Hello Friends! I wrote this bit a few days ago on FEAR OF ECLIPSES, since I saw so many anxiety inducing articles passing through my Facebook news feed. I thought I would pull it up and edit it for my Cosmic Weather blog to offer some of my thoughts on the matter… This will be my first direct experience of a total solar eclipse – though I have enjoyed a total lunar eclipse, and several partial eclipses of both moon & sun at different times – so I cannot claim to be an expert on the effects of witnessing one. But I do know that eclipses are powerful, mysterious, strange, and intense – and have worked with their energies religiously since I have been an astrologer. Many people have different ideas about this, and so I am simply offering my own in addition/my own intuitive feeling at this time. Please enjoy – and most importantly – listen to YOUR intuition and YOUR heart about the best way to honor the solar eclipse portal.
Coming up in just a few days, the eclipse will be visiting my general neighborhood – just a short drive west millions of visitors are expected to flood the Path of Totality in my region. Even though I have been aware of this coming for over a year, the media hype seems to have stirred up suddenly within the past week or so.
In addition to articles about what to expect, getting the right eclipse glasses, etc -- there is a lot of fear coming out about around the lore of solar eclipses from times of old to the present day. As someone who has been looking at eclipse maps for years, anxiously and excitedly awaiting the day that I would be within range to witness a TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE – I have been sitting with why it is the solar eclipse elicits so much fear. As an astrologer, I find eclipses and the working of the nodal points to be one of the most interesting subjects within the whole field of astrology. I am deeply attuned to my sense of fate and free will by nature, I have always trusted my connection with the divine grace. Eclipses, to me, are the most potent gateway energy there is -- if you observe the energy on eclipse days (whether they are visible at your location or not) you have the opportunity to make spiritual shifts.
After some contemplation, and some writings I've come across recently from other cosmonaut types, it suddenly clicked into place -- the lore about eclipses, the fear of eclipses. Solar eclipses deal with the interplay of yin and yang as we know it, and this is something that is fundamentally jarring. Even though eclipses are a part of the cosmic order, for a moment we are confronted with something that seems to defy that and it feels chaotic to us.
The sun represents the yang spirit (the divine spark), but the ego is also represented by the sun. The moon is the yin spirit (intuition), also associated with demons/fears/negativity. When yin covers yang, this is a moment when subconscious fears run wild and unbridled. This is a moment when the feminine energy of intuition is unobstructed by the masculine structure of ego. This is a moment when the veil drops and the doorways are wide open to things unseen.
It is sometimes said that the human ego was developed as a survival mechanism, and when it acts up, it believes it is protecting you. The problem that exists now, of course, is that it's become like an organ we've evolved beyond. Extra teeth that we grow because our genes still harken back to our paleolithic ancestors whose diets were considerably more rough than our current one. In much the same way, a mechanism which once served us to deal with survival in a harsh primal context has now become an element of our being that sees EVERYTHING as a threat, EVERYTHING as a fight. And the world we live in capitalizes on this trait by constantly pushing fear and turmoil into our hearts.
As a result, we are constantly on the defense, constantly battling, and constantly anxious. The negativity of our world can be so triggering that we get sucked into its vortex of problems and lose our own sovereignty, our own precious spark. What can we control? What can we direct? What can we change? Ourselves. Our minds. Our will. But how easy it is to forget that simple truth!
The eclipse energy is building immensely, and as I feel that powerful yin energy expanding in my consciousness, I can begin to understand the feelings of the various traditions that honor an eclipse day with solitude and meditation. This is, indeed, one way to deal with the intensity of the energies -- and perfectly legitimate when presented within the appropriate context/structure (rather than as a random set of blanket statements crying peril to the internet). But for me, I feel it is not so black and white as to assume that it is as simple as staying indoors, saying X mantra, doing X ritual, burning your clothes, and throwing away your entire fridge full of food.
We are in a time where we must confront the so-called evils of lesser yin energy, in our personal consciousness and in our world. This is an inside job that extends well beyond the boundaries of the eclipse itself. Indoors, outdoors, meditating or having a barbeque, any place the eclipse is touching will not escape the eerie feeling, the internal disruption, the sense of going into the silence, the darkness. No matter how one deals with the eclipse -- the causes and effects are already underway. "What will be will be." All we can do is do what makes us feel the most HAPPY, STABLE & POSITIVE that we can throughout the experience. Changes and intentions are set through authentic FEELING, not rules or specific actions as dictated by someone else. Likewise, for any actions to be effective/protective we need to feel connected to what we are doing, not simply acting out of anxiety because of something we read on the internet.
For me, there is a reason and a symbolic nature to all things. The timing of this event happening in the USA could not be more fitting. Certainly, it could easily be interpreted as a bad omen -- and portend difficulty for our country (but the astrology already basically implies this, so...) Or you could see it from another, additional, or different perspective: That such an event coming at such a time is an invitation to reconnect with the essence of intuition -- to eclipse our own egos -- and to recognize and resonate with the qualities of mystery. To re-engage a populace, one that is stuck in ingrained, stubborn, and seemingly impossible navel gazing patterns, with something grander, something beyond -- something REAL, that reminds of us of our connection to all that is.
We are here to be witnesses, and also to use our spiritual will to aspire for something greater. This is a time to not fall for the hopelessness and the fearfulness -- but to take this portal to direct the whole of your mind and will to achieving peace and healing for the world. It is a time when we could all use the healing power of awe, of taking in and directly experiencing COSMIC BEAUTY. To fortify our strength and our light within to withstand darkness without. For what is an eclipse but a time of inwardly directed light?
I talk to my students all the time about dealing with the True Yang (inner spirit) and the False Yang (conditioning) in their qigong practice. You only access the inner spirit, the truth of life, the truth of your own being, through the shedding of conditioning & rigidity. Receptivity & surrender (yin principles) are that which open us to the true spirit. Allow this to be a time where the part of us that is eclipsed is the part we must surrender to shine more brightly & more truly on the other side. As for the false yin -- the darkness, the demons -- why should we uphold one (ego) and fear the other (the shadow)? Why should we hold fear to keep ourselves in the shadows? What purpose does that really serve?
FACE fear, ENDURE fear – and TRANSMUTE fear. Pass through darkness to know brightness. Purify shadows by holding sacred fire and holy light. In whatever way you are called to do that – do that. But do it from a place of strength, a place of TRUST. Not a place of fear, anxiety or chaos. That is the lesser yin – that is getting stuck in limbo. Trust that the sun shines again. That life exists on the other side. That darkness is only a gateway we pass through to engage more wholly with divine nature. Burn away fear, become more bright. Become the YOU you know you are.
Eclipses may be strange but they are also beautifully still. Wherever you are, whatever you do – BE PRESENT, BE STILL -- witnessing, receiving – this is the fundamental shared agreement of all the traditions. Be at peace within, and pray for the return of cleansing light that heals the brokenness of this world.