Eclipse season is here! Twice a year we endure a two week period where the lunations form an eclipse. This occurs when the luminaries conjoin each other (New Moon, Solar Eclipse) or oppose each other (Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse) within a certain range of the lunar nodes. Eclipses typically come in pairs, but sometimes you can get sets of three if these lunations happen within a certain range of the nodes. This particular cycle is notable because we will not have total lunar eclipses again until 2025. As a result, the lunar eclipses are weaker and we won’t see the reddening of the Moon. However, the Solar Eclipses are going to be quite dramatic these next two years.
Additionally, the eclipses are moving out of Taurus and Scorpio and into Aries and Libra. Since the nodes won’t shift until mid July, the spring eclipse season gives a preview of what Rahu (north node) in Aries and Ketu (south node) in Libra will be bringing us from 2023 until early 2025, when the nodes finally move into the Pisces-Virgo axis. The nodes will still be ruled by Mars and Venus, but the North Node will gain rulership of Mars while the South Node gains rulership of Venus. Rahu in Taurus encouraged us to fixate on the pursuit of comforts, pleasures, and material stability while Ketu in Scorpio forced us to accept that transformation and internal turmoil are inevitable. Now that we have achieved the illusion of stability, we can fixate more on pursuing independent and maybe selfish actions, at the expense of forming new relationships. I would argue that Ketu brings a sense of complacency and mastery of the areas it transits. It describes the terrain we have already conquered. We may forgo seeking of new agreements or creating consensus (Libra).
Finally, I want to point out that these two eclipses this spring are both Mars-ruled lunations. Mars is a planet of competition, conflict, separation, and all things inflammatory. While the intemperate heat of the lesser malefic can bring about destruction, it can be used to forge new things into being or to remove things to facilitate repair. There’s a reason that people who work with metals, butchers, and surgeons are all associated with Mars! Interestingly, Mars will be in its depression in Cancer during this transit. Though Mars has a hard time in Cancer, there is triplicity dignity, suggesting that there is some sympathy for this heightened sensitivity to perceived threats since it reflects some truth about the difficulties of the human condition. Not only does Mars have triplicity dignity in Cancer, but during both eclipses the Moon will have mutual reception with Mars. Birthing pains and amputations may ultimately be necessary evils that can promote decisive action in the Aries and Scorpio colored parts of our lives. I hope to paint a nice picture of some key themes these eclipses may bring up for you.
Part I: The Phoenix Reborn
We open up eclipse season on the 19th (or 20th) of April with our first solar eclipse in Aries. I want to reiterate the fact that solar eclipses are supercharged this cycle, making the movement into the Aries-Libra axis is a big deal. The Sun has its exaltation in Aries, while it has its depression in Libra. Therefore, solar eclipses may represent major highs and lows when it comes to things that are being initiated. The Sun’s exaltation in Aries represents the highest manifestations of the Solar principle — the assertion of one’s true essence in a way that can command authority.
Ironically, the eclipse happens at the anaretic degree of Aries, before both luminaries cool down in Taurus a few hours later. This feels like the opportunity to seize power before anyone can really do anything to stop it, especially since the luminaries will move into a fixed sign and one where the Moon exalts. With the Sun having connotations of your soul or true essence, I cannot help but wonder if there is an element of shifting identity as a means to reclaim power. This eclipse is happening in the last decan of Aries, which can have connotations of grand symbolic gestures that can inspire short-lived action. I remember a while back, the astrologer Ursula Rising told me that people who have Venus in this decan have a grand capacity for glamour magic. Through bold displays of adornment you can temporarily alter how others perceive you if even for a short time. One person who comes to mind is Marilyn Monroe, who adopted this moniker and the bombshell persona to match and the ways in which it catapulted her to great fame. Perhaps this can be a great time to participate in a daring form of self-expression or to forge temporary alliances that will allow you to assert a new found identity. That way, when the luminaries shift into Taurus and the Moon gets her time to be in exaltation, you can bask in the reception that comes from being in a strange situation where you can start seemingly from scratch.
The last thing worth noting about this eclipse is that Jupiter is caught up in this drama as well. Jupiter already went through a purification of its intentions when it was in the heart of the Sun last week. Jupiter also does well in this last decan of Aries, since there is a quality of story-telling or narrative building that this portion of the zodiac allows for. I think that the eclipse acts as an intensification of the narratives we tell about ourselves, perhaps in a bolder fashion than we were intending when the character arcs we wanted to start got set in motion. If you want to be an epic hero or whatever character archetype you wish to embody, sometimes there is a symbolic ritual that you must undergo to assume that identity. However, sometimes there is a price to trying to embody “main character” energy too hard, and we should be careful about the stories we tell ourselves.
Part II: La Petite Mort
The closing act of eclipse season involves a lunar eclipse in Scorpio on May 5th. This is our last eclipsed lunation in Scorpio until November 14th, 2030, when we get a hybrid Solar eclipse. If the Aries Solar Eclipse involved the rebirth, the Scorpio Lunar eclipse will involve the complete shedding or sacrifice of something old. This is especially true since Scorpio is the 8th sign relative to Aries, which can have connotations of death, culling, and repaying of debts. If you want to claim your rightful title or assert a new form of identity, I would imagine this eclipse speaks to the necessary death or the collateral damage that has to result from making such a change.
In order to fully step into the new identity that you want to embody, you really cannot leave a single trace of the old behind. If you made a deal with someone or compromised something important in order to propel yourself to new heights, this eclipse may remind you that the people and powers that made you will come and collect what is owed, whether you like it or not. This eclipse takes place in the middle decan of Scorpio, which can symbolize a powerful merging of two forces at best, or a power-struggle at worst. Regardless, there is a strong reminder that you are on borrowed time trying to pursue the things you lust after in this life. The sublime feeling of temporarily aligning with these factors that support your attempted rise to power is a short lived one, much like the temporary euphoria of an orgasm. Everything seems ideal until the post-nut clarity hits, and the underlying feelings of regret and doubt set in when you realize that doing battle over fleeting moments of ecstasy leaves you feeling hollow.
With the Moon being in her depression and answering to the agenda of an equally depressed Mars, you may find that these temporary moments of bliss are simply tainted by the knowledge that you have hit a point of no return. However, you may take solace in a temporary truce between your budding self and the past selves you are leaving behind. There is something bittersweet about a fallen, eclipsed moon being situated in this decan of Scorpio. Especially when Mars will be in that segment of Cancer describing the perils of excess. This eclipse feels like one last hurrah to indulge in the illusion of going back to a life that you can no longer claim. Whether its because old comforts begin to make your stomach turn or because you have acquired new tastes that you cannot satiate, the Sun has clearly set on that old way of being.
Take special care this eclipse season. What painful initiatory processes are taking place in your life during this period? Which parts of your life need to be sacrificed to facilitate the proper rebirth in another area? If you would like more specific guidance on how transits like these will fit into your life’s journey, please book a consultation with me. My prices will be going up after the 5th of May, so be sure to book before then even if the consult is for a later date. Also, if you are a Pisces Saturn, remember to shoot me an email to access your 30% discount code!