Eclipse No 2.

Did you ever lie on your back on your lawn as a kid (or as an adult) just watching the stars? I used to love the feeling of endless dark glittering  space stretching out above me… feeling as if I might fall up into it. Even now … a shooting star zipping across the night sky evokes a gasp of wonder. 

It can be hard to imagine that those stars and planets above and around us can have a personal impact on the rhythms of our lives. Not many actually believe that they do.  Yet we only have to see how the tides are influenced by the Moon’s pull to know that these are forces to be reckoned with.

Right now we in the midst of an unusual series of three eclipses (they most often come in two’s). Ancient peoples used to be terrified of these events and attributed all sorts of superstitions and omens to explain them. Imagine their shock and surprise to see the Sun or Moon slowly disappearing, only to see them re-emerge and return to their normal appearance. What wonder, what fear shook them?

These same eclipses continue to give us pause as we attempt to consider forces far beyond our understanding. Yes we know the Earth is coming between the Sun and Moon… casting a shadow on the Moon’s surface…yet it still evokes mystery...it can still beguile.

The details: Two weeks ago, on Wednesday June 1^st, we had a partial solar eclipse at 11degrees Gemini. Tomorrow  (Wed June 15^th) we will get a complete Lunar Eclipse  in Sagittarius on (opposite Gemini)…then on July1st, another partial solar…this time at early degrees of Cancer.

Several years ago I experienced the total solar eclipse that happened in 1999 in England, and it really was an amazing experience. As the Sun went behind the Moon…every thing went very quiet and there was an eerie kind of coolness that enveloped everything. The shadows of leaves and objects were all doubled and strange and shimmery and there was a special tingle in the air. I was not so absorbed in astrology at that time…I couldn’t even tell you what sign it was in. But the experience was very special and I won’t easily forget it.  I feel strangely bound to the person who watched it with me; we seem connected through a sacred event.  

 There was also a complete lunar eclipse later that year, and it also had a distinct impact…though of a different nature. The Moon was slowly being covered by a dark shape…then it was just a red outline, the center totally in shadow.  I was really struck by the reality of this big chunk of round matter hanging above us… seeming spookily close, yet so far away. Good to have these moments of awe and reflection, whatever meanings you attribute to them.

This week’s eclipse will be viewable around sunset in Europe, mid- afternoon in South America…and at dawn in Australia, and Japan (these are just some of the places).  Unfortunately it won’t be seen in North Americaas it occurs there in the afternoon.

 Remember, this is also a Full Moon, so whatever intention you put out at the New Moon eclipse June 1st will be starting to come to fruition. Eclipses trigger a shift in consciousness and bring in new energy. Mercury’s closeness to the Sun is emphasizing communication… or some kind of message.

Another  key factor about this eclipse in Sagittarius is that it is conjunct both the North Node and the Galactic Core. The Galactic Core is the center of our galaxy and is symbolically associated with a great message… a message echoed by the North Node in Sagittarius.  

It beams out  ‘Know your purpose. Know who you are…”

There is a lot more I could go on about…Saturn trine Venus (bring your love down to earth), Neptune trine Mercury and sextile Jupiter(deeply spiritual levels of thought, intuitive visionary dreams, something expansive/ auspicious) plus the ongoing squares of Pluto, Saturn and Uranus(very tense to say the least). There is also a Chiron/Neptune link... bringing deep healing tp those in need.

I could tell you this is a powerful eclipse and a momentous time...because  it is. Yet the message at the core remains: 

Who am I ? Why am I here?

Perhaps if we can each answer that question… in our own internal way, in our deepest knowing, then we might be able to figure out how to get along with each other… and maybe even take better care our own selves, as well as this amazing planet we live on (before it’s too late).

Just maybe.                               Let it be so.