by Catherine Al-Meten at Amazon.com  |
| Pink Sky Catherine Al-Meten |
This last week has been an example of how the explosiveness of the Crown of Fire can be misdirected with tragic results. When we are not consciously aware of how our actions and responses affect others, we release energy in ways that can be, at the very least hurtful and at the most, destructive and damaging to ourselves and others. Using the information astrology can provide is one small way of becoming more informed about how we use our energy. Already I am reading ‘dire warnings’ about the upcoming series of eclipses. Again, by reacting to negativity rather than using signs and energy as guidelines and warnings, we miss the point. While the events of the last week have been upsetting and stressful for many, they have given us all an opportunity to observe both how others respond to tragedy and violence, and how we process and deal with the associated stress and trauma.
If we can remember that astrological information (transits, aspects, planetary and solar and lunar movement) give us indications of what is possible or what energies are prevalent, then we can alleviate some of the fear, sense of helplessness or hopelessness that many have fallen into over the last week or so. What we have experienced in this country over the events and aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, is what people in many parts of the world live with day to day. In countries that have been torn apart by war, what we have been experiencing is the daily routine.
Having lived on the East Coast for a while, I understand too how much these events triggered the memories and responses of the terrorist attacks of September 11. We are all caught up in the cycle of violence that threatens to shape our entire psyche if we do not learn the lessons inherent in these times. We have the opportunity to change the course of human history if we learn how to channel our energies, deal with conflicts and meet challenges without the use of war and terror. We, as humans, have perpetuated the cultures of war and violence, and we, as humans, have the opportunity to turn things around. We now have the challenge before us to create healing, understanding, compassion, and tolerance while setting limits on the kinds of disorder we can allow each other to inflict on one another. This is a testing time, and how we respond as individuals, as communities, organizations, nations, and as one common humanity, will determine our future. Rather than live in dread and fear of the future, let us learn how to use our energy for the betterment of ourselves, of one another, and of our entire planet. Let’s start by learning what some of the influences are that are affecting how we feel, what potentialities are arising, and what challenges and limitations may need to be dealt with.
The Eclipse Cycle for 2013.
At 3:58 EDT/12:58 PDT, a Lunar Eclipse will occur on April 25, 2013 at 5 degrees and 46 minutes of Scorpio (opposite the Sun in Taurus), affecting people born with personal planets and points at approximately 1 to 11 degrees of the Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius) most significantly. Lunar eclipses occur at the Full Moon while Solar eclipses occur during the New Moon phase. A Lunar eclipse is always in the sign opposite the Sun, while the Solar eclipse always occurs in the same sign as the new Moon.
The house/houses where the Sun and Moon are transiting during an eclipse indicate the area/s of life that will be affected. For the Lunar Eclipse of April 25, 2013 the Sun is in Taurus and the Moon will be in Scorpio. This is the case every year at this time, though there is not always an eclipse. When there are a series of eclipses in a given year, they signify a trend of a certain type of energetic changes and movement. The current cycle which began last November, signifies a need to release and repattern our ways of dealing with all areas of our lives. It deals with the expansion and transformation of ways of knowing, ways of believing, and ways of doing.
Eclipses have captured the imagination of humans since the beginning of time, in part because they are clearly visible. An eclipse occurs when the Sun and the Moon come into a direct oppositional alignment to one another. They form a straight line, where in a Solar Eclipse, the Moon casts her shadow on the Sun. A Lunar eclipse results when the Earth comes in between the Sun and the Moon at roughly 12 degrees of the lunar nodes during which time the Moon loses her reflected light from the Sun (the Earth blocks it). The Moon appears to turn dark red in the Earth’s shadow. A lunar eclipse follows the Solar eclipse in roughly two weeks. Lunar nodes refer to a point of intersection, not to an actual planetary body.
To get a visual idea of how eclipses work, visit NASA’s website.
When are the eclipses in 2013?
Last November 28, 2012 at 6:46 AM (PST) there was a Full Moon eclipse at 6/47 Sagitarrius/Gemini.
The New Moon of May 9, 2013 A Solar Eclipse occurs on May 9, 2013, at 19 degrees and 31 minutes of Taurus, affecting people born with personal planets and points at approximately 15 to 25 degrees of the Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius) most significantly.
Full Moon of May 25
A Lunar Eclipse occurs on May 25, 2013 at 4 degrees and 8 minutes of Sagittarius (opposite the Sun in Gemini), affecting people born with personal planets and points at approximately 0 to 9 degrees of the Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces) most significantly.
A Lunar Eclipse occurs on October 18, 2013 at 25 degrees and 45 minutes of Aries (opposite the Sun in Libra), affecting people born with personal planets and points at approximately 20 to 30 degrees of the Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) most significantly.
A Solar Eclipse occurs on November 3, 2013 at 11 degrees and 16 minutes of Scorpio, affecting people born with personal planets and points at approximately 6 to 16 degrees of the Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius) most significantly.
To view the Eclipse Charts for 2013 visit Cafe Astrology’s website.
What is the Significance of the Eclipse Cycle of 2013?
Eclipses symbolize what needs to change and what is being birthed. If we have planets, the Sun, or the Moon within 2-7 degrees of an eclipse point, they will have a greater significance. The eclipse signs are Scorpio (the north node) and Taurus (the south node). Traditionally in astrology, the North Node represents the areas of strength in your chart; the South Node denotes an area of challenge or weakness. Scorpio’s rulers, Pluto and Mars, represents the archetypal energy of power, passion, action, and depth. Taurus, ruled by Venus, represents the archetypal earthy energy of peace, order, and beauty. When the eclipse makes an aspect to one of your natal or progressed planets, houses, Moon or Sun, you can expect a change.
The nature of the change depends upon which area of your life is affected and is affected by the nature of the sign and aspect of the planets, Moon or Sun and of the transits/aspects. For example, I the Moon triggers your Natal or Progressed Moon, the nature of the change may be on an emotional level. If the transiting Moon is in the same house/sign as your Natal/Progressed Moon, then whatever area of life that house rules will likely be affected. For example, if my Natal Moon is in the 7th house and the Transiting Moon and eclipse is in the 7th house, then the area of marriages and partnerships will be affected. In order to understand how an eclipse, or any other transit or aspect might affect you, you need to know something about your own natal and progressed chart. [If you need your chart done, contact me at Intuitive Insight Pathways, c.j.almeten@gmail.com]
Eclipses occur in families. The ancient Babylonians discovered how eclipses function in cycles/families. They are better understood as a cycle of events rather than as one event. The cycle, has a beginning, middle, and end, and represents a certain type of energy being released, dealt with, and synthesized into the energy, lives, and movement of the times. Since any one eclipse could set off energy that could manifest over thousands of years, the Bablyonians refined their understanding by breaking down the patterns within the cycles themselves. By 747 BCE, the Babylonians had developed a system whereby they could accurately predict the cycle of eclipses in a series. In the 10th Century CE, Greek lexicographer, Suidas, named this cylcle, Saros, meaning repitition or repeated. Each Saros was repeated every 18 years (plus or minus 9-11 days). For more information on the Saros cycles, read Bernadette Brady’s paper on Saros Cycles.
There are a number of Saros series eclipses for both the Solar and Lunar eclipses. Each Saros Series lasts for 6, 585.3 days over the course of its more than 1000 year cycle. Something to be said for “the past is always present.”
The Lunar Eclipse of April 25, 2013.
The Lunar Eclipse with the Moon in Scorpio and the Sun in Taurus, affects our minds and our emotions. It is a good time to do inner work using prayers, meditation, yoga, long walks, or some other form of reflective and centering energy work. The eclipse awakens areas of discomfort and stress bringing us into greater awareness of anything that is off center, disturbing, or in need of change. Our emotions become like a barometer for our intuition at this time, so listen to what your inner being is signaling.
The Sun moved from its final degree on April 18 into Taurus April 19 at 6:03 P.M. (EDT), 3:03 (PDT), almost to the hour of when the Boston Bombing manhunt ended. Mercury remains in Aries until May 1. Venus just moved into Taurus on April 15, and will remain there until May 9. Mars is completing her transit through Aries on April 20 at 7:08 AM (EDT) 4:08 AM (PDT) when she entered Taurus where she will stay until May 31. Saturn is in Scorpio (8 degrees) , Jupiter is in Gemini (15 degrees), Uranus remains in Aries (9 degrees) , Pluto remains in Capricorn (11 degrees), Neptune and Chiron in Pisces (4 degrees and 12 degrees).
The Full Pink Moon.
The Full Pink Moon gets its name because of the wild flowers that appear around the time of this moon. The moss pink or wild ground phlox, is one of the first spring flowers in some parts of the country. On the lawn outside my house in the Pacific Northwest, small pink daisies are in bloom, and the sunsets are full of pinks and purples at this time of the year. The Full Moon of April is also called the Sprouting Grass Moon and the Egg Moon. The coastal and river tribes call this the Fish Moon for this is when the smelt and shad swim upstream to spawn.
The Full Moon at 5 degrees Scorpio, trines both Neptune in Pisces and Ceres in Cancer. It is exact on the star Gacrux in the Crucifix or Southern Cross. It is said of the Southern Cross, ‘[it] gives perseverance, but many burdens, trials and responsibilities, together with much suffering and many hardships.” Though we in the Northern Hemisphere cannot view the Southern Cross from where we live, it nonetheless signifies the archetypal energy of guidance and releasing and letting go. The eclipse is crossed by Neptune in Pisces trine with Ceres in Cancer. If any of these aspects land in your 1st (Ascendent), 4th (IC), 7th (Descendent) or 10th (MC) axis, this is sure to be a time of great change in your life. This same point will be reactivated again on November 1 when Uranus and Pluto square one another shortly before the Solar Eclipse of November 3, 2013.
What does all this mean?
Neptune represents self sacrifice, or selflessness. We can be a martyr or we can act out of compassion and selflessness. Chiron, also in Pisces, will be transited by the Full Moon in Scorpio, further focusing on our need for healing and taking better care of ourselves. Whatever house the Moon transits or aspects will be highlighted by the need to tend to unaddressed issues, conflicts, problems, or hidden desires. You may find yourself asking yourself about your real purpose, the direction and manner of your choices and lifestyle, and whether or not you need to make adjustments so that you are able to be more productive, happier, healthier, and purposeful in all you do. Ceres in Cancer’s trine to Neptune in Pisces energizes wisdom that helps us find greater security, a sense of safety and connectedness, along with deeper, more insightful kinds of wisdom from the Divine, the subconscious, and the Unconsciousness---all calling to create, connect, conceive, and express greater compassion in all areas of life, but particularly where the eclipse take place and areas it activates.
To learn more about the Soros Series cycles visit this website.
After two very heavily-laden full moons, the first in water the second in fire, the Scorpio Full Moon brings a greater balance of earth and water. The Taurus Sun grounds us in pragmatic, solid, and intractable energy while Scorpio infuses us with tenacity and insight. The Scorpio-Taurus axis provides energy that puts us in touch with the the cycles of life, the elements and energies of our earthly home, and the thresholds and turning points that signal change and movement.
The Sun in Taurus is conjunct Mars, and the Moon in Scorpio conjuncts Saturn. Mars is being cooled and slowed down after its fiery transit through Aries. Our emotional energy also deepens, and any effort to ‘push the river’ or force issues through ill-advised actions or speech, will not serve us. Saturn in Scorpio is moving us inward to use our inner resources to think things through and to carefully consider any choices, decisions, or directions we are contemplating making. This is a more reflective time than we have been through recently. Keep in mind the Pluto retrograde, another element that is affecting us deeply right now. Pluto’s transformative journey through Capricorn, and its recent retrograde (until September) reminds us it’s better to use this time for reflection, planning, and reconsidering our actions and decisions so we do not get ourselves into areas we will regret later. Truly a time of submission to the Divine and “tending to our knittin’” as my Great Grandmother said, so I am told. We each have enough to deal with taking care of business without upsetting everything now before we have had time to reflect and discern.
Neptune and Chiron in Pisces sextile the Sun and trine the Moon, encourages us to act out of compassion, treat others with respect and kindness, and be more tolerant and understanding with others and with ourselves. One of my writer friends, Hope, wrote a beautiful piece in her end-of-the-week newsletter. Sometimes doing the work, whatever it may be, is the easy part. She compared the job of marketing one’s own work, in her case, her books, even though she is a shy person. We are all a bit like a shy person in some area of our lives, usually the area that matters the most to us. We want to be safe. We want to not make any mistakes. We don’t want to put ourselves in jeopardy. Hope used the following example:
“It's like walking onto a bus, trying to determine who's safe to sit next to. We choose the sweet old lady with matching shoes and purse, avoiding the sour middle-aged man in the wrinkled trench coat. We dodge discomfort, thus making us make quick determinations on what part of life to engage in. All too often, we avoid wonderful opportunities because of the pinch of uneasiness that accompanies the experience.”
Notice where you are setting aside your own desires and true talents and gifts in order to do the safe, familiar, and often unfulfilling alternative to choosing the right path. This Full Moon in Scorpio and the eclipse offers an awakening from deep within, a call to listen and consider how you can more effectively choose. The Full Moon and all the planetary movement and energy awakens and moves us. What is needed is the clarity to know when it is time to speak, act, decide, or change. If we are muddled or overwhelmed in any way, making positive and healthy choices becomes more difficult.
As the Full Moon rises to its peak, we need to channel our energy, ideas, and actions with thought, focus, and intention. It is vital that we use our resources to heal, create, connect, and nurture ourselves and others. Both the energy of the Full Moon and the eclipse remind us that we stand on the threshold of movement forward. We have reached a turning point, and if we don not understand that we have no choice but to proceed onward and to root ourselves in the truth of who we are right now, we have no hope of becoming what our minds envision or our spirit imagines. Being at peace with ourselves, wherever we are, and turning away from the negative emotions, thoughts, or experiences that threaten to define us, is the salvation we need. Choose life and turn away from fear, anxiety, hate, injustice, inequity, or cowardice. Choose life in each step.
Symbolism of the Full Pink Moon.
Astrology provides us with a symbolic and archetypal way to characterize and understand the energy, movement, challenges, and gifts that we all have access to for the way we live our lives and for the way we experience and process the energies at work in and around us.
Astrology has been used for eons to interpret and symbolize different aspects of human understanding of the world in which we live and in our relationship with the Divine and sacred. Symbols, both in images and words, help describe different types of energy, movement, and aspects of our life journeys. Two systems that are often used by Astrologers are the Sabian symbols and the Kozminsky Symbols. The
Sabian Symbol for 5 degrees of Scorpio.
A massive rocky shore presents its unchanging face of the centuries to the furies and coaxing calms of the sea.
(Learn more about the Sabian Symbols)
Kozminsky Symbol: An ancient temple from which shoot forth forks of electricity.
“Isidore Israel Kozminsky was born on 25th October 1870 into a Prussian Jewish family who had emigrated to Australia via London a few years before his birth. Kozminsky was a well-known Jewish occult and esoteric author, reputed to have been a leading member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. His works reveal a very broad knowledge of esoteric tradition and astrological knowledge. During his life Kozminsky wrote several valuable books on astrology and numerology.” Kozminsky’s symbols highlight the different degrees of each degree of the astrological cycle.
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