Should you be afraid of the flower moon on May 5?

Whether to be concerned by the moon phases at all boils down to matters of faith and belief

Star of horror movies. Looming presence on romantic dates. Centre of political controversy (did we land on it or not?). Muse. Goddess. The moon is, and has been, a constant in humankind’s existence. Given the unpredictable nature of life, the moon has been granted the status of a seer, its relatively stable phases of waxing and waning imbued with meaning. The full moon is a sign to release intentions, the new moon to set some. While eclipses bring out secrets, dark moon phases force you to confront what you’ve been brushing under the carpet. 

Releasing and letting go 

Once upon a time, humankind looked up and started to track the positions of heavenly bodies. Since then, we’ve proved the efficacy of circadian rhythms. There are those who believe that the moon has both a psychological and physiological effect on them. There have been a few studies but nothing conclusive yet, beyond the fact the moon might affect sleeping patterns and possibly bipolar patients. But if astrologers are to be believed, then the phases of the moon carry with it different energies that can help you navigate life. “We move from the new moon to the full moon, and to the dark moon,” says Zohra Shakti, Tarot Empress and Crystal Therapist. “So in the first half of the cycle, the energy increases. That's when you're planting the seed you're growing, and nurturing it in the new moon phase. And the second half is about releasing and letting go, seeing how that plays out in your energy field. The dark moon phase is the complete void the night just before the new moon. According to me, that's when we're actually most sensitive to our triggers. All your shadows are out to play.” Then there are lunar eclipses, and a major one is on May 5. It’s an intense one—eclipses are usually ‘heavy’ astrologically, signalling individuals to let go. The  lunar eclipse on May 5 takes place in Scorpio, and is therefore more intensified. Expect to ‘purge through emotional release’. 

Confronting crisis 

In the last few years, for most of us, life has not just been unpredictable, it’s been the stuff of nightmares and farces. The ‘godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton recently claimed worries about the implications of ChatGPT in the present and the future. The doomsday clock around climate change seems to be ticking faster than ever, with weather patterns altering alarmingly and drastically overnight. Mass layoffs, astronomical costs of living, an impending recession, mental health crises, and increasing alienation among human beings—doesn’t it all look wonderful?

One of the ways of dealing with it all is to approach it esoterically. Tarot cards, angel card readings, psychic healings, and moon phases—even the most cynical among us are surreptitiously reading our horoscopes every morning. It’s not so much as blind belief in what they say, but more about seeking clarity and guidance in the face of overwhelming uncertainty. “I think during the lockdown, people kind of veered towards it even more,” says Danesh Kumar, a natural born psychic. “They’ve been fed a lot of Western ideology and scientific information because of what they went through with the COVID-19 pandemic, that now they want another type of love language for themselves, or a knowledge language,” he adds. People are struggling with their mental and emotional health. And letting the moon’s eight phases, the major and minor arcana, and the position of the stars provide clarity or guidance—is perhaps an easier way to manage life. “I think over the next few years, these holistic measures, be it tarot or astrology, might become different ways of healing yourself, which is otherwise not conventional,” says Kumar. 

Separating spiritualism from therapy

The success of Instagram accounts like Moon Omens (5.8 million followers), astrologers like Chani Nichols and her successful app CHANI, and tarot card readers including Alina or Ali’s Tarot (823k followers) and Minnow Pond Tarot (770k followers), the increasing online traffic to the horoscope page of every website all point towards a reliance on something abstract and ‘unscientific’.  Acknowledging that you might be struggling with something mentally does not mean that people are always ready to take on therapy. Firstly, finding the right therapist proves daunting; financial means can oftentimes be another block; and then there’s the case that actual work on yourself might require committing to a long-term, usually difficult journey to finding yourself.

Turning to the esoteric is NOT therapy. However, it can be a crutch until you find the strength to actually subscribe to therapy. Or are able to regulate your emotions up to a point where life becomes something to be enjoyed and you’re not dependent on anything but belief in yourself. “Spiritualism is a way of life. So this also comes into your holistic health,” says Kumar.

It's easy to assume connections between tarot and moon phases. But there really isn’t. “Just in terms of manifestation and working with the energy, maybe,” says Shakti. “During an eclipse, I want to say the key word is ‘uncertainty’. But it's not a bad thing. This is the point in the cycle when you say, ‘I don't know, and I'm okay with not knowing’. It’s the time you sit down with the ‘I don't know’, and let the answer unfold inside. I avoid doing readings during the eclipse because I feel there is stuff that is yet to unfold. [Doing readings] in the new moon, you look at it from the perspective of the intentions you want to set and where you want to put your energy People who are seeking guidance-based therapy are also of the school of thought that you are the creator of your own reality. So where you are putting your energy, that’s where your attention is going to go.” 

 A matter of faith

“It depends on you,” says Kumar. “If you think that eclipse plays a big role in your life, then it will play a big role in your life. And then they're reading off the energy that you're giving. The tarot card is basically energy, right? It picks up your energy because you're either picking the card or they tell you to shuffle the deck. So if your energy is saying that the eclipse means something negative, then the information you pick up will also give you that negative reading.”

At the end of it all, it boils down to faith. Whether that’s faith in yourself or something beyond you—that’s your choice. Faith and self-belief are also stable cornerstones in mental health therapy, and along with empowering effects of positive affirmations, they are the overlaps in mental health therapy and esoteric practices. In both, your goal is to build a toolkit to navigate life’s knocks and for guidance. If that means howling at the eclipse tonight, you do you. The moon commands it so. 

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