In recognition of today’s solar eclipse in Leo, we are leaving yesterday’s bonus article up for the remainder of the day. Please check in on Saturday for the weekend edition.

Dear Friend and Reader:

WE ARE PUBLISHING on the eve of Friday’s total solar eclipse in Leo, and time permits me just a few more comments. We covered it in last week’s subscriber edition [posted here gratis] and also in this series earlier last week.

I consider eclipses to be a kind of religious event, worthy of stopping everything for. They are akin to the quarter days (equinoxes and solstices) and the cross-quarter days (Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas and Sahwen). These kinds of events are the natural basis of what we think of as a holiday. Eclipses seem to arrive with even greater emphasis. They are the events that move around the calendar, coming gradually earlier each year and arranging themselves in distinct, interesting patterns.

Rather than being on the strictly solar calendar (as are the seasons), eclipses are a made of the combined cycle of the Sun and the Moon, what I call an epicycle. Total solar eclipses are a kind of hieros gamos, the male and female principles engaging and interpenetrating one another fully. For an individual out of partnership or meeting another person face-to-face as an individual, think of it as solos gamos, or masturbation taken to the depth of authentic selflovemaking. At its essence, this is the meeting of the inner male and inner female identities (what Jung called anima and animus).

Note that it is the Moon or interior principle that dominates the Sun, the expressive principle. An eclipse represents a moment of respite from this thing we call the patriarchy, both internal and external. It is an opportunity to stop expressing oneself. It is a chance to let go of one’s self-concept and embody oneself with full awareness.

This particular event occurs on the high sabbat of Lammas, one of the cross-quarters, granting it a touch of the numinous and some extra astrological significance (a sesquisquare to the Aries Point) that I will mention again at the end of this letter.

Let’s look first at the basic astronomy, then consider some possible metaphors for how it can be interpreted.

At the core, an eclipse is a New Moon, but it’s a much more precisely aligned one. The Sun and the Moon form a conjunction. Yet rather than passing slightly above or below the Sun (as usually happens), the Moon completely obscures the Sun’s disk. A total eclipse means that the Moon is close enough to the Earth at the time to entirely obscure the Sun. (The Moon moves in an elliptical orbit, and thus has varying distances from the Earth. The closer the Moon is, the bigger it appears to us. When the Moon is distant from the Earth, what would be a total eclipse appears as an annular eclipse, or an eclipse with a ring of the Sun around it.)

Most ephemerides (planetary table books) list a New Moon separately from an eclipse, as the time generally does differ by a few minutes. [Here is an article that helps explain why. It relates to lunar eclipses, but the principle is the same.] Friday’s Leo New Moon occurs at 6:14 am EDT.

The eclipse’s peak of totality is a few minutes later than the New Moon, occurring at 6:21 am EDT and 3:21 am PDT. In London, the peak of totality will occur at 11:21 am BST and in Paris at 12:21 pm CED. In Sydney and Melbourne it will occur at 8:21 pm AEST and in Johannesburg, it will occur at 12:21 pm SAST. This National Geographic video will tell you if it’s visible in your area. Here is the NASA webpage on the event, a little gift that NASA provides for every eclipse. (NASA is married to the military, but they give us some cool stuff to play with, including the APOD website.)

Eclipses happen near one of the lunar nodes, those mysterious karmic points whose meaning everyone wonders about. Eclipses are precisely what the nodes indicate — the approximate location of the next eclipse. Friday’s is an eclipse on the South Node, representing a release from the past; in particular, a past concept of your identity.

The nodes are points in space rather than objects. But they have the full power of any planet, whether there is an eclipse in the vicinity or not. They represent the place where the path of the Sun and the path of the Moon, which exist on different planes, will intersect. They also indicate approximately when it will happen, usually within a few days. Therefore, I consider them multidimensional points, combining two planes of space and the dimension of time.

The nodes dominate many, many charts and many lives. In interpretation, they act like portals to other dimensions, typically one’s sense of what one has become (Ketu or the South Node) and what one is becoming (Rahu, or the North Node). The South Node is now in Leo, representing a kind of sum total of “what egoic identity we have become” and are in the process of unbecoming (the eclipse). These are usually experienced less like concepts and more like interior realities. In other words, they relate to how you feel, which can reflect who you are. Inevitably, with the act of letting go we open up to new possibilities.

When I mention that a solar eclipse is happening and that I am planning to do something or be somewhere, most people assume that I’m planning to watch the event with my eyes. (This possibility is unusual, as the path of totality is narrow and you can’t see it from many parts of the world — but if you are willing to travel, you can see it if you want.)

What I like to convey is that an eclipse is a holistic event. It is something we experience with our entire being. In human consciousness, it is primal material. The Sun (our immediate local source of energy) “going out” is powerful territory for a tiny little human in a great big cosmos. The Moon blocking the Sun is the perfect metaphor for shadow, which is to say, engaging what in depth psychology is called shadow material: fear, deep eroticism, surrender to death and all the great many emotions associated with these things. We have an image of ego death, doubly iterated because the event is in Leo or Meo (meow), the sign of what we think of as the “self.”

They are also intersection points between the personal and the collective. This is why they are seen alternately as harbingers of disaster (collective events that affect our lives) and as openings or opportunities (moments when the collective stands aside and makes a little more room for who we are). And this peculiar, almost alchemical power, is why we need to treat them with so much intention.

Friday’s lunation is a total solar eclipse, with approximately the same intensity of the Aug. 11, 1999 total solar eclipse. This was the infamous grand cross and total solar eclipse associated with the Cassini Space Probe. It was also the most recent total solar eclipse in Leo. Scanning a calculation recent Leo solar eclipses provided to me by Serennu.com, we discover that they are somewhat unusual in recent decades. I have mentioned this pattern before, and would like to give a few more details for your notebook.

Feelin’ Groovy: Grammy Award winner Bill Danoff serenades a female friend in 1971, when the last South Node Leo solar eclipse happened.

Beginning our study in the early 1970s, there was a partial solar eclipse at 27+ Leo in 1971. That was the only Leo solar eclipse for that cycle of the South Node through Leo.

When the North Node returned to Leo, we had a cluster of three solar eclipses, an annular at 29+ degrees in 1979, an annular in 1980 at 18+ degrees, and a total in 1981 at 7+ degrees.

As the South Node returned to Leo in May 1989, something unusual happened: there were no eclipses of the Sun in Leo. Since we know that the South Node represents the collection of what we have become (i.e., where we may be stuck) and that Leo represents our expression of self, we could say that beginning in the late 1980s through late 1990, we missed an opportunity to get unstuck. We did not experience any direct release points in Leo. There were lunar eclipses, but that’s not quite the same thing.

Then the North Node returned to Leo in the late 1990s, and for that cycle we had a single solar eclipse — the infamous grand cross of Aug. 11, 1999. Again, here is a reference to our coverage of that event, and here is a kind of snapshot in time of the summer of 1999.

While the turn of the millennium seemed to pass without incident (though the bombing of Los Angeles airport or LAX was averted by the Clinton administration, with some help from an employee of the Washington State Ferries), the grand cross / total solar eclipse of Aug. 11, 1999 stands as the first of many warnings about the Sept. 11 incidents that followed soon after. If you recall, our nation and to a great extent our world were catapulted into lives of fear and reactionary greed as a result of these false flag attacks.

Now, eclipses have returned to Leo, in the form of the South Node. There has not been a South Node solar eclipse in Leo since 1971. Looking at history, the early 1970s were a very unusual time, when we could say that people were willing to exchange an old idea of who they were for a new one. This mighty charge was let by the Baby Boomers, who succeeded in being the first generation to refuse to go to war. Then the war ended and opportunity beckoned and many of them, well, got stuck in that land of plenty. Notably, Pluto was in Leo in the birth charts of a massive swath of Boomers, and this last Leo solar eclipse seems to have activated that Pluto placement to full force.

Friday’s eclipse comes within about seven degrees of the Pluto placement of those born between 1942 and 1948 — the vanguard of the Baby Boom. The entire Pluto in Leo generation is the beneficiary of this kick in the ass, and frankly the world needs it.

Bernadette Brady writes, “This Saros Series [group of eclipses] concerns itself with breaking out of a very negative situation where no hope can be seen to a more positive space containing many options. A worry that may have been affecting a person will suddenly clear. The solution is shown by the Cosmos and needs to be taken up without too much delay.”

Eclipses stand alone. And in particular, Leo eclipses stand apart. Leo is the sign at the center of the zodiac. It is not the precise temporal center — that would be late Virgo. But in the astrological system, it is the sign that is ruled by the Sun, and the Sun is not a planet; it is the star that feeds us light, life and energy. It is our origin and our point of return. It, too, has an origin; stars are born, live and die, like all living creatures. They are as close to being alive as a supposedly inanimate object gets.

A total eclipse of the Sun in Leo stands as a direct invitation to wake up and pay attention to who we are. But rather than trade one self concept for another, we have a bold calling to trade a self concept for an actual sense of self. We can trust that the events of this time, some of which will feel fated and others we will invoke, are designed to help us do precisely that.

Yours & truly,

Additional research: Tracy Delaney, Kirsti Melto

Dear Friend and Reader:

Today I have a small collection of some of my past writing on eclipses. I think I’ve covered about 50 different eclipses in my astrology career, more of them than meetings of the SUNY Board of Trustees, the American Medical Association and toxins disasters combined.

These articles manage to be pretty philosophical. The first is an article on the most recent solar eclipse, in Aquarius, back from Feb. 7, 2008. It is the kind of superior quality propaganda you expect in a subscriber edition. It’s called Notes from the Technosphere.

Let’s skitz back in time to June 2002. This article is proof that I was blogging before there was a blogosphere, and it’s a fun article which conveys the feeling of an eclipse. It has some fun stuff about Chiron as well.

Here is one from the Astrology Secrets Revealed archive. It’s simply called Solar Eclipse.

Here is a piece about a total lunar eclipse that had a name, called the Harmonic Concordance. This is a second article on the topic, called A Book About Women.

Finally, here is my favorite article that relates to an eclipse. It’s called Flashpoints: The Continuation of Burning Man. It is a snapshot of the summer of the Aug. 11, 1999 umbra over Europe - a memoir of the late 20th century. A background article in the same series is posted here.

Catch you with an extra update tonight, Thursday.

Bye for now,

Today’s Oracle takes us to May 06, 2005 - Cancer - Weekly

The past few weeks have presented quite a few challenges where dealing with others is concerned. Clashes in ideology sorting out fact from fiction and dealing with people who have some strong viewpoints have all been part of the game of life. That’s about to change. It’s as if you’ve passed a test to see whether you could withstand high energy and people who test your patience. If you can keep your cool for the next few days you may find that the territory of your life opens up and that you are experiencing the benefits of true self-confidence.

Thursday 31 July 2008

Mercury (9+ Leo) septile M87 (1+ Libra)
Atlantis (21+ Libra) quincunx Sedna (21+ Taurus)
Apollo (26+ Leo) trine Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Sun (8+ Leo) square Asbolus (8+ Taurus)
Mercury (10+ Leo) quintile Pallas (28+ Taurus)
Venus (23+ Leo) opposite Neptune (23+ Aquarius Rx)
Ceres (21+ Cancer) square Eris (21+ Aries Rx)
Mercury (11+ Leo) square Pandora (11+ Scorpio)
Eros (16+ Leo) semisquare M87 (1+ Libra)

PS, for those of you new to Planet Waves, I did a lot of astrology blogging between 2004 and 2006. Here is a complete archive of my older stuff.

Dear Planet Waves,

This red-chalk drawing (circa 1512-1515) is broadly believed to be a self-portrait by da Vinci.

I am a recent college grad with what I am told by professors and professionals is an unusual and highly precocious artistic talent. I have been writing and drawing for as long as I could hold a pen, and some very gifted astrologers have told me in no uncertain terms that I ought to have an extremely lucrative and very public career ahead of me — should I seize the right opportunities, of course.

However, I tend to have an adverse reaction to this suggestion. I often have a very strong feeling that I’d be better off in a position deeply retreated from society at large — in a convent, say, or in a subsistence farming situation.

Friends and advisers want to write this off as the result of ingrained fear of failure or some other sinister type of chronic insecurity.

I don’t know what to make of it myself; am I really just suffering from depressive agoraphobia, or am I allowing the well-meaning words of career-driven urbanites distract me from something that would ultimately be a greater boon to me? Is there some way of splitting the difference that I have not yet discerned?

This condition has persisted for many years and still I have a hard time “following my heart” on this one. At this point I find myself almost totally stalled out.

Regardless of whether this note makes it to virtual print, I am compelled to thank the entire PW team for their stalwart and compassionate work over the years.

Thank you, Eric, for this important project. I wish it long life.

Best,
C.

==

Dear C:

I am not sure who your astrologers were, but I would not have made any such promises. It is a good thing that most of what astrologers say in no uncertain terms does not actually come to pass. I’m not saying you lack talent or potential. It’s just there’s a long way to go from drawing or painting well to having an extremely lucrative and very public career. It may be the longest distance between any two points on Earth. And people do cross that distance, though you don’t often hear about how many pairs of shoes they went through along the way.

It is a little early to be worried about how rich and famous you’re going to be.

Here is a question for you. Why do you have this talent? I don’t know your spiritual orientation, that is, who or what you believe in, but let’s presume there is a reason. Or at the least, a use for your talents to someone besides yourself. You did not mention having a career that would express an idea, spread a message, or propagate beauty for its own sake. You don’t mention what you want to do with your abilities. You mention two options: being catapulted to some sort of public stature and well-endowed bank account, or being cloistered away.

Let’s take a look at your chart. There is something really interesting about it: the main focus is on the 3rd and 4th houses, which represent an interior space. The signs involved are Aries and Taurus, which represent a focus on oneself, ones inner mind, home and sense of security. With all due respect, your chart and your letter suggest that you are somewhat self absorbed. I think you’re bright, you seem to possess a measure of alertness, and you crave innovation — but you’re going to need to reach escape velocity to get free of your interior orientation.

You do have quite a few massive planets in the public sector of your chart, but they are all retrograde. The retrograde suggests that you pull back into yourself when you need (in my view) to be expressing yourself. To me that is the point of artistic talent. Usually it has a purpose, which is to help the person who has it process their reality and along the way, keep their sanity, grow and with any luck have the products of their efforts help people on our benighted world.

Here is something you should know. Around 2001, Pluto began its transition into your 12th house, which is a transit that pulls you deep into yourself. It’s not that your chart lacks this emphasis — it’s painted in bright colors just about everywhere. But Pluto through the 12th can pull you down under the depths of your psyche to the point where you really can feel like you’re the only person in the world.

Now, nearly eight years later, Pluto is about to cross your ascendant. It will do this beginning later this year and through all of 2009, when it will be in your 1st house. This will help you break out of your spell of being cloistered. But it will also push your sense of a special destiny through the roof. I suggest you wear that sense of destiny as humbly as you can, and make an effort to see that you can have a positive impact on the world. It may be in a large way or it may be in a small way. And it may not be a positive contribution at all, unless you guide it that way. But you will have an impact and you need to be aware of what you want it to be. If you equate having artistic talent with fame and fortune, you’re likely to miss the boat on living a constructive life just like so many of the people we read about in People.

You’re a young person with a wide horizon, and you seem convinced that you have an artistic gift. I suggest you focus on what you want to do with that gift rather than what is going to happen to you personally as a result of having it. You don’t need to worry about whether you want or need to be cloistered or not. Anyone who develops their talent tends to spend a lot of time alone mastering their craft and moreover the mind that is trying to apply it meaningfully to existence.

And anyone who takes the sincere path of a creative career is indeed fortunate to be supported by their work.

Yours & truly,

===

Dear Eric (and friends),

I am currently going through a change in my life which I’m having a hard time dealing with. I recently spent five months living in another country and rekindled a relationship there. We are in love and I want to move there for a few years but actualizing that feels like a huge struggle, internally and externally. I’m trying to be independent and create the life that I want because (in true Virgo fashion) I have been pleasing other people for so long. I love to be of service but I feel like an emotional paramedic and I’m exhausted. I’m a writer, performer and facilitator and I want to expand and be my most fabulous self, but I need some guidance on how to pursue my dreams without alienating people I love.

I was born on August 24th, 1976 at 4:35 pm.

Peace & Many thanks
Akimbo

===

Dear Akimbo:

Why are you so worried about alienating anyone? Well, okay — I see you live with a pretty extreme polarity — a deep need for security or injured sense of safety (Chiron in the 4th house) and a powerful calling to make your innovative mark on the world (Uranus in the 10th house). However, I would propose that you need to go a little deeper than this discussion in order to find out why you specifically equate living your life, on the one hand, with being cast off, on the other.

Anyway, for all those who really want to do something with their lives, be it go on the road to visit a lover or play for the Yankees, be prepared to let go of friends who don’t get it, or who don’t actually support your choices. It could be said that you specifically need to alienate people in order to live your life, and in the process, discover the people who are going to be your true family of choice; your actual tribe.

From what you say, I am not sure you love them so much as you feel a need to take care of them. And if you can manage to alienate yourself from this lot, perhaps they will either learn to take care of themselves or find someone else to do so. But this would leave you without your old job, and a perfect opportunity to be your most fabulous self.

Yours & truly,

===

Dear Eric,

I was born on September 25th, 1955 at 8:06 pm in Wichita, Kansas.

As an early Cardinal Sun sign I am very interested to see your input on the significant changes that I will see with the upcoming cardinal grand cross and outer planet transits 2008-2012.

I have a strong interest in new career endeavors as well as new personal relationships but I have felt uninspired for a few years.

Regards,
Gary

===

Dear Gary:

You are about to experience a once in a lifetime transit known as Pluto square the Sun. It is one of those transits that will basically get you off your ass. Then Saturn will make a conjunction to your Sun in late 2009, which is a nice way of saying that you come to terms with yourself.

Then you will experience Uranus opposite the Sun, which will get you moving even faster. You are going to experience these transits one at a time, so I suggest you analyze them one at a time.

However, there are plenty of people who would experience these transits as disruptive or difficult; the difference comes down to what you want from life, and what you’re willing to do in order to have it. By this, I mainly mean undergo a deep process of transformation (a Pluto transit), followed by a maturing process (Saturn) and then being subjected to what I can only call wild inspiration (Uranus).

I don’t think you will be bored. But I suggest you do your best to find ways to express yourself and therefore keep a very good attitude.

Yours & truly,

===

Hello Eric,

I’ve been following the eclipse cycles and now they’re in the Aquarius/Leo pairs. As you can see, the last eclipse fell a day short of my birthday.

My husband and I have been together for 19 years, and I understand very well how to keep a long term committed and loving relationship. We do not wish to divorce because we share a deep friendship and responsibility for a young child. However, the last eclipse gave me the the impetus to move myself beyond my traditional marriage, and I have been very fortunate in finding a new companion to explore polyamorous relationships with.

But now I’ve been feeling “antsy” in regards to my new friend, and rather surprised to find myself wanting to slip back into the comfortable pattern of a one/one classic partnership. My question I would like to know is how best to handle this energy? My understanding is that eclipses propel you into the future, not let you slide back into old patterns like a pair of comfy old slippers. I thought I was making progress, but now I’m confused!

Thank you,
Amy

===

Dear Amy,

First, congratulations on your efforts at monogamy reform. While I think it’s natural and necessary that people be committed to one another in the long run, I also think that we need to make room for one another to explore life outside of long term committed partnerships, if that is what we want — and most people seem to.

I wish I had more to go on than antsy, however, regarding how you feel about your newish friend. I looked it up and the dictionary and found out that it means nervous, impatient and restless. Are you feeling confined by the relationship? Are you balking at a sense of disloyalty? Or are is the new relationship energy wearing off, with something lacking beneath that level?

I suggest you have a radical honesty clearing session with everyone. Get to the heart of how everyone feels, and don’t keep anything to yourself. I suggest you first talk to both of your partners individually, and give them the space to state exactly what they are feeling; then you do the same. And then I suggest you get all three of you in the same room and have one more conversation.

There are honest alternatives to monogamy, and they all come at the price of honesty. I think you have this capability. But you need to watch a tendency to be able to compartmentalize. By this I mean you can relate to someone in one way and then someone else in another way, and keep the two separate. I see this in both your Capricorn Venus and your Gemini Moon.

The Moon, for its part, suggests that you really do need some diversity in your life. That Capricorn Venus suggests that you have some unusual ways of processing your emotions, but you feel passionately and crave experimentation: but I don’t suggest that you fold your clothes before you make love.

Anyway, write back to me about the antsy part and let me know what happens after you have your radical honesty sessions.

Yours & truly,

===

Readers may send their questions to questions -at- planetwaves.net with the word QUESTION in the subject header. Not all questions will be answered. Please keep them short, concise and most of all, relevant to our readers. Please include your full birth data written out, for example, Feb. 30, 1801, rather than 2/30/01. Please include your time of birth! This feature is sponsored by your subscriptions to Planet Waves Astrology News! So please sign up and if you’re already a subscriber, please sign up a friend!

Today’s Oracle takes us to Apr 01, 2006 - Taurus - Monthly

You know that your ambitions are delicate, and the fact that certain individuals have found it within their rights to play dice with their loyalty or play politics instead of carrying water has been disconcerting. Yet if you can let the petty things remain small and keep your heart and soul focused on the vision for a better world that you’ve been nursing, you’ll find that all the games in the world cannot sway your steps. It has been said that there’s nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. You are currently in possession of such an idea, however humble or personal it may seem. Let the waves you seem to be making serve as a testament to your influence. It would seem that the greatest gift you have to offer is giving people an opportunity to cooperate, and setting an example for how they may take that too-often insurmountable evolutionary step.

Wednesday 30 July 2008

Arachne (12+ Libra) trine Nessus (12+ Aquarius Rx)
Sun (7+ Leo) sesquiquadrate Uranus (22+ Pisces Rx)
Mercury (7+ Leo) quintile Admetos (25+ Taurus)
Venus (21+ Leo) square Sedna (21+ Taurus)
Atlantis (21+ Libra) square Ceres (21+ Cancer)
Sisyphus (14+ Libra) square Jupiter (14+ Capricorn Rx)
Sun (7+ Leo) quintile Admetos (25+ Taurus)
Amor (4+ Gemini) semisquare Varuna (19+ Cancer)
Venus (21+ Leo) septile Arachne (12+ Libra)
Pallas (28+ Taurus) septile Varuna (19+ Cancer)
Sisyphus (14+ Libra) quintile Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Venus (21+ Leo) trine Eris (21+ Aries Rx)
Vesta (9+ Taurus) quintile Ceres (21+ Cancer)
Mercury (8+ Leo) square Asbolus (8+ Taurus)
Ceres (21+ Cancer) sesquiquadrate Pholus (6+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (14+ Leo) quincunx Jupiter (14+ Capricorn Rx)
Hylonome (2+ Sagittarius Rx) quintile Logos (20+ Virgo)
Atlantis (21+ Libra) septile Ixion (12+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (15 Leo) sesquiquadrate Aries Point (0 Aries)
Atlantis (21+ Libra) semisquare Pholus (6+ Sagittarius Rx)
Ceres (21+ Cancer) sextile Sedna (21+ Taurus)
Venus (22+ Leo) quincunx Uranus (22+ Pisces Rx)
Eros (15+ Leo) sextile Sisyphus (15+ Libra)
Mercury (9+ Leo) quintile Atlantis (21+ Libra)
Mercury (9+ Leo) square Vesta (9+ Taurus)

Solar Eclipse by Luc Viatour.

Dear Friend and Reader:

With the Aug. 1 total solar eclipse fast approaching (along with its Aug. 16 lunar eclipse companion), Eric has sent me out exploring the Internet for some intelligent analysis, and I’ve posted my findings for you here.

Without a doubt, the eclipse is arriving with challenges — and developments — in the way we relate to others: opportunities could arise, enabling you to emerge from a group with your own voice leading.

If you’re in this mindset, the eclipse could also be a good time to start a new business venture, or develop an existing one. Leo is all about being real, but in the context of Aquarius, it’s also about being noticed.

The eclipse weekend is also a great time for social gatherings, parties and vacations, so invite friends or family over and enjoy their company. It’s time for new beginnings, so reach out and celebrate with loved ones.

Scroll down for the daily aspects and Oracle.

Yours and truly,

The Administrator on Jan Spiller’s Astrology Community Forum writes:

This solar eclipse will stimulate your need to develop a more healthy ego. If you are going along with things rather than taking creative control to shift a situation into a more positive direction for everyone - this solar eclipse will awaken you to the necessity of learning to assume positive leadership.

Julie Demboski’s Astrology says:

The August eclipse set will fire us up (Leo) and present us with a distinct mental challenge (Aquarius): do we put ourselves first, or do we go with the group? For some, this will translate into an even more personal dynamic, with a twist: the dilemma will be between weighing the efficacy of what we must do to earn individual glory, versus the temptation to rebel against group demands.

So, the essence of the eclipse influence will be whether the choices must be independent and self-focused to attain self-glory, or whether acts must comply with what the group thinks, wants, requires in order to earn its acclaim.

A fire lights us from within as the Moon and Sun meet; the aspect pattern says we will assess our material situation to see how this fits with the urge to act, and our conflicts will be presented by the home situation, the sex life and/ or those subjects we hold sacred. That’s a formidable challenge, and one that is at the core of who we are; in order to successfully negotiate the eclipse energy, we must determine what our essential sacred values are, and then we must act accordingly.

Brenda Black, of Eclipse Astrology, writes:

This is a south node eclipse and there is more of a focus on relationships and partnerships. The ball is in the other person’s court for the next six months and you may need to put others’ needs in front of your own. There is also a theme of separation with this eclipse. This summer, you may walk away from something that you were not able to end in the beginning of the year.

Those born around the 1st or 2nd of any month will be most affected by this eclipse. If you are a Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius or Taurus get ready for big changes!

AstroStar Astrology writes:

Solar eclipses usually bring new beginnings, and Leos love to be noticed. If you are thinking of any kind of public projects like web sites, advertising, entertainment or even parties, then this is the time to launch. If you have a message that you want to share with the world, then send it up like fireworks on August 1st.

The whole weekend from August 1st through August 3rd should be an excellent time for parties and entertainment. It would also be a great time for vacations, so if you have some time available, take it and enjoy!

Today’s Oracle takes us to Feb 23, 2007 - LEO - Weekly

Someone whose feelings may have made no sense at all is suddenly making a lot of sense. Someone you feel may have been neglecting you suddenly shows up as protecting you and providing a dependable source of wisdom. It’s funny how perceptions can change, how they can be wrong, and how they can make no sense at all until that moment when they add up to something perfectly reasonable. What’s more interesting is how logic can exist on two levels, one which is internally consistent, and one which makes sense in the outer world. Occasionally there is a moment when the two intersect.

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Sun (6+ Leo) trine Pholus (6+ Sagittarius Rx)
Sun (6+ Leo) square Hidalgo (6+ Scorpio)
Ceres (20+ Cancer) quintile Asbolus (8+ Taurus)
Mercury (5+ Leo) square Chariklo (5+ Scorpio)
Pandora (10+ Scorpio) quintile Orcus (28+ Leo)
Arachne (12+ Libra) sextile Ixion (12+ Sagittarius Rx)
Amor (4+ Gemini) quintile Uranus (22+ Pisces Rx)
Mercury (6+ Leo) trine Pholus (6+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (6+ Leo) square Hidalgo (6+ Scorpio)
Eros (13+ Leo) sesquiquadrate Pluto (28+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (14+ Leo) trine Great Attractor (14+ Sagittarius)
Venus (20+ Leo) sextile Atlantis (20+ Libra)
Mercury (7+ Leo) conjunct Sun (7+ Leo)
Sisyphus (14+ Libra) septile Pholus (6+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mars (17+ Virgo) square Quaoar (17+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (7+ Leo) sesquiquadrate Uranus (22+ Pisces Rx)
Eros (14+ Leo) trine Juno (14+ Sagittarius Rx)

Dear Friend and Reader:

We are now in the last four days leading up to a total solar eclipse. It is more important to pay attention to your life than to astrology. As I’ve mentioned a few times before, in recent decades solar eclipses in Leo are pretty rare. Leo is the sign of the Sun, and this is an eclipse of the Sun. The message here is: it’s not about astrology, it’s about self.

If you look up eclipses in the Dictionary of Astrology by Alan Leo, it’s a little like reading from the Book of Revelation. They are associated with pestilences, earthquakes, toil on the king, hard times for animals, earthquakes, floods, running out of coffee on a Monday morning and everything else gone wrong. One gets the impression that eclipses are a good time to be away from the Solar System.

In actual fact, decent astrologers all learn respect for eclipses, and teach that respect to those who follow their work. Some learn it the easy way, some learn it the hard way, but upon commencing the study of astrology, eclipses soon reveal their unparalleled influence. We learn to respect them like small children who grow up by the ocean are taught to respect waves and water. Swallow a few good gulps of salt or get knocked into an undertow and the sea becomes a god that one treats tentatively. To my thinking, astrology is as basic as a sea captain or navigator learning the respect for weather, tides and magnetic forces that guides a safe passage. Few people would argue with a hurricane. Eclipses are natural events with natural results, and, as it happens, we are moving through their neighborhood right at the moment.

Eclipses work on three levels, broadly speaking. The first is personal. The second is collective. The third is where the personal and the collective intersect.

In personal terms, modern astrologers have begun to see the light on eclipses, if you ask me. In newspaper horoscope columns, they are generally described as moments of opportunity, times of peak intensity and critical juncture points. All this is true, though one could argue it’s a matter of perception. Do you congratulate someone when they lose their job, because they get to discover who they are, collecting unemployment for six months or a year? What do you say when a horrid relationship ’suddenly’ falls apart? What do you say to a tidal wave?

The perception of an astrologer can be a significant influence on the lives of people who encounter their interpretations. Even if it goes no further than self-fulfilling prophesy, astrologers owe it to the world to rise above fears and superstitions and allow faith and reason to carry their work.

And I see it happening. The more consciously eclipses are handled, the less they are inclined to do damage and the more they are inclined to give us a push in the right direction.

Here is an overview of the week’s aspects. Let’s see if we can get a sense of just what direction that is.

Yours & truly,

27 Sunday: Moon entered Gemini 11:55 am EDT. Mercury enters Leo. Mercury trines Hylonome retrograde in Sagittarius.

28 Monday: Ceres in Capricorn sextile Logos in Virgo. Do you think about what you eat, or do you just eat it? When was the last time you read a food package?

Eros in Leo trines Ixion (retrograde) in Sagittarius. Eros also opposes Nessus retrograde in Aquarius. Eros squares Psyche in Scorpio. Venus in Leo opposes Chiron (retrograde) in Aquarius. This aspect set, all involving Eros and Venus, presents compelling evidence that we need to look at the power of sexuality in our lives.

Genevieve Salerno writes, “It’s hard to believe that a power as procreative as Eros could possibly have a downside. But it’s true that often times, we are capable of inflicting damage on those that we feel love for, by mistaking control and manipulation for love. Today a wound that is either not addressed or unhealed is likely to manifest itself in your actions. Use this energy to become aware of the struggle. Knowing how you love, and why you love, is as important for Eros as knowing where your food comes from for Ceres.”

29 Tuesday: Moon enters Cancer 1:12 pm EDT. Leo Sun conjoins Mercury, marking the midpoint between Mercury sesquiquintile Uranus (retrograde) in Pisces. Juno trines Eros.

30 Wednesday: Sun sesquiquadrare Uranus. Venus trines Eris (retrograde) in Aries. Leo Mercury squares Vesta in Taurus. Ceres in Capricorn sextiles Sedna in Taurus. Now is the time to heal the bridge between ourselves and the Earth, and our ourselves to ourselves. We cannot afford to live fragmented lives, where we do not acknowledge, name or engage specific parts of our being, and still expect to live in a good relationship with the Earth.

31 Thursday: Moon enters Leo 2:22 pm EDT, beginning the dark of the Moon. Venus opposite Neptune retrograde Aquarius.

1 Friday: SOLAR ECLIPSE 6:13 am EDT. Moon occults Mercury; this is a second eclipse. Venus trines 1992 QB1. Ceres in Cancer trines Uranus in Pisces (retrograde).

2 Saturday: Moon enters Virgo 4:59 pm EDT. Mercury sesquiquadrate Pluto.

3 Sunday: Eros conjoins Elatus, asking: where does desire lead you? Mercury trines a retrograde Quaoar in Sagittarius. Venus trines the Galactic Center. According to different sources, Elatus was a centaur who tried to flee Hercules’ rain of arrows during the Pholus episode. Today’s aspects reflect a desire to dance to the beat of your own drummer. Make no mistake that the consequences of such an action will be a kind of social alienation. But this should come as a welcome blessing to those who are desperately in need of some quiet time, away from their social obligations, to learn who they really are.

Today’s Oracle takes us to Mar 01, 1999 - LIBRA - Monthly

Every now and then I get the idea that my paranoia will kill me before anything else does, and lately my No. 1 spiritual project has been learning to feel safe, protected, loved and fearless. This is not always easy, and I have to remember to wake up at the very times when I am the most asleep, and of course, in those moments, I have my doubts that I’m not courting danger just by feeling so safe and protected. If you’re feeling a new sense of security entering your life, pay attention; it may not be the care-free confidence you expected, but it may be a very bold safety; a kind of aggressive serenity; an understanding that this is all a gamble anyway, and you’ve got to bet on yourself, or bet against yourself, and then let the game of life happen. Where are you going to lay down those chips?

Monday 28 July 2008

Vesta (8+ Taurus) conjunct Asbolus (8+ Taurus)
Mercury (3+ Leo) quintile Sedna (21+ Taurus)
Ceres (20+ Cancer) sextile Logos (20+ Virgo)
Sisyphus (14+ Libra) sextile Juno (14+ Sagittarius Rx)
Eros (12+ Leo) trine Ixion (12+ Sagittarius Rx)
Nessus (12+ Aquarius Rx) sesquiquadrate Hades (27+ Gemini)
Mercury (3+ Leo) sextile Amor (3+ Gemini)
Sun (5+ Leo) square Chariklo (5+ Scorpio)
Venus (19+ Leo) opposite Chiron (19+ Aquarius Rx)
Orcus (28+ Leo) trine Pluto (28+ Sagittarius Rx)
Arachne (12+ Libra) sesquiquadrate Pallas (27+ Taurus)
Eros (12+ Leo) opposite Nessus (12+ Aquarius Rx)
Eros (12+ Leo) semisquare Hades (27+ Gemini)
Venus (19+ Leo) septile Hades (27+ Gemini)
Venus (19+ Leo) semisquare Kronos (4+ Cancer)
Apollo (25+ Leo) septile Kronos (4+ Cancer)
Mars (16+ Virgo) quintile Kronos (4+ Cancer)
Mercury (5+ Leo) semisquare Logos (20+ Virgo)
Eros (13+ Leo) square Psyche (13+ Scorpio)