As portals for unseen influences and psychic energy, eclipses can be triggers for powerful events and transformation. For when the three main celestial bodies, Sun, Moon and Earth, lock into dramatic formation creating contrasting light and shadow, an eclipse often coincides with dramatic revelations and polarising events that become turning points in our lives, watersheds that propel us upon an entirely new trajectory. Which is why, during the exact time of the eclipse, Eastern philosophy bides one to remain in a calm and protected, meditative environment – so that we can make the most of any awareness: impressions that can arise may be intellectual or emotional, intuitive or physical. Body, mind and spirit are intricately connected to celestial cycles. Subtle energy channels, the meridians, carry ideas, emotions and sensations through the psycho-anatomical being; and all kinds of reactions can be activated during eclipses. The trick is to go easy upon yourself (and others). Insight gained into such sensations, be they faint or fierce, allows one to be objective and experience an immediate sense of presence, of being in the moment.
By letting go and not holding onto disturbing emotions or thoughts it releases the mind, spirits’ vehicle, from neurosis; so that we become one with the radiating universe, to just ‘be’ and rest in the loving heart centre. This is the Buddhist way to create inner-peace and equanimity. Animist cultures warn off negative eclipse influences and celebrate the union of the three heavenly bodies with drumming, dance and chanting. In Buddhism we also invite personal protectors by calling the Guru from afar; others might invite Angels to watch over them and help the focus and process of transformation.
Eclipses generally come in pairs; and although it is not so rare, we are now entering a the triple set (the last triple was July 1991), beginning with a lunar eclipse (when Earth’s shadow blocks out the light of the Sun) early Tuesday morning on the 7th at 10:12 am (BST); the second is solar (when Moon aligns with Sun at 29 Cancer) on the 22nd July; the third lunar eclipse is on the 6th of August, a full moon at 13 degrees accents the Leo-Aquarius, self-community axis for the last time for eight and a half years.
The first of these three planetary geometric interplays involves the Sun in Cancer with the Moon in Capricorn. The shadow side of self could well be leaping and hopping, as it’s a mega intense combination: Sun and Moon represent male and female, whilst in the horoscope Cancer and Capricorn form the parental axis. Cancer is the creative foundation, forming roots for Capricorn as the unyielding pinnacle; its an alliance that, when working well, can stabilise and become the basis of compassion in action. The change we seek can now be external, as in work and family, or internal as in psychological and spiritual, through dreams and symbolism, or both, seeing as we have three eclipses to work with.
The Moon also rules emotions and the Water sign Cancer. A full Moon nearest a Solstice, the sun’s highest peak (in Northern hemisphere) is always strong, where feelings can run high. And this one is also fortified with passion, not just because it is an eclipse, but because the Moon sits next to a wild and little known phenomena: Black Moon Lilith, another shadow point involving Earth and Moon. There is a potential to feel tired and frustrated helpless and hopeless in the midst of any change where you feel powerless. Yet in the darkness Black Moon Lilith stands in the shadow of the Moon, and she now beholds the light of the Sun, resisting egotistical cupidity. Black Moon Lilith shows how and where in our lives we are prepared to make sacrifices in order to protect the human Spirit and our connection to the powerful void.
