Of the two Lunar eclipses and one Solar eclipse occurring in this set, the upcoming Solar one is the one to watch. Not literally, of course, as that will burn your eyes out (no wonder people were frightened of eclipses–there must have been plenty of village idiots who did just that–and who wouldn’t think it was God, or gods, or Baal, or Apollo, or Ra punishing those hubristic enough to stare into what in many cultures amounts to the face of God?) No, watch this Solar eclipse, promised in the Pacific time zone of North America at 7:33 PM the 21st of July, for the figurative burn it may bring.
The transiting Sun and Moon meet at 29 Cancer 26, an anaretic degree, and that signals the energies involved are both in a state of high stress. Why? Placement of any energy at an anaretic degree (the very earliest and latest of a sign) suggests that the body has traveled through the experience cycle of all preceding degrees of the sign–now the body is pressured to symbolically ‘finish up’ with the energy spectrum of the sign. This means that any facets of the sign not experienced during the course of the transit now come forward, needing to be expressed in order to complete the experience cycle. In this case, the energies are Cancerian: of nurture, care, involved with others, nourishing, intrusive, emotional, intuitive, maternal, enveloping, sensitive, changeable or monthly. For all of us, the place in the natal chart where 29 degrees of Cancer falls (if this does not fall on a natal placement) will designate by House where we may be facing a crisis energy that blends the Cancer experience spectrum with the matters of the House.
For those with a natal placement at this degree (or within 2 degrees of it, either side), the crisis energy is much stronger, and specific to the manifestation of the natal body or point. By ‘crisis,’ however, I mean ‘need to face’ as it applies to the matters brought forward. If one is willing to be responsible, literally willing to respond, one need not suffer crisis or upset of any kind–in fact the impetus offered by the Solar eclipse energy can bring great leaps forward, particularly at the personal level, in illuminating all facets of a matter or issue, and endowing one with the energy and ‘sight’ to resolve it.
Other natal placements to which the eclipse is in hard aspect may share in the crisis energy (though to a lesser intensity or extent), with the aspect itself suggesting the way toward resolution. For instance, a square says that the eclipse will present an energy situation (related to both the 29 Cancer placement and the House in which this occurs) that is in conflict with the natal energy as it exists, and requires one to weigh, consider, and negotiate as one would with any square. Again, keep the aspect orb to 2 degrees or less, and as with the conjunction, a willingness to face the energy and deal with it can minimize or eliminate problems, and even turn them to your advantage.
Soft contacts to natal placements (sextiles, trines) offer to bolster the manifestation of the natal energy with the eclipse energy. We musn’t assume that this is uniformly positive, however, as ease in blending the two energies can bring forward a ‘path of least resistance’ manifestation that may effectively undermine our best interests. Control is the key with soft aspects, channeling them productively into assisting expression of the natal energy while remaining attentive to implications and ramifications of the interaction.
The eclipse itself makes a few aspects: a quincunx to Pluto, and a conjunction to the South Node in Leo (with complementary opposition to the North Node). Whenever we have an eclipse, it’s important to look at the pattern it forms with other transiting bodies, as this tells us something about the effects we can expect; the contacts the eclipse makes are essentially part and parcel of the ‘eclipse package’ we experience. A quincunx to Pluto suggests that the crisis energy of the eclipse will run deep, be intense, transformative, and perhaps a little dangerous or disturbing, unearthing secrets or things we’d rather leave buried. This aspect may make us feel that the eclipse itself is dangerous or disruptive, but this is the energy of the eclipse feeding through and adjusting (the quincunx) to the active energy of transiting Pluto, and to our senses there may be no distinction.
The Solar eclipse conjunct the South Node in Leo brings in elements of the past and our place in it. Identity issues are ‘lit up’ by the eclipse, and the South Node itself is at an anaretic degree (but this time in the opposite situation to the eclipse–here the South Node is back at the seminal moment of our past that helped form our identity, our creative sense of Self–00 Leo).
We can expect matters of the Self, our origins in the past, and secrets or change, to be the eclipse effect for all of us, with reference to the House where the eclipse occurs; those with a natal hook must figure in the natal effect, as well, using common sense and positioning oneself mentally to make the most of available energies. And remember, Dark of the Moon precedes the eclipse, meaning that we may all be feeling a little more ‘in the dark’ than we’d like beginning about evening PDT of the 18th, with illumination coming on the New Moon, as it always does.
An eclipse is really an opportunity to put lightning in a bottle; let’s do our best to use the energy wisely.
And I love you all, but please, no questions about personal eclipse situations in the comments section–I’m available for single question assessments for only $25, and full eclipse reports for $50, email me at juliedemboski@hotmail.com Thanks!
Sorry–can’t seem to get the post to capture the chart any bigger without cutting some off–will continue to try to remedy. You can blow it up through your browser, a little fuzzy but readable.
was released. I remembered the movie more clearly and vividly than is typical for me, except for the ending, which took me completely by surprise. I was stunned, depressed, and moved, and though the tragic nature of the circumstances of vengeance, unrequited love, and the murder of what one was seeking all along is on it’s own sad, I think it had an effect on me because it was, really, a lot like life; nobody got out of that pie shoppe unscathed, and nobody gets out of here alive! A morbid note to end on, I know, but I recall the first time the idea that ‘nobody gets out of here alive’ clicked for me with life itself; it made me laugh, and also pointed up our tendency to behave as if, indeed, it’s a desperate situation–and it led me to, every day, re-dedicating my energy to behaving as if it’s not.
The second part of the Aquarius/ Leo Eclipse set occurs on February 9th at 6:49 AM at 21 Leo 00 (I want to note an unsatifying amount of confusion I’ve found over just when this occurs, and the exact degree reading, and I suspect the actual eclipse moment is slightly later, but for our purposes, this will do–see comments for more on this–and note that witty reader max calls this ‘The Drunken Eclipse,’ with good symbolic reason, see comments), and brings forward an intriguing pattern: the Moon/ Earth conjunction is semi-sextile Saturn, which makes it quincunx the Sun, notably conjunct Chiron at this time; the Sun/ Chiron conjunction has its own semi-sextile, to Uranus, which of course is quincunx the Moon/ Earth combo. So we have a kind of net drawn across the Eclipse, two anchors in the form of a pair of what could be characterized as opposites, forces that have recently been in long-term opposition. This may suggest that the Saturn/ Uranus struggle, both personally and society-wide, will lay a gentle web of insistence across the Eclipse energy, each with its own view. Saturn says, I can bring even more stability, and a sense of authority and permanence, to those who vibe to the blending of Earth and Moon, to those who equate emotional sustenance and security with the material; from those who are enveloped in the unity of Sun/ Chiron, Saturn in Virgo requires adjustment and an accounting of the details–‘If you want to feel safe, pin down the identity and put boundaries on the Soul Purpose! (and maybe, just a little, fear that you are a crippled Soul!)’
The next annular Solar Eclipse occurs January 25th at 11:59:44 PM PST at 6 Aquarius 30 (note that the eclipse starts slightly after the actual New Moon). Keeping orbs very tight (approx. 1-1.5 degrees) we have three aspects: a conjunction of the Sun and Moon to Jupiter; a square to Vesta; and a trine to Pallas. The character of the Eclipse is big, exaggerated, and if it aspects natal placements, I would anticipate that the time through to the next eclipse set (in July-August ’09) will carry a similar tone on a personal level of ‘bigness,’ relative to the energies aspected. For instance, if it hits your Venus by close orb (especially if the aspect is ‘hard,’ a conjunction, semi-square, square, sesquiquadrate, or opposition–even a semi-sextile can irritate) you may see months of overblown importance of love and/ or money, or secondarily an exaggeration of the subjects of the Houses Venus rules natally.
Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY 
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