Tuesday, November 8th
Full Moon
Total Lunar Eclipse
in Taurus 16°01'
3:03 am PST

Lunar Eclipse in Taurus
by Marika Clymer

Greetings my beloveds, and welcome to Scorpio season. This time of year, we think of darkness as it greets us more than the light—we think of turning within and creating offerings to ancestors. This Eclipse season feels particularly potent for all forms of processing, including emotional composting and metabolization.

I give and express my gratitude for one of my peers and students, Madison Nees, for introducing me to the language of “metabolization” within the context of healing trauma. She once said that trauma is not meant to be released necessarily, but rather metabolized within the body. The use of that language is powerful–metabolization vs. releasing—and implies that our body is capable of processing and integrating all that is useful for us, consciously shedding what is not. The body (and spirit) is an agent of discernment over what it chooses to carry physically emotionally, and energetically. As a traditional healer, I always rejected the language used around energy healing that pathologized the body and the portals of energy that are contained within it. Words used to describe energy within the body, such as “blockages,” and “removal of blockages” always felt to me very surgical in nature. The goal of spirituality is not to disassociate from our bodies or “remove” our wounds, but rather to heal them through integration, and to become more deeply embodied.

I invite you to spend time in nature this week. What do you notice about the trees? What do you feel in your body when you are near them? For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we will most likely see the deciduous trees’ leaves transitioning, but it isn’t just the leaves that are undergoing massive transformation—the tree itself is also transitioning. When the leaves on a tree turn yellow, they remain on the tree because there is still life contained within them. These leaves are in the process of transferring their energy and nutrients back to the tree itself. And so, by the time every leaf has been released and offered to the ground beneath that tree, the tree has metabolized all that was contained within its canopy back into its core and roots.

During the time surrounding this Lunar Eclipse, we are invited into a portal of space and timelessness to begin the work of metabolizing our year. When I think of a Lunar Eclipse, I envision a person standing amidst parted seas, the Moon illuminating their path. This Lunar Eclipse in Taurus allows a brief moment in time where the ocean of past and future part to allow our spirit a moment of conscious, restful metabolization. We get to sink our toes into the wet sand and spend time with our spirit and our body, with nothing to distract us but the subtle feeling of shadowy moonlight on our skin.

It is also a time to set intentions for the weeks to come: to pray for ease, comfort, and clarity as we notice the number of leaves on our tree reduce. We may witness the gulf widen between the experiences of this year that have given us a sense of selfhood, contrasted with who we really are at our core...who we are before our ancestors, and before Creator.

— To read the rest of Marika Clymer's Lunar Eclipse in Taurus essay—including her journaling prompts and prayer for grounding—download the November Guide. Looking for Eclipse insights and magic making opportunities like this? Order the 2023 Many Moons Lunar Planner!

Marika Clymer (she/her) is a traditional healer of Ainu, Japanese, and European lineages born and residing on the land of the Duwamish people, colonially recognized as Seattle, WA. Her work as a traditional healer is rooted in ancestral practices, energy work, ceremony, plant medicine, and radical liberation work. Marika also teaches one of her ancestral traditions of Reiki from a critical, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive root system, seeking to undo decades of deep cultural harm as the result of cultural appropriation and the widespread erasure of Japanese Shinto. Find her at moonhousenw.com