Fear of an eclipse

I wrote How to prepare for an eclipse last week because readers have been sharing their fears about how these eclipses will affect them and their loved ones. Now I, too, have fallen prey to rumination. After all, every member of my immediate family has a planet at 14 or 15 degrees Pisces. What will happen? Should we all stay behind closed doors on Saturday?

Fear is natural, and I supposed it is to be expected. After all, people do go loony on a Full Moon, so think how much crazier they'll get on a Lunar Eclipse! However, there are other cosmic forces at work that increase our worry.

Saturn opposite Neptune

Yes, today is the second exact "hit" of this aspect, with Saturn in Leo transiting retrograde opposite slower-moving Neptune in Aquarius. Saturn rules fear and negativity. Neptune relates to the imagination, and adds a cloudy, confused, delusional flavor to any planet it touches, especially in hard aspect. Add these two planets together, and you get unfounded fears, free floating anxiety, dark fantasies. Many dystopian movies play out Saturn-Neptune themes. So of course, we expect the worst of this Lunar Eclipse, because we are in the thick of paranoia.

How do you combat fear?

There are two kinds of fear -- the first kind occurs when a mountain lion is chasing you; the second occurs when you think about the future. The former response is a great survival mechanism -- surely our species would have become extinct had we not learned to run from wild animals and avoid poisonous berries. However, the latter is an unfortunate side-effect of having overactive brains.

Yes, most fear is all in the mind. We don't want to lose what we have, for one. Relationships, jobs, friends -- that which gives us a sense of stability (Saturn) can dissolve (Neptune) before our very eyes. Few people want to die, or have their families ripped asunder. And yes, bad things do happen. But we just don't have control over most of these things.

Knowing that all things are temporary makes you appreciate their beauty all the more in the present. A flower has a short life span, yet its very ephemerality is half of what makes it so special. The source of our suffering is our attachment to people and objects that, by their very nature, must die or decay.

All we can do is appreciate the moment. The Cosmos has stuff in store for us -- astrology can give us an idea of what's to come, but there's a whole lot of diversity allowed within the expression of these planetary archetypes. We don't really know what's going to happen. Some change is necessary, and happens in the interest of our psychospiritual development. And other times, really terrible stuff happens, and it feels like there's no rhyme or reason to it, no meaning. Existentalism is a Saturn-Neptune philosophy.

Is it A Course in Miracles that says the only antidote to fear is love? Regardless of the source of this nugget of wisdom, it's true. You just love what you have right now with all your might, because at any moment it might be gone. If you are all love, can there be room for fear? If you are totally in the present moment, with your heart wide open, is your mind capable of obsessing about an imagined future?

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Virgo - March 3, 2007

Dear Virgo,

Whether it's the daily yoga routine, the weekly colonic or the three-times-a-day ingestion of multiple supplements and herbs, you get understandably upset when your schedule is disrupted.

Virgo, meet eclipse. You two should get acquainted, although I doubt you'll hit it off. Although the lunar eclipse is in your sign, you're being opposed by a Uranus-Sun conjuction in Pisces. I know that deep down you like Pisces, even though she neglects picking up after herself and plucks away at the guitar too often, singing in that longing, wispy voice. However, Uranus gets your goat. This planet's sole purpose in life is to upset the apple cart, to throw you off your equilibrium. The guy who surprises you from behind when you're perusing vegan cookbooks at the food coop, poking you in that sensitive spot on your waist, nearly making your flower-essence-enhanced spring water spill? That's Uranus.

Imagine knowing that Uranus can catch you off guard at any moment, over the next six months, but you don't know exactly when -- or how -- he'll strike. That's gotta suck, Virgo, because I know you like things just so. And do you know what's worse? There's absolutely nothing you can do about it. You can't tell him to go away. I mean, you can, but it will do no good. He'll say, "Oh, my bad. I'll leave you alone with your organic acai juice," but he doesn't mean it. He's just screwing with you!

So, what can you do to impose order on chaos? Unfortunately, you can't contain the uncontainable. As the astrologers say, "Expect the unexpected." Yet I know you're not going to stop your Virgo ways. You will continue to enter appointments into your Blackberry, consult with your nutritionist, meet with your personal trainer. But as hard as you try, everything will not go as planned. Pisces wants you to let go, and Uranus wants you to identify and dismantle all the rigid structures and attitudes in your life.

Loosen up! Because if you don't, Uranus will be the lightning that strikes down the tower of your carefully constructed life. It will come crumbling down ... but that's a good thing, because these bricks and stones you've laid are covering over your Authentic Self, and the only way to release this alive, thumping heart -- the beating Self constrained by your stratified ways of protecting yourself against Disorder -- is to allow the waves of revolution to wash over you.

The nitty gritty: This lunar eclipse occurs at 13 Virgo. If you have a personal planet or angle between 10 and 18 degrees of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius or Pisces, this eclipse will have a powerful impact on you. For everyone, look to the houses that contain the middle degrees of Virgo and Pisces to determine which areas of your life will be affected. Jupiter in Sag is making a T-Square to this eclipse, which exaggerates an already unstable situation.

Related posts:
How to prepare for an eclipse
Fear of an eclipse

How to prepare for an eclipse

Anticipation of eclipses tends to bring out a "sky is falling" mentality in many people, especially if the eclipse closely conjuncts the Sun in one's natal chart. There are some doom-and-gloom websites out there -- which I find irresponsible, but I also understand that the nature of consciousness has changed since old times. Astrology seems less deterministic than when a royal astrologer could predict accurately that a king would die from a head wound by a spear.

Eclipses are powerful events, indeed. Their impact lasts longer than your typical lunation, as the Sun and Moon are conjunct the Lunar Nodes. The Nodes relate to our spiritual progress, our karmic past, our fated connections with people.

If I may, I'd like to quote Bernadette Brady on eclipses:

Let us imagine eclipses like spotlights shining on the pathway of your life. These lights are not on all of the time but they switch on, catching you in mid-action, so to speak. As this spotlight shines, it will illuminate an area of your life. Whatever has been pushed to one side or shoved under the carpet, will become obvious. This bringing to the surface of hidden problems can be dramatic and emotional. However, it is an opportunity to become aware of issues that may need some work. You can, of course, choose not to work on the problems which have come to the surface; you could choose to blame it all on someone else, and so on. But, this may not lead to a healthy future. If you do choose to accept the challenge offered by the events of the eclipse, then although it may be a hard struggle--or possibily just an easy ride, depending on the Saros Series involved--the effect of the eclipse could be very long-term. It can change your life.

(Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark pp. 229-230)

There is always the danger of "blaming the victim" here, but if bad stuff happens, perhaps it is because the native has been resisting change for so long that a powerful event like an eclipse shatters her world. Again, Bernadette Brady (p. 230):

Another way of looking at eclipses is to think of them as earthquakes. Earthquakes are movements of Mother Earth as She settles Herself. If She hasn't moved for a long time, then She needs to do quite a lot of flexing very quickly, with possibly disastrous results to all concerned. However, if She shuffles along a little at a time, then it is much easier for everyone.

Thus, the best advice for someone who will be directly impacted by an eclipse -- meaning that the Moon makes a conjunction or hard aspect to a major point in one's chart -- is to be open to whatever major overhaul your psyche requires. To fight against this energy is to court a destructive earthquake. Change will happen regardless -- whether it is smooth or turbulent is, at least to some extent, under your control. Not completely under your control, because there are cosmic forces at work, gods who have their own plans for us. The best use of astrology is to understand our charts and these forces so that we can be prepared for the changes to come. This preparation requires both work and receptivity to change. The work can range from spiritual practices (meditation, yoga, shamanism) to psychotherapy and somatic practices (dance, movement) to writing in a journal or talking to a friend. Insight is not enough. One can theoretically understand that one's intimate partnerships need illumination, but the reality of this experience often includes the opening of closets, skeletons and all; the end of relationships; the jarring introduction of new elements into one's life. Are you open enough to accept all that the Universe wants to offer you?

Aquarius New Moon - February 17, 2007

I've never truly understood the sign of Aquarius. One the one hand, it concerns friends, groups, and concern for the collective. On the other hand, the Aquarian is eccentric, striving to separate from the mainstream, upsetting the status quo in her embrace of unique beliefs, fashion statements and public acts. Aquarius is forward-thinking, often embracing trends before these radical ideas are adopted by the consumer-capitalist corporate-state.

Aquarius is detached from the emotional connections that bring two individuals together in intimate embrace. The Water Bearer is an air sign that, unlike his brother Libra, is not all that into one-on-one partnership; and unlike Gemini, isn't all that interested in chatting with the neighbors about the latest goings-on.

Is Aquarius the mad scientist, locked in his laboratory or study, developing his brilliant but misunderstood ideas about the nature of the Universe? Or is Aquarius that woman who has a billion friends, who's heavily involved in political activism and building an online presence for her favorite political candidate?

Aquarius is so impersonal, yet at the same time, he cares so much about humanity. Everyone should be treated equally. All beings should have basic human rights. Yet when you try to get close to Aquarius, he backs away. He's more comfortable in the global sister- and brotherhood than the forming of a more perfect union with one other person.

Aquarius is a transpersonal sign. It's not about the selfish needs of the developing self. It's not about closeness between two people. It's about all of us, the world. When I look at the google search queries that bring users to my web site, I notice a number of users type "I hate Aquarius men" into that search box. Are these googlers trying to find consolation, other poor souls who have tried -- and tried -- to get close to an Aquarius, only to be emotionally shut out? I'm making a grand generalization here -- because of course Aquarians are capable of marriage -- but there's something about this sign that is beyond ordinary human relations.

Barack Obama just announced his candidacy for President of the United States, based on a platform that all people should be afforded equal rights, all citizens should get universal health care. I haven't made any decision yet about who I'm voting for, but obviously, during ObamaMania, we can begin this Aquarian enterprise by engaging in political action to ensure that everyone -- regardless of skin color, gender, ability, sexual orientation, and so on -- gets treated with respect and can derive the benefits of living in a first world country that can afford to take care of its neediest.

This is not a forward-thinking idea. It's a big "duh." But apparently there are many numbskulls running this country who haven't yet entered the Age of Aquarius.

Mercury goes retrograde the day before Valentine's

How do you avoid miscommunications in the realm of Love? Read my article 'Love Gone Wrong' at tarot.com.

Written Astrology Readings: A Response to Lynn and April

Typed astrology readings. As an astrologer, you don't rely on instant feedback from your clients whether you are on the right path, and you aren't distracted by a client's anxiety or distracted energy. You can totally rely on your knowledge and intuition.

Astrologers -- regardless of whether they do in-person, phone, typed or recorded readings -- need to have that special mix of ingredients to be good at what they do:

[Y]ou have to be very bright to understand all the math involved, to grasp the nature of the various planetary energies and how they interact with each other, to keep so much information in your head, and to be able to recall it on demand and see how it applies in a given chart or situation.... We also have to have excellent intuition, because astrology is both a science and an art. The best astrologers are those rare individuals whose left and right brains are in synch. [Pat Paquette]

And what about the human connection? Is not astrology a healing art as much as a form of divination? "Instant feedback" is the essential element of counseling. I realize that as a psychotherapist/astrologer I may be mixing these two systems. However, I would assert that the majority of the healing involved in an astrology consultation occurs as a result of the empathic connection between astrologer and client.

Astrology is an Aquarian discipline, and the danger (or drawback) of astrology is that its practitioners can be emotionally disconnected:

Because we are so cerebral and so immersed in our subject, we are easily trapped into using astrology as an intellectual exercise to avoid having to actually live. The special knowledge we have of how the Universe works does not make us immune to having to feel what everyone else feels. [Pat Paquette]

And typed readings only serve to further this disconnection. After all, there is a feeling person on the other end of the consultation ... someone who is probably suffering or lost. Otherwise, they would not be paying for an astrologer's services. (Aren't astrologers the "last resort"?) Especially because we are conveying such sensitive information -- insight that bares a client's very soul -- we have to be aware of how this is imparted. We have a gift or calling to convey to a client the archetypal underpinnings of their life path. With such a weighty responsibility, is it not imperative that we be present with the client, to check in with their feelings, to assess how much they can take at any given moment?

Astrology is art and science, poetry and math. Astrologers run the gamut from those who love to do research and work with databases of charts -- not having to interact much with real folk -- and counselors who use their astrological knowledge and insights to help a real live client heal and grow. As a discipline, we need everyone on this continuum. I certainly am not going to devote my life to studying arcane techniques. However, those working in the trenches with clients can use that information to good use.

I'll be the first to admit that I like being reassured that my interpretations are right-on. Astrological aspects, for example, are so multivarious in meaning. Am I going to delineate every single way that a Saturn-Venus aspect can manifest? Obviously, its expression will be influenced by all other chart factors, but nonetheless, seeing a client's eyes well up or hearing a "hmm" in their voice tells me immediately that the interpretation I have offered is right-on. I can use that as an opportunity to go deeper into that issue. Without feedback, that possibility is not even opened up to the client and myself. I would argue that true transformation comes from moments like this, when a counselor and client "meet" and they go on a journey together towards healing based on this feedback loop.

Oops

An astute reader brought to my attention that I updated everything in my google/widgetbox lunartunes module except the title, which said, "Capricorn New Moon" instead of "Leo Full Moon." My bad!