wise, however, to consider whether what you're trying to do is constructive or merely a short-term solution to a longer-term problem.

To help understand the longer-term consequences, Saturn is contra-parallel to the Sun and Moon, as well as to Uranus. In fact, this eclipse brings together the Saturn-Uranus square, not through a longitude aspect but by declination. So, on one hand Saturn in Aquarius may advise that what you do should ideally be beneficial to those around you as well as to your own priorities. On the other hand, Uranus may encourage you to throw cautious Saturn to the wind and just go for it!

Both Saturn and Uranus agree that something needs to change, and this eclipse offers an opportunity to put the bricks in place that will build something new. The question is how and why and whether you're seeing the implications clearly enough.

So now we add Venus, Jupiter and Neptune to our stone soup, all of which are still conjunct as well as parallel. This is especially important because Venus rules the Taurus eclipse and feeds her energy to the Sun and Moon. Right now she is sitting pretty in exaltation in Pisces, exactly conjunct Jupiter who rules Pisces, and both are still well within orb of the conjunction to Neptune, Pisces' other planet of distinction. It's a Pisces-fest!

However, this blissful prayer group is actually in a stressful semisquare aspect to the New Moon eclipse. It speaks of the risk of letting idealistic yearning blur your view of Saturnian consequences so that you may be unclear what is wise and what is not; what is possible and what is just wishful thinking without substance.

The message here seems to be: By all means, follow your bliss to acquire that which can satiate your hunger and fill your coffers with whatever floats your boat—but remember that this doesn't mean you get a free pass through other difficulties and challenges in your life; living in a physical world means you must ultimately abide by its rules.

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.
~ John Steinbeck

The Venus-Jupiter mind-meld fusion is also in tight sextile aspect with Pluto who is intensely stationary from turning retrograde 1 day before. This retrograde station breaks the almost-three month hiatus when all planets were direct – Feb. 3 (Merc SD) to Apr. 29 (Plu SR). Direct planets express their energies in direct ways, while retrograde planets tend to be more internalized, reflective or retrospective.

With Pluto, the planet of dominant force, turning inward, we can only hope the war in Ukraine might take a breath and become a bit more open to less violent ways of resolving conflicts over power. However, a stationary Pluto could see things getting worse before they get better. This coincides recently with Russia threatening to bring out the nukes in an effort to force Ukraine into submission.

Venus and Jupiter each make sextile aspects to Pluto over the coming week, and the Sun is in trine aspect to Pluto at the upcoming Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio, Pluto's sign (May 16). The potential is there for cooler, more magnanimous heads to prevail, but temperamental human nature being what it is, the results are unfortunately not guaranteed to be beneficial for all concerned.

Here is an example of how sextiles and trines may not always bring welcome goodies – much depends on which side of the conflict you're on, as to whether something is considered "good" or "bad." And with Mars in an irritable semisquare aspect to Pluto (roughly April 28 to May 5), there may be more volatile energy than can be diluted by all those softening sextiles. We can only hope for a blossoming transformation that brings a livable peace.

On a personal level, you may find yourself wrestling to find a livable balance between the need to respond to disruption in your life versus the promise of ease, opportunity and resolution. Your wisest approach may be to aim for the highest motives and goals that your moral and spiritual values can illuminate, while also accepting that human nature is imperfect and a work in progress.

Give yourself time to grow. Think of the old Chinese story about the farmer who unintentionally killed his crops by pulling on the young rice shoots, trying to make them grow faster. Put another way: don't push the river. Take action but trust the process.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Mercury is strong in his own sign of Gemini. Mercury has just gone into the shadow, collecting his thoughts and formulating questions for the upcoming Mercury Retrograde (May 10 to June 3). He is especially powerful right now, being at the first degree of his sign.

You may have a head full of possibilities, fresh ideas, and curiosity for exploring new information, without a clear idea yet how to go about it, what to do with it, or how you will be able to connect the dots to come up with a constructive use for it all.

Mercury actually does an interesting little dance throughout this retrograde cycle. He zooms north by declination but he rounds the curve and heads south again, peaking on May 4 just inches away from going Out of Bounds. About a week after bouncing his head off the OOB ceiling he goes retrograde and then direct, turning north again 2 days later. After he leaves the shadow, he finally makes it OOB for about a week in early/mid June. Here are the exact dates and positions:

• March 29 – Crosses equator by declination (00:00 going North)
• April 26 – Enters the retrograde shadow (26:05 TA)
• May 4 – Declination peak, turning South (23:19 North and 3:37 Gemini)
• May 10 – Turns retrograde (04:51 GE)
• June 3 – Turns direct (26:05 TA)
• June 5 – Declination turn, heading North again (26:19 TA)
• June 18 – Leaves the retrograde shadow (04:51 GE)
• July 6 – Goes Out of Bounds by declination (02:05 CN)
• July 10 – Maximum declination (23:45 North and 10:04 CN)
• July 13 – Comes back In-Bounds (18:02 CN)

Meanwhile back at the Solar Eclipse, Mercury is at the launch point of his trippy journey through Gemini which takes on even more importance. Now is a great time to think ahead to what you hope to accomplish over the next 3-ish months, especially in terms of what you want to learn or discover, what you hope to share or exchange with others, and who you would like to connect with.

Mercury makes 3 passes of a sextile to Jupiter (April 27, May 19, June 20) and a trine to Pluto (April 28, May 25, June 10). This can invite you to explore events happening in the world around you from a more philosophical or open-minded perspective.

In addition, you are encouraged to learn more about the scary, sad or overwhelming events happening now – not to be so obsessed with it that you become (more?) depressed or cynical, but in order to gain a clearer understanding of what's going on and why. This information might not be comforting but it can be illuminating and potentially empowering.

It is not hard to start a small garden, all you need is a sapling, a planting pot, a small bag of soil, and regular watering. There you go, you helped cooling the earth down by one plant.
~ Noora Ahmed Alsuwaidi

The Sabian Symbol for the Solar Eclipse is Taurus 11: A woman sprinkling flowers.

This symbol seems like a no-brainer for Taurus, which is associated with nature, crops, food and pleasurable experiences. So this symbol is about nurturing something to help it grow and blossom into something beautiful and pleasing. What is being nurtured is not so much food or other sustainance (although many flowers are delightfully edible). We are cultivating something that is pleasing to our physical senses through colour, texture and fragrance.

Whether you are developing something now that is meant to nourish your body or your spirit, this Solar Eclipse is the time to get your ingredients organized and decide on a recipe – gather your resources and choose a direction. You may want to invest in something you can harvest in abundance in the long run, or you might be looking to generate a series of short-term rewards – either way, this is when you can start to plan out your steps.

And like the Chinese folk tale, you'll need to share the work with nature; with the natural process of evolution. Don't tug at the shoots, and don't over-water it. One step at a time.

Change is the salt in the soup of life.
~ Gyles Brandreth, Have You Eaten Grandma?

The next update will be about the Lunar Eclipse at 25:17 Scorpio on May 15/16. The current Solar Eclipse in Taurus is ruled by Venus which is conjunct Jupiter and Neptune. The Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio is ruled by Mars which will also be conjunct Neptune and Jupiter—and by then, Jupiter will have moved into Aries. Although it's been weeks since the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction was exact (April 12), they remain within an 8° orb from March 3 to May 28, and feature prominently in the New and Full Moons during that time, including the Solar and Lunar Eclipses. So stay tuned! There's more Jupiter and Neptune and eclipse energy to come!

One final observation – this Solar Eclipse is the second New Moon in a calendar month—April—if you're in the Americas, or most of Europe or Africa. If you're in Eastern Europe or the Middle East, or anywhere east of these regions, this Solar Eclipse will be the first of two New Moons in May. Either way, you may be wondering is the second of these New Moons is anything like a so-called Blue Moon (usually defined as the second Full Moon in a month – in the case of a New Moon it's sometimes called a Black Moon). The answer is complicated and a bit hilarious! Read my article on this: Blue Moon Lunacy!

In the meantime, stay safe. Stay sane. Stay awesome. The world needs you. ❤️

We are not creators; only combiners of the created. Invention isn't about new ingredients, but new recipes. And innovations taste the best.
~ Ryan Lilly

© 2022-04-28 Wendy Guy, all rights reserved. Astrological diagrams by Wendy Guy. Divider is a collage of fruits and vegetables by squarefrog and stone by kalhh, both from Pixabay.com. Sabian photo of woman watering her garden by PeopleImages via CanStockPhoto.com.