Taurus New Moon: What Matters

We are so busy doing the urgent

that we don't have time

to do the important.

Confucius

The New Moon on May 17, 2026, at 26° Taurus

helps us strip away what is nonessential so we can recognize what truly matters and what we are ready to build over time. Projects and initiatives set in motion now, may easily gain momentum and traction. We benefit from trimming away or disengaging from distractions, possessions or activities that scatter our energy and pull us off center.

Deepening our relationship with nature - to put our feet on the earth, unplug from the digital hum of virtual living, and re-engage in full-bodied sensory experience - can bring clarity, balance and fresh insight.

Time taken now to declare the focus of our life will help us navigate the changes, challenges and opportunities that emerge later in the year.

Mercury conjunct the New Moon and Uranus

Full Moon Ruler: Venus sextile the Mars/Chiron conjunction

Jupiter trine the New Moon

Neptune at Apex of Small Grand Trine

Uranus square the Lunar Nodes

The house in our natal chart where 26° Taurus resides illuminates the area of life where we where we are supported to build something that will meet our deepest wants and needs.

The optimal time set an intention for what we want to manifest over the month is within 24 hours after the exact moment of the New Moon, when the Moon has been quickened by the Sun and yet is still dark and not yet visible again in the night sky.

What does it matter how much we do

if what we're doing isn't what matters most?

Stephen Covey

There is a simplicity to the dynamics and message of the Taurus New Moon that invites us to reflect on what matters most to us and then committing to build a life dedicated to this. Yet, depending on the lens from which we view the invitation, we can have a different interpretation about what gives our life meaning.

The Taurus New Moon gives permission to move at a pace that encourages patience and steadfastness. Occurring within a year of Fire and Air, that will be remembered as a time of rapid changes, decisions and movements, the Taurus New Moon invites us to take the rest of May to take our time, be deliberate with what we say and do, and move with intention.

Encouraged to approach our days from a grounded place, we may want to revamp sleep habits or what we choose to eat for breakfast that can support this. Perhaps we are ready to recommit to a morning practice like yoga or meditation or 'morning papers' that help us to meet the day with the best version of ourselves.

We are to move at the pace of our body and foster a Taurean temperament: patient, determined, unhurried, steadfast. This will help curb tendencies to multitask, act impulsively, or overreact to unexpected circumstances. Staying connected to our body and its rhythms, we will be better attuned to what we want and don't want, which will ease decisions we are to make.

The Astrology of the Taurus New Moon

Our thoughts are focused on practical matters and solutions (Mercury conjunct the New Moon). Yet, we are equally curious, open to new experiences and look to exploring new options (New Moon Ruler: Venus in Gemini). We entertain new ideas and evaluate them for their soundness and whether they are worth the investment of our time and money (Mercury and Venus in mutual reception).

We are ready to break ground and embrace an opportunity that suddenly opens up (Uranus conjunct the Taurus New Moon), with the self-assurance to work towards new goals without compromising our needs or losing track of self-care routines (Jupiter trine the New Moon).

The desire to initiate something new may stir insecurities rooted in past experiences of ill-timed actions, impulsive decisions or where our headstrong tendencies undermined our best intentions.  Wiser now from what was learned from past risks and mistakes, we can better trust ourselves to take action in an effective way (Mars/Chiron conjunction in Aries).

The Taurus New Moon is an opportune time to start a project, a relationship, a job or move to a new location. All planets are moving forward which indicates that ways we take action to move our life forward will meet with success. 

And yet...there is another dimension to the New Moon:

Personal Reflection - A Deeper Calling

Taurus is the builder and looks towards the returns of a long term investment.

The question becomes: What are we investing in?

We are undergoing a shift in values, in dreams and what we want to stabilize.

We need to be open to the reality that we what want to build with our life is changing.

Or, it may be that what we have contemplated building but have never started is the very thing that we need to launch now.

In my life, I am wanting to relaunch is a book I have been writing on Mary Magdalene. I set it down almost a decade ago to care for my parents at the end of their life, never imagining so much time would pass before I would be in a position to pick it back up again. I am hoping the New Moon gives me the impetus to begin the project anew. And yet, there is a subtler dimension of the Taurus New Moon equally calling to me. It is this deeper calling I want to explore further in this newsletter as it seems an essential component to our future wellbeing and the wellbeing of humanity and our planet.

If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence

we could rise up rooted, like trees.

Rainer Maria Rilke

A key astrological configuration not mentioned in the influences stated in the previous section:

The Small Grand Trine between Uranus, Neptune and Pluto,

underlies and gives context for the Taurus New Moon energetics.

This Small Grand Trine is a rare and potent configuration that has not occurred before in human history. Active 2025 – 2028, this year is a critical year in its influence because the planets involved are each at the early degrees of the sign they just entered. In an active and harmonious relationship, these transpersonal planets are expanding human consciousness. This will result in mind-blowing innovation, a creative renaissance, and spiritual awakenings in individuals and groups.

Neptune in Aries, at the apex of this Small grand Trine, has been dismantling the dreams and shared agreements we live by and is giving rise to new personal and collective dreams. We are will be understanding life in a new and more expansive way. Illusions and narrow beliefs will be shattered that stand in the way of new understandings and connections about the universe, spirituality, and what it means to be human. 

Taurus is the sign of the earth and all things terrestrial. Neptune’s presence at the Taurus New Moon enlivens the physical, and we can have a mind-opening experience of how spirit lives within, informs and works with matter. We can receive the inherent wisdom of our body and feel drawn to move in tune with our natural rhythms. The realization around how we belong to the earth or are part of the earth can bring a fresh perspective on what truly matters most in our lives. A spiritual awakening can center around a movement from a conceptual understanding to an embodied experience of being human and the bounty and blessing that the earth provides us.

For Taurus, achievement is tied to living in harmony with the physical world. It includes appreciating its beauty and enjoying its fruits. Taureans are the gardeners, the laborers, the farmers. There is an inherent love the earth, of the place one calls home and of the care of the land. Stability is found inside maintaining a simple life, moving steadily without rushing, and not getting ruffled by the little things. 

 It was most likely a Taurus who once said, “there is nothing new under the sun” for the Taurean spirit holds that life has been the same for humans since the dawn of creation. We can dress our life up in different ways, but even our most distant ancestors had the same concerns we do with little variation. We look for love, comfort and security. Our daily lives revolve around eating, sleeping, having shelter, and having work that allows our basic needs to be met. There is an appreciation of beauty, of the fruits of the earth, and of music. For Taureans, to imagine that life is more than is a set up for drama, disappointment or a grandiose sense of ourselves.

Many years ago, I read a book by an American man who taught English somewhere in the Far East. He befriended one of his students, a young fisherman who lived on a fishing boat at the docks with his family. As they hung out one day, the American asked his new friend: what do you think about?

The young fisherman responded: I think about eating and sleeping,

The American said: Well, yes of course. But what else do you think about?

Young fisherman:  Mostly I think about eating and sleeping.

American: Don’t you dream on something you want do, or somewhere you want to go?

Young fisherman: No.

The American then told him of different things he wanted to do, ambitions he had for his career, what he wanted in a wife and family, and places he wanted to travel. The American again asked his new friend if he had anything like this that he thought about, and again the fisherman answered no.

This conversation stayed with me through the decades. It had me consider cultural differences and how our environment conditions the way we think. It had me think about how I was raised to want more than what life had handed me, raised to look for distant horizons and to rise above the conditions of my life, and to nurture my individual talents and specialness. I had a big bucket list of things I wanted to do and places I want to go.

But each time I thought about this conversation, I was struck by how much of my thinking has been consumed by thoughts of eating and sleeping. It occurred to me how the modern mind, the western mind, is constantly trying to invent new ways of finding meaning or defining what is a worthwhile life. It's as if the basics of human life are thought not to be enough. And how much of this ambitious thinking causes agitation, imbalance or disconnection from the essential?

Thinking of what the young fisherman had to say about thinking, I have wondered if what I and many of us contemplate has led to a better life than what he had?  It has certainly led to a more complicated one, with a much higher standard for what will bring us happiness? And with the complication comes added stress and uncertainty. What if it were enough to sleep and eat, to feel at home on this planet?  Could it be enough?

Perhaps the illusion that we are special with something special to bring the earth is keeping us from finding harmony with how to live in harmony with our nature and the earth. And if not, then how does one support one's dream, live with simplicity and in accordance with the natural rhythms without having one goal work against the other? Like many people, I am striving to find the balance where I can have it all. The New Moon then asks me what I can give up so that I can have a simpler life - one that is calmer, more grounded and connected with nature.

So, while this is an excellent New Moon for launching a project or acting on what we have been mulling over for some time, it is also an opportune time to connect with nature, with our essential nature, and with the essential ingredients for life that we often take for granted: food, air, water, trees, birds, people to collaborate with, people to love. Can life be enough if we immerse ourselves in what life freely gives us and to appreciate the fullness of living in according to nature affords us?

As a species we are mucking up what comes naturally and ultimately this is threatening our very existence and the existence of our beautiful planet. Something needs to shift for us to live in balance with the natural world and in harmony with our bodies. I invite us to contemplate what we can let go of that supports harmony and what can we open to that will give us the wellbeing we long for.

What is the good of your stars and trees,

your sunrise and the wind,

if they do not enter into

our daily lives?

E.M. Forster

World Developments 

Counterbalance to an Ever-Increasing Virtual Lifestyle

Life will change dramatically and intensely in the coming months. The transpersonal, generational planets are in Fire and Air and beginning to sync with each other in their new signs; inspired ideas are accelerating in their frequency which will lead to incredible advancements, innovation and technologies before 2026 is out. Some innovations we will welcome and some we won’t. We can feel this coming, especially as AI continues to advance and become more integrated into daily life. 

The dream of humanity and our shared understandings of life and the world are in flux. Alliances worldwide are shifting and resources are being redistributed. Laws for how to live are changing and the boundaries and definitions around morals and ethics are being challenged. We will be shaping new laws and a new moral framework to replace the ones that are crumbling.

The Taurus New Moon is a time to pause and decide where we will put our energy and what we are dedicated to bringing into the world. Within the multitude of changes around us, it is up to us to know what matters most, so that we can find the eye in the storm and not be whipped around by the swirling winds of change.

The Taurus New Moon also reminds us that we are physical beings. There is an old folk legend that says that angels envied humans because they had a body. Having a body, we can feel pleasure. We can savor the food we eat, smell the rain, feel our heart swell at the beauty of a sunset, or feel the blades of grass beneath our bare feet.

Having a body also presents challenges and can come with great discomfort. There are feelings, urges, sensations that are unpleasant, sometimes scary. Yet, by feeling them, we can grow, learn, change and heal. This is also what the angels envied. It is only through the physical world, through the body that transformation and change can happen.

The stress and pace of modern life can numb our senses and numb our awareness of our body. Modern life is propelling us further into living virtually in digital and artificial realms that keep us locked in our heads. Social media, computers and cell phones, streaming services, and video games remove us from the human experience. The desire to operate like a machine or the ambition to be detached and intellectual like AI denies our humanity. To move in a good way with the world, most of us need to embrace virtual technologies; the Taurus New Moon simply invites us to find balance, and not get lost, in this.

Taurus values the tangible, the tactile. The following activities are suggestions for how to nurture mind/body connection and not disassociate with the physical world. Engaging in activities that engage our full selves may be inconvenient and take more time, but it can offer a level of satisfaction that conceptual realms do not.

• Be outdoors and look for outdoor activities during our leisure time.

• Have an exercise practice that involves mindfulness and slowing down like yoga or tai chi.

• Learn how to can and store tomatoes.

• Instead of streaming music, return to using LPs or even CDs

• Keep our calendar in a bound paper datebook.

• Write and keep notes on a pad of paper.

• Make time to meet with colleagues and friends in person.

• Take a class in our community where we can gather with others in person.

• Take a walk in the woods rather than running on a treadmill.

• Make dinner rather than popping something in the microwave.

• Grow herbs, create a garden, or take care of house plants.

• Take off our shoes and feel the earth beneath our feet.

• Look for classes, friendships or practices that have us engage nature or sustainable living.

Questions to Ask at the Taurus New Moon

 What matters most and what do I need to remove to better nurture what is important?

What is worth building?

What new beginning or project have I been pondering that I am ready to launch or relaunch?

How can I make my life simpler? 

What can I release from my life that is not essential?

What am I spending money on that is not worth the cost?

In what ways is my engagement with the virtual world, the artificial (AI) world creating imbalance within me? Do I want to make decisions around engagement with social media, the internet, streaming services? If I reduce this engagement, what would I do instead?

If I could live better connected with nature and the natural rhythms what would this look like?  What would we need to change?

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Liv By Design Astrology