The Great Sphinx on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt, photographed with Fuji Velvia film. Copyright ©2003 Charlie Lemay. Prior cover: Disco ball.
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Kingston, NY, Feb. 20, 2008
 Dear Friend and Reader:We are now some hours away from a total eclipse of the Moon that takes place at exactly 10:30 pm Eastern Time. It will be visible anywhere the Moon is visible at that time. Eclipses of the Moon are like living a month in about two hours. Consider the metaphor -- we start with a Full Moon, which then suddenly wanes away to a New Moon, then comes back to the full phase -- all in a very short time.
Today is a day for setting patterns. It's a day to make sure you do some of what you want, some of what is most important to you. This way you can work it into the DNA of the cosmos directly through your own body and energy field. You may not get to do what you want all day, but you can certainly make some time before tonight to make a choice for what you really feel like living for. An eclipse of the Moon in Virgo is a beautiful metaphor for releasing patterns that are both mental and emotional. The eclipse occurs along the narrow run of the zodiac called the Sphinx Point. What combines the properties of a cat and a woman better than the Great Sphinx? Nothing that I know of. But we get other images, such as work and play; energy and structure; and building something that is made to last. Some astrological traditions teach that the Moon veils a planet. An eclipse conjunct Saturn looks a little like the Moon is veiling Saturn, but there is an esoteric or hidden level. Imagine that when that eclipse occurs, Uranus is the planet revealed, with all its revolutionary, provocative energy. Conjunct Saturn in Virgo, we get a combination of discipline (Saturn is good at that) and the past (Saturn is good at that too) both of which are given a push by Uranus. The past will not withstand the creative intensity of the green planet, but it can help provide some structure. Yet this is not just about changing the past: where some old concept existed, something entirely new is entering the picture. It may not seem too dramatic at first...but notice what is in fact new, and consider following up on those things. Let's check behind the veil for a few other interesting ideas. With astrology, you can go as far as you want. In her 1951 book Esotieric Astsrology, Alice A. Bailey writes, "The word Virgo itself is a descendant of and corruption of the ancient Atlantean root name which was applied to the mother principle in those far off times. This Virgin was the founder of the matriarchy which then dominated civilization and to which various myths and legends bear evidence and which have come down to us concerning Lilith, the last Virgin Goddess of Atlantean times." In other words, the sign Virgo represents the feminine principle of divinity in its entirety. We might think of that as the spirit that animates mater-mother-matter, our entire earthly life, our bodies, and all we do and create within the material plane. Life is indeed about our life in, on the world and living with the world. We are here. Let's really be here. There is plenty to do -- work (Virgo) and play (Leo) -- and the place where the two meet. For more information about this eclipse, you can visit this article that Kirsti Melto and I co-wrote. And here is an oldie called Leo and the Sphinx. Here is how to subscribe to Planet Waves Astrology News.  |
