19 posts tagged “eclipses”

Expect more questions than answers this week. We're still in a liminal realm, caught between a Lunar and Solar Eclipse, and this "land of in between" continues to produce a strange psychic stress that exacerbates survival issues. Of course, there is nothing new about survival issues. Here, on Planet Earth, most of us wrestle every day with how to survive. But this week, and for the next several weeks, those concerns take on a heightened intensity as they expand to include existential as well as financial concerns. So don't be surprised if you're wrestling with choices about how to live in a world whose old structures seem to be dissolving before new ones can replace them. The good news is that this liminal space, while transitional, is also highly creative; the struggle to make sense of and adjust to our current situation provides plenty of opportunities to break free from what enslaves, whether those chains are physical, psychological, or spiritual. The best way to use this time is to notice your reactions. Are they habitual? Motivated by anxiety? How do you handle the fear? While it may be uncomfortable probing your personal pattern, if you underscore your investigation with an intention to grow, your capacity to transform unconscious reactions into aware responses will increase.

This week's horoscope...

TAURUS The Solar Eclipse facilitates a catharsis; so don't be surprised if you find yourself blurting out previously withheld opinions. Because others may be experiencing the same need to "share," you may need to listen as intensely as you speak.

SCORPIO The Solar Eclipse offers opportunities to deepen your devotion to the divine. But this process is not as simple as it sounds; it will require a renewed commitment, as well as diligent discipline.

I have been wondering about this question: do eclipses affect you if they hit nothing in your chart and are in empty houses? (Which is my case with the Cancer/Capricorn set, unless you count a 29 degree Cancer eclipse as being close to my 5 degree Mars.)

I have noticed a near 100-percent correlation between significant events in an individual’s life and the eclipse cycle, and these events nearly always match up to the houses involved. Eclipses stay in the same sign pair for about 18 months, and that’s typically how long the related events take to play out.

Hm. Well, we'll see what happens in the third and ninth for me, then. I am vaguely discussing using Mom's Hawaiian timeshare in September when I'm off from teaching/volunteering.

Another eclipse article:

Now is the time to be working with setting or altering patterns in your life. Astrologically this is a function of how eclipses are events that help us set patterns or alter the flow of continuity. They can be used consciously for this purpose, or this vital function they serve can go on unconsciously. Simply put, it’s a more meaningful time than usual to make conscious choices, because it’s like they exist in a kind of multiplier. At the time of eclipses, we might say we’re making meta-decisions. These are decisions that (using approximate words again) shape destiny. They do so by having effects on, or drawing intention from, a level closer to the core of causation itself.
If you cannot actually make changes (and I believe we can always make small changes, if not big ones), use this time to set your intentions; to direct your life in a conscious way; to state what you want; to state clearly who you are.

I keep forgetting to post this.

"eclBut my dirty little secret was that I’d become a musician not just for the satisfaction of self-expression, but because I was a social misfit without a lot of other options. Unlike the girls who hung around backstage at the clubs where my band played, who traveled in tight, homogeneously attractive groups, I didn’t fit in. And to be honest, I envied – still envy – women who "fit in." Even now I often feel out of place at a bridal shower or girl’s night out.

Those of us with untapped Aquarius energy wander through life feeling as though we missed school on the very important day when social networking skills were taught. Humans are social animals, and it’s threatening to be unable to find a place in one’s pack. We’re hard-wired to crave the very Aquarian experience of belonging. But if fitting in means surrendering the ideas, gifts, and self-expression that are uniquely ours, our Leo selves insist that it’s too dear a price to pay.

As it turned out, not fitting in has proved to be one of my greatest blessings. I remember thinking early on that if I couldn’t fit in, I’d damn well make the best of standing out. So I gave myself over completely to music and later to writing, and in the end, a wonderful thing happened: By standing out, I somehow managed to find my place – to find love, acceptance, and friendship on my own terms.

Every now and then, the odd Uranus transit or progressed planet in Aquarius gives me a taste of what it’s like to simply, effortlessly, belong – to take enjoyment and energy from social connections. But when the transit passes and I return to the social wilderness, I don’t mind. There are creative treasures to be found there. I find myself there.

When eclipses fall in Aquarius and Leo, we’ve been asked to remember what kind of fuel powers the engine of our hearts - and to seek our place in the hearts of others."

The Aquarius one was conjunct my Juno,  the Leo one today(ish?) is conjunct my dreaded Saturn.

So far, nothing Juno/home related has gone on, I am still hardly home anyway. And I was about to go, "eh, nothing's gonna happen on the other one either."

Oh. Wait. Don't I have that conference this weekend? Talking about Saturn?

*faceplant*

A discussion.

"We are currently in the two-week interval between two eclipses - an opening in time and in our ability to create new patterns in our lives. Try living the life you want for this fortnight, to the best extent you can. You can do this with your choices, and with your conduct. It is easier than you may think to decide how you feel. I know, it often seems impossible, but it’s a skill."

"We are now in the two week period between the eclipses. Notice who comes in your life, what symbol they carry and what is new."

So far, I've ended up doing stuff I didn't expect to do and running into people I used to know. I don't really know what to make of that.

Here and here and here. And here. And here. And here.

My eclipse drama? Well, let's just say I MIGHT (and by might, I mean "can't find anything out for sure on this") be put on minimum wage pay for the unforeseeable future. I can't find out if I am exempt from the Govenator's "screw the little guy" measures or not, I've been told "you should be" to "well, hopefully we'll still get paid...", and I can't even find out how much I am getting paid today. It's on my midheaven, so odds are the news isn't going to be good, is it?

I'm just pissing myself in fear here.

Greaaaaaaaaat.

Link roundup here.

"This Solar Eclipse will stimulate your need to develop a more healthy ego. If your ego is underdeveloped – and you are 'going along' with things rather than taking creative control to shift a situation into a more positive direction for everyone - this Solar Eclipse will awaken you to the necessity of learning to assume positive leadership."

"A fire lights us from within as the Moon and Sun meet; the aspect pattern says we will assess our material situation to see how this fits with the urge to act, and it also implies our conflicts in this regard will be presented by the home situation, the sex life, and/ or those subjects we hold sacred. That’s a formidable challenge, and one that is at the core of who we are; in order to successfully negotiate the eclipse energy, we must determine what our essential sacred values are, and then we must act accordingly.

Instead we must make a concerted effort to understand our priorities, and what we need to fulfill the Leonine desire for acclaim. Focus on the Leo related elements of your natal chart will outline the methods, venues, and most effective approach(es) that you can take in dealing with the initial eclipse energy."

"There is also a theme of separation with this eclipse. This summer, you may walk away from something that you were not able to end in the beginning of the year. During this time be careful of disclosing secrets, because they are more likely to come out into the open. Those born around the 1st or 2nd of any month will be most affected by this eclipse. If you are a Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius or Taurus get ready for big changes!

Following are dates of planetary triggers to this Eclipse at 10 degrees of Leo (EP):

May 28, 2008 – Mars conjunct EP – There were unexpected changes
July 20, 2008 - Venus conjunct EP – A love affair is intense
July 31, 2008– Mercury conjunct EP – Expect exciting financial news
November 1, 2008 – Sun square EP – Issues from August 2008 reactivated
December 1-22, 2008 – The South Node conjunct EP – Holidays will have a different tone than usual due to the impact of Pluto in the sign of Capricorn."

"You need to look at your major planets and your power points (ascendant, descendant, mid-heaven, and nadir), and see where the eclipses line up with them. Looking at the solar eclipse on August 1st, if you have any major planets/power points from 7 degrees to 11 degrees in Leo, Sagittarius, and Aries, get ready for the time of your life."

"If, like me, you have this eclipse in a sensitive area of your chart, you are feeling it already. In fact, you’ve been feeling it since this series began in February, and the story that is unfolding in your life will continue for another year, until we enter a new series of eclipses in Capricorn and Cancer.

Eclipses tend to bring rapid change into our lives, faster than is comfortable for us. This is especially true for the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius). It’s said that the fixed signs fight change, but that’s not entirely true. That would be like saying that a rock fights change. We are so solid that change is extremely difficult for us. Even Aquarius, the air sign ruled by the Uranus, planet of sudden change and revolution, has a hard time getting into a new groove, as much as we usually want to."

No, really.

LATELY I HAVE been hearing a lot of the word stuck. This feels positively strange to say, but there seems to be a trend of admitting you're not going anywhere in life, or like you feel like you're not going anywhere. Every other email I get from a reader is about how stuck they feel. I guess all these years of voting Republican and having lattes for lunch are finally starting to catch up with us.
This is not the ever-popular "Bugger off, I'm proud to be stuck" energy; it is not the eminently distinguished "Who, me? Stuck?" posture, either. This is, "Wow, I'm like really stuck. I want to be an artist, but the only thing I've used a pencil for in the past six years is to scratch inside my ear. I've had these paints in my closet since 1998, and the lids are stuck. Even the gas cap on my Ford Explorer is stuck. I hate my job and my bed feels like fly paper."
Eclipses, which are coming soon, tend to move stuck energy, stuck people and stuck things. That is to say, they move it (that is, us) whether we like it or not, and it's actually possible to have a lot of fun during this time of acceleration and adventure.

One of the properties of Aquarius is the fixation of patterns. Every sign has its ups and downs, and each person born under a particular sign borrows a diversity of those properties (never really all of them). Aquarius is extremely good at establishing mental patterns.

We know that the way to play the game in the Age of Aquarius is to establish a pattern and let it take on a life of its own. That pattern becomes a thing that's easy, even necessary, to get trapped in. We can even do this consciously; we teach ourselves a routine and typically find it very difficult to function without it. Patterns take on lives of their own, and they tend to live us as much as we live them. They nearly all involve technology, relationships or both. A couple may get into a pattern of relating, or sex, and it seems impossible to change; or a person may get into a pattern of being alone. And it can seem a huge deal to change that energy imprint; it can seem like nothing else is possible (but then of course it is).

Yet even strong fixed-sign people are getting sick of the patterns that have ruled their lives for so long: along with a lot of other people who are fairly well sick of the emotional distance, the insane rush and the lack of contact with one's core values that have been taking over the world.
The point I am making in a roundabout (fishy) way here is that being stuck is a necessary part of the lives we live, in the age we are living; and part of that game involves jumping the tracks and getting unstuck long enough to make some changes and initiate a new pattern; and then this proceeds till the next time. Has anyone noticed this?
Then come eclipses. Eclipses represent phases of time and specific events wherein we get to shift continuity and establish new patterns. Their ability to help us do both is about equal; we can be directly taken out of long-established patterns (this is usually passive, unconscious mode); we can lay down the grid and create a new method, approach, attitude or mode of existence (this is usually active, conscious mode).

The oncoming ones happen to be in fixed signs. The solar eclipse of Aug. 1 is in Leo. In the first astrology book written in English (called Christian Astrology, published in 1647), William Lilly writes that when an eclipse of the Sun occurs in Leo, if it was rainy for a long time, there shall be a drought, and if it was dry, it will rain a lot. The prior fixed pattern will exchange itself for a new fixed pattern.

Let's look at the human dimension, with a little help from the ideas of the Tibetan speaking through Alice A. Bailey in Esoteric Astrology. The Leo-Aquarius axis involves the way in which individuals relate to groups, which is one of the most important contact points of any social creature or any society. Leo is the sign of personal expression, which can represent itself as egotism on one end of the spectrum or as true individuality on the other.
 
Aquarius is the sign of collective expression, which can express itself as a kind of cultural fascism at one end of the spectrum or as freedom for individuals to both express themselves as such, and to freely relate in groups, on the other end. The structure is parallel. In a world where Leo is expressed egotistically, a culture will tend toward locked-in patterns and express mass consciousness (to wit, Nazi Germany). Where a culture allows individuals to be themselves, the social pattern will be more liberal, and the culture will tend toward group consciousness (quick, somebody name a place).

It is difficult for most people to tell the difference between the two parallel worlds, yet the difference makes all the difference in the universe. The purposes underlying the two sides of the equation are entirely at odds; the agendas are opposite. Currently, our society is attempting a long, painful transition from one to the other. Individuals who are undergoing the psychological process are moving from egotism to individuality. As this occurs, society will gradually shift from mass consciousness to group consciousness. The shift is extremely disorienting for many people, particularly where family relations are concerned.

We forget that the first group is the family, which is a version of the tribe -- a distinctly Aquarian entity. The family is particularly brutal about allowing individuals to be themselves. All of psychology, psychiatry, therapy, astrology and humanistic process work are basically devoted to undoing the damage of the family and encouraging individuals to freely be themselves. For example, in the majority of my astrological sessions, I work with people whose ability to express themselves was hampered or damaged by what they were told by their parents. And in the process, their (that is, our) sense of self or right to exist as an individual free to make choices was damaged or disconnected from its power source.

In the current sequence of eclipses, we experience a total solar event in Leo first, suggesting that the place to start is with oneself. What stories do you tell yourself about who you are? What do you want to believe about who you are? If you are stuck, do you recognize the extent to which this is on the level of ideas, i.e., in true fixed-sign form, "in your head"? If so, what is your model of your own psyche? How do you believe you make real changes, and do you even believe you can? Activity in Leo is encouraging you to go from being unconscious or self-conscious to fully self-aware and self-reflective.

TAURUS

Love, money, and hanging around the house are potentially on tap for Taurus this month. The potential love action comes courtesy of a solar eclipse on September 11 in your solar 5th house.

Gee, what a romantic date for that. Sorry, had to be said.

The money portion of the equation comes courtesy of Gemini in Mars in your solar 2nd house of finances opposing Jupiter in your solar 8th house and eventually Pluto in that same house. It's possible that this configuration could deliver some substantial financial gains, as Jupiter and Mars when working together like to think big. On the other hand, this configuration could deliver some substantial financial outlays, as Mars in the 2nd sometimes seems to like to throw cash out the window. Which way things go will depend, I suppose, on whether you enjoy making money more than spending it!

 

SCORPIO

This is one of those darn unpredictable months that seem to crop up here lately with some regularity. Unpredictability this month comes courtesy of planets in all the mutable unpredictable signs along with a couple of eclipses. Eclipses are like wild cards--you don't know what they're going to be until they show up, so it's sort like the majority of planets are hedging their bets and deciding not to put any cards on the table until the last minute.

 

What does that mean to you? A couple of things. One, be alert when it comes to money. Mars in Gemini in your 8th house of joint finances and non-salary income will be opposing Jupiter in your second house of ordinary income. This can be good, expansive influence, or an expensive one. The prudent thing to do is to know exactly what you need and want financially so that you can be on top of situations as they develop. For example, you may want to invest in your future--or you may want to avoid temptation to overspend. You may want to make an impressive proposal to important people, or you may want to avoid clashes with those same important people. It all depends on your circumstances--so the smart thing to do is to understand your circumstances and what the most desirable outcome of strong money energy would be for you this month.

 

The other area in which to be alert is relationships. The eclipses will fall across the solar sectors that relate to love affairs (and children, if you have them) and friendships. Theoretically, something would end in the love sector and start up in the friendship sector. But eclipses can be tricky. What might end in the love sector is a psychological hang-up and what might begin in the friendship sector is short-term participation in some sort of group endeavor. Again, the key is to know what you'd like. With Saturn moving into your 11th solar house of hopes and wishes and life goals, part of the idea here is to get serious about what you really want out of life. Understanding that is essentially the key to your fortunes over the next couple of years, and it will be okay if your thoughts evolve over time. But it would be worth your while to give the matter some thought.