Setting Off

By Len Wallick

Tonight, there will be a total lunar eclipse for many, if not most reading these words. That will be the subject of today’s blog.

Just hours later we will experience the Capricorn Solstice. That will be the subject of tomorrow’s blog, even though the two occurrences can rightly be considered one event for more than one reason.

From beginning to end, this eclipse will last for about three and a half hours. The totality in the middle will hold for over 70 minutes. Mid-eclipse will be about 3:13 am EDT. Weather permitting, the whole process will be visible in all of North and Central America, Greenland and Iceland. Those in South America, most of Australia, and parts of Europe, Africa and Asia will have the opportunity to see it either ending or beginning. The only folks totally left out will be those in East and South Africa, the Middle East and mid-South Asia. Better luck next time, Ms. Ardin.

Any total lunar eclipse is special in and of itself. It has been years since viewers in the United States have enjoyed a comparable experience. This particular one is also part of a long and complex series of special astrological events that have followed one another in close succession since Mercury entered Capricorn marking the threshold between November and December. As has been the case for several weeks, any confusion related to complexity can be overcome by breaking things down a bit.

I propose we proceed by picking up where we left off last week, reviewing the astrology since last Thursday. Then it might be of some benefit to review the basics of  lunar eclipses. Finally, we should be able to conclude with some particulars about this current eclipse, in preparation for our segue into the Capricorn Solstice, our subject tomorrow.

The weekend started last Friday when Mercury’s retrograde motion carried it back into Sagittarius. This shift from cardinal form to mutable manifestation may have left some feeling a bubble off plumb level. If so, the return to a sign ruled by Jupiter probably served to assuage the disorientation, relieving the real or imaginary constraints accompanying Old Fleet Foot’s first foray into Capricorn, which is ruled by Saturn. Regardless of how it played out, you would probably be the exception if there were not something about your life on Saturday morning that was very different from just 24 hours before.

Saturday night, the center of our solar system conjoined with the center of our galaxy. In other words, it was pretty much a straight line from where you were, through the heart of the Sun and on to the Galactic Center. To give you an idea of what kind of astrology we are going through right now, in almost any other year this would be headline news and the focus of an entire blog. This year it is consigned to the police blotter as a step towards an eclipse.

Nevertheless, this alignment was no small thing. It would do you well to make note of how and with whom you expressed your story on that evening. Even though this conjunction takes place every year, it is never without substance. Something about the connections you made, concurrent with this aspect, holds a clue about who and where you are in relation to not only some others but possibly all others.

Finally, yesterday saw Venus move out of the echo (or shadow) of its retrograde cycle which took up most of autumn. Just as with the Sun’s conjunction to the Galactic Center, it is a demarcation not to be underestimated. This planet which so brilliantly dominates the pre-dawn sky, has consistently demonstrated a comparable eminence over the ambient astrology. Still in Scorpio, traditionally ruled by Mars and ostensibly by Pluto, Venus is breaking new ground for the first time in well over two months. The coming three weeks may well bear witness to a transformation of some very personal desires. The subjects and objects of our passions are now exposed to mysterious but compelling currents that may force some issues we may have put off. The key is to be open to attraction without being distracted by repulsion.

Just as with the Capricorn Solstice following so closely on the heels of the Full Moon, it would be fair to consider the events leading up to it as part of a continuum, albeit subject to parsing out for purposes of understanding. Our objective is to see the forest and the trees, separately and in combination, retaining an awareness of the whole while being fully conscious of each part. Think of it as being a symphony conductor, present to the entire score and at the same time vividly alert to each section of the orchestra, right down to the individual musician, in real time.

Speaking of understanding, did we just say Full Moon? Yes, that is the first thing to understand about lunar eclipses. They are a special case of opposition between the luminaries. Special because Luna’s orbit around the Earth is not in the same plane as our planet’s orbit around the Sun. Those two planes intersect at two points called the lunar nodes.

Most of the time, when the Luna is opposed to the Sun in degrees of longitude (the kind used on a two-dimensional zodiac chart) it is not in the vicinity of one of the nodes. When it is, the opposition is one of latitude as well as longitude and the Earth is directly between the two in three-dimensional space. This causes our planet to cast a cone-shaped shadow, or umbra, through which the Moon passes.

Two things to note. First, because the Earth’s shadow is so wide, by the time it gets to where the Moon is, it is not necessary for Luna to be exactly in the node for the eclipse to take place. Close is good enough, in this case within three degrees. Also, the umbra is not totally dark. Even when the opposition is precise, some of the Sun’s light, notably the lower frequencies, is present in the shadow cast by our planet. That’s why we can see the Moon even in totality, albeit dimmer and of a reddish hue.

One of the things that makes this eclipse interesting is that the appearance of the lunar apparition will be subject to change during the hour or so it is in the total phase. In other words, this is not an absolute or exact phenomenon, it is a matter of relativity and degree. It is unique. So what, besides the continuity of auspicious events that precede and follow it, makes this particular lunar eclipse so special? We shall close by noting three.

First, this opposition of the luminaries takes place with the Sun in the very last arc minutes of the very last degree of Sagittarius while the Moon is identically positioned in Gemini. In other words, in the anaretic degree of mutable signs. This implies a sense of dynamic flow encouraging us to release our attachments to how things should be and how they should turn out. This is a time to be both focused and open minded. Referring back a few paragraphs to our example of the symphony conductor, we spontaneously admit that improvisation honors the score. To even approximate that role we will be called upon to be aware and creative as never before.

The second thing that distinguishes this lunar eclipse is that it takes place against the background of a Mercury retrograde. Not only that, but at the time of the luminary opposition, Mercury will be applying to conjoin with the Galactic Core very shortly thereafter. This not only emphasizes continuity in the astrology of the  past few days, it also projects the influence of this event forward to early next year, when Old Fleet Foot returns to the same point for a third time after turning direct ten days from now.

In addition, all eclipses tend to increase the potency of concurrent events. This would obviously include the sort of things associated with all Mercury retrogrades. This underlines the admonition towards flexibility and awareness implied by the location of the Sun and Moon. In other words, exercise due care and be willing to find control over possible untoward turns by taking responsibility no matter how confronted you should find yourself.

Finally, there are a veritable and literal handful (or two) of meaningful aspects and occurrences that connect minor planets and hypothetical points to this eclipse event. Your faithful correspondent will select but one, the concurrent ingress of Pallas Athene out of Sagittarius and into Capricorn. Today’s almost tangible field of energy fluctuation is largely between the poles of these two signs and their ruling planets. As a matter of fact, if one were to characterize everything going on right now, it would come down to that. There is a dynamic between expansion and constraint pervading everything from the most closely held personal experiences all the way out to the most public domain.

This particular asteroid crossing this particular cardinal point in the midst of the most powerful set of continuous potentiating events that we’ve seen in a long time implies something about the nature of the transition. Pallas is a representation of goddess energy, but it is not passive and receptive. In the midst of a tug of war between the two sides of the patrilinear tradition a new feminine expression is emerging. The very nature of yin is changing under our noses and it is now moving from eventful manifestation to unprecedented form. When all is said and done, this will be the shape of things to come.

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