Out with the Old. In with the New: Full Moon Eclipse in Libra

An eclipse is a time of death and rebirth as we release parts of ourself that we have outgrown  and begin to enter into something new.

At around 2 am EDT/ 7 am GMT April 15th,  as the earth comes between it and the Sun,  the Moon will gradually disappear until all that remains is a glowing red ball hanging in the sky. This is a moment of profound pause as the Moon  gets transformed before our eyes. The remaining red orb  is akin to the glowing embers of a fire; something will be changed or removed from our life forever.

An eclipse in Libra brings a chance to offload some of the emotional baggage we have been dragging into our relationships for far too long. If we need to walk away from something that is not working, this is a good time to do so. The Full Moon will amplify and bring to a peak whatever going on beneath the surface till now. And the eclipse will then clear way whatever it is that needs releasing.

Some relationships will end under this influence.  Yet, though sometimes we do need to cut our losses and walk away,  the real issue often lies deep  inside of us, and any conflict is merely a reflection of our inner state.  

Mars, masculine planet of initiative and assertion,  has been moving through Libra for a couple of months now, making  relationships a tad bit testy to say the least. At this time of intense polarization, even casual everyday encounters can be fractious , leaving us bewildered, frustrated or  feeling very alone. It is too easy to project any pain and loss we feel inside onto the people in our lives. 

This is why we need to examine our relationship patterns as part of  a more fundamental issue.

We are so conditioned by our upbringing, our culture, our environment, our past experiences etc, that it never occurs to us to question the identity we have taken on, or the possibility of something more.  It is so easy to be so caught up in day to day survival that we never get round to asking:

 Who am I? Why am I here?

  I recently wrote about how the New Moon in Aries two weeks ago started a crack in the facade we hide behind. This fissure will continue to widen until can no longer tolerate any discrepancies or lack of congruence between our true identity and  the old, inherited false values.  There will be many 'fork in the road' moments where we will have to choose who we want to be. Today's eclipse is one of them.

As the Moon becomes dark for a few hours tonight, a small dwarf planet will come to the fore beside her. Ceres (also known as Demeter in earlier Greek mythology),  is the archetype of the  earth Earth Mother. She lost her daughter Persephone when Pluto abducted her into the underground. As she wept and grieved there was no grain and no harvest... because no spring came. After a year of winter the inhabitants of earth petitioned the gods to intervene, which they did by granting Persephone(the daughter) release from Pluto’s imprisonment.

But there was a stipulation; because Pluto had fed her pomegranate seeds(symbols of fecundity and sexuality) she had to return to the underground for half the year. When she goes back underground, Demeter Ceres grieves, and it is winter until she returns. When she rises,  spring returns once again.

There are many layers and meaning in this story. The main one today is around Ceres/Demeter , who symbolizes life cycles of the earth itself, and the process of death and rebirth.

“Ceres is not only representative of the life and death cycle, she protects it. In the myth she could not stop Pluto or the Underworld taking her progeny for a while, BUT she did influence Proserpine`s return.”  

http://www.midlandsschoolofastrology.co.uk/ceres_world_food_crisis_and_madeleine_mccann.html

 If you like to work with symbols or rituals, this is a time to call on Demeter/Ceres to aid you in any process of  any release you may be undergoing.  She can hep us call up lost or fragmented parts of ourself that have been lost in the depths;  this archetypal mother energy (in us) can help nurture the fragile self that has been in the dark for so long...

Part of the lesson here is to claim our power to do so. During/after an eclipse we have the opportunity to break out of one more layer of our conditioning and step more fully into our authentic self. At this time of renewal and release, and  spring ( in the northern hemisphere),  everything is blossoming and flowering. It is time to plant seeds and water them so they will grow. 

Ceres presence at this eclipse is part of the greater 'wake-up 'that is occurring on our planet and in our innermost beings. If we have become disconnected from our original innocence,  and lost in the shadows for too long, this is a chance  to rise again.

Look at the tabs labeled ‘houses’ at the top of this blog to see the arena in which this shift wants to occur. If you do not know your chart, you can go to www.astro.com (you will need date, time and place of birth) or contact me for an astrology session(see sidebar).

Meanwhile, allow the mirror of relationship, reflected in any current discord, to guide you to what patterns you are repeating. Let the Full Moon Eclipse  activate the release you so desire as you walk away from anything that is not serving your best interests.  Use this energy to invoke the mother (Ceres/Demeter)  to help you grieve your losses, and to embrace your inner self as s/he returns to you. All is not lost. There is always hope.

 'Out with the old, in with the new,' ... the journey continues.

Eastern Daylight Time ( I will let you figure out your own time zone)
Moon enters penumbra: 2014 Apr 14 23:51:46
Moon enters umbra: 2014 Apr 15 00:57:45
Start of totality: 2014 Apr 15 02:06:08 <—
Maximum eclipse: 2014 Apr 15 02:45:25 <—
End of totality: 2014 Apr 15 03:24:44 <—
Moon leaves umbra: 2014 Apr 15 04:33:08
Moon leaves penumbra: 2014 Apr 15 05:38:57