Dear Friend and Reader:
We’re less than 24 hours from a lunar eclipse in Capricorn, which is also the Capricorn Full Moon. Here is the chart, set for Eastern Daylight Time in Kingston, NY, in the tradition of casting the chart for where the astrologer actually is. The ascendant will be similar for New York City and Washington DC; but the date/time of the event will vary more or less, depending on your time zone. Here is a page discussing the visibility of the eclipse. As far as I can reckon this is not actually visible anywhere; if so, only part of the Moon will appear to dim slightly, as the eclipse barely touches the edge of the Earth’s shadow, or penumbra (hence it’s called a penumbral eclipse).
This is the first of a series of three eclipses, which will occur about every two weeks until Aug. 5. The nucleus of this series of events is a total solar eclipse on July 21.Tuesday’s eclipse is close enough to the Aries Point (that is, the early cardinal signs) to be assiciated with another wave of events that have global impact. Though most people don’t care, it is fitting that we will have the funeral of Michael Jackson the day of an eclipse.
As I describe in some detail in the Midyear Horoscope Report, the interesting thing about tomorrow’s eclipse is that it falls on the ascendant of a chart called the Thema Mundi, an ancient document that gives a purported chart for the creation of the world. Here is a Planet Waves article from two years ago that explains the Thema Mundi. This is not a literal chart, but rather a hypothetical one that is designed to explain the rules of traditional astrology. If you’re going to explore the old systems that we inherited through ancient Greece, this is the place to start and likely the place you will finish; just about everything you need to inow is in the Thema Mundi.
That chart does not have Aries rising; it has Cancer rising. One of the implications is that the 1st house is analogous to Cancer rather than to Aries, as we normally think of it. And now we have an eclipse and Full Moon right in that degree. We will need to observe and see how that pans out.
I’ve dug out an old article from the summer of 1999, when we had some pretty significant eclipses, with some general ideas for how to handle this kind of energy. I’ll follow the conversation below and respond to any queries there.
The first property of eclipses is concentration of experience. A lot happens in a short time; time itself becomes distorted. This works on an individual level, and on a collective level.
Events seem karmic or predestined. They may not be, but they certainly seem that way. A lot of how that shapes up depends on your relationship to the ideas of karma and destiny.
Add some discontinuity. The world always seems to plow forward on its crazy way, and yet nothing ever seems to really change. Life is genuinely different as eclipses approach, and then never quite returns to normal. In the process of the Soul evolution of the planet, and in our individual lives, these events represent critical transition points without which there would be very little progress at all.
So, another characteristic is a distinct sense of transition. We move from one space of life into another. Personal relationships, including marriages and lover-relationships, are particularly susceptible to rearrangement. The change can be deepening of stronger the relationships, and shake-ups in weaker relationships, many of which are likely to change dramatically.
Anything that’s not working with the process of our personal and collective evolution is subject to disruption, things that are working are subject to challenge. There is, in the end, very little we can do about any of it except to work with the energy consciously, make decisions and follow your intuition.
Gauri, pls let me know how the eclipse on your ascendant affects you.
I have the July 21st eclipse on my ascendant, and the August 5th eclipse on the composite ascendant for my husband and myself….and I’m trying to get a sense for the motion and meaning of this particular eclipse series.
Would appreciate anyone else’s thoughts on it as well..
I read on the ‘horoscopes within’ blog that this eclipse belong to the Saros Series #110, & the last one in this series was on June 27th 1991.
Note that during most of these triples, Raphael’s Ephemeris does not list any lunar eclipses. This is true for 2009, where in Raphael’s does not list any lunar eclipses until partial eclipse New Year’s Eve Dec. 31, when there is a partial lunar, a different world than what we have now. I suggest someone look up the Saros cycle and see when the current pattern last repeated itself. I have not looked up which Saros cycle this is…it’s always interesting to see when a particular pattern of eclipses repeats itself – and the repetition is very precise; these are choreographed events.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saros_cycle
This is the first series of three eclipses (rather than the usual pair) since i seriously took up astrology, therefore i’m starting from scratch as regards to discerning the difference. First of all, it seems reasonable that a triple would differ from a double in some fundamental way. Second, it seems that the first area of difference would be in the type of symmetry exhibited in the distortion of space-time, in how transition proceeds and in how Karma expresses itself. As this process proceeds i would appreciate any perspective regarding the symmmetries expressed (especially as compared to previous, more common, double-eclipse cycles).
Thank you,
Len Wallick
This eclipse is almost exact conjunct on my natal AC-DC axis (Cancer rising @16 degrees). It is conjuct my natal Mercury on DC & squares Eris on my MC. Plus Pluto makes an exact (second one of this year) conjuction to my natal Cap Sun on the 9th, just 2 days after the Eclipse, so I’m really looking forward to this Eclipse, to see what comes up/goes down, whichever……:-)
HI Eric
I thought you might find this of interest as the lunar eclipse falls on the
Guru Purnima in the Hindu Tradition, see the info below!
It is always on the full moon in cancer….. which is my natal aspect so of course I find it of interest… anyway the mid year horoscope is right on
great work,
best
chrysanne..
The full moon day in the month of Ashadh (July) of the Hindu calendar is celebrated as Guru Purnima by all Hindus all over. This Guru Purnima day is celebrated as a mark of respect to the “Guru” i.e. a teacher or a preacher. This Guru Purnima day is celebrated in the sacred memory of the great sage Vyasa, the ancient saint who compiled the four Vedas, wrote 18 Puranas, the Mahabharata and the Srimad Bhagavata.
The Guru Purnima day, also known as “Vyasa Purnima” is observed by devotees who offer pujas (worship) to their beloved Gurus. Sage Vyasa is known to be the Adi (original) Guru of the Hindu religion. The auspicious day of Vyasa Purnima has a great significance as everybody knows that the role of a Guru in real life is very much important.
This Guru Purnima is a day for spiritual seekers who remain extremely open to their gurus to receive Diksha, divine power, and for this reason holy people choose this day to shower everyone with their most auspicious divine blessings. The Guru Purnima day of Guru Purnima has great significance for spiritual sadhaks and farmers. All spiritual aspirants and devotees worship Vyasa in honor of his divine personage and all disciples perform ‘puja’ of their respective spiritual preceptor or ‘Gurudevas’. They offer flowers and sweets to their spiritual gurus. Guru Purnima is also good time to begin spiritual lessons from a guru. Traditionally, spiritual seekers commence to intensify their spiritual ‘Sadhana’ from this day. The Guru Purnima day also finds a great importance for farmers. The period ‘Chaturmas’ (“four months”) begins from this day. The water, drawn up and stored as clouds in the hot summer, now manifests in plentiful showers that brings fresh life everywhere. You may perform on this day lakshmi Diksha, kuber Diksha, Kanakdhara Diksha, asta-lakshmi Diksha, Mahavidya Diksha.