A Week Away From An Eclipse

October 22 2004

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/oct22.html (with chart)

 

Dear Readers:

 

Once again we are a week away from an eclipse. This time it's a total lunar eclipse in Taurus. Eclipses are generally points of acceleration and often of crisis. They are like astrological bottle necks for which nothing slows down; instead, the temperature and rate of flow goes up as everything seems pushed a little more forcefully through experience and thought.

 

They are good times to take things a step at a time, and to anticipate that you and everyone around you will be experiencing added emotional intensity. It's best to defuse dramas before they get too big, and to beware of possible pitfalls in communication that can have unnecessary repercussions.

 

When the Moon is eclipsed in Taurus, that means that the Sun must be in the sign Scorpio, something that begins Saturday. For those curious, I'm including the chart of Saturday's Scorpio ingress of the Sun. Since so much emphasis is being placed on the race for the White House, I've set the chart for Washington, DC. The Sun changing signs is the very next big change we go through, and this is a great opportunity to feel astrology in action. See if you can notice the tone and color of life shift with the change to Scorpio time.

 

Many astrologers find charts for the ingress of the Sun into a new sign quite helpful as a navigation tool, and I often use them to write my horoscopes (monthly or otherwise). Below is the chart for the Scorpio Ingress of the Sun. And here is a legend to help you sort out the little hieroglyphics.

 

First, notice the Sun is in orange at the lower right side of the chart. It's just inside the 5th house. To count the houses, you start with the horizontal line on the left; the slice of pie just below that line is the 1st house. Then to identify the house number, begin with the first, and count anti-clockwise. The outermost ring gives the locations of the house cusps, within the astrological signs. Like a planet, the beginning of a house has a location in space. That location is stated by its sign position. This chart is 2 degrees of Cancer and 20 minutes rising (which is the 1st house cusp). The 2nd house begins at 26 degrees of Cancer and 1 minute. And so on around the wheel. (The second question today deals with the differences between signs and houses, so this is a preview, and you can use this chart for reference).

 

We know this is a chart that's approaching an eclipse because the Sun is right near the south node. That's the little horse shoe next to the Sun, slightly to the right. Remember, any time you see the Sun near either of the horse shoes, that means there is an eclipse in the vicinity. This holds true for natal charts as well! If you see the Sun near a node, stop and mutter the word, 'eclipse'. Then you can study that chart as well.

 

In this particular chart, I see a lot of contact between the ascendant in early Cancer, with the south node and the Sun, both of which are in early Scorpio. Look at that trine to the ascendant! You can tell it's a trine because water-to-water (Cancer to Scorpio) is usually a trine, and if the degree number is close, it's definitely a trine (in this case, the early degrees of those signs).

 

The nodes and the ascendant are working very well together. There is energy MOVING in this chart, and a lot more is about to move, in the form of the eclipse a few days later. Let's see what develops; it is likely to have some far-reaching consequences. Yet it will likely be more interesting than a prediction can see in advance.

 

The lunar eclipse takes place at 3:04 a.m. London time on Thursday Oct. 28. For reference, that translates to 10:04 p.m. Wednesday night on the east coast.

Here are a few comments on questions from recent emails.