My first post on this blog – July 11, 2009, 13.44 BST -
discussed that season’s eclipses.
Now, as Astroair is celebrating its 10th birthday
we are in eclipse season again, with today’s solar eclipse falling at 11
degrees of Cancer.
In Cancer, it can feel defensive, especially with an
Opposition to the Saturn-Pluto-South Node Conjunction in Capricorn. It’s a time
to ask where are our fears coming from, that we feel the need to protect and
defend ourselves? Are they real fears, kept in proportion, keeping us
safe? Or are they holding us back and creating barriers that get in
the way of moving forward? How can we release our fears and move forward?
It's a New Moon, so it’s a planning time, not a time for
action. Eclipses are also associated with endings and we can’t see clearly
during an eclipse, we’re left in the dark and must wait for the light to return
(or wait to be enlightened) to see a clear path forward.
In the meantime, today we can reflect that Cancer is a
cardinal sign and in common with its opposite sign, Capricorn, it’s about
progress, moving forward, building
something.
Both signs need secure foundations to operate at their best,
but while Capricorn’s mission is to gain security through building something
tangible and material, Cancer needs to needs to build security through
nurturing healthy emotional connections,
and this includes self-nurture.
Today’s eclipse falls in the 9th House of
Astroair’s birth chart, highlighting themes of higher learning, far horizons and
deeper meaning. I will ponder on these
themes and look in more detail at the blog chart (shown below) in the coming
weeks but for now, I will pause to reflect that this is not an ending it’s the
start of a new beginning.
With love,
Mandi x
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| Click to view |
Below is an excerpt
from a 2009 post Working with Eclipses
It might help to go a bit further and work with the energy of
the Eclipses and see how they fit into your personal astrological cycles.
You will find that the most potent Eclipses for
you personally are those that fall in very close proximity, by sign and degree,
to planets and points in your natal horoscope. Personally, I only consider
Eclipses which make tight (within 2 ½ degrees or less of orb) Conjunction,
Square and Opposition aspects with natal planets and points. You can safely
ignore the Trines, Sextiles and the minor aspects and many astrologers don’t
even bother with the Squares, but I think they are worth considering.
Also bear in mind that astrological measurements
tend to symbolize the processes and journeys of our lives and these processes
take time to develop. For this reason, life ‘events’ rarely happen on the exact
date of an astrological measurement, so when considering the effect of an
Eclipse on your natal chart cast your net wide, by perhaps looking back three
months before the Eclipse and a few weeks after. You may find that nothing
actual ‘happens’ as such, but the Eclipse reflects an inner emotional or
psychological process.
Here are a few keywords for working with
Eclipses: endings; new beginnings; new chapters in life; the need to
release/let go/cut cords emotionally, or in specific areas of your life; events
and feelings coming to a head.
The Eclipse will express itself in terms of the
sign in which it falls. For example, Aquarius is to do with community, friends,
innovation, detachment; Cancer is to do with mothers, nurturing, domestic
matters, feeling safe; Capricorn speaks about tradition, authority, ambition,
the administration of life and Leo is all about pride, creativity, confidence,
being loved and appreciated.
Eclipses will also express themselves in terms
of the planet or points they aspect in your natal chart. For example an Eclipse
on your Venus may be about your relationships, your assets, your social reach,
your self esteem, how you give and share with others. With Mars it is about
where and how you channel your energy; issues around assertiveness or
aggression or issues around sexuality. For the Midheaven (MC) it will be about
career; vocation; your social standing and status; the authority figures in
your life.
However, when looking at the way an Eclipse
affects you, don’t get too hung up on making your experiences ‘fit’ the key
words, these are just prompts, what really matters most is your own, personal,
unique experiences.
Below are three methods of looking at Eclipses
that you might find helpful and illuminating.
The 19 Year Eclipse Cycle:
An Eclipse falls at the same degree of the
Zodiac once every 19 years, giving us the opportunity to review the longer cycles
of our lives, to look at the bigger picture.
For example, the Solar Eclipse of 22nd July 2009
fell on my IC Angle (therefore opposing my career Angle, the MC). Looking back
19 years, the 22nd July 1990 Eclipse fell at the same point. This corresponded with
me starting my first job following graduation. Looking back over the years at
my career progress I feel disappointed that I didn’t follow and fulfil the
dreams I had in my heart back then. However, these dreams have recently
re-awakened, causing stress and upheaval, but ultimately giving me an
opportunity to release the dreams of my youth and reinvent them, with the
benefit of maturity and experience.
To find out what this year’s Eclipses say about
the bigger picture of your life, pick those Eclipses that touched planets and
points in your chart very closely, then reflect on what was happening in your
life 19 years previously to see if there is any connection. Were big changes
occurring then? Are they related in any way to what is happening now? If you
are very young, look at what was happening in your general family life, with
your parents or siblings, for clues.
Looking at the Eclipses this way, can help you
recognise recurring patterns in your life and show you how much progress you
have made or where you have fallen off track.
Transits
to Eclipse Degrees:
Tracking Transits to the Eclipse degrees is a
tried and tested method used in Mundane astrology to predict events and changes
in the fortunes in the horoscopes of countries and their leaders.
This method also works well with natal
astrology. If an Eclipse fell on a planet or point in your chart, that planet
or point will be supercharged and will be susceptible to the effects of the
next planet which transits it.
For example, in September 2007, a Solar Eclipse
fell at 18 degrees of Virgo, exactly conjunct my natal Uranus-Pluto
conjunction. This was a happy time for me, I had just got engaged and was busy
planning my wedding, but all was not well with my job. My boss had moved on and
I had a new boss who I found it difficult to communicate with and who I felt
did not value my contribution, but with so much happiness around me elsewhere
it was easy to put the difficult work situation to one side, which I did, for
too long! Then, in October 2008, transiting Saturn in Virgo made a conjunction
to Uranus-Pluto, the first hit of three and I was laid off from my job. This
was a very difficult and painful process, but I am now very happy in a new job
and can see that the change needed to happen. It now seems clear to me that the
Eclipse at 18 degrees Virgo in 2007, falling on my Uranus-Pluto, was the start
of the process of losing my job, especially as Uranus and Pluto rule my 6th and
10th houses respectively, the houses associated most closely with work. Because
I didn’t follow the loud and strong cues from the Universe to leave my job
willingly (underlined by Transiting Uranus also opposing Uranus-Pluto) it took
Saturn to finally oust me from the job. The whole process since (during
Saturn’s 2nd and 3rd hits) has been about letting go of the old way of working,
so I can succeed in a new career.
An
Eclipse as Part of a Moon Family:
Astrologer Dietrech J Pessin discovered that all
lunations, including Eclipses, form part of a family of related lunations. She
found that every New Moon starts a new family cycle, consisting of a New Moon
phase, a First Quarter Moon phase, a Full Moon phase and a Last Quarter Moon
phase, with each lunation occurring in the same sign and approximate degree,
nine months apart, the whole cycle covering a period of 2 ½ years.
A Moon family which aspects your natal horoscope
closely is worth following, as the Moon phases of the family will most often
reflect patterns in your own life development.
See her website for details of her book, Lunar
Shadows, which explains this fascinating way of working with eclipses: https://www.lunar-shadows.com/
Other books on Eclipses that I would recommend
are Eclipses by Celeste Teal
and Predictive
Astrology by Bernadette Brady.
