Today, I am writing to you from the South of Spain. I have been here for a few weeks to plunge deep into work. Almost every night, the sky has been clear, and I have been enjoying the solitude, admiring the stars, locating the constellations, and feeling like the speck of stardust I am—a very little part of this grand vastness. There has been a lot going on in the sky lately, even if we cannot perceive most of it with the naked eye.
I guess you have heard about the lunar eclipse on September 18 and the solar eclipse, which will happen today, on October 2, 2024. Eclipses, and how we can make use of them for our growth and expansion will be the topic of today’s post. I hope to inspire you to look back at the past couple of weeks and consider what has been going on in your life lately.
I also hope that your curiosity will be nudged from now on and for at least a couple of months forward to figure out what this eclipse season will bring to you and to your life.
A small recap
There are two eclipse seasons per year, and they occur when the orbits of the sun and the moon intersect. When this happens, the sun, the moon, and the earth will be positioned in a straight line. Depending on whether it is a lunar or a solar eclipse, the moon and the earth line up in a different order.
In an oversimplified way, lunar eclipses happen around the full Moon when the earth blocks the sunbeams from getting reflected on the moon’s surface, which then is unable to forward the light to us.
The drawing below (which looks more like a fried egg with a black peppercorn and a blueberry) illustrates how the moon is in the shadow of the earth.
A few weeks later, around the time of the new moon, the positions of the earth and the moon are reversed. The black peppercorn is between the blueberry and the egg yolk, and that is when we experience a solar eclipse. The light from the sun is shining on the backside of the moon relative to us, so the side facing us is dark. As the moon passes in between, we perceive it as a shadow or a dark sphere passing over the sun’s surface (or, as our distant ancestors thought of this – a dark force swallowed the sun for a moment).
The distances between the earth, the moon, and the sun are so perfectly proportioned that it looks like the moon covers the entire sun – a total solar eclipse. However, to be able to see this happen, you need to be at the right spot on the globe.
I have seen a total solar eclipse myself, and it is an amazing phenomenon to witness. I also felt the effects on my physical body very clearly, and it was a little bit spooky. There is a large community of eclipse tourists, true enthusiasts who travel where these phenomena can be seen the best. They are the astronomical/astrological equivalents of football supporters, following their favourite teams worldwide to celebrate and share the big moments.
You might have heard of all kinds of physical effects due to these celestial events. Birds stop singing when the sun disappears, and nature gets eerily quiet. Biological experiments show that both animals and plants get pretty stressed by these unexpected changes in the environment. So, that must be true for the human physicality as well. Especially since I got bitten by the astrology bug, it has fascinated me how these events affect us energetically.
The luminaries
In astrology, the Moon is a representation of our emotional life and our instincts.
I think of our instincts as the high-speed trains of our emotionality. Emotions in such a hurry to be transformed into action that they swoosh by the realm of thought without stopping at the platform. There is simply no time to think about the consequences when they kick in, only survival counts (whatever that means to our unconscious self).
Perhaps that makes the link between the astrological moon and our need for safety and nurturing a little easier to understand.
The astrological Sun represents the Self, our individual self.
Now, that word is as slippery as a wet soap. To make it slightly less abstract, start a sentence I AM. Whatever comes after the I AM is a statement about who we believe ourselves to be, which moves us into the astrological sun’s territory.
This is why the eclipse seasons become so interesting from a personal development point of view. Each eclipse touches the very core of our being. An interaction (sometimes a battle) between our sense of self and our emotions.
For astrology enthusiasts
For those interested in how astrology maps out the energetic world, pinpointing where these event will happen in our personal charts can provide much information and understanding. We can get hints of what psychological driving forces will be highlighted and which life area will be affected. It can also give us a clue about which part of our lives we should be extra observant about during the eclipse season and the time after. It is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and look for new openings.
However, astrology is only a road map, even though it is a brilliant one. The information it can convey is of the same nature as the help we can get from a GPS when navigating an unfamiliar area. The GPS will give us directions and a “theoretical overview of the landscape,” but as you know, it will not tell us what the landscape really looks and feels like to us. We have to travel through it to experience it properly.
For non-enthusiasts
If you are not interested in astrology and if planets, signs, houses and aspects only give you a headache, do not worry.
The experience will be there without seeing and understanding the map beforehand. You only need to notice what shows up as you travel through this period.
For everyone to experience
A lunar eclipse tends to bring an emotional theme from our past into our awareness. This theme can be many things; perhaps a pattern that you have repeated over and over again, or a truth about yourself or life in general. If what has been brought up to the surface is unconscious, we tend to project it onto the world so we can see it. Situations and interactions with others create responses in us, which make us aware of our emotions in a new way.
If what is brought up to the surface is something we have been aware of, or semi-aware of, we may notice strong reactions within us, and suddenly, we are no longer comfortable harbouring these feelings. Suddenly, enough is enough, and we commit to change.
Even if these heightened emotions consume a lot of energy, they can be very helpful if used constructively. They can serve as fuel and create momentum to shift our beliefs, responses, and, eventually, our behavioural patterns. These highlighted emotions become the catalyst that will alter the trajectory of our lives moving forward.
But it may be tiring, and depending on what we are working on in our inner realms, we may feel a little bit drained or lost. We may also experience other states of mind, such as rage, grumpiness, sadness, or a struggle to find meaning. For some, there are only silent whispers within. How we experience this build-up differs from person to person and from eclipse season to eclipse season.
This growing awareness, or even beginning of change, is what we are invited to work on during the weeks leading up to the solar eclipse.
A portal
The actual solar eclipse is often compared to an electric power cut or a computer reboot—a reset of the system. As you know, when your computer gets slow or freezes, sometimes just turning it off for a moment can be the best solution. A solar eclipse is similar. It cleanses our hard drive in some mysterious way – it optimises the system.
For IT ninjas or computer technicians, it might be crystal clear what happens after switching off and then switching our computer back on again. For the rest of us mortals, we are unsure what happens in between it shuts down and restarts. I would guess that most of us are just relieved that our computer has decided to wake up again, and is working better. Perhaps we pat it a little bit in gratitude for being back on track again.
Though, we are not computers but human beings, our energy field gets a reboot during the eclipse season. The more I think about it, the more I see it as a portal we travel through twice a year. Each time, we leave something behind, may it be emotional luggage or patterns we have outgrown that no longer serve us. To begin with, we might not be sure what has been left behind, but we should still give ourselves a pat on the back because it IS hard work we have been doing. Have compassion with yourself if you feel a bit tired during and after the eclipses.
If we pay attention, we can notice a difference and see how some parts of our lives begin to work better when we finally have these weeks behind us.
If we make an effort to observe ourselves, we will probably notice that we think, feel, and behave a little bit differently. Perhaps we are ready to invite new dreams and adventures into our lives. This is where we will be later today – out on the other side of the eclipse season. Our energy field will be switched on again.
As I shared earlier, I find these events fascinating, so I have paid close attention to what I see shifting in my life, for a number of years now. I have often noticed a lightness, a sense of relief, a new clarity as we have passed through this period, even if I have felt a bit worn out.
Whether we were aware of it or not, the preparations we made before travelling through this portal have changed us a bit.
What we have left behind leaves an open space we can fill with something new. After having spent some time assessing the situation, this is a good time to decide where to go from here. Are there new dreams and projects you would like to start and build on? Or do the dreams you had still feel interesting to pursue, but would you like to tweak them a little bit?
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself if you want:
- What have you left behind that you no longer need?
- Can you notice anything within you that has shifted? (beliefs, opinions, greater courage?)
- In what direction are you ready and feel an inner pull to move towards?
- What do you long for to experience and create in your lives? Have your dreams shifted?
Over the following months, observe yourself – you might be surprised by what you find 😉
After all this writing, it is time for some music. I listened to a lot of “Eclipse music” while preparing for this post, but when it was time to choose, I couldn’t resist. Enjoy!
Magic Mittens’ magic playlist
Bonnie Tyler’s: Total eclipse of the heart…
I recently attended my first high school reunion in the little town where I grew up (so you can figure out what my eclipse season has been all about :D). Inspired by that, I have included a YouTube clip from 1983 where Bonnie Tyler performs her song.
Enormous earrings, hairspray en masse, v-shaped belts, and shoulder pads—it was glorious times!!!
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I hope you enjoyed it.
I wish you an interesting exploration as you are about to figure out what has shifted in you.
Take good care of yourself, and see you next time!
Carin
