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?

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?