Full moon in Taurus is coming — hold on and ride it til’ it bucks you

Horns high and defiance nigh, the last supermoon of the year is upon us.

On Friday, November 15th, the full beaver moon will rise at 24 degrees in the fixed earth sign of Taurus.

The blessed bull moon will appear up to 14% bigger and brighter — all the better to see the stark lines of our failures and majesties, folks.

The moon will reach peak illumination at 4:28 p.m. ET, but we will all feel the effects of this lunation through November 19th.

Read on to learn more.

Full moon in Taurus 2024

The full moon is the halfway point in the moon’s lunar cycle when tides and emotions ride high. There is no hiding under a full moon, as its light reflects what can no longer be ignored or endured.

On Friday, the moon in Taurus will oppose the sun in Scorpio.

Zodiac polarities, Scorpio and Taurus, are both fixed signs that go hard and hold on tight. Themes for this lunation include power, intimacy, resources, release, and self-rescue.

Taurus rules the throat and is associated with consumption and the tangible, in all its glorious forms. In contrast and complement, Scorpio rules the bowels and the genitals and is associated with expulsion and release — power in all of its expressions.

This is the axis of life and death, sustenance and survival, what feeds us and what feeds from us.

As Sarah Faith Gottesdiener eloquently explains, “After too long spent in one state, without compost-without death, we forget our true natures and become stagnant. We are nature, and nature is meant to change. The seasons shift, animals and plants adapt, and ecosystems rely on decay. So do we.”

Courting chaos

The moon is exalted in Taurus, where it can claim comfort and return to stasis through pleasure. This position offers support and consistency in an increasingly unhinged world.

The moon in Taurus reminds us that no matter where lightning strikes or how unbearable the act of being becomes, we can return to the earthly anchor of the body and the promise of a fallow field.

This full moon will be in conjunction with Uranus, our unruly shock jock plant of the unexpected and the unconventional, meaning this moon could come correct with some wild surprises and might shine a floodlight on a truth, solution or opportunity far beyond our furthest imaginings.

This lunation marks the final time a full moon will rise while Pluto, our death daddy planet of karmic reckoning, is in Capricorn. Beginning next week, the dark dwarf will set up shop in Aquarius, where he will reign, raise, and ruin until 2043.

Taurus full moon

The Taurus/Scorpio axis is personified by the archetypes of Persephone and Pluto, teaching us that we must descend to discover (Scorpio) our true nature (Taurus). This axis, this moon, and this myth teach us that we can survive more than we imagine, rot is the compost of renewal, and real power is found in reconfiguring ourselves after devastation.

Full moons are always about release and revelation, but as Taurus/Scorpio is also the axis of the possessive/obsessive, there’s added impetus to let go and let others be. Rosabeth Moss Kanter reminds us, “When we do change to people, they experience it as violence, but when people do change for themselves, they experience it as liberation.”

Always and often in dramatic detail, the full moon shows us what we must process in order to progress. I hope that under this particular light, you will choose the change that sets you free.

Meaning of the Full Beaver Moon

As per “The Old Farmer’s Almanac,” November’s full moon is known as the Beaver or Frost Moon, an homage to the chill in the air and the industrious buck-toothed mammals that seek shelter in their lodges as they prepare for the barren months to come.

In the circle of life and the pursuit of warmth, this full moon also correlates to the time of the year trappers set their sights on beavers and their promissory pelts.

Beavers communicate danger by slapping the surface of the water, a signal that tells others to seek safety in the dark depths, an apt metaphor for the Taurus/Scorpio axis.

With teeth that never cease to grow and a transparent third eyelid that allows them to see underwater, we can read these creatures as totemic of knowledge without end and this full moon as an invitation to awaken to unforeseen dangers and possibilities.

How will the full moon in Taurus affect my zodiac sign?

Because this full moon falls in a fixed axis, those with personal planets in the fixed signs: looking at you, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, and specifically those with placements in or around 24 degrees, will feel the effects of this lunation most acutely.

To determine how this full moon will express itself in your life, look to the house within your birth chart ruled by Taurus.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon is also the last of 2024. The Cold Moon in Gemini rises on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, and reaches maximum brightness around 4:01 A.M EST.

Astrology 101: Your guide to the star

Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.