Just a couple of notes on aspects perfecting today; the big show is with the eclipse, of course, which arrives here on the Western US coast on the 8th. Since we’re in the Dark of the Moon right now, we are more open to sensing than to reasoning–and we really feel like that in approach to a Total Solar Eclipse. While our eyes (and our sensitive ‘feelers’) are on the Moon, Vesta will quietly enter Taurus–and probably bring emphasis to the material needs and comforts, especially those related to the Lunar event, though Venus square Sedna may temporarily interfere with that emotional and intuitive signal, putting finances and relationships, for just a little while, beyond easy understanding (or at the very least, complicating our feelings toward them). We also see Juno trine Ceres, bringing balance to relationships between powerful or dynamic women, and also between our need for power and what we must do (or compromise) to obtain it; those aspects are all on the 7th.

By the 8th we’ll also have Vesta contra-parallel Zeus, which may tip our attention and efforts in the direction of honoring what’s really important to us, rather than toward pursuing goals; it may seem that relationships and causes to which we’re dedicated must be seen to first. We also see Saturn sextile Pallas, connecting the smart choice to what’s practical or wise–and possibly suggesting that we can learn what’s smart by observation of what is, of the rules, and/ or by noting what’s solid and dependable. And then there’s the eclipse.

Solar Eclipse 8 March 2016 5:54 PM Pacific Standard Time at 18 Pisces 55

In energy terms, eclipses wipe out what came before. They clean the slate and write a new energy equation on it, one that describes the general influence and tone of Sun (consciousness) and Moon (emotions) in interaction. This may build on what came before, or obliterate it—we can only know which for the individual by inspection of the eclipse impact in the natal chart—but in any case the pair of eclipses brings a shift in tone that extends through to the next eclipse set, in about six months. The New and Full events are always separated by two weeks, but not necessarily in that order. They shake-up and realign, and the change they bring can be subtle as a breeze, or shocking as an earthquake that drops the ground beneath our feet.

A New Moon eclipse brings a kind of ‘super-birth’, a brand new energy direction that sees the inception of many beginnings themed to the sign and aspects of the Lunar event; a Full Moon eclipse brings something to closure, again related to placement and aspects. Sometimes the Full Moon presents as a finish, a fait accompli, an ending or boundary past which we can go no further, or it shows us a culmination of events and their result; when the Full Moon is an eclipse, we add to this a sense of finality that may remove something or someone from ours lives for good. We must remember, too, that with a Full Moon, we may find the seeds of new beginnings, as when one thing ends it invariably leaves an empty energetic ‘space’, into which something new always, eventually, goes.

With a New or Full Moon we keep orbs as close as possible, simply because we want a crisp picture of Lunar effects. For a Solar Eclipse (a New Moon, the alignment of which finds Earth, Sun, and Moon along the same plane, with the Moon between the Earth and Sun) we allow a slightly more generous span; we respect the intensity the event generates, we feel our primal senses give a little ‘jump’ as the Moon moves between us and the Sun and blackens in relief against the Sun’s glowing corona, and through the experience are just a little more acutely aware of our connection to Nature. Even being able to explain the mechanism of the event doesn’t divest it of mystery. It makes sense, then, that we use bigger orbs for the aspects this impressive alignment forms.

The Pisces Solar Eclipse/ New Moon of 2016 conjoins Chiron (only one minute less than 2 degrees apart) and Ceres (with a gap of just over 3 degrees), and falls close to (off by only 42 minutes) exact opposition to Jupiter. Normally we don’t consider semi-sextiles unless they’re tight, but we have one today, to Uranus. The eclipse also sextiles Pluto, is widely trine Juno, and quincunxes Zeus, though the orb is too big to also include Zeus’ companion in Libra, Black Moon Lilith. We also see a T-square, with Saturn the arm to the opposition of the eclipse (Moon-Sun) to the combination of Earth conjoined Jupiter (and we might note that since the Earth is always precisely opposed the Sun, we wouldn’t be noting it here except for the involvement of Jupiter).

With the eclipse closely conjoined Chiron and Ceres we can expect a new state surrounding a wound (and this may involve healing or fresh wounding), associated especially with the primal wound our natal Chiron represents, or one keyed to our personal expression of power, talent, or authority, especially as it comes through a natural role, or through what we might describe as a gift (for instance, through being a parent, or as a man or woman at a biological/ social level, or in our role within the Arts or in whatever way we display our talents), and this may come about through material circumstances (Earth) created by the social order or their representative entities (Jupiter—religious or educational institutions, ‘foreign’ governments) and their judgments, or by current material facts (also Jupiter in the Earth sign Virgo).

This wound-related or power-related event may show us our socially or materially-imposed limits (the Saturn square) that will spur or create change (Pluto), which is ultimately empowering to us (Juno), though this empowerment requires adjustment to our goals, ambitions, and desires (Zeus)—this adjustment may require enhanced discipline or acquiescence to the rules (Saturn)—and the whole thing may come as something of a surprise (Uranus). What occurs likely springs spontaneously (Uranus) out of older circumstances (the Saturn T-square may even imply an age-old struggle of some kind) that point us in a new direction, either through an experience of hurt, or an experience of healing (both Chiron), and the way these reflect our personal power situation and natural authoritative roles (Ceres). The new start is empowering and possibly status-conferring, especially if we form a new partnership (Juno), and forces modification of our desires and ambitions (Zeus), as they will have to change (Pluto) to accommodate the new direction (the New Moon eclipse).

The Sabian for this eclipse is, ‘A Master Instructing His Disciple’. This suggests an inflow of information from which we may benefit, that matures us and makes us more adept in some area, specifically an area we are trying to master, than we were before. The ‘super-birth’ relates to applying our attention and effort to a discipline or body of knowledge, of being accepted into or initiated into a Knowledge Tradition that shares the accumulated experiences of all who walked the Path ahead of us. An example of what we are to become (‘A Master’) is before us; how then does this change our ambitions and goals? We receive, in one form or another, something akin to the wisdom of the Universe in the Solar Eclipse event, passed on by one who knows and shares this with us, and no matter what it appears to be on the surface, what happens or develops at this time will in the end be fortuitous for us, taking us a step farther along the Path, either enhancing our expertise or our personal development.

I don’t usually discuss things for an eclipse that aren’t directly triggered by that eclipse, but in this case I’ll make an exception, because many people may be feeling this gathering in Pisces and understandably mistaking it (that’s a Piscean specialty, after all) for a Lunar eclipse influence. At the time of the Lunar Eclipse, Ceres, Chiron, and the South Node will all sit within 24 minutes of each other at 21 degrees Pisces. This brings hurt, authority figures or one’s own personal authority, and the past together in such a way that a memory of, for instance, a past power struggle lost becomes, through the haze of imagination, a more significant (and possibly more injurious) event than it really was. That is, we may suddenly designate this a seminal event that seems to be the source of the Lunar eclipse effect, when it’s actually just a carry-over of the Solar (Pisces) Eclipse that preceded it—and we are doubly likely to do this if the struggle we have in mind was one within a partnership. The Pisces area of the natal chart will be sensitized by the Solar Eclipse, and like a tuning fork, this grouping of Ceres, Chiron, and South Node may continue to carry the reverberation long after our awareness of the eclipse would usually be relegated to background noise within the unconscious.

Fun facts: according to Space.com, “Since the moon formed about 4.5 billion years ago, it has been gradually moving away from Earth (by about 1.6 inches, or 4 centimeters per year). Right now the moon is at the perfect distance to appear in our sky exactly the same size as the sun, and therefore block it out.” And this: “Researchers say that when it formed, the moon was about 14,000 miles (22,530 kilometers) from Earth. It’s now more than 280,000 miles, or 450,000 kilometers away.” To answer the question, Will the Moon ever escape Earth’s orbit? we have this somewhat snarky explanation from Physics Forums: “. . . the moon will only move away from Earth until it reaches an orbital resonance when the length of the Earth’s day and the Moon’s month will be equal – that’s in about 50 billion years. In theory the moon could then move closer to Earth, but since they are both going to be consumed by the sun before that – it’s a bit academic.”

The Word image for this period through the eclipse is ‘Two individuals argue, not realizing they’re saying the same thing’. Sometimes we are so busy making our point that we don’t hear what’s coming at us. An eclipse can, in the same way, block our clear perceptions of something, most likely matters found in the House of the natal chart where it falls. Don’t react too strongly during this period, as in a very short time full light (and so our perceptions) will be restored.