Understanding Eclipses

When I think of eclipses, I always think of an image of a spinning vortex of water where its violent agitation creates a central void of elegance. The nature of eclipses is unstable and turbulent, but within the chaos, there is also a peaceful sense of purpose that can deliver profound insights and personal shifts.

This article attempts to explain what eclipses are and why they are important astrological phenomena. Like trying to illustrate something invisible, explaining eclipses is a challenging feat but I hope my attempt here will at least give you a primer.

A total solar eclipse is seen on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. Source: NASA

What do eclipses mean in astrology?

Occurring every six months, eclipses play an important role in helping us re-calibrate our paths, stirring up our lives to bring necessary shifts that propel us forward. The planets configured to the eclipse will describe more specific details around the nature and purpose of that eclipse, while the houses where the eclipses fall in your natal chart will indicate the area of life where you will feel its effects.

Eclipses have a sense of ‘fatedness’ associated with them, as the events they bring tend to be outside our conscious control. It wasn’t until I heard Earnst Wilhem, a US-based Vedic astrologer, explain this phenomenon, that I fully understood why. All planets symbolise a part of our psyche that we essentially own and can potentially alter. However, eclipses involve the Moon’s Nodes which are imaginary points in the cosmos where the Moon’s orbit intersects with the ecliptic. As there is no physical planet or personal ownership of these moving points, they tend to act outside of our control; they are less predictable and therefore, more fated by nature.

When eclipses occur, they do so in the same two opposite signs for about two or three years, after which they shift to a new pair of signs.

Essentially, eclipses are highly intensified New and Full Moons. For those who participate in Moon circles or ritual work, you may feel an increase in energetic forces or heightened emotions during these eclipse cycles.

An encounter with the darkness

The meaning of the word ‘eclipse’ is the removal of light; that something is obscured or made less prominent. This can literally be observed by the naked eye when viewing an eclipse at its exact path, where a dramatic darkness would befall the moment of an eclipse. This phenomenon is cause for the the fact that eclipses have been feared by ancient civilisations throughout time.

Rulers and kings in antiquity were subject to high pressures of being overthrown or their country being jeopardised during solar eclipses, as the Sun – symbol of royalty and leadership – was being eclipsed and therefore, made less prominent or falling from the light.

Court astrologers of that era would be cautioning their kings of a potential decline in status, if eclipses were to fall in prominent places of their astrological charts. Failure to advise of eclipses could result in severe consequences, such as Chinese royal astronomers, Hi and Ho, who were executed by Chung K’ung in 2159 BC for failing to predict an eclipse. (Brown, F. C, Jan 1931, “The Eclipse in China”, Popular Astronomy, Vol. 39, Pg. 567).

Just as you would feel when an electrical blackout occurs in the evening, eclipses produce a tension and an air of instability that could cause phases of stress, anxiety and disorientation. The image of light being removed conjures the idea of darker forces rising and consuming our conscious mind, as though we are forced to confront our suppressed emotions or darkest secrets.

During an eclipse of the Sun, this unsettling and turbulant period challenges us to reassess our conscious actions, leading us to face the shadows that may have developed around our goals and plans. Two weeks later at the lunar eclipse when the Moon’s light is removed, we are taken down to bathe in our murky emotional waters where suppressed feelings have formed around our being. Sometimes the lunar eclipse comes before the solar. Either way, the two major sides of our reality  – our conscious mind and our emotional body – are being stirred up at eclipse season.

This phenomenon often happens unconsciously and may be experienced as a rising tension that can be felt in the two weeks leading up to the eclipse period, climaxing in the time between the solar and lunar eclipses. Arguments tend to erupt as emotions are heightened and our shadows are being stirred. Anxiety is also a common side effect of eclipses, along with the feeling of overwhelm. The range of experiences they produce can lie anywhere between the continuum of positive and negative emotions, depending on the planetary configurations of the eclipse and those to your natal chart.

Psychologically, the removal of light can be a symbol of the removal of one’s ego. Eclipses bring forth opportunities in which we can momentarily see, feel or experience an area of our life without the inteferrence of our ego self. Parking our egos can be a difficult task – ask any spiritual alchemist whose aim is essentially to remove their ego to get to their ‘quintessence’. Working with eclipses can provide a great opportunity to do this, albeit fleeting.

Eclipses are centainly the cosmic change champions that push their agenda every six months to create necessary changes in our lives. Change is always challenging as the status quo of our daily living is challenged. Such neccessities can be challenging at first, but when we find ourselves entrenched in toxic routines, sometimes the only way to break free is through the invisible force of our ruthless dragons, the mythological symbol of eclipses.

Weaving our narrative

As eclipses occur in the same two polar signs for around two years, they provide an explicit observation ground for a grouping of events that will be profoundly meaningful to us and aligned to the themes of the houses they occupy. However, it’s often in hindsight that we realise just how significant these pivitol moments are.

One brilliant exercise that I do with my clients who may have an eclipse fall on an important point in their natal charts, such as their Sun, Moon or Ascendant, is to note down all the dates where that critical point is touched by other planets moving over it for the next 12-24 months. Keeping a journal for all of these days, the client will always see a string of related events form, despite not being obvious at the time. This gives clear insight for what that eclipse truly means for them and the purpose it brings to their evolution.

If you were granted only one question to ask an astrologer to seek life guidance, you should definitely find out where the eclipses are activating in your chart. Following their two-year axial voyage around your chart will tell you all you need to know about your journey in life at any moment.

Dragon Dreaming

Many cultures also have rich mythological stories connected to eclipses, usually involving some kind of highly feared beast consuming the Sun or Moon , thus removing the light. One of my favourite eclipse stories is the Hindu myth, Sumadra Manthan, which colourfully illustrates the symbolic richness of eclipses. In this myth, the gods and demons work together to create an elixir of immortality. But, the mischievous dragon serpent ambitiously disguises himself to taste this sweet nectar, only to be caught by the Sun and Moon and ultimately beheaded. But seeing he had already consumed the elixir of immortality, the severed dragon’s head, called Rahu, continued to live along side his empty body, called Ketu, and continually chases the Sun and Moon for revenge. Every now and again, Rahu and Ketu catches up to the Sun and Moon, causing an eclipse to occur.

Astronomically, Rahu and Ketu are symbolised by the North and South Lunar Nodes. As depicted similarly in the myth, the astronomical definition of an eclipse is when a New or Full Moon occurs within 17 degrees of the Lunar Nodes (with variance). This usually happens twice in one year, resulting in eclipses occurring approximately every six months.

The sense of overwhelm and dread we feel in the area of life activated by the eclipses is usually contrasted by a sense of relief and accomplishment once they move on to the next sign. This is because the work of the dragon is always there to serve us, no matter how severe their effects are. They force us to get real with ourselves and will reprimand any degree of ignorance and self-denial by sending us events, people and life situations that are equally-weighted in severity. And, just as the gods and demons learnt to work together to create their elixir of immortality, we must also learn how to work with our dragons to create a life that’s authentic and purposeful, devoid of any illusions and pretenses.

Happening now: Eclipses in Cancer / Capricorn

This year, we will be un-boxing a different kind of gift during the annual Boxing Day activities as the skies line up for an Annular Solar Eclipse at 4.12pm Australian Daylight Saving Time (ADST) on the 26 December 2019 at 4 degrees 6 minutes Capricorn. Two weeks later at the Full Moon, we will experience a Lunar Appulse Eclipse at 20 degrees exact in Cancer on 11 January 2019, 6.21am ADST.

Sign up to my newsletter to receive my free Eclipse Forecast which analyses the meaning of these two specific eclipses and what purpose they have for you personally.