What are Eclipses
Twice a year, somewhere in the world, there are a series of eclipses. These astronomical phenomena are full of curiosity and legend. We are fascinated by them. Many people are eclipse chasers traveling across continents to witness them. Eclipses always come in combinations of solar and lunar eclipses. Solar eclipses occur during the day when the Moon stands between the Sun and the Earth blocking out the Sun from view. Lunar Eclipses occur at a Full Moon when the earth stands between the Sun and the Moon, casting an eerie red hue to the Moon’s colour.
Astrologically, eclipses are powerful events and mark periods of major change. This is especially true if the eclipse point interacts with our personal natal chart. Eclipses can shake us up, and demand that we adapt to changing conditions.
The house an eclipse falls in will point to the area of life we will be asked to grow beyond what we’ve previously known. It is as if we experience an area of our lives becoming increasingly small and cramped. We have outgrown something and during an eclipse period, we embrace a rapid infusion of new awareness.
Sun and the Moon
The flickering lights of the Sun and Moon act like light bulbs, and as they turn on and off they can bring issues to light that have quietly existed in the shadow.
In astrology, the Moon reflects the body, basic needs, our instincts, the past, our emotions, the right side of the brain, and the unconscious. When we come into the world, it is the moon that we first encounter both in the form of a mother and in the form of our basic needs like eating, pooping, hurt, fear, etc.
The Sun, on the other hand, reflects the archetypal image of our destiny and life path. As we age and mature, we experience more of the inherent potential that is carried by our sun sign. It is the place in our chart where we feel alive, and how we connect to the unchanging self that is at the center of our psyche.
During New Moon – which is solar eclipse is – these two archetypal energies come together, the masculine/feminine conjunction to give birth to something NEW. Many people use the opportunity of the New Moon to reflect on endings and beginnings and to express intentions for the future.
Solar Eclipses
Solar eclipses are super NEW MOONs. During a solar eclipse, the moon passes in front of the Sun creating night. From our perspective, the Moon is the same size as the sun. This is extraordinary. The Sun is blocked out. All we see is the corona.
Eclipses have long been associated with omens and fear. You can imagine what ancient peoples must have thought, not expecting or understanding the science behind eclipses, when they saw the sky going dark. Birds stopped singing and animals acted bizarrely. Something was not right.
Astrologically, solar eclipses are dramatic fresh starts for something in our lives. However, all fresh starts also include the other side – that is – death. Death is also present as the Moon “eats or swallows the Sun.” An aspect must be sacrificed or let go for something new to arise. If we do this consciously and with awareness, then we can journey well through this time. If we approach the time fearfully and with anxiety, we might miss opportunities for increased self-awareness and consciousness, and stress ourselves out unnecessarily.
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This is beauty and wonder of astrology. We can use astrological events to discern the divine timing of psychological truths.
Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017
A lot has been written about this eclipse and its specialness. First, it is rare for the solar eclipse totality to be in North America. It is the first time in close to 100 years that the very narrow band of darkness that is created from the Moon will be in the United States. The last time was in 1918.
This image shows the 70-mile path of totality. Within70-mile and, it will become as dark as a moon light night. Outside of the band, communities will experience a partial eclipse. For example, in Southern Ontario, we will get to experience about 70% of totality.
This eclipse is at 28Leo48. Eclipses are the most powerful for people who have natal points within 5 degrees of the eclipse point, that is, anywhere between 23 degrees and 30 degrees. The closer the degree then the more likely you will feel it.
For example, if you have anything around 28 degrees of Taurus or Scorpio, the eclipse will square your natal point. Squares tend to show up as either inner or outer conflict. Squares are dynamic aspects that provide energy for the psycho-spiritual work. Two conflicting values or desires clash demanding that we pay attention and work with the energy to find a win-win solution. They can be very productive aspects although the circumstances may be intense and unstable. Our best approach is to take a few minutes, and not recoil or run away from the conflict. Befriend it, and embrace it.
If you have anything in your chart at 28Aquairus, then eclipse will form an opposition to your natal point. Oppositions are another challenging astrological aspect. They can manifest as something outside of us showing up as something totally other creating a sense of polarity. Oppositions are a call to express or change something in our outer lives. Another keyword for the opposite is integration. The point of all these opposite pairs of signs is integrating seeming oppositions. It is like getting the left brain and the right brain to work together.
How to work with an eclipse
In the weeks leading up to an eclipse, something is dying. Beginning with the Lunar Eclipse on August 7, you may find that something in your life or psyche is growing stale. It has outlived its usefulness. Steven Forrest suggests that we need to be mindful of the events in our personal lives and in the collective as clues to what might need to undergo some sort of renewal or transformation.
Fate and Free Will
Ultimately we have free will in how we cope and respond. Mythology is full of stories of heroes and heroines avoiding their fate. There is a famous Sufi story about death: “The Appointment in Samarra.” There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threating gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
There are certain inevitabilities that we can not avoid. However, how we work, respond and use what happens in the dash between birth and death is up to us. Great wisdom traditions echo a truth about our human existence. We are here to learn, to evolve and to become more conscious. It does not preclude being socially active or responsibility in these times of chaos erupting across the world. We can use the events of the world and our lives to become more conscious of our inner world and fundamental truths.