“Bringing the Wisdom of Nature to Consciousness” – Jupiter Enters Taurus

“Conscious femininity… has to do with bringing the wisdom of nature to consciousness. For too long we have taken the instinctual mother Goddess for granted. In our own bodies, in our Earth, we have assumed she would nourish and protect us…. Over centuries, we have forgotten her, reviled her, raped her. Now we will either integrate her into consciousness or we will die. There is an evolutionary process at work on our planet and we can only hope that out of this present death, sanity will come.” – Marion Woodman, Leaving My Father’s House

Expansive Jupiter — planet of growth, opportunity and abundance — moved into sensual, earthy Taurus on Saturday, until June 11, 2012. Jupiter in Taurus wants to stabilize, solidify and strengthen the brave new beginnings set into motion over the past year.

Jupiter in fiery Aries — June 6-September 8, 2010 and January 22-June 4, 2011 — inspired the passion and courage to take a leap of faith into new territory. Now, Jupiter in Taurus brings the pragmatism and perseverance to support and maintain what you started. Consider what’s been initiated, and what wants to be fertilized, nurtured and rooted deeply into the earth.

Taurus is the builder, wanting to create something solid that lasts. Eminently practical, Taurus asks, What really matters? What do you value enough to commit to? What do you want to leave behind as your legacy? While you may have set off in multiple new directions when Jupiter was in impulsive Aries, now you may need to pare down and prioritize. Jupiter in Taurus rewards patience and persistence, acting in integrity with your values, moving slowly, and taking a step-by-step approach.

Taurus is ruled by Venus, goddess of love, beauty and kinship. Jupiter in Taurus animates the sensual feminine, the energy of Gaia, the Earth Goddess, inspiring a deeper connection and commitment to our bodies and our home planet.

Jupiter signifies how we create meaning, ruling both philosophy and religion — the stories we tell about who we are, how the world works, and how we find our place in it. Our dominant narrative, fueled by the dominant religions (what Jessica Murray calls the “sky god religions”), posits that we humans are separate from and superior to the natural world. “Matter” is inanimate, plants and animals don’t feel and have no right to exist on their own terms, and the natural world is parceled into “resources” to be extracted, exploited and destroyed for human purposes.

As David Abram says:

“We don’t sense that we’re inside the same story in which the squirrels and the salmon are characters. Somehow our ways of speaking, and our ways of living, perpetuate this odd notion that we stand outside of the world, apart from the world, looking at it, pondering it as if from some distant vantage point.” (interview with Derrick Jensen)

This disconnection from the natural world, from our own senses, from the nurturing, magical pleasure of experiencing genuine kinship with plants and animals, leads to the shadow expression of Taurus — greed, over-accumulation and over-indulgence. In our longing to reconnect with “matter,” we stuff ourselves with food, fill our homes (and storage units) with possessions we don’t really want, and over-stimulate our senses with violent and pornographic “entertainment.”

Jupiter in Taurus amplifies sensory wisdom, helping us feel our inherent interconnection with the natural world. Recognizing that we belong here, that we are of the Earth, inspires a new story — one in which we claim our responsibility as stewards of and co-creators with the planet and all her inhabitants.

- Emily Trinkaus