The Banging Drum – What Is The Message? May’s Scorpio Full Moon

By Lynda Hill

May 16, 2011

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau

We should face reality and our past mistakes in an honest, adult way. Boasting of glory does not make glory, and singing in the dark does not dispel fear. King Hussein

Love is not a victory march. Leonard Cohen

The intellectual man requires a fine bait; the sots are easily amused. But everybody is drugged with his own frenzy, and the pageant marches at all hours, with music and banner and badge. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Once vigorous measures appear to be the only means left of bringing the Americans to a due submission to the mother country, the colonies will submit. King George III

Military justice is to justice what military music is to music. Groucho Marx

Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms. Groucho Marx

May's Scorpio full Moon falls on Tuesday, May 17. It is a powerful full Moon and it has a surprising 'military' undertone, although that does not necessarily have to mean war and warfare and all that that theme brings up. The war, of course, can be within ourselves. This full Moon signals a move away from so much emphasis on Aries as several planets are now moving into Taurus. This suggests that the 'heat' may fade away and be replaced with more 'green' energy. Here's hoping. This full Moon signals Wesak – the celebration of the birth and life of the Buddha. 

The Sabian Symbol for the full Moon is Scorpio 27: A Military Band Marches Noisily Through The City Streets. The following is from my book The Sabian Oracle: 360 Degrees Of Wisdom:

There is occasionally a need to make a show for society to remind us of our own or our country’s successes and achievements. You may find that this will take up a great deal of your time possibly for no real return, but the morale of those around you will benefit and that should be the true goal. Sometimes there’s a perceived need to impress others with one’s existence, so that they don’t forget that you exist. However, this Symbol can also show people who make enormous amounts of noise and demand attention, drowning out all that is going on around them. These people are often hard to ignore and can be irritating and downright disruptive. Perhaps they have a “drum that they need to bang” in order to wake up others who are not paying attention to their needs, wants or desires or they are trying to wake people from their apathy. Sometimes the mere act of showing attention, appreciation and admiration can stop the need for such noisy displays and bring everything back to a more peaceful space.

Keywords: Making music to rouse people from complacency. Noisy announcements. Demanding attention. Trumpeting achievements. Reminders from the authorities that individuals are often not in charge. Celebrations of past battles. Corporate advertising. Peace rallies or war marches. Marching and drills. Precision movements. Baton twirling. Drums and trumpets. Spit and polish.

The Caution: A lot of volume that can be too pompous. So much volume that the true message gets lost. Demanding to be heard. Banging one’s drum, even when others might be unresponsive or not want to hear. Blaring announcements. Warnings to others to follow orders or to be complicit. Big ego displays. Propaganda. Threats to peace. Momentary disruptions.

Of course, there are many ways to interpret what this may mean for this full Moon. Certainly, on the world stage, there's likely to be some chest thumping, political posturing and threats of standoffs (or downright war). There's some extremely interesting inferences to be drawn about Princess Diana's accident (or should I say 'accident'?) from the Sabian Symbols. On a more personal level, this can show people wanting to be heard, wanting others to get their message, to feel noticed, appreciated or generally be listened to.

There's also a sense of wanting to find, or establish, one's territory, home or place to be effective and recognised as the Quest Symbol (the degree following) the full Moon is Scorpio 28: The King Of The Fairies Approaching His Domain. 

Keywords: Imaginary worlds. Finding a place. Feeling comfortable. Taking command of life. Leadership and its responsibilities. Feeling like a dominant leader and that one has a doting populace. Being welcomed. Midsummer Night’s Dream. Returning home. Web domains. Finding one’s true vocation or purpose.

The Caution: Imaginary worlds and dependence on trickery. Ridicule aimed at those that don’t have their feet on the ground. Someone acting like a “hot shot”. Feelings of superiority which alienate others. The fear of approaching the unknown. Never finding a real place to settle down. Fairy tales about how life could or should be. Lording it over others. Being bossy and commanding. Being impotent. The fear and loathing of having to accept one’s true place. Not taking command of one’s life. Loneliness. Feeling locked out.

This theme is made even stronger by the Karmic Condition (the degree before) the full Moon. It's Scorpio 26: American Indians Making Camp In New Territory. 

Keywords: Settling in. Walk-ins. Having to learn the rules of being in a new environment. The need for freedom to live one’s life as one wants. Concerns with territory. Immigration. Migration across countries. Gathering things together for family and community needs. Tents. Shelter. Co-habitation. Revering and protecting the environment. Setting up camp. Going walkabout. Squatters. Respecting boundaries. Reservations.

The Caution: Moving into or invading other's territory. Putting up with things when one should move on. Feeling invaded. Kicking people out because they don’t fit in or don’t belong. Segregation on grounds of color, race or religion. Compromising other's living space. Arriving unannounced. Barging in. Attack and invasion.

The degree of the Sun for this full Moon is Taurus 27: An Old Indian Woman Selling Beads And Trinkets. This shows the need to put a good and full value on yourself, what you have to offer and on what others have to offer. Look to limitations that you place on your worth or capabilities as these can reveal to you talents and skills that are sometimes taken for granted. Sometimes it is necessary to do things that seem below your true station in life in order to survive, however, the 'Beads And Trinkets' that the 'Old Indian Woman Is Selling' can be beautiful tokens of her talent, her tribe and her place in the world. 

Keywords: Older, wiser elements of society making offerings to the younger, less integrated. Small, but worthy products. Adapting to changing conditions, particularly monetary or financial. Working hard for small returns and rewards. Battling against the odds. Selling the products of one’s culture. Artifacts. Jewelry. Handicrafts. Retailing. Supplying the populace with beautiful things. Markets and stalls. Patience. Bartering and bargaining.

The Caution: Looking down on those that seem less fortunate. Loss of culture and traditional duties. Menial jobs. Devaluing things or overvaluing junk. Feeling that you have nothing to offer. Waiting for others to validate your worth. Bickering over money. Feeling 'cursed' with one's lot in life. Lack of the respect for the arts.

Indeed, a revival may be in the making as the Quest degree of the Sun (the degree after) is Taurus 28: A Woman In Middle Life Stands In Rapt Sudden Realization Of Forgotten Charms, In Unexpected Recovery Of Romance. 

Keywords: Finding a renewal of love, knowledge, and interest when it looked like all opportunities had passed. Second chances. Starting over. Menopause. Romance renewed. Awakening to life’s promises. Flowering of love, life and joy. Sudden realizations.

The Caution: Believing love and romance long gone. Denying emotional expression because of social expectation. Losing heart and feeling unloved. Having no time for romance due to responsibilities. Being skeptical of love, thinking it not possible or realistic. Resenting the aged finding love. Fickleness.

Mercury is on a wonderful degree – it's Taurus 3: Natural Steps Up To A Lawn Blooming With Clover. This degree is lovely and can speak of a (somewhat) effortless progress to rewards and to where one wants to be. 

Keywords: Hopefulness. Inspirational possibilities. Gradually enlarging one’s vision. Harmony. Seasonal changes. Running around on grass. Bare feet. The beauty of greenery and flowers. Stability on the path. Steps that invite one on to bigger and better things. Abundance, nourishment. Making small efforts that can lead to large returns. Places to spread out and relax. Having plenty of room to move. Gardens and parks.

The Caution: Looking for the easy way out. Not making the effort to find what is just a few steps away. Being lazy when one should be going for the objective. Temporary success. Expecting everything to be laid out before you. Weeds. Unkempt lawns. Neglected land.

Venus is on Taurus 2: An Electrical Storm Illuminates The Heavens And The Forests. This can bring reverence for the forces of nature, flashes of insight, tension and its release, short circuits of the mind or emotions, bursts of energy, psychic clearing, hot flushes, surges – it can bring the sense that all hell is going to break loose. 

Very soon after the full Moon, Venus moves to conjunct Mercury on Taurus 3: Natural Steps Up To A Lawn Blooming With Clover. It seems that a flash of some kind is going to move many forward to where they want to be, or at least in sight of it.

Jupiter is still in Aries, it's on Aries 27: Through Imagination, A Lost Opportunity Is Regained. This speaks of hopes renewed when all seemed lost, creative imagination and visualisation, last minute reprieves, retracing your steps, being exonerated or forgiven, pardons giving release, imagineering, making up for lost ground or time, changing your mind therefore changing the outcome. 

Mars is on a rather sad and evocative degree (and it has shades of issues of war in it). It's Taurus 5: A Youthful Widow, Fresh And Soul-Cleansed From Grief, Kneels At An Open Grave To Receive The Secret Of Eternal Life. 

Keywords: Gradual realization of the illusion of matter. Letting go of that which no longer works. Purging and burning the past. Giving up past grievances. The passage of grief. Receiving the gifts that loss and separation can bring through time. Grief, divorce, loss. Redundancies. Near-death experiences. Inheritances.

The Caution: Wasting time staring at lost opportunities. Grudges and bad feelings that last much longer than needed. Staring at issues of loss and death. War and its horrors. The feeling that one has no future. People or events that just won’t leave one’s memory. Hanging on for fear of the future. Empty legacies.

Backing up the Military Band Marches Noisily theme of the full Moon is Chiron on Pisces 6: A Parade Of Army Officers In Full Dress. This can speak of people having to turn up, ontime, dressed for the occasion, playing the part and doing their duty. Keywords include, national pride on display, reminders of those putting life and limb on the line for kin and country, uniforms, hats, people seeking recognition from the community, patriotism, memories of war, being committed to service (serving others), drills and routines, spit and polish. This can show false courage, and "drill sargeants" who scream and shout and taking the glory away from the 'little people'. 

Neptune is on Pisces 1: A Large Public Market. Many are feeling the pinch of the 'market's' needs to gobble up resources, money, people, our lives, etc. Neptune is amplifying that. But it's also asking that many get out into the Public Market and sell their wares = what it is that they have to offer. This, with the Old Indian Woman Selling Beads And Trinkets, is quite an interesting combination. Certainly there's the message of not buying the old line that the 'big end of town' wants you to swallow. But this can be much more about you and what you have going for you (or could have going for you). 

Saturn is grinding away on Libra 12: Miners Are Emerging From A Deep Coal Mine. This can bring about the need for a release from arduous labour, coming into the light, deep subconscious healing, memories from the past or out of nowhere, the mind flooding with information, darkness and tiredness and a feeling of being a 'canary in a coal mine'. Saturn here is likely to dredge up things we may not want to have revealed. This is not an easy placement, but one that can bring rewards from putting in the 'hard yards' (work).

Perhaps the brightest and most reassuring message is that of the Moon's north node. It's Sagittarius 24: A Bluebird, A Sign Of Good Luck And Happiness, Is Standing At The Door Of The House. This is a lovely degree which, I imagine, hardly needs any explanation. 

I wish for the Bluebird of Happiness to land at your door!