Today’s rare hybrid Solar Eclipse at 29 Aries traces a path of totality through Ningaloo & Exmouth, Timor Leste & West Papua turning the midday sky dark for around 60 seconds courtesy of the Earth’s curvature. Friends in the Pilbara & Kimberley, close to the eclipse path, should witness some spectacular eclipse crescent shadow-play cast by tree foliage, as will friends in other parts of WA, NT, SA, FNQ, Indonesia & the Pacific islands, albeit to a lesser extent. Those of us here on the east coast of Australia & in SE Asia might just see the dragon aka the Moon’s shadow taking a bite out of the Sun through our colanders when the eclipse reaches its maximum @2:12pm AEST.
It’s an extremely powerful beginning to eclipse season. As the second Aries New Moon it takes place at the final anaretic degree, which brings the intensity of endings to inceptional turning points. New trajectories that are better suited to support our aspirations are fertilised by the death & decomposition of old pathways. It’s also ruled by Mars, planet of fire & drama in the sensitive water nursery of Cancer, which has been raising the emotional temperature for many already. Astrologically, eclipses are mysterious & non-linear, associated with fated happenings & events beyond our control but their full impacts unfold over time. Astrologers look to the houses where eclipses are taking place as sites where major change will be occurring in the life of the individual over approximately two years. The Moon’s nodes, which determine the signs eclipses occur in, spend around 18 months in each but eclipses are also previewed in signs before the nodes enter them & linger after to make concluding remarks. Today’s hybrid Solar Eclipse is one of these foreshadowing events. It’s the first eclipse in Aries since 2005 & precedes the shifting of the nodes to the axis of self (Aries) & other (Libra) in July. Look back to the major storylines unfolding in your own life between late 2004 & mid 2006 for clues re the themes emerging now for a life-changing sequel.
In Aries, there’s a fierceness of wanting, an urgency to act, a drive to defend & protect ourselves & others, as well as a potential for anger & reactivity triggered by deep sensitivities. And at the final degree there can be a distressing sense of disintegration, a feeling that things are coming undone. At the same time it’s as if the soft clay we formed in the candlelight of the last Aries New Moon on March 20 is committed to the kiln on this eclipse. The firing could be unpredictable & the initial results angsty but it’s only the first step in a more interesting unfolding journey. An hour after the eclipse, the Moon enters her exaltation in the slow, sensual, material realm of Taurus & instantly squares Pluto, planet of hidden power & transformation in the technological, socially revolutionary realm of Aquarius & the form is set. Four hours later the Sun leaves its exaltation in Aries & also squares the planet of death & rebirth, transmutation & riches as it enters Taurus. In this tension between a Taurean desire for security & the Plutonic demand for transformation, resistance to change is overcome by a more profound drive for power & authenticity.
This Solar Eclipse is further charged by Mercury, planet of the mind, communication, business, travel & technology, which stations retrograde in Taurus tomorrow conjunct Uranus, planet of breakdowns & breakthroughs. There’s potential for both powerful feelings & insights but also for opportunities to break free from patterns that have previously controlled us on this eclipse, although they may come in disguise. As Mercury turns back in mutual reception with Venus in Gemini, glitches could lead us to rethink & refine comms, ideas, relationships & money matters & things from the past become powerful sources of inspiration & insight. Mercury stations direct on May 15 but remains in shadow until 1 June & by the time it enters Gemini on June 11 Mars & Venus will be in Leo, another pivotal chapter in the story of 2023. In the meantime, Mercury’s retrograde journey through slow & steady Taurus assures us that we have time to work out the details, to pay attention to what went before, to rethink, reimagine & reinvent our approach with a greater emphasis on pleasure & simplicity.
Personally, I’ve been listening to a lot of Tara Brach & after days immersed in the calming antidote of her wisdom it finally dawned on me that the pain I’d been railing against had actually catalysed action on a couple of very wishful Aries New Moon intentions that I’d never seriously thought I’d achieve this year. It strikes me as a fitting metaphor for this eclipse. Pain is a powerful tool. As Mars destroys & cuts away, it makes room for extraordinary new possibilities to emerge & as it moves through Cancer, it also reminds me of this majestic sea cave, carved by smashing waves on the Gippsland coast & a magical highlight for me of the Libra Full Moon. On today’s powerful course-shifting hybrid Aries Solar Eclipse, I’m wishing you all fierce love & faith beautiful friends. May we all trust the process & feel the full magic of what is. 🌊🦀🌞🌑🔥♥️
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