Ahhhh! It's eclipse season! Hunker down! There's powerful energy coming soon!
Yeah... I'm not going to tell you that. But as eclipse season rolls around once more, I see a lot of posts worried about the upcoming eclipse. I've already covered eclipses here, but every time eclipse season rolls around I figure I have to make a little post or reminder. So let's go over how to handle eclipses in a more mindful way.
- There have been four eclipses a year for every year you've been alive. Without your astrological knowledge, how many have you totally noticed? Probably not that many.
- Do you sense a difference between lunar and solar eclipses? Penumbral versus partial and total eclipses? Hybrid, total, and annular eclipses?
- Do you notice them when it's conjunct a planet or point more in your chart? Or just in general?
- Has it really lasted sixth months? I'm going to be honest, if something happened within those sixth months, it may have very well been related to a transit, progression, or solar arc, and not the eclipse itself.
As I've said in this post, eclipses are not just about the Sun and the Moon, though the luminaries are important, but also about the much forgotten nodes. The nodes pull us in one way or the other, and remind us of our past and where we've been, and the path we are to go on should we keep making the same choices. In short, the nodes remind us of how we can change. The luminaries help us see how that change can be implemented in both ourselves, our identity and emotional capacity, and our day to day life.
And there lies the conundrum. Change is fucking hard. Seeing where we've done wrong is hard. You know what's even harder? Having grace with ourselves (and others!) as we acknowledge that we can change and move forward to become better people.
Anyways, I hope you have a lovely eclipse season, and that the eclipses in Libra and Aries remind you of the change you can bring about in both your life and the lives of others. It's important, as always with these things, to notice which planets are in which signs. The "lunar eclipse in Libra" is much more vague than "The penumbral eclipse in Libra, with the Moon conjunct the south node". The latter allows us to really dig into the meaning of all of those elements:
- Eclipse (change)
- Libra (others)
- Moon (emotions)
- South Node (bad habits, things that no longer serve us)
With that kind of interpretation we can analyze our relationships more evenly, see what's working and what's not, and act on it. It could be as simple as reevaluating your where you fit in, and the type of people you want to hang around. The eclipse after this one in March will happen in April, with the Moon conjunct the north node in Aries. This is in direct contrast to the one in Libra. They happen so close together to remind us that you don't need to take action now. Or to highlight certain themes, as some would say. Whatever the case is, the lesson apparent in certain eclipses may not even be one you need to learn. You don't need to tear yourself about trying to find the meaning when there is none. Not everything is meant for you. Sometimes you've already learned the lesson. Go forth without fear.
More general resources:
Bernadette Brady's Eagle and the Lark talks about eclipse families and their importance.
Prenatal eclipses (this website is actually really helpful for a variety of astrological texts, serves as an internet library/ archive.)
A book on eclipses and astrocartography by Bill Meridian