A Lunar eclipse is by definition a Full Moon, a time when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon as they are lined up along the ecliptic, offering Earthlings a few minutes when the Moon is prevented from reflecting the Sun’s light. All bodies in our Solar system are more or less lined up along this plane; an eclipse is a point when a New or Full Moon occurs as the alignment of Sun, Moon, and Earth are closest, allowing either the Moon (during a Solar eclipse) or the Earth (during a Lunar one) to block the Sun’s light to the other body.

This Lunar eclipse falls on 26 May, at 4:13 AM PDT, at 5 Sagittarius 25, and of course does so close to the South Node (with Full or New Moon proximity to the Nodes being one sign of an eclipse). Interesting that the closest aspect formed is a sesquiquadrate with Mars in Cancer. With the ’emotion point’ of the chart itself being the meeting of Moon and Earth (with the Moon on the side of Earth opposite to the Sun), Martian energy in the Moon’s sign and in difficult aspect to the Lunar event suggests either aggressive, angry emotions stirred up by endings or conclusions brought by the Full Moon, or that actions or choices (Mars) made because we care (Cancer) bring forward a tough situation (sesquiquadrate).

The Full Moon is also semi-square Zeus, in wide square to Jupiter, and quincunx Ceres. Our desires (Mars/ Zeus) are under pressure (semi-sq and sesqui), and it doesn’t look like we have the opportunity or support we wanted from the larger social sphere or from the facts themselves (sq to Jupiter), and this may cause a dilemma, a need to adjust course (qnx) and make choices based on a realistic picture of our own authority in the matter (qnx Ceres).

The Sabian symbol for this eclipse is, ‘A Game Of Cricket’. Though we’re likely to take what occurs very seriously, we would do well to keep in mind that everything in life is a kind of game. A lighthearted take, or one that is willing to take reasonable risk, or to not take injury too grimly, will serve us well. Know what you’re risking, make your moves, and be willing to lose once in a while, seeing it as the Universe pointing you in another direction. The game metaphor may be old and even trite, but it applies: to succeed we have to be willing to play, to risk, and to know when a win is really a win, and when it’s a distraction from our actual aims (one indication that it’s a distraction: it seems like an end in itself–also when it only makes us want more/ something else).

The Sun has the Sabian, ‘Workmen Drilling For Oil’. The richness of life is there, if we’re willing to work for it, to ‘drill down’ in the right way and in the right place, if we’re willing to ‘get our hands dirty’, as the saying goes–and that means openness to dealing with the nitty-gritty, putting in the time and effort, hoping we can ‘strike oil’–and knowing there’s no guarantee–and that means when we come up dry (that is, when our goals elude us over significant stretches of time and despite all efforts), we need to be ready to declare it a bust, and move on to more promising ground that is more responsive to our efforts–that latter an important point, when pursuing what we want.

Whether the Full Moon is a trigger, ‘lighting up’ feelings about what we learn, already knew but must now face, or discover (Sagittarius), or an ending that opens space for a whole new way of seeing and understanding the world (Jupiter), we need to see that as an eclipse event, it wipes out old circumstances represented by matters of the House in the natal chart in which the event occurs. We learn might be the motto of this Full Moon as it removes previous conditions and presents us, likely via knowledge gained or revealed, or beliefs tested, with a whole fresh assortment of facts.

If it falls in the 1st, we might learn something about ourselves and our interactions with the world; in the 2nd, something around our true talents or about what assets we bring to the table or are capable of earning; in the 3rd, new knowledge or beliefs change our minds or method of assessment; in the 4th something about the family life is revealed, or we have to face facts about the place we see as our current base, or about who we are, deep inside; eclipse in the 5th in Sag says something about what we must risk, or what we must create, in order to get what we want; the 6th brings knowledge that shakes up the everyday, or that re-orders our sense of duty or obligation; in the 7th we may observe what we need to see about ourselves or our situation acted out by others, or the changes come with or through partners or in response to what our ‘audience’ tells us; in the 8th things shift and are revealed through the act of sharing or interdependence, with our cooperative arrangements likely to re-balance; in the 9th the eclipse may force us to reach out, or makes the very instance of discovery or learning into the event itself; falling in the 10th it’s public–others can see, and that may create changes in the career or status; in the 11th a group of which we’re a part may take on a different role in our lives, or we take on a different one in the group–falling here the eclipse may also alter or deliver a long-sought dream or goal, or pave the way for its realization (or final denial); and in the 12th the Moon’s message may arrive in dreams, meditation, or in a realization about our place in the larger Cosmos, or we may find a new chapter opening when we’re under the sway of something much larger than ourselves.

All these potentials include the possibility of expansion, of widening our world, or of gaining experience; we might also find out about our temper and how it drives us, our true power within our own current situation, the difficult or less attractive parts of our ambitions, or we may discover how much we care, even (or especially) if we thought we didn’t. Prepare to have to face the depths of emotions around things we’ve been framing as casual, as something we can take or leave; the eclipse tells us what we need to know–all we have to do is acknowledge that we really want ‘it’, we deeply care about ‘it’, or that we genuinely need ‘it’–and go from there.