For information on how this eclipse and the astrology of this lunar cycle affects your specific sign, please join me for Eclipse Season Survival Guide: Astrology for the Lunar Cycle from September 12th-October 12th.
Drought. Fires. Floods. Rising temperatures. Police states. White Supremacy. Class wars. Donald Trump.
The writing is on the wall. The end is near.
We’re screwed and all anyone seems to care about is their spiritual journey and their artesian chocolate bar made by a fedora-wearing bearded 20 year old living in #Bushwick. Only the hippest can help us. Only the rich can afford authenticity. Only those that can ignore the violence that privilege inflicts will have the most Instagram followers.
We’ve somehow forgotten that we are inherently interesting because we are human. We’ve ended up in this weird hipster hell where everything is an ironic nod to the past, to someone else’s identity or to fractions of an imitation of ours.
We need to occupy authentic.
Of course, artisanal chocolate isn’t the problem, it just points to it. It points to the lack of care of how we effect each other’s space, cultures, histories and displacements. Because when we have no sense of self it’s far too easy to colonize unconsciously. When we are able to disown what we don’t like about ourselves and buy what we do like it’s far too easy to escape doing the necessary work needed to heal our deeper wounds around our identity.
Owning our identity in all its complexity, in all its shame, in all its triumphs, in its entire history and its possibility is what it means to live an authentic life.
On September 27th, at 7:50 PM PDT the full moon/total lunar eclipse will occur in Aries. Aries is the Me sign of the zodiac. Aries bursts onto the scene full of the fires of self. Aries is here to inspire us through its courageous enthusiasm. Aries is here to initiate us into something new. Aries begins. Aries unleashes the power that lies within us all, the power to boldly define our selves for ourselves.
Lunar eclipses are a trip. They’re basically a full moon times a million. Shadows cover light. The moon’s color shifts from pearly white to pinkish red. We find ourselves in a strange land and are challenged to face fears, hidden aspects of self and all the other parts of our experience that we normally try to rush through or distract ourselves from. Eclipses push us up against ourselves and into extreme situations that force us to bear witness to what normally lurks in the shadows.
Breaking down our defenses so that we have no other choice but to deal with our depths isn’t an easy process to go through. Thankfully this eclipse is up to the task.
The ruler of this eclipse is Mars. Mars has recently moved into the incredibly hardworking, perfection-seeking, analytical earth sign of Virgo. The full moon is also in a trine from Saturn. The influence of the two reminds us that in order for something to effect long lasting change, we must work at it, apply ourselves to it and push through the doubts, fears and misgivings of being worthy or enough.
This full moon is also connected to the now fading Uranus/Pluto square. It sits in the same sign as Uranus and the south node of the moon. Uranus begs us to break from tradition and the south node can be a vacuum-like point that we must move away from, no matter how much it wants to suck us back in. This eclipse, then, carries with it the sentiment of breaking with the past and allowing change to occur. This is about healing our self image.
Vesta, the asteroid named after the Goddess of hearth and home is also conjunct the full moon/lunar eclipse. Vesta can act as a point of focus in a chart, highlighting what we need to invest in and what we need to be devoted to. Vesta is an asteroid that speaks to self-regeneration, renewing our energy through our own efforts and spiritual practices and coming back to ourselves through deep inquiry and sustained practices of deep investigation. Vesta can symbolize giving one’s life to the temple, the center, the hearth of the community and using our sexual life as a means of healing, consciousness-raising and devotion to something beyond our own personal gratification.
Vesta (dedication and devotion) conjunct a full moon in Aries (me, myself and I) could make self-obsession an emphasis. But it doesn’t have to.
When we are full of our own sense of self, unadulterated by the manufactured need for approval, we are in our power. We are full because we have feasted on what is ours. No stolen steaks. No unlawfully gained grain. Nothing swindled. Everything earned above board. And only then do we have the opportunity to have an authentic connection to another.
Sitting directly across from the full moon in Aries is the sun in Libra. Libra is the sign of harmony, of partnering, of balance, of justice and of relating. At the time of the eclipse, the sun will be conjunct Juno, the asteroid named after the Goddess of Marriage. Juno wants committed partnerships, significant relationships, and to be chosen.
There could not be a more interesting and obvious pairing on both ends of this eclipse. There is no asteroid/sign combination that is more about belonging to oneself than Vesta in Aries and no combination that speaks to the need for connection and commitment like Juno in Libra.
We cannot connect with another until we are willing to know the ins and outs of connecting with ourselves. We cannot even connect with our life in an authentic way until we are willing to be real with ourselves.
We are so much more than the image we project.
Eclipse blessings,
xoc