Global Spiritual Astrology in April-May 2008 - It's the Full Moon of Taurus-Scorpio, also known as The Wesak Festival!

by Robert Wilkinson

We are taught that a Full Moon represents a potentially enlightened state, where the Moon, which represents form, perfectly reflects the greater light of the Sun. It marks a time when the seed state of the New Moon begins to become fully actualized. The Full Moon of Sun in Taurus and Moon in Scorpio is special in a major way, since for millennia it has been celebrated as emblematic of the birth and enlightenment Moon of the Buddha, said to be the first human to fully transcend suffering attaining full enlightenment, then return to the world to teach the truths he found.

The Wesak is said to be the 2nd of the "Three High Moons" of Spring, anchoring the outpouring of life into forms of awareness that can help us transcend suffering as well. This year is special, in that we have 2 Full Moons in Taurus/Scorpio.

The first one falls this Sunday at 1 degree of Taurus/Scorpio and occurs on Passover (to mix metaphors), April 20, at 3:25 am PDT, which is 6:25 am EDT, 11:25 am Greenwich Daylight Time, and assuming daylight time is observed, 1:25 pm in Istanbul, 4:55 pm in India, and 9:25 pm in Melbourne Australia.

The second Full Moon of Taurus/Scorpio falls at 30 degrees on Victoria Day, May 19, at 7:11 pm PDT, which is 10:11 pm EDT, 3:11 am May 20 Greenwich Daylight Time, with the same time differentials mentioned in the previous paragraph. Some groups around the world are celebrating on April 20, while others are celebrating in May. I plan to celebrate both days as extraordinarily special, since these two Full Moons in Taurus/Scorpio won't happen again until 2027.

An explanation of this celebration follows. Each year the Wesak Festival is celebrated at the Full Moon of Taurus-Scorpio in May. This global festival celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and teachings of the Buddha, said to be the most enlightened human ever to walk this planet. He taught the doctrine of compassion and the ways to end suffering around 500 BC, and his teachings have spread through the entire world since then. This is the largest spiritual celebration in the world, and has nothing to do with religion, since the Buddha was focused on how to live, not what to believe.

It is said that the Wesak Festival (usually the Full Moon of May, but this year is different due to the doubled influence) is when the Gautama Siddhartha, known to history as the Buddha, “opens the treasure chest” and sends out a new global energy of compassion to end suffering every year. Supposedly when He left the Earth plane, his blessing for all time was a thought-form of “Buddha Nature,” which would renew the loving-compassion on the Earth whenever it was sent forth. This is the time when it renews itself for another year.

As a friend of the site offered in a previous discussion, on a deeper, more spiritual level it is said that every Wesak the Buddha actually briefly descends from the Heavens to return to that secret valley in the Himalayas known as Shamballa. There, surrounded by the Adepts, Disciples and others, he pours out an annual blessing for all sentient beings on this planet.

He taught the 4 Noble Truths about life on Earth, and the 8 Fold Path as a way to live to end suffering for ourselves and others. While this is not the forum for an exhaustive discussion of the 4 Noble Truths and the 8-fold Path, if you haven't already seen it, (and even if you have!), please get a copy of "Little Buddha" to know more about the life of this most amazing man for the ages.His life and teachings were dedicated to shine a light on the Way beyond suffering.

Though there are many ways his teachings have been stated and interpreted, anyone who actually practices the techniques will in fact find they are lessening suffering in their lives, and finding peace in a higher way of doing their Being. To quote HH Dalai Lama, “There is one thing we can all agree on. More suffering is bad. Less suffering is good.” This is the time of the renewal of energies that can lead all of us to less suffering in our life, and maybe be of service in lessening the suffering of others we know.

I was asked to comment about the "Three High Moons" of which the Wesak Full Moon is the 2nd of the 3. The so-called "Three High Moons" of Spring relate to the teachings of the Tibetan Master D.K. Briefly, they are the three Full Moons of Spring each year when the life force reawakens, is poured out, and refined into a higher vision and understanding by the World Teacher.

The Full Moon of Aries-Libra is the awakening of Nature Herself, with life blooming everywhere there is a living process occurring. The Full Moon of Taurus-Scorpio is the Wesak, the anchoring of the awakened life force in a form of compassion that will lessen suffering for all Earth's creatures for the next year. The Full Moon of Gemini-Sagittarius is said to be the "Christfest" where the World Teacher takes the new outpouring and through multiplication and distribution, spreads the teaching in infinitely varied ways according to local conditions.

So these next days meditate, open, feel the global compassion becoming stronger and more evident, and purify your life and consciousness however you need to in order to open to the timeless truths offered long ago by the one who set the pattern for the Ages. A Happy Buddha Birthday to you all, and may you all find a form of Buddha nature which increases your wisdom and compassion throughout the next year!

For more information on the April celebrations, you can check out Lucis Trust, which is doing it globally on April 20, as are Souldout and some other organizations.

For more information on the May celebrations at Mt. Shasta and in Germany, you can go to the websites for the Mt. Shasta gathering or to Wesak Festival Deutschland.

There are other organizations celebrating one or the other, of course, so by all means celebrate whichever one that calls, or both. It's all good. Aum Mani Padme Hum!!

© Copyright 2008 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Micheline]

Lisa Dale Miller posted that the full moon will occur at 0 scorpio 43 degrees, but you say one degree? Which is it? Or is that a rounding off the number kind of situation? Not that it matters much for me as it falls in my third house anyway.

[Robert]

Hi Micheline - 0 degrees and change equals 1 degree. 1 degree and change equals 2 degrees, and so forth. It's not a round, but a fraction commences the process which fulfills itself at the whole degree, much as when we are 30 it marks the end of 30 years and the beginning of our 31st year of life. When we hit 31, it commences our 32nd.

[Tamara]

Robert,
I was wondering if you have any intuition about the spiritual meaning of there being two wesak moons this year, or what the stars might say about this special period?

[VH]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the explanation about these Full Moons. I didn't realize that the Taurus/Scorpio pair was connected with the Buddha. I know that they will be important to me because the first one is exactly conjunct my Neptune-Mercury conjunction at 0 Scorpio in first house, and the second one is exactly conjunct my North Node at 29 Scorpio in 2nd house. Good to know that these Full Moons are associated with enlightenment and compassion. I will check out the 4 Noble Truths and 8 Paths.
Namaste

[duck ling sky]

hiya, was wondering how this plays over conj. to noth node 0 . 11 min. scorpio 6 10 58 6.29 pm horace harding n.y. or simply how does full moon trans. natal nodes read. thanks

[Helen]

Hi Robert,

I thought I might see you in this neck of woods since His Holiness the Dalai Lama is in Ann Arbor.

But if you are ever in my neck of woods, please contact me. I would love to meet you in person and thank you for all you have done for me.

Peace,

Helen

[abacus]

Helen, hug Robert from us too :-)

Happy Buddha Day !

[Robert]

Hi Tamara - Well, this rare astronomical phenomenon won't occur again for a couple of decades. Two New or Full Moons occur in one month quite often, but not in Taurus. Technically only the Full Moon of May is the Wesak, but since we have two in Taurus, I suppose we can consider both of them Wesaks. They bracket the sign of Taurus, the first showing the entry energy, the pure Taurus potential. The last shows the fulfillment of that type of energy. One is Substantiation on the actional level, the other Confirmation on the individual, mental, and spiritual levels. Studying the aspects made by each lunation would reveal much, as would the Venus position, since it's the ruler of both lunations. Another factor to consider is that since the Full Moon fulfills the previous New Moon, the one we just had relates to the prior New Moon in Aries, whereas the 2nd one will fulfill the coming New Moon in Taurus. Just a few things to consider.

Hi VH - The first should give you focus and realizations related to Mercury-Neptune, the second will stimulate your Nodal axis.

Hi Duck - The Sun is on your SN, Moon on NN. This will concretize your Nodal expression in very clear ways. Your line of natural expression and least resistance will be illuminated, while you should find a new form and widening of experience around your magnetic pull toward your line of greatest evolutionary development.

Hi Helen - I wish I were sitting with you and His Holiness during this particular time, but instead I'm putting in cherry trees, tomatoes, figs and flowers and getting ready to paint the house while dealing with windbags and middle aged children who don't know appropriate boundaries. Life on Earth is never dull. And of course you have thanked me, and of course should I ever make it to Michigan I'll let you (and others) know. As of right now, it seems the only places I'm traveling in the last half of 2008 are Los Angeles, hopefully Amsterdam, and definitely the Hamptons.

Hi abacus - I feel virtual hugs as well as real ones, so it's all very very good. Thanks for your blessings.

[Dirk A. van Mulligen]

Hi Robert,

I just want to share a strange experience I had during Wesak. I'm not very much into Buddhism so I was in for a surprise during Wesak. I visited my in-laws and got offered some chocolats. Guess what, a chocolat (just one in the whole pack) in the shape of Buddha. How's that for a surprise!
I never saw one of those before and getting offered one on Wesak was pretty synchronistic, to say the least. I certainly feel blessed...

Thanks for pointing out the importance of Wesak in advance. That really added impact to the moment.

Best regards,

Dirk

[Robert]

Hi Dirk - A chocolate Buddha is a magical thing indeed! Glad you could share this. May your next year bring you sweetness, richness, delicious surprises, and a greater love and wisdom.

[Divi]

hi there! so glad to be here. what a boon you are. I just found out my south node is in Scorpio and north node in Taurus. Taurus is foreign to me so that's how I'll treat it...like learning a new foreign culture, which is an attribute of my natal sign Sag. I never saw myself as a 'Truth Seeker' or has it been my fears that have kept me away? at this age in my life, I'm apparently within Aquarius influence. who knew! ah, the joys of learning. I'm not into Astrology as much as you are but fascinated by you and your site. I revel in other myriad metaphysical subjects. with the help of 2 of my friends who are versed in sacred mystery schools, service and Buddism, etc, I have channeled my Higher Self (who is me of course) but she (me) is more uninhibited, less pretentious and more ME than my own ego self here :/ she converses in an animated fashion, a kind of sign language. I'm an old Soul, and in Souldom she is a 'queen'. I haven't fathomed that yet. I try to stay aligned with her by being true to myself...not always an easy task. (When you die, you die to your Higher Self, but some people wouldn't even recognize themselves!) I have acquainted my Twin Flame. he's not incarnated with me at this time. I've never felt such glowing warmth. he's very real. I communicate now with my H.S. and T.F. by way of Stichomancy (divining fine literature) at facade.com (I'm not affiliated with them.) everyone can do this!. my H.S.(she/me) tells me of her garden and some things I've never thought of (which ties in with Taurus, the Spritual Gardener) and my T.S. write/sends poetry which speaks to my Soul :) // I've reached what some call 'Samadhi' (?) after practicing a Tantra routine for 3 months. an exquisite feeling up my spine and an out-of-body experience. there I was with no form but eyes to see in complete silence, no space, no time, where my every thought and word had bouncing energy and clarity. then for 3 days afterwards it was as if I lived in what is indeed a hologram. it was fun to see transparent objects from other realms floating in front of me. right now I'm looking for info on Charismatics (no no, not the religious kind). these people keep to themselves, no info on the internet. they are able to bend time, space, will. have met 2 of them. oops, way off topic. // I've heard of an interesting exercise...instead of uttering OM (AUM) 100,000 times, just imagine all the world's people chanting OM at the same time...this will be my blessing and compassion May 19 at 10:11 pm. ...well I'm off to explore the site. Namaste. a Homo Spiritus, Toronto.

[Robert]

Hi Divi - Sounds like you're having the time of your life exploring the subtle realms. There are elements in what you describe perfectly in line with some timeless teachings I'm familiar with. Perhaps the whole world is learning to Aum on a constant basis, and when we reach the "hundredth monkey" point, then the changeover to the new era will be pointed in the right direction.

[reefaroundme]

When I first read this article in May, I thought: oh no, my powerful old Scorpio father... it would take something like two Scorpio full moons in a row. What I feared came to pass.

He was extraordinary. It's hard to explain. The night before he went, I looked at his chart even though I was sure he would get better, and was not really surprised to see his Sun, Mercury and Mars all in Scorpio (plus Eros, for good measure), all in the 8th house! His north node was within two degrees of transiting Mercury; transiting Uranus was closely conjunct his natal Jupiter and his ascendant (Uranus is also conjunct my north node, and both my sister's Suns).

Well, we love forever. It's certainly a new era for me. My Neptune is exactly conjunct his Sun, too, so you know I thought the world of him! I never really looked at my family's charts before, and the conjunctions alone are kind of astonishing. I don't even have a question, or I have too many questions; I just wanted to share this, as I thought about your article many times over the last few months. Thank you for your writing, Robert; it's helped illuminate a very dark time.