the partial lunar eclipse in taurus

with writing prompt horoscopes

A quick announcement. After nearly five years of writing this newsletter, I have raised my monthly subscription price for the first time ever, to $7/month. The annual subscription is still $50, as always, with an option for those with extra-extra disposable income to offer patron-level appreciation at $150. One-off Venmo tips are also, as ever, accepted at jeanna-kadlec. 

I’ve been lighting candles for Palestine every day. There is the work of support in the material world — calling representatives, signing petitions, protesting (for those who can), sharing information — but then, there is the work in the spiritual world. 

Anyone who has been a reader here for any length of time knows that I grew up in white evangelical Christianity. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting in hardback wooden pews as the preacher’s voice rang out from the pulpit against the godless masses who were leading this nation in the wrong direction. We needed to pray for them, that they would find Christ, he said, but what we ended up doing, more often than not, was praying against their efforts. 

We stood there, every Sunday morning, praying for protection and blessing over our nation’s (Republican) leaders. Bill Clinton was still president, and so the preacher found ways to pray that he would be surrounded by the “right” people, that God would intervene in his heart, that he would find the “wisdom” necessary to do what was “right.” 

Sunday morning after Sunday morning, our entire congregation — a few hundred people — prayed protection and blessing over conservative, evangelical political leaders and their efforts in the world. The world was our battlefield, and prayer was a vital weapon. 

This is to say, I was raised in the language of spiritual warfare. Political action was the physical manifestation of a godly life, but it started in the spirit. It started in the church. We prayed on it, and we donated, and we voted, and we prayed on it some more. I wrote in Heretic, my first book, which came out on a Scorpio eclipse last year, that I firmly believe a certain amount of the evangelical church’s power to be fully due to their spiritual efforts. 

Sidebar: For those who may not know, though I think this has been spread pretty widely at this point, evangelicals support Israel (and “cover it in prayer”) because they believe the Jewish people having a state is the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy about Christ’s purported Second Coming (an event which kicks off the End Times). This, of course, is something that has absolutely nothing to do with the Jewish people. Also, evangelicals, so often in bed with fascism, cannot conceive of an anti-Zionist Jew who would oppose both them and the oppression of the Palestinian people.

These days, I move in primarily leftist, queer spaces, often intersecting with spiritual ones, and something I confront regularly, even amongst folks whose lives have been directly, significantly impacted by Trumpian policies, is a discounting of evangelicals’ spiritual potency. “They vote against their own interests,” people say. “They’re bigoted.” And, like, sure. Yes. But you don’t have to believe in the tenets of their religion to acknowledge that they — and others like them — are organized, meeting across nations in churches Sunday after Sunday, praying en masse for Israel and, implicitly and not so implicitly, for genocide during this eclipse season. They are doing powerful rituals that involve hundreds and even thousands of people on the regular. And frankly? Many evangelical Christians are practiced and seasoned ritual practitioners and energy workers, even though they would never call themselves such. 

Many of the skills I now employ, I first learned in church. 

This is to say, I have felt moved, as the weeks drag on, to explicitly call in other practitioners, across traditions, who are comfortable doing so, for spiritual counter efforts to the church. And also, further efforts on behalf of protection and blessing for both Palestine and those protesting internationally. 

We’ve had a more explicit discussion about this at the astrology for writers Discord, namely around the ethics of doing workings on behalf of people who haven’t explicitly consented. (To which I obviously fall on the side of, let’s use common sense, this isn’t a love spell ffs, I will never see a problem with praying for the protection of a people who are being massacred, but you do you I guess?) This is to say, I invite folks to pray, to petition, to light candles and [insert your own practice here] to join the chorus praying for Palestinian liberation.*

pro-palestine protest in NYC // adam gray (getty images)

Our final eclipse of the year arrives Saturday, October 28th at 4:24pm Eastern: a Partial Lunar Eclipse at 5* of Taurus. This is the seventh and final eclipse on the Taurus-Scorpio axis; finally, folks with personal planets and especially angles in the fixed signs can get some rest. 

But not until this one clears. We all know that eclipses bring about big changes, often in one fell swoop, removing things that weren’t working and dropping unexpected surprises in our lap. 

Taurus eclipses, especially with Uranus and Jupiter co-present, have tended to deal in food, money, and labor issues on a collective level. Unsurprising, with Taurus as the steady sign of spring here in the northern hemisphere: the plow in the field, the farmer planting the crop, the sweat and the toil, the unpredictability of the earth and its yield. And this eclipse is especially conjunct Jupiter: focused on the harvest. But with Mars involved (more on that later), there is a question of how quickly we can get that harvest. How quickly we can see those gains. Who might take them from us? which challenges our practice of trusting abundance. Of trusting what we have spent the last few years working on. 

Will we reap what we have sown? Have we done enough? Jupiter wants to say yes. Mars, competitive as ever, instigating shit in his domicile of Scorpio, says we can always do more. A few hours prior to the eclipse, these two powerhouses face off in a potent opposition. While this burst of energy may be helpful when channeled into a short-term sprint — inspiring us to go to the gym, for example — it’s important to remember that the last-minute cram usually doesn't help anyone ace a final exam. And then, a few hours after the eclipse, investigative Mercury, also in Scorpio, opposes Jupiter, perhaps wanting to dig up some old feelings just for the sake of it. Feeling cute, might cause chaos. This is big, I’m remembering something unresolved from the last few years and want to fucking do something about it energy. With Taurus/Scorpio, moving it through the body — walking, showering, fucking — is going to be far more helpful than screaming into the social media (or your ex’s phone) void.

While you might be able to channel some of Saturday “productively,” particularly in the morning, burnout is a potential result on Eclipse Day, especially the closer you are to its visibility, so be sure to get as much rest as you can. If you can, prioritize creative inputs: whether that means reading a book or getting together with your favorite creative people for a big museum day, totally unplugging and going for a hike in nature, or taking a candlelit bath with the jazz turned up, do something that is going to feed your soul rather than demand a deadline. 

Trust, the work (and capitalism) will still be there. Be good to yourselves, and each other. 

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Writing Prompt Horoscopes for the Partial Lunar Eclipse in Taurus

If you’re feeling it, here are some questions to reflect on, taking into account the eclipse cycle we are closing now after the last few years. Consider, again, those Taurus and also Scorpio eclipses — what you were going through, what you’ve felt, what you’ve moved through. 

• November 19, 2021: Taurus eclipse at 27*

• April 30, 2022: Taurus eclipse at 10*

• May 15, 2022: Scorpio eclipse at 25*

• October 25, 2022: Scorpio eclipse at 2*

• November 8, 2022: Taurus eclipse at 15*

• May 3, 2023: Scorpio eclipse at 14*

Aries Rising

• What have you learned over these last few years about money and materia? How has your definition of enough changed? Is it a dollar amount, or something else entirely? How have you learned to feel more fully resourced? What new opportunities have come your way? How have they been more in line with your values? 

Taurus Rising

• Who have you been becoming? How have you changed or shifted how you move through the world? Have you altered your aesthetic, your style, your hair, your relationship to your body? How does the interior reflect the exterior, or vice versa? What kinds of people are supporting you these days? How has your social circle changed from a few years back? 

Gemini Rising

• What behind-the-scenes projects were you starting a few years ago that have now, perhaps, seen the light of the day? How has that felt for you, to share what was private with a larger group? What new projects are you perhaps once again beginning in secret, in isolation, in the burrow of your own subconscious? How has your spiritual life grown? Are you, if not where you once envisioned being, in a place that feels more aligned with yourself? 

Cancer Rising

• How has your community grown these last few years? How have your friendships deepened or changed? Have you joined an organization, started volunteering, begun a writers’ group, or some other such endeavor? How has your increased effort with vulnerability shifted how you relate to others, and also to yourself? 

Leo Rising

• Having spent the last few years attracting all kinds of spotlights, have you better discerned what kind of attention or appreciation truly satisfies and what kind you’d rather avoid altogether? What kind of boundaries have you set in place around your career or public persona that have better enabled you to enjoy what you do? What opportunities have you pursued — or turned down — over these last few years that have most helped you grow? 

Virgo Rising

• What have you published over the last few years? Even if it’s just one thing: you’ve learned that slow and steady wins the race, and you’ve probably clarified your vision. What have you learned about being “enough” as a writer? What have you dug into when it comes to writing about and being more public about your interests in spirituality and/or religion? 

Libra Rising

• What collaborations have you pursued or been presented with over these last few years? What have you learned about working with others that you didn’t know before? And also: let’s talk about money. How has working with others opened you up to addressing longstanding money issues, perhaps around debt or taxes? Even small steps are huge when it comes to emotional healing.

Scorpio Rising

• What have you learned about partnerships — both personal and professional? How have you grown into, or outgrown, relationships? What is your current definition of intimacy and how has it changed over the last few years? How have you been more vulnerable with others and with yourself? How has this impacted your creative work? 

Sagittarius Rising

• What has come up for you in the area of health and wellness over the last few years? Have you made major changes? What new routines do you have now that you didn’t have a few years ago? Getting older means the body changes, and adaptation is a constant. Creativity comes easier when the body is rested and taken care of. How have the adjustments impacted your daily routines? Also, have you gotten a pet, by chance? 

Capricorn Rising

• How have you come to prioritize play and pleasure in your life these last few years? How has this changed your relationship to creativity, to your communities, even to relationships themselves? Remember Mary Oliver as we move forward: joy was not made to be a crumb. 

Aquarius Rising

• Be real: how many times did you move over the last few years? And how did those living situations and moves go? Even if you didn’t move, one thing is sure: you’ve been (re-)building up the base of your life, and stripping everything down to the foundations can be challenging. New growth is beautiful, but it can be disruptive to those around you. What have you learned about the people who you most cherish? The places you most want to be? The home you most want to have? 

Pisces Rising

• What have you learned about your writing routines these last few years? What daily rituals have you experimented with, discarded, committed to, and changed? What have you learned about yourself in this incredibly valuable process? Spaciousness for the self and our creative work is a lifelong practice. Continue to honor that time. 

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*editorial note: the original version of this newsletter included the phrase “from the river to the sea…” which has since been removed. i appreciate conscientious, anti-zionist jewish readers for taking the time to educate me about its complex history. since i’m a non-jewish, non-palestinian white woman, i will refrain from its use and continue onward with other language to support.