During the weeks before, after, and during an eclipse, the air is wobbly. Life ain’t smooth. There are sharp and sudden changes. Odd events go global. The visual metaphor is simple: during eclipses, darkness—our shadow—is made vivid in dramatic ways.
In the weeks approaching this Leo solar eclipse, the earthly signs have been striking. Across Europe, North Africa, Canada and the western U.S., enormous wildfires have burned through forests and communities, forcing thousands from their homes. In Puerto Rico, severe drought has brought water rationing, with some residents going 48 hours at a time without running water. And in Venezuela, recurring blackouts have left millions without electricity for hours at a stretch. Fire. Thirst. Darkness. As the Sun itself prepares to disappear, these are potent images.
The terror of eclipses runs deep in astrology tradition. For the first astrologers, over three thousand years ago in Mesopotamia, solar eclipses were the top feared sky event, capable of unraveling a kingdom. Eclipses signaled floods, famine, disease, and the death of kings. Yet unlike us, the first astrologers didn’t believe the sky was causing these things to happen—they rather saw them as divine announcements.
The Mesopotamian sky was an enchanted tablet onto which the gods were always writing humans messages—about living in balance for the good of the whole. Eclipses were omens, warnings, that we were veering off course. It was the job of the astrologer priests to help set the kingdom straight. After an eclipse they scurried to address the issue with incantations, rituals and pertinent advice for the king. Dire futures could always be averted—otherwise, what would be the point of reading the gods’ tablet?
The value of eclipses lies in humans heeding these heavenly warnings. Eclipses don’t cause ominous events, but they beg us to interpret them! Astrology is a symbolic art, not an empirical one. In the Mesopotamian seed from which astrology grew lies this premise: unusual happenings in the sky or on earth are informative.
The signs on earth just as those in the sky give us signals. Sky and earth both produce portents though appearing separately. They are not separate (because) sky and earth are related. A sign that portends evil in the sky is (also) evil in the earth, one that portends evil on earth is evil in the sky.—A Babylonian Diviners Manual
So what of our recent eclipse-y events? What’s the holy messaging? An ancient priest might have been especially interested in their elemental simplicity: too much fire, too little water, and lights going dark. We are being warned about the possibilities of the times in which we’re living.
- The wildfires warn us about the dangers of fire out of balance. The Sun’s fire makes life possible. It warms us, feeds the forests and ripens the fields. But too much fire consumes. Perhaps this Leo eclipse asks us to consider the fires we’re feeding, personally and collectively. Does our power illuminate and enliven—or does it burn?
- The drought offers the opposite image. Where fire is excessive, water is disappearing. Puerto Rico’s emptying reservoirs remind us how quickly something we take for granted can become precious. What in our lives, our communities, our world needs replenishing? What essential source have we allowed to run dry?
- The blackouts offer perhaps the most literal symbol of all. In Venezuela, the systems meant to carry power are failing to deliver it. During a solar eclipse, the source of our planet’s light and power itself disappears. What happens when power no longer reaches the people? And what happens when those entrusted with power fail to keep the lights on?
It’s up to us now to apply the remedies.
Of course these aren’t the only possible messages. There are countless more. The eclipse event that has your name on it may never make the news. It could be a very personal situation—the relationship that suddenly changes, the plan that unexpectedly falls apart, the strange occurrence you can’t stop thinking about. Eclipses are universal events—but they’re also intensely personal.
Pay attention to whatever has been arousing your feelings during these eclipse weeks. Don’t ask whether the eclipse caused it. Ask instead what it might be showing you. If the world is once again an enchanted tablet, what message seems to have your name on it?
To distill and drink its nectar, try seeing it as a divinely inspired symbol.
For a more detailed view of how this eclipse impacts your chart, I highly recommend the eclipse report from my colleague, April Elliott Kent: “Followed by a Moonshadow Eclipse Report”!
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