The Risk of Existence: Total Lunar Eclipse and Supermoon in Aries 2015

Total Lunar Eclipse August 2007; photo by Steve Ryan.

Total Lunar Eclipse @ 04 Aries 40'

September 27, 2015

10:50 PM Eastern

7:50 PM Pacific

This month’s Full Moon closes the final eclipse portal for 2015. While also a total lunar eclipse, this lunation also happens to be a Supermoon. That sounds pretty intense, doesn’t it? Well, don’t panic but you may want to be extra mindful of other people as well as your own unconscious impulses or reactions. The term Supermoon was coined by an astrologer and surprisingly it’s caught on, even in the astronomical community (believe it or not). A Supermoon occurs when the Moon is at its perigee (closest approach to the Earth) while also in an opposition to the Sun (from our geocentric perspective).

In other words, a Supermoon actually appears slightly larger in the sky and is closer to the Earth than other Full Moons. What’s the significance? Well, according to some, a Supermoon can correlate (or actually cause) an increase in things like earthquakes or anomalous weather. And being closer to the earth, it tends to amplify the psychic impact of the Full Moon. I haven’t personally paid much attention to this so I can’t say whether that’s true or not, but I won’t leave it out of the realm of possibility (I practice astrology; I have an incredibly open mind). But, to top things off, this Supermoon is also a total lunar eclipse, and for those of us here in the northern hemisphere, it will be visible and quite active in the collective psyche.

We can anticipate some interesting events to hit the news. That’s always a certainty with eclipses when they’re visible over a certain region. Will this eclipse also bring about some pronounced natural phenomena? It’s possible, but I wouldn’t go worrying about it or expecting some disaster that will make your life more interesting, or worse, distract you from dealing with the reality that lies before you. In fact, a lunar eclipse is an opportune time to focus more inwardly and internally, as well as to be aware of your conscious perception more than usual. If you can step back and observe yourself and others with perceptiveness and focus, you’ll be less likely to get swept up in any kind of “lunacy” that may be surrounding this event.

Full Moons always bring about a culmination of a particular process. With that comes an increase in energy, motivation, and activity. But a lunar eclipse brings in a darker element. Eclipses open up portals within the conscious life narrative; they reveal windows into the dimensions of the psyche we tend to not want to acknowledge in our everyday lives. So, often, the eclipse energy is accompanied by a subtle yet noticeable ambiance of mystery, uncertainty, and sometimes an amplification of certain fears. This can correlate with the dredging up of feelings and emotions that have been stored away in the deeper recesses of our minds. 

The best way to deal with this is to simply go through whatever comes up for you but to do your best to remain calm and not allow the feelings to overwhelm you. If you can do that, just hold space for the experience and allow it to pass through you, you’ll find that these events are not really so terrible. But then again, we can’t control how other people choose to respond their own psychic processes. So, just be mindful and conscious on the day of and during the days surrounding this event of how other people may be reacting. This lunation occurs in the tropical zodiac sign of Aries. Those of us with an emphasis in Aries or cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn) may find this particular lunation more impactful or significant, though don’t expect it to change your life.

The Arian archetype can be explosive, impulsive, assertive and restless. Combined with the Supermoon and lunar eclipse, there is a lot of energy and momentum packed into this lunation. That’s great if you can channel this into something healthy and meaningful for you. Not so great if you find yourself trying to force something to happen when the timing just isn’t right (because Mercury is still retrograde). Allow this lunation to motivate you in some way and use that motivation to rework whatever you’re focusing on. While the energy may be available, don’t go charging into battle just yet (don’t take on too much or hurt yourself). But you can use this heightened and catalytic fuel to make some positive changes, both within yourself, your life, or with something you’ve been working on.

On the other end of the polarity, the Sun, Mercury, North Node, and Juno are all clustered in the sign of Libra. This brings in an obvious “social” element. With Mercury retrograde, we are likely finding that we’re focused on mending, rebuilding or releasing our connection to certain “bridges” with others (intimate or professional relationships or friendships). While this is a South Node lunar eclipse, there is a need to let go and release certain fears or anxieties and step into a healthier relationship with those you truly love and care for. Sometimes, you need to step back to get clear about those in your life. This may symbolize a time when you are able to break through certain barriers because you have earned enough strength and confidence to deal with them more soberly and appropriately.

As I said, Full Moons are a time of culmination, a time of blossoming. Whether super or eclipsed, Full Moons bring about awareness and bring things to a head or boiling point. The sign of Aries symbolizes the life force energy in its most pure, raw and primal state. As the Earth’s shadow slowly dims the light of the Full Moon, it symbolizes the dawning of realizations and a threshold crossed within the psyche that reveals what was previously concealed. Aries seeks adventure, challenge, and risk. It reminds us what it means to be alive, to truly be awake and aware of our existence. Feel that sense of aliveness within yourself during this eclipse. It has the power to push you toward something, something that feeds you and that fills you with life and vitality. In case you forgot, you’re still living. Something within you wants to live. And to live requires a risk because life itself never guarantees survival. We have to fight for our right to live, our right to be alive. Are you ready and willing to live, to live vibrantly and courageously? The choice is yours.

For personal readings and consultations, please e-mail me directly at kosmicmind@gmail.com. Also, head over to my readings/consultations page for reading options, pricing, and more information. 

Gifts from the Great Mystery: Partial Solar Eclipse in Virgo 2015

Partial solar eclipse of the midnight Sun in Tromso, Norway; photo
by Rhys Jones, June 2011.

Partial Solar Eclipse @ 20 Virgo 10'

September 12, 2015

11:41 PM Pacific

September 13, 2015

2:41 AM Eastern

This month’s New Moon initiates the final eclipse season of 2015, which means that this New Moon is also a solar eclipse. To many ancient cultures, eclipses were ominous astronomical events perceived as omens of death, disease, and potential destruction. They were so important to ancient astrologers/astronomers that they painstakingly worked to predict their occurrences. It’s true that in modern, mundane astrology, eclipses are often seen to correlate with political changes and significant collective events, especially if they’re visible over a specific region. On a personal level, eclipses have a definite effect, though their influence in our personal horoscopes is often hard to see if there’s any at all.

This month’s New Moon is a partial solar eclipse in the tropical sign of Virgo, and will only be visible to a few regions below the equator. So, it won’t have much of a correlation to anything major here in the northern hemisphere, but that doesn’t mean it won’t permeate throughout the collective psyche. According to our theories the more total the eclipse the more influential it is. So, this isn’t an exceptionally potent eclipse. A solar eclipse happens when the declination of the Sun and Moon during their monthly conjunction is aligned in such a way that the Moon literally passes over the Sun. During a partial eclipse, both objects are only slightly aligned, resulting in a partial blotting out of the Sun’s light as the Moon passes by.

Symbolically speaking, the unconscious momentarily trumps the conscious mind. What a wonderful opportunity. During a partial eclipse, it’s like letting the lid off just a little bit, to allow some otherwise hidden insights to become revealed. Eclipses are moments of reflection and a time to step back and observe yourself more deeply. They can be opportunities to view your reality from a different vantage point, and to allow a minor reconfiguration of your psyche to take place. In other words, if you are conscious of this process, you come out of the eclipse portal renewed and your ego slightly altered. That’s because the eclipse has the power to make the ego a little more transparent. 

Your facades become obviously superficial and from there you can make some minor adjustments.

This partial solar eclipse also occurs in direct opposition to the centaur object Chiron in the tropical sign of Pisces. Chiron is said to have an affinity with the sign of Virgo. That doesn’t mean that it “rules” Virgo, but that it has a resonance with the archetype. Why is that? According to the myth, Chiron was shot by a poison arrow, and being immortal, he faced an eternity of pain and suffering (don’t worry he was eventually liberated from such a fate in the end). Chiron was a master of the healing arts (including astrology), and so Chiron has this affinity with the archetype of the Wounded Healer. It symbolizes overcoming pain and suffering to give something back to others—to share some healing gift or magical power. The sign of Virgo is associated with service, competence, skillfulness, and being of use.

The sign of Virgo is an impulse within the psyche to strive for some ideal of perfection—to improve and better oneself and one’s life circumstances. Thus, these themes are likely to be floating around with this eclipse. You may have subtle insights about how you can shift a wound through a shift of your perception about it. It’s amazing how powerful the mind truly is, how you can focus so much on something that hurts you that you can actually make it louder, make it stronger. And sometimes, all you need to do is shift your attention to someone else, or some other task that gives you a sense of purpose and meaning, and suddenly what hurt doesn’t hurt so much.

Chiron in Pisces is a “mystical” force. It brings you the message that healing can sometimes be miraculous. How does that happen? It’s often a mystery to the mind, and especially to the doctors who diagnosed you with a terminal illness. The power of a belief can be so influential that it may have the power to kill you or completely reverse your condition. This solar eclipse may serve to remind you that you are not a diagnosis; you don’t fit into a neat and perfect little box. You are a complex, spiritual being with a unique path and destiny. And your experiences, whether positive and negative, are uniquely your own. Your healing path is uniquely your own. And guess what. The body wants to heal as much as the mind does.

Sometimes, your body manifests things to get your attention about something you’re not doing, or something you’re not seeing or wanting to acknowledge. Illness is always an opportunity to acquire wisdom. Chiron requires that we bring forth a special gift, but that requires conscious effort to hone the appropriate skills. And because the gift lies in the wound, we don’t want to go there. We’d rather distract ourselves then make the effort to bring it forth and into the world. But that is usually not the wisest strategy. When Virgo is highlighted, we need to get to work, and we need to focus on obtaining competence, which comes from practice and application of our skills.

Consider that this eclipse moment merely points the way; it brings about the insight and realization. The path will unfold throughout this current lunar cycle, reaching a breakthrough point at the total lunar eclipse in Aries two weeks from now. When we stop focusing on “getting it right” or “making it perfect”, and we just take the steps to get there, things often have a way of miraculously coming together, and what we create, what we give to the world, is truly beyond what we even imagined it could be. That’s because what’s inside of us comes from some other place. And we are only the conduit for the gifts given by the great mystery. 

For personal readings and consultations, please e-mail me directly at kosmicmind@gmail.com. Also, visit my readings and consultations page for reading options and pricing. 

Rebuilding Bridges: Mercury Retrograde in Libra 2015

The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California;
photo by Chad Woodward, 2012.

September 17- October 09, 2015

Aug. 28    00 Libra 54’   Enter Shadow

Sept. 17    15 Libra 55’   Stationary Retrograde

Oct. 09     00 Libra 55’   Stationary Direct

Oct. 24     15 Libra 55’   Leave Shadow

You may be feeling something quite contradictory right now, and this may depend on who you are, but the collective psyche is presently flooded with the desire to retreat as well as connect socially. Venus is just finishing her retrograde in the sign of Leo and will turn direct on Sept. 6. If this cycle touched you personally, you may be going in a very different direction than you were before, and there may have been some big changes happening within you. That might be hard to put into words, other than to say that you feel different, you see things differently, and what you value may have drastically changed on some level along with an attitudinal shift in your relationships.

If you’ve been trying to resist these inner changes, by attempting to distract yourself or avoid uncomfortable feelings, then this process may not be so pronounced for you , or it may not have been so easy to deal with and process. You may feel like you can’t wait until it’s over. In that case, rest assured that Venus will be moving on. But Mercury, the planet of communication is going to turn retrograde in tropical Libra a little over a week after Venus stations direct. We entered the shadow period on Aug. 28, and Mercury is heading toward a square aspect to Pluto (one of three this year) that will be exact on Sept. 9.

First off, don’t panic. While Mercury retrograde is notorious for its unpredictable behavior which can be rather annoying, worrying doesn’t help anyone. Mercury can be quite the trickster, but it has an intention behind its madness. When Mercury turns retrograde, it opens up new realities to us—realities we have been too distracted or ignorant to see. And that should be an exciting thing. The mind doesn’t like to admit what it doesn’t know. Yet, one's sense of absolute certainty can weaken and annihilate the greatest of warriors. Occasionally we need to have some holes poked in our worldview and perception, to keep things fresh, to keep our mind loose and open. So, this is a time to admit what you don’t know. Admit what you have refused or have been incapable of seeing.

The sign of Libra is a “social” sign. All the air signs have this quality, but Libra, in particular, relates to the instinct within the psyche that seeks to build “bridges of rapport”, as astrologer Steven Forrest likes to say. Libra connects disparate things and attempts to build something coherent out of them. If successful, Libra’s creations are beautiful, even mesmerizing. We’re left impressed, in awe, and we feel a sense that things are going to be okay, if only for a moment. The sign of balance, harmony, and equilibrium, Libra seeks to keep the chaos at bay. We know this isn’t indefinitely sustainable. Chaos is always ready to rear its ugly head just when we think everything is running smoothly, but Libra keeps on going, keeps on attempting to maintain homeostasis.

You have to appreciate that—that the universe is in this beautiful dance between chaos and balance, yin and yang. That balance is what our very existence hinges on. Mercury turns stationary retrograde on Sept. 17 and will be retrograde (appearing to move backward) until Oct. 9. Those two dates (Sept. 17 and Oct. 9) and the days surrounding them will be the most hectic and chaotic for people, yet it’s hard to predict if or when Mercury will strike. Each retrograde is different, and we all respond in our own unique way. I have to say, that Mercury retrograde is the most unpredictable of cycles we have in our astrological toolbox. All we can say is that it’s better to be prepared and forewarned than to be taken completely off guard.

What does Mercury retrograde tend to go after? Mercury governs anything involving communication. In our fast paced, high-tech world, we are completely immersed in technological environments and so Mercury has even more at its disposal—more things to play with. Just be mindful of potential disruptions and breakdowns with any kind of technological device or equipment, and be on the lookout for misunderstandings in your social interactions. Mercury retrograde is a time to review everything that you’re doing. Before hastily pushing forward with anything always double check your work and all the variables involved. This is particularly important when it comes to signing any kind of contract. Read the fine print carefully.

And if you’re in doubt, back off, and wait it out. Mercury retrograde setbacks can sometimes be costly, sometimes painful. If you work with this cycle, you will find that you have extra time, and that whatever you thought needed to be urgently initiated could actually wait a few weeks. In fact, you’ll find that things will work out far more successfully if you do. The sign of Libra, as I stated, relates to this instinct to build bridges, and every retrograde connects us to the past. This is a time to potentially rebuild some bridges you may have thought you needed to burn. Sometimes, burnt bridges can be reestablished. We can mend past conflicts and misunderstandings, just to keep things peaceful and to clear ourselves of the karma.

What bridges do you need to rebuild now? How can you reestablish harmony with certain people and situations in your life right now? While some bridges need to be left in the past, others may truly benefit you in the future. Trust your instincts, and trust the moment as it presents itself to you. This cycle may have us needing to reach out a little just to clarify ourselves and where we stand, even though we may feel more introspective and less inclined to do so. So, try to find that beautiful balance, that yin and yang between reaching out and reaching in with this cycle. It’s always a good exercise to connect both the internal and external worlds. Look to the house in your natal horoscope that Mercury will retrograde through. This will give you more information about where in your life these bridges are being rebuilt, as well as where you need to reestablish peace, harmony and equilibrium. Mercury will move from 15 to 00 degrees of tropical Libra. It will station direct right on the point of the autumnal equinox. This is a profound statement that further amplifies the need to recreate harmony and balance in our lives with this cycle.

And as I stated before, Mercury is an archetype that seeks to expand our perception of reality. During this cycle, humble yourself enough to see things from both perspectives, even that of someone else. This is a time to open your mind and consider the input from others so that you have a more well -rounded perspective. When Mercury stations direct in October, you’ll have a better understanding so that you can move forward with something or with particular relationships. Mercury will make three squares to the planet Pluto in Capricorn during this cycle. The first square, as I mentioned, occurs on Sept. 9; the second will occur on Sept. 24 while Mercury is retrograde and a day before Pluto itself turns stationary direct. The final square (once Mercury is moving direct) occurs on Oct. 22.

Pluto is putting some pressure on Mercury to face some uncomfortable truths. As Mercury and Pluto come into contact, you may encounter people or situations that require you to speak honestly and directly about where you stand. This is a time to work things out and lay some things out on the table, but it will require taking the initiative and maintaining your integrity. If you succeed, you may make a breakthrough in the way you relate and communicate to others. Pluto in Capricorn will require complete authentic, clear, and honest communication, and that will be difficult to achieve. If you can avoid blame and projection, by maintaining accountability and taking responsibility, you will be able to clear the air of some heavy karma and potentially toxic emotional baggage.

The midpoint of Mercury’s retrograde cycle through Libra occurs on Sept. 30. This is the rebuilding phase of the retrograde cycle. Often (though not always), Mercury tends to deconstruct things in the week and a half leading up to the conjunction of Sun and Mercury. During the rebuilding phase, we are slowly integrating and putting the pieces back together again; though as I said, Mercury retrograde can be quite unpredictable, so don’t expect all the annoying setbacks to completely cease. Use this time wisely to step back, reflect, and look for missing pieces or details in whatever you’ve been working on. If you can do that, you’re less likely to be attached to any of the potential setbacks or delays that you may encounter. With this cycle, we are coming to a particular bridge. It’s time to decide whether or not you wish to cross it. If you do, you may enter an entirely new terrain. If you don’t, that’s okay too. Like I said, some bridges need mending and others may need to be left alone. And that choice is always yours to make.

For personal readings and consultations, please e-mail me directly at kosmicmind@gmail.com. Visit my readings and consultations page for information on reading options and pricing.