Elisa Garcia de la Huerta, Drawing on paper (2017) Follow @ayurvedicmama on Instagram
If you follow astrology you may have heard that Uranus entered Taurus in 2018 and will stay there for another two more years. Anyone feeling those fluctuating and unstable Uranian finances? Uranus, known as “The Great Awakener,” is rocking our once solid foundations of the Taurus-ruled areas of finances, material possessions, autonomy, sensuality, embodiment, land justice, agriculture and perhaps most poignantly, self-esteem.
Planet Uranus represents flashes of insight, sudden and unexpected changes as well as our desire to emancipate and innovate. Uranus being in detriment in Taurus, its powers are weakened. Chaotic Uranus is rebellious and disruptive while Taurus loves routine, consistency and creature comforts. Liberating, economic, global, awakening, value-driven, revolutionary, constructive and lasting – the key to mastering the fundamentally diametric energies of this transit lies in being open to working with unexpected changes and revolutionizing the planet from a global-perspective. This might look like making sure that there is enough resources to go around, distributing them equitably and requiring everyone to contribute their fair share. Student loan forgiveness and cryptocurrency come to mind, but if only it were that simple. Whether it’s battles of territory spurring violence in Palestine, inflation’s erasure and dislocation of the poor and under-resourced, new youth-led movements like Guaranteed Income for Artists, or the shift toward land acknowledgement – revolutionary discourses around money, environmental action in crises and certainly race in America (a land and people forever tainted by its roots as a nation built on free slave labor) are surely firing up the masses. What will come of all the disruption and what the heck does this have to do with Spring Break?
Taurus, as fixed Earth, is the season in which Spring comes to full force. April 20th kicks off the Venusian splendors, lest we forget Taurus is ruled by Venus, Goddess of Love and Beauty. Earthy Venus is the manner in which our soul connects to the body. My body is the first possession, helping my spirit survive in 3D. With Uranus in the sign of materiality since 2018, Spring’s not only here, it’s queer (Uranus also being the planet of freak flags)! In a 2022 article for NYLON, David Odyssey writes, “Uranus in Taurus promised the revolution of comfort, cash, and consumption.” By his lights it’s ushered in Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Thot Sh*t’ hot girl era, birthing a newly unbridled femme and free stance on femininity and womanhood through the lens of late stage capitalism. “Megan may be the archangel of Uranus in Taurus, arriving, like Prometheus, to deliver a new fire to the masses: an unrestrained, insatiable embrace of pleasure, power, beauty and capital. Seduction has always been a cash game; now everyone’s in on it,” writes Odyssey.
Odyssey’s article challenges us to seize this moment as an opportunity to call out the bull’s “trenchant gluttony, entitlement and inability to change,” asking, “Can we collectively achieve a Taurean impossibility: convincing human beings to compromise their entitlement for the greater good?” Improving standards of human decency means shared power, shared resources, accountability and transparency for all involved. Either way, I think we can all agree with Odyssey when he writes that the value of money will never be the same. With Uranus in Taurus, the body and the land are up for reinvention too! (1)
Elisa Garcia de la Huerta, Drawing on paper (2018) Follow @ayurvedicmama on Instagram
Astrologer Barbara Hand Clow informs us that at the occult level Uranus corresponds to kundalini rising. Kundalini energy, visualized as a serpent at the base of the spine, rises according to cycles of the planet Uranus, what also triggers a spiritual crises beginning around our early forties. In Astrology and the Rising of Kundalini Hand Clow explains how the physiological and emotional symptoms of midlife crisis in fact mirror the symptoms of kundalini rising as experienced by people using Eastern practices to intentionally cultivate it. The planets are there whether we acknowledge them or not, dwarfing our piddly little egos, “the only question is whether we use them or get used by them,” concludes Hand Clow.
Kundalini energy rising is one type of natural release we can use to discharge stresses at the somatic level. As the kundalini rises, we experience bodily symptoms according to which chakra is blocked: “chipping away at the character armor we protectively surround ourselves with and [forcing] the individual to deal with major issues of personal integration,” writes Hand Clow. Depending on to what degree one is asleep at the wheel of time, your Uranian wake-up call might feel as gentle as some soothing cranial-sacral therapy or as jolting as an almighty punch in the face (Muhammad Ali ‘The Greatest’ American pro boxer turned activist had a natal Uranus in Taurus). Recall that Uranus, the ‘Great Awakener’ rules the 11th house of the zodiac wheel corresponding with the stage of spiritual development which is about mastering of desires (5th house) in order to consciously participate in the universe and give our ‘gifts’ away (11th house). While it’s easy to get locked in the addictive shadow realms of the 5th house pleasure labyrinth (take it from a 5th house Scorpio Sun!) when sexuality can go beyond survival or procreation it becomes Uranian – creative, electric and oriented to the 11th house of friends, networks, future, technology, dreams, mob mentality, group think, revolution and liberation. If we are struggling to discover what we have to give in this lifetime, we must dig deep into the realms of the 5th house polarity, knowing and feeling that not only does desire churn the world, but conscious pleasure directs us to our purpose. Whereas the 10th house or ‘Midheaven’ of Public Career Destiny is about taking on and utilizing our power in the world, if this is done right, in the 11th house we give back. For many, it is the Uranus’s conflicts of midlife crises which drive us to release our 5th house creativity and self-expression into the whole world – as a gift. (2)
Elisa Garcia de la Huerta, Drawing on paper (2017) Follow @ayurvedicmama on Instagram
Which brings me back to our topic du jour, Uranian Spring Break Essentials, what are they exactly? In a society filling us with an unreasoning need to buy things – what do we actually need? What do we actually value? While Taurus season urges us to feel more embodied and self-possessed connecting us back to our value systems – our core values begin in the heart. Just as we can divine our deeper purpose in this world by following our bliss – what we truly treasure, in our heart of hearts, is ultimately what we value. Family, or maybe it’s chosen family, might be a core value. Have we defined what our values are within our families and chosen families? Are we living by those values? Maybe it’s not an exotic vacation, but just a smile and some eye contact that you require. If so, you may need to resist pressure to buy/be/book the latest…whatever. Recall those fluctuating and unstable Uranian finances. A lot of us have lost or are poised to lose quite a bit in this mess – from the pandemic to the rising cost of daily life – and yet, sometimes losses are blessings in disguise. The wife you lose or the sports car you total during your midlife crisis, was this an unconscious Uranian yard sale?
For those of us with families staying home for Spring Break, recall that we live on an island. New Yorkers are in fact, islanders. The 2 million inhabitants of the sinking land mass known as Manhattan plus the 2 million more that pour into the city as visitors each day is a result of how this area was once a tremendously rich and alive abundant source of natural resources. What’s left of that, with all the air and light and sound pollution, with rivers that prove deadly upon contact and phallic towers that block out the sky? It’s up to us what we make of it. Kicking off this year’s Taurus season is an exact Jupiter-Uranus conjunction on April 20th, what commences a new fourteen year cycle rebooting our innermost primal creative energy. With Uranus in Taurus conjunct the ‘Great Benefic’ we are being called to do away with anything outmoded, anything that keeps us stuck in the past. Uranus in Taurus screams repurpose, salvage and upcycle! It’s an electric energy supporting carbon-neutral, green and zero waste. From tapping into Maple sap’s natural antioxidant and inflammatory properties (perfected in a tree not a factory!) to unleashing the 100% kid-powered Stomp Rocket… here’s my rundown of staples for a healthy, wholesome and embodied week of family fun, Uranian Awakener approved!
Ready, Set, Stomp Rocket!
With Uranian Big Tech off to the races, we now know the value of protecting our children from too much screen time, what I went into in a bit more detail in the article “Three Things Every Radical Mom Should Know.” While the mainstream approach to leveling access to technology appears to be shoving a free laptop in the face of every low-income child, as the Mother of one, I’m pulling the plug. Curious that most of the elite families running the digital superhighway are more likely tucking their mini-me’s away in a Waldorf school with a ball of beeswax than leaving them unchaperoned with an iPhone15. This Spring Break, I’m slapping EMF Blockers on all eligible devices to protect my family from toxic radiation. I’m refusing to short-circuit my son’s endless energy with labels designed to feed him straight to big Pharma and encouraging screen-free, outdoor independent play as much as possible. Elevating your time-off to cosmic heights without being to woo woo about it? Stomp Rocket® has been entertaining kids and their families by stimulating active, outdoor play for over thirty-years. With various Stunt Planes designed by aeronautical engineers, this toy will have your children ready to run, jump and STOMP. 100% kid-powered, these rockets soar up to 400 feet in the air and are appropriate for young ones 3 and up. Chock-full of S.T.E.M. learning opportunities, the Stomp Rocket® Stunt Planes are brought to you by a family owned brand out of Nevada. Voted one of the *25 Hottest Toys for Kids 2022* by the Daily Mom, get ready to say 1-2-3 LIFT-Off! Your inner Uranian will soar.
(c)Tony Donaldson
Find them HERE
Bless Yourself with the Sap of Maples Trees
In the spirit of plant-powered wellness, try adding Sabbatical Beauty’s Maple Essence Toner to your daily skincare regimen. Recently reformulated to repair a damaged skin barrier while deeply hydrating the skin, Maple Essence Toner helps reduce redness and irritation as well as the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. A natural anti-inflammatory, the toner is made with a few simple ingredients – starting with Maple water. Derived from the sap of maple trees, maple water contains antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and complex polysaccharides that soothe inflamed skin. Add to that Hyaluronic Acid for a youthful skin plumping effect alongside Ceramides – naturally-occurring compounds which maintain your skin’s strong barrier against bacteria and free radicals. Fermented minerals like silicone, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc increase the bioavailability of these nutrients, renewing your skin without any harsh chemicals or additives. Launching April 26th, Maple Essence Toner is currently available for preorder online.
Find it HERE
Next, try some refreshment directly from nature. Sparkling Maple Water is brought to you from the women-founded, sustainability-driven Drink Simple. This light and delicious Spring time refresher is naturally full of organic antioxidants, electrolytes, minerals, and polyphenols. Also a verified plant-based prebiotic, heal your gut with maple water made from the delicious sap of maple trees. With 1/2 the sugar content of coconut water, this nutrient-packed, tree-based hydration comes in a variety of flavors like Blackberry Lemon and Raspberry Lemon. Kids love the soda-like feel and taste of Maple Water’s Orange Cream and Tart Cherry Vanilla Cola. Free of artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, added refined sugar and GMOs. Harvested sustainably in a manner contributing to the preservation of North American Maple forests, Drink Simple provides economic incentives for land owners and farmers to keep trees standing – what ensures clean air and secures the natural habitat of thousands of plants & animals.
Find it HERE
See Some Paradigm-Shifting Art
There’s an old proverb that goes something like: When bankers go to dinner they talk about art, when artists go to dinner they talk about money. Take it from a bonafide artist, most of the art world as we know it is a space where the elite launders money and extracts capital and labor from artists – the younger and more naive the better. Waving banners of this or that cause, the bottom line is… artists are forced to compete against fellow artists for scraps in a scarcity economy tricking us into thinking we’re just never good enough. And that’s just speaking for the Art Museums and blue chip spaces. The problem with non-profit spaces is that they channel public funding for the arts into programs that pay administrators salaries while artists work for below standard wages – minus healthcare, childcare or housing security. What would Zoo York be without its artists? Uranus in Taurus is asking us to shake up business as usual. Luckily, artist Yvonne Shortt, a former mathematician, is crunching the numbers and taking the institutions to task.
In her multifold new series The Institution and the Artist: What the Cluck and Shedding my Toxic Core, she addresses the notion of scarcity within the art market, what she personally defines as ‘competition, gatekeeping, hierarchies, and exclusivities.’ Her new activist installation series is a collaboration with her daughter Rebecca West. What began at Brooklyn’s female-run A.I.R. Gallery has now moved in pieces to New Haven’s Ely Center for Contemporary Art, where it will be on view all Spring Break and beyond.
The Institution and the Artist: What the Cluck and Shedding my Toxic Core: Part III (2024) Yvonne Short & Rebecca West, Ely Center for Contemporary Art
In the spirit of poking the Bull, like a Taurean dream team the Mother/Daughter duo demonstrates how the act of making art is almost always tied to the material, to matter, or rather to ‘Alma Mater’ (Mother). In the myth of Demeter and Persephone or the myth of ‘Spring held hostage,’ Demeter’s daughter descends into the underworld where she is raped by Hades (Pluto) – Lord of the Underworld and of wealth. Taurus being one half of the Scorpio-Taurus Sex Axis or Death-Birth polarity, the myth reminds us that only the Mother has the power to bless us with her fertile fruits, or nah. The cyclical descent of her daughter into the underworld is symbolic of the winter death (Pisces season) in which we experience a dissolution of ego-consciousness and processes of karmic clearing. Approaching sustainability from a materials perspective in their practice, Shortt and West make nature’s abundance a regular part of their provocative oeuvre – using the discarded sticks of beavers to create pieces for play, conversation, and energy shifts and creating paint from soil. In a recent post on Instagram the Shortt writes, “How a non-profit with 2 million in revenue, 13 million in in-kind real estate, and 650 gala tickets paying artists 100-300 for murals inspired my next project – The Institution & The Artist: We Are Clucked. Needless to say, there will be chickens, wheat paste, fine art on canvas, and multiples in the streets of NYC. I think we as artists have to continue to push back against this type of exploitation. I also think it runs deep. We have been taught to say yes to any and every opportunity. We have not been taught to evaluate each one using financial fairness and equitable actions/practices for our Artist community. And when we as artists just getting by say yes we continue to let them exploit us. When we say we can’t afford not to I think we can’t afford to say yes. The problem is there is always someone willing to say yes.”
The Institution and the Artist: What the Cluck and Shedding my Toxic Core: Part III is on view April 14-June 2 at the Ely Center for Contemporary Art, 51 Trumbull St. in New Haven, CT
For more information visit Yvonne Shortt’s website
Follow the artist on Instagram @yvonne_shortt
Revive your Roots with Revolutionary Footwear
To be honest, I never much cared for Crocs. I don’t want to look like a lab technician, and like a true Uranian, I prefer to stand out from the crowd! Give me a vintage jelly, but never a basic toe. That being said, the practicality of a comfortable, durable, easy to slip on shoe with a sleek, futuristic design has its benefits. Us laymen may not yet be walking on the Moon, but forward brands like KANE have wholly revolutionized footwear. A transformative, sustainably designed injection molded sneaker made from sugarcane-based EVA foam,The Kane Revive offers all the functionality of Crocs, minus the blasé. An active recovery shoe designed in collaboration with board-certified foot and ankle surgeon Dr. Daniel Geller, it’s the first of its kind designed specifically for active recovery.The Kane Revive renews one of the most important and often taken-for granted parts of the body – your foot – by stimulating circulation and blood flow. Washable, quick-drying and ultra-durable, the shoe’s six recovery features work together to afford peak readiness for athletes, walkers, kids and adults of all ages. A potpourri of spring colors and inspiring collabs with pro athletes seals the deal. Shop for the whole clan while KANE offers free shipping on orders over $100.
Find it HERE
Grab & Go Gut-Healthy Breakfast
Start your day right with a 9AM Good Morning Focus Acai Hibiscus Superfood Seedbar by Joulebody. Packed with a Mom-approved seed protein blend of chia, hemp, flax, pumpkin and sunflower; this simple whole food breakfast bar offers lasting energy and delicious taste. Each ingredient is carefully curated to feed the body’s intricate and interconnected ecosystem. Packed with deliciously chewy superfoods — acai for antioxidants, hibiscus for focus, dates for fiber and sweetness and goji for nutrients – Joulebody brings you much more than just a wholesome, convenient treat. Packaged in groupings designed for a gentle 3-day cleanse, Joulebody’s holistic bars and teas are designed to regenerate the digestive system and increase physical and mental wellbeing – any Mother knows you can’t separate the two! Founded by Yvette Rose (Mother, Yogi, Holistic Health Coach & trailblazer in the field of body-mind wellness) her company began with her own dark night of the soul as a new mother dealing with symptoms of an imbalanced gut microbiome and the impact it had on her newborn’s health. A tragic struggle with postpartum depression and a sick child eventually sparked the creation of Joulebody, a holistic wellness brand committed to helping women connect with their inner power and live a life of purpose & passion.
Find it HERE
Rollerskating at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Nature might be the only thing us New Yorkers lack, however, we likewise put that much more effort into our tremendous maze of outdoor public parks. Whether you’ve climbed the peaks of Slide Mountain at Pier 6, sailed the zipline at The Yard of Governor’s Island, or simply jogged with a view of the East River and the glittering skyline at dusk, you know we go hard True York! Lace up your skates! My last Spring Break pick is friends and family fun time at Pier 2 Roller Rink Brooklyn Bridge Park. With public skate sessions starting as low as $8, urban leisure never felt so fly! Best cure for late afternoon boredom, also perfect for birthday parties, field trips and fundraisers. See the flyer below for upcoming free admission days.
Plan your visit HERE
To learn more about planet Uranus and other key placements in your personal natal chart book Midheaven Or Nah’s Astro-Oracle HERE Follow @midheavenornah on Instagram for celebrity astro-insights
NOTES
- “URANUS IN TAURUS & THE BATTLE FOR EMBODIMENT” by David Odyssey, NYLON MAG, June 30, 2022, online
- Astrology and the Rising of Kundalini: The Transformative Power of Saturn, Chiron and Uranus by Barbara Hand Clow, Vermont: Bear & Company, 1991
