It is eclipse season, and there are two eclipses happening this month: a solar eclipse today, 2nd July 2019, followed by a lunar eclipse on 16th July (see my next blog). So, what does this eclipse mean astrologically and how may it affect you personally?
Firstly, a confession: I am not a fan of eclipses. Why? Because even after having studied them for many years, in my life as well as in the lives of others, I still feel that their effects are extremely difficult to predict (unlike transits, progressions and solar arc directions!). Adding to this, literature about the subject does not seem to shed more light onto the matter – for me, that is. Like the nature of an eclipse, this topic seems obscured and somehow hidden in the dark.
Astronomically, a solar eclipse appears during a new Moon phase, when both the Sun and the Moon are positioned on the same side of the Earth. When the Moon moves totally (total solar eclipse) or partially (partial solar eclipse) in front of the Sun, it blocks out the sunlight (see image below). When the Moon fully covers the Sun, it makes for dramatic views of a dark sphere (the Moon) encircled by a bright, sometimes even red, rim. That’s when it’s time to get out those handsome-looking eclipse glasses!
Today’s eclipse is at 10° Cancer, and it is a total eclipse. Like any solar eclipse, it is also a new Moon. Astrologically, a new Moon is a time when the energy changes. It’s the start of a new lunar cycle, which takes 14.8 days until the next full Moon and 29.5 days to the next new Moon.
Psychologically, a new Moon is a time when we feel the ability to change our perspective, to change our habits, to find new hope and motivation to do and think differently and to start over in specific areas of our lives. The area of life that will be affected can be seen in our natal birth chart. The house in which the new Moon or solar eclipse takes place is the area where we will feel renewed energy.
A solar eclipse adds immense power to the new Moon energy. The Moon temporarily turns off the Sun’s light. Like a dam, the energy is harnessed but then released quickly as the Moon moves on, creating a kind of shockwave when the energy gets turned back on. The effect of this sudden release of light is that we can either experience an energy surge or an energy outage in the area of life indicated by the house in which the eclipse falls in our birth chart.
Cancer is a cardinal sign that is action-oriented. The Moon rules our habits, our feelings, our instinctive behaviours, the collective mood and our past. In astronomy, the Moon affects the tides and therefore, in astrology, also rules all bodies of water. During this eclipse, we may initiate some action due to strong feelings and memories of the past concerning all things related to Cancer: important women in our lives, our family (biological, or the one we may have adopted throughout our life), loved ones, children, home, cooking, gardening, bathrooms, kitchens and any rooms with water systems (I currently have a blocked kitchen sink!).
Questions about nurturing will be at the forefront now. How much of it do you need and are you willing to give? Are you getting what you need from others? Do you think others are needy, and how does that make you feel? Are you comfortable with and can you accept your own neediness? And if others cannot give what you long for, can you find ways to nurture and care for yourself – perhaps even doing a much better job at it than others could possibly do? Actions that tackle issues of dependency and the ability, or inability, to stand on your own will be addressed now.
Whether power outage or surge, during a solar eclipse in Cancer we may experience a strong nesting desire and need to secure our bonds with others. This wish to retreat can be honoured by spending time at home: cooking, meditating, sharing with people we are close to, or connecting to the element of water during a bubble bath or a swim for the ultimate homey experience back in utero. Artists, musicians and mystics may just thrive right now and love this time of intense energy.
Major events can happen at this solar eclipse, concerning all things related to Cancer. However – and this is what many eclipse articles forget to mention – unless an eclipse makes an aspect to one of your personal planets and luminaries (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars) or other points of interest (e.g. Ascendant and other angles, midpoints) in your birth chart, there may be very little or no effect for you at all. Also, an accurate birth time is essential in all calculations.
Example chart of HH Dalai Lama´s birth chart (inner wheel) with transits and current eclipse (outer wheel). The eclipse is conjunct his Sun in Cancer by 3° and so will affect his vitality, sense of purpose, life goals, political and religious role, authority and power.
Concerning the aspects an eclipse makes to the points in a chart, astrologers have differing views on orbs. Some say the aspect needs to be under 3° for an eclipse to be felt at all, while others believe an orb can be up to 10°. Some astrologers consider only conjunctions and squares to an eclipse to be of significance, while others include trines, sextiles and minor aspects as well. I personally use a 3° orb. This means that if you have planets and angles between 7° and 13° of Cancer, Aries, Capricorn or Libra, this eclipse at 10° Cancer will surely have an impact on you.
To sum it up, an eclipse within 1° of a planet will have a dramatic impact on all matters of the planet being aspected in the natal chart (e.g. Venus: love, relationships, money, art, important females; Mars: desire, will, anger, important males). Generally, a total eclipse is more potent than a partial eclipse, and an eclipse that can be seen from your location is more potent than one in a location where it cannot be seen. Some eclipses can produce dramatic sudden events, while others produce them within a month, and still others only after three months. The effects of an event can last from three months to several years. Sometimes, eclipse-related events can happen up to two weeks prior to an eclipse.
Lastly, this solar eclipse is also occurring at the lunar North Node. Judith Hill, in her book Eclipses and You (Portland, CA, 2013), states that a “blessed” North Node eclipse may bring fortune, luck and the results of hard work (e.g. a promotion). Important relationships can be strengthened, or beneficial new contacts made. New opportunities may arise that are stimulating and energising. If, however, we are facing a challenging eclipse, we may experience greed and excess, feelings of being invaded or overwhelmed, hyperactivity, aggressiveness or destructiveness.
Having said that, eclipses occurring at the North Node are generally more positive than those at the South Node, as Hill suggests. Ultimately though, no matter what the event, there is always free will – even if we do not feel its presence when things are really tough and we feel overwhelmed. Since recorded history, the mystics of all traditions have taught what quantum mechanics has now proven: that we are living in a holographic multiverse and that we have limitless possibilities to create our own reality. If not the event, then we most certainly can choose and manifest our attitude towards it.
UPDATE: A study by researcher Robert Bast claims a connection between eclipses and earthquakes, suggesting that eclipses affect Earth much more than previously suspected (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lunar-eclipses-and-killer-earthquakes-155643875.html). It is interesting to mention here the Los Angeles earthquake on 4 July 2019 (two days after the solar eclipse and twelve days before the lunar eclipse), the strongest to hit the area in 20 years – and its ongoing aftershocks (https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-aftershocks-new-quake-ridgecrest-earthquake-20190706-story.html). Blast further proposes that “for lunar eclipses – when the Sun and Moon pull on our planet from opposite directions – the odds of a major earthquake are double”. The next lunar eclipse will be on 16 July 2019.
“LIFE CONSISTS NOT IN HOLDING GOOD CARDS BUT IN PLAYING THOSE YOU HOLD WELL.” ~ Henry Wheeler Shaw
To find out more about how Moon phases and eclipses affect your life, which cards you are holding and how well you may be playing them, explore your natal (birth) chart in an astrological reading with The Highgate Astrologer. For more information or to book a reading, please visit BOOKINGS on thehighgateastrologer.com.