What will you see in this lunar eclipse?
Here is what happens during a lunar eclipse: the Earth casts a shadow on the Moon, blocking it from reflecting the Sun’s light. How do you like that? Here’s the little Moon, furiously trying to find some light to bounce around, only to find there’s a big old ball of dirt in her way.
Similarly, at a lunar eclipse our ability to transmit and receive light – to channel and midwife divine inspiration – is trumped by the impulses of pure worldliness. Sometimes, it’s the worldliness of physical disease or limitation that casts a long shadow; other times, the pain of Earthly need and loss.
Usually, it’s a pain you recognize. Eclipses have 19 year cycles, so an eclipse falls in the same sign and the same part of your chart every 19 years, and in the opposite spot every nine and a half years. What happens on the outside, in your outer life, is a little different each time – but the thing that’s touched inside of you is exactly the same. At the lunar eclipse, an antidote to these earthly difficulties seems to lie in the celebration of Earth’s healing, stabilizing powers.
Years ago, after my mother died, I was desperate to reclaim a sense of rootedness and security. So three days after a lunar eclipse fell in my fourth house, my husband and I closed escrow on the first house we’d owned together. Lord knows I had no solar light of inspiration to send out into the world, and not much light was able to each my barren, lunar surface; I was emotionally fragile and scarred. All I could reach out for and rely upon was the real, the tangible… the worldly. My own little ball of dirt; a stake in the planet. Nine years later, it was career success that represented this security for me. I began working harder than ever to carve out a place in the world outside my little fourth-house environment – but for exactly the same reason that motivated me to buy a house: security.
At the solstice solar eclipse in two weeks (on April 8), it will be the Sun, the splendid, extravagant ego, who will be obscured by the wild, intuitive energy of the Moon, creating a fun-house mirror effect of exaggerated images and freakish sensations. But at this lunar eclipse, your vision is clear – or at least, you are guided by keen instinct; not the wild, emotional intuition of the Moon, but rather the quiet instincts of the Earth. They are the same instincts that guide the hand of the craftsman as it chooses just the right piece of wood for his project; as it hovers for a moment over one chisel, before selecting another that’s just right for the task.
At this lunar eclipse, there is something in you that longs to connect more deeply with the Earth, to drink from her cool waters and lay your head upon her sweet grass. Some long-ago pain has reared up and sent you packing, returning home to mother Earth for solace. As you gaze up at the half-bitten Moon, know that the Earth is offering you something, some smooth block of marble, a piece of wood, a section of clay. Open your instinctive mind, and ask yourself: What is it that wants to be brought into being? And what is the right tool with which to carve it out?
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Virgo Full Moon: Perseverance
Let the Virgo Full Moon lighten your load. Physical and spiritual cleansing will help you prepare for the coming Spring. Virgo loves an orderly routine, so you might practice some yoga or make a healthy pot of soup. Since Mercury in emotional Pisces disposits the Moon, try not to worry about things you can’t change – but take action on those you can.
What to Do as Pluto Enters Aquarius
Aquarius is a future-oriented, humanistic sign that rules technology, scientific breakthroughs, and social revolutions. We can't over-estimate how dramatically (Aquarian) Artificial Intelligence will alter our world. Aquarius also rules social contracts. The sharply divided society Pluto-in-Capricorn has bequeathed us will need to be addressed. But for now… take this exquisite moment to develop some awe for your own journey. Look back. What has Pluto’s transit through Capricorn done for you?
Cancer Full Moon: Soft Power
Taylor Swift is a prime example of “soft power,” a caring, feminine way of wielding influence. At the upcoming Cancer Full Moon, her example encourages us to cultivate this quality within ourselves. Emotions are heightened at this lunation, along with the desire to care for others.
Gemini Full Moon: Boldly Go
There are many solutions to whatever we face, whether personally or globally, and this bright, inquisitive Full Moon can help us find them. Remain optimistic. As Neil DeGrasse Tyson said about the fate of our home, “If we have the power to turn another planet into Earth, then we have the power to turn Earth back into Earth.” May this lively lunation bring all of us the information and inspiration we seek!