Taurus' Moon:
The Wesak Festival 2010
Of Dentists and Demons
at the Full Moon in Scorpio 2010
Malvin Artley, our regular esoteric commentator, presents the Wesak Festival, 2010, the celebration of the Buddha. This is Taurus's Full Moon, as the Moon is full in the sign opposing the Sun. The Full Moon of Taurus (the Full Moon at Scorpio 8º 07') takes place on the 28th of April 2010 at around 12:20 UT (GMT). Wesak celebrations will be held in May, but the key point is the Full Moon in Scorpio, which comes early this year.
Greetings All!
Dentists and I have a long and checkered history. As a child, up until my permanent teeth came in, I was constantly in the dentist's chair—a combination of hereditary trouble with my primary teeth and too much 'good living'. As a result, I came to dread visits to the dentist, half-yearly or otherwise. Then, when I was a teenager and all the permanent teeth had finally arrived I found to my consternation that I would need braces for four years. Ugghh! As a teenager, I was devastated. My dentist when I was a child was a kindly man and a family friend. His daughter was a student of my father and both my mom and dad had pretty bad teeth, which I inherited. My dentist was delighted to see the Artley clan arrive! He made a lot of money from us. I remember my numerous visits to him very clearly. He had the syringe for numbing the mouth hanging in alcohol in plain view. I used to look at it with a sense of foreboding as he would work on me and hope and pray it would not be used that session. Unfortunately, I got more than my share of it. He was a smoker, too, which eventually killed him. Back in those days the dangers of smoking were not so much in the fore of people's minds, though. I remember his breath, and the smell of cigarettes hung in his clothes. Needless to say, my memories of the dentist were anything other than fond. To this day I get nervous going to have dental work done and avoid it if I can. Needless to say, as well, I learned through it all to take very good care with my teeth. Thankfully, my permanent teeth are good.
Hobart Perdue (my childhood dentist) was a champion wrestler in his days at university. He was a presence when he walked into the room. My dad made certain in my teenage years that I knew he was a wrestler—in case I got any ideas, you know? Whenever I sat in the chair there at his practice and after cleaning my teeth he would get his dental probe and wrap his arm around my head and start poking away at my teeth, looking for the usual suspects, all the time asking me how I had been and how I was doing at school—all the time holding my head firmly in place. There was no escape, no getting away from the karma of my middle class fast-food-and-candy-after-school lifestyle. I can still hear him breathing through his nose to this day, still smell the cigarettes. Then, it would happen—his probe would find a spot, hit its mark, and out would come the dreaded drill bits. Hopefully I would escape the syringe if the 'place' (as he called it) was not too big or deep. He was careful, though, very concerned if I felt any pain and very skillful, and thankfully quick. Really, if I look back on it he rarely used the needle unless I asked for it or if the 'place' was too far gone. I have had many comments from dentists after him on how fine his work was. Aside from being a champion wrestler he was also obviously a champ as a dentist. I will never forget the hold he would have on my head, though, and be forever grateful for the work he did on my teeth, though I will cringe at the memory of many of my visits there to the day I pass from this world.
A Contradiction in Terms?
Hobart had to have had some Taurus in his nature, though he was a Capricorn. He was bulky—solid. He exuded 'Taurean-ness'. He was not a man to be trifled with, yet he was comforting and caring, all the while liking his own comforts. When he sat in a chair across from you his power as a man was palpable, yet looking back on him he had a sensitivity to people that was no less apparent. Considering the preceding, this story line brings us to the considerations for the Taurean interval this year, for Taurus is often a contradiction in terms to many people. Taureans are often seen as strong, yet vulnerable; bull-headed, yet overly sensitive; seemingly thick by ordinary appearances, yet possessed often of the greatest insights into people and life; ruled by their desires, yet capable of the greatest of spiritual effort when called upon to do so. There is no other sign that can exude power—willfulness—in the way that Taurus can, yet it is a sign that is marked by the clearest of insights.
Most Taureans I know have an uncanny ability to know exactly what to do and when, to know the path that should be taken in any given circumstance, so long as they are not guided by their desires in a given matter. If it is desire or emotion that guides a Taurean, then they unfailingly make the wrong decision and can make a disaster of their lives. I have seen it happen many times. However, if they are guided by their wisdom, then they are unfailingly correct. The probe of their mind always seems to find its mark and their wisdom eye lights the way for all who seek their advice or follow the Taurean's course. However, desire is strong in Taurean types (Sun and/or Ascendant in the sign) and that is the one area of life that will produce crisis in the life of Taurus. Sooner or later, every Taurean type has to make a choice, especially if Taurus is the Sun-sign: “Do I opt for material comfort and/or security and the satisfaction of my worldly desires—sex, food, money, sensual pleasures, etc.,—or do I turn my back on the things and sensations of the world and work toward what will give me true happiness—happiness far into the future (meaning at least many lifetimes into the future)?”
Full of Light
Every Taurean type if they are at all spiritually inclined must at some point learn the folly of worldly satisfaction as an end game or goal. One of my teachers once told me, “Be content, but never satisfied. Satisfaction only breeds discontent and stops one's progress.” To be frank, many people equate 'contentment' with 'accepting second-best'. That is not at all the case and the distinction is certainly what my teacher was trying to get across to me. Contentment, as he would call it, is not at all about accepting one's lot, about taking lesser options. Rather, it is more about sensing that one is on the right track with things, that one is doing what one can in the moment, and that what is needed to reach one's goals is steadily being provided. The one catch in this is that the 'goal' in this case is not for affairs of this life or any other life for that matter. Instead, the goal is release from the thrall of the illusions we think are pleasures. Taurus is the sign that leads us from darkness into Light, and the Light it conveys is the Light of the Path itself. The 'path' referred to in this context is actually the method which frees us from the bondage of our karma in all of its ramifications, bad and good.
Taurus, at the apex of its work with the humanity of this world, leads one to a certain attainment, the nature of which is held in the words:
I see, and when the eye is opened, all is full of light.
The fullness of the experience of the more or less permanent opening of the wisdom eye (for that is what the 'eye of the Bull' actually represents) is a very specific milestone on the road to enlightenment. Taurus leads us to the very portal of the first true initiatory experience, the first full direct experience (beyond all human thought and conception) of the clear light (the light of the higher nature), the Transfiguration experience or Initiation. From then on one is firmly on the bodhisattva grounds and full enlightenment is virtually guaranteed. Once one has a direct experience of the light of the higher nature—the primordial Mind, the Essence, Monad, Buddha-nature, Emptiness, Spirit—call it what you will, then life is changed forever. The festival of Wesak is intimately associated with the buddha of our present era (Shakyamuni), but more than that it is connected with the spiritual will that will eventually lead us to what Taurus really represents—the full illumination of the path for all whom we seek to help—the clear way to full enlightenment, and to step onto that path is to let go of any and all ordinary (worldly and conceptual) attachments and appearances. The only 'desire' after such an experience is to be of service, to relieve the suffering of all beings.
A Sign of Great Promise
Taurus is a sign of great promise and its associated spiritual festival is the most powerful of the year. It has been stated in past letters, but at the time of the full moon of Taurus (May full moon), Buddha Shakyamuni is said to return to our world and bestow a blessing, but he is only supposedly here for eight minutes at the time of the actual full moon. I have no way of verifying that from my end, but I can definitely say from my own experience of past Taurus festivals that it is always indeed a powerful interval. There is always some blessing in it for me and I have heard many people report the same for themselves. The Taurus festival is, shall we say, unforgettable, and in a way that no other full moon can match. Something is always revealed and something else is always shaken loose, whatever that is being unique to every group and individual. It hammers us, yet it is balm for troubled lives. It frees us in some way from our own demons and worst enemy—ourselves.
In part two of this article, Malvin Artley continues his exploration of the esoteric meanings of the Full Moon in Scorpio, the Wesak Festival for 2010. He warns of a bumpy road ahead as the world undergoes a process of purification, leading to a transformation of society.
Read part two of The 2010 Wesak Festival at the Full Moon in Scorpio. 
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 Malvin Artley is an accredited member of the American Federation of Astrologers. His primary focus over the past 25 years has been on the sciences as they express occultism and with bridging work between the two. His special interests in those fields are the human subtle energy system and all the chakras, or energy centres, physics and technology, astronomy and all aspects of Chinese occultism.
He sends out periodic emails about astrological happenings and developments. These letters are sent out as a gift and a service. If you wish to be added to or deleted from the mailing list please let me know. If you feel inspired to pass them on please do so, but do so without alteration or charge. They are sent to people of many persuasions, not just astrologers. Blessings. Click here to subscribe to Malvin's periodic letters.
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