The Astrological Eclipse
Here is the Horoscope of the Lunar Eclipse, calculated for our local coordinates. The relative positions of the Sun, Moon, Nodes and Planets to each other remains the same even as their orientation to the horizon change from place to place.
Eclipses are strange beasts. They can affect some people in very profound ways, while passing unnoticed by many others. That’s why with Eclipses, even more than with other astrological factors, we have to be careful not to generalize too much about the quality and impact of their influence, unless we have the opportunity to see the dynamic interaction between the Eclipse and a Birth Chart cast for a specific individual or event. This unique response to Eclipses can be explained by the fact that, in order to have a tangible effect, an Eclipse has to fall pretty close to a sensitive degree in your Birth Chart, meaning one occupied by the Sun, the Moon, one of the four Angles (Ascendant, Descendant, Mid-heaven, Lower-Heaven), a Planet or Lunar Node. When I say close I mean within one or, at the most, two degrees distance from the actual degree of the Eclipse. Eclipses on Mid-points between planets can also be quite significant, especially if the planets involved are part of a strong theme in the person’s Birth Horoscope.
The impact of an Eclipse can also differ greatly depending on the character of the celestial body it falls close to, and also the area of experience (denoted by the Horoscope’s Houses) where the Eclipse takes place.
With these premises in mind this particular Eclipse could have a marked impact on some Mutable Sign. The birthdays directly aligned with the Eclipse’s degree will be: Gemini, born June 8 to 10; Sagittarius,born December 10 to 12; Virgo, born September 10 to 12; Pisces, born March 8 to 10. Or individual with Natal Moon, Angles, Planets or Nodes between the 17th and 19th degrees of the same Signs.
Full Moons and Lunar Eclipses alike are significant times for realizations and often are also climaxes of a sort, peak experiences, bringing the coronation, success or failure, to activities and relationships we have began or have cultivated during the Waxing fortnight of the Moon’s cycle (when we are talking about regular Full Moons) or in the previous three to six months or longer (when we are talking about Eclipsed Full Moons). Whatever the nature of the events brought to light by a Lunar Eclipse they will have an emotional impact, sometimes a very great emotional impact, as when they coincide with the birth of a child, a death, a promotion, a significant illness, the purchase of real estate, influential encounters, life-changing choices or events over which one has little or no control, profound insights and psychic quantum leaps, etc. In fact there is often a sense of fate in the events or feelings that surge out of an Eclipse, like something that was meant to be and has come to change our life in meaningful and sometimes unexpected ways.
Another important consideration to bear in mind is that this Gemini Moon Eclipse is aligned to the South Lunar Node, the place of descent, relating to the past in all its many forms: this life’s past, childhood, youth, or a past life’s past, or even the past of aeons of planetary evolution. So we may feel inclined or be forced perhaps to revisit things and people from the past that, positively, may help us illumine the present, or, negatively, create distress, regrets, or a painful sense of nostalgia and unrequited longing.
Emotionally a Lunar Eclipse can be very revealing of the true state of your feelings. If your life is already in an emotional spin then the Eclipse may bring all the intensity up to the surface, for everybody to see, including yourself. It could be a joyous experience too, but one that is also deep and somewhat more private than the Sign Gemini suggests.
Before being an Eclipse this is the yearly Full Moon in Gemini, showing a time of heightened intellectual and verbal energy. So if you have found yourself talking and talking in the last few days, do not worry, you are not alone. Many of us are attempting to express ideas that seem to grow in our heads as fast as mushrooms on a mossy bed. Communication can be intense and fast, under this clever Moon, with many subjects covered, moving from one to the next at great speed. The Eclipse will make what we try to communicate more poignant and partaking of our inner life too, not just idle socializing and prattling.
This is great lunar energy for creative writing, story telling, poetry, performances, song writing, learning, teaching, abstracting, eureka moments, intellectual breakthroughs.
The Sun and Moon, in opposition to each other at Eclipse/Full Moon time, are both forming a right angle (90 degrees) with Mars in Virgo (T square). This aspect will further intensify the mental activity and the desire to express our minds, manifesting also as competitiveness, tendency to argue about even minute differences of opinion and become hot and over-critical before we can control it or stop it. There is a sense of restlessness here that we need to become aware of, trying to find a place of quiet and tranquility amongst the hubbub and intense mental stimulation, perhaps consciously reducing our social interactions and activities, leaving some time free for ourselves and for some badly needed mental rest. Too many irons in the fire are often the bane of the Mutable Signs. This tendency to scatter and waste energy could be highlighted by the aspects of Mars. The more conscious we become of what is involved the more we may be able to use Mars’ extra boost to put our ideas into effective use, or changing in meaningful ways our routine and habits, to become more efficient and practical.
Saturn in Libra is within two degree of a trine to Neptune in Aquarius, a positive aspect, stressing again the mental and social impact of the Gemini Eclipse, via the accent on Air Signs. The often inimical functions of Saturn and Neptune have an opportunity here to work together in harmony, the practical outlook and realism of Saturn embracing the idealism, faith and compassion of Neptune, helping to manifest in concrete form our social and spiritual ideals. This is one aspect that, being active during the Durban’s Climate Change Conference, could help us finding some concrete solutions to our global problems, to match the ideal those international summits have been created to uphold. I don’t yet know the outcome, but this particular connection gives me some hope.
Between lovers a certain dimension of feeling-communication, or communication with feeling, could be revealing a side of the other person that we suspected but never saw quite as clearly. Forget candle light dinners and all the romantic trappings, rather talk, just talk about what really matters to you. Describe your feelings, analyze them, and thus discover or rediscover a different sort of intimacy, one that doesn’t rely necessarily on sexuality, but can make you feel as close as twins in a pod.
Venus and Mars, both in Earth Sign, have reached a phase in their eternal dance during which they can work in harmony (trine or 120 degrees angle). Our ability to cooperate and share (Venus) is going hand in hand with our ability to assert our individuality (Mars), so that we can cooperate with others without losing sight of what we want for ourselves.
Apart from all the above (and more that I don’t have time to mention here, or I’ll be late to post this before the Eclipse) there is, of course, also the Retrogradation of Mercury in Sagittarius to consider, making all matters more complicated and, like the Eclipse, suggesting a need to revisit the past, recent or remote, to understand and deal better with the present. Mercury will be Retrograde a few more days, turning Stationary Direct on December 14, next Wednesday. Navigate HERE to my recent post on the Retrogradation of Mercury in Sagittarius.
The Eclipse and the Collective Psyche
The sheer number of transits active at this time shows an eventful time ahead for the world, Eclipses extending their influence well beyond the time they occur. The most significant aspect formed by the Sun and Moon is their mutual square (90 degrees angle) to Mars in Virgo. Because the Sun and Moon are closely conjunct the Lunar Nodes (the reason why the Eclipse is a Total one) Mars is also in a difficult configuration with the Nodes, fact that is not at all promising for world peace and general cooperation amongst people and nations. We should not overlook the fact that Uranus has just turned Stationary and then Direct (on December 9) accelerating the pace of change and bringing to a head issues that have been slow to mature.
Uranus is sitting on the very first degree of Aries, the archetypal beginning point of the whole Zodiac, so significant that aspect formed by Sun , Moon and Planets to this degree are often measured, even when there are no planet on it. Occupying this very significant degree Uranus leads the flock, so to speak, taking on the function of the Ram of Heaven which leads the Year, ushering unforeseen large scale events, revolutions, innovations; change, change, and more change, affecting just about everybody.
Navigate HERE to another recent post on the Sagittarius Partial Solar Eclipse of November 25, 2011.
The Visual Eclipse
It will be worth your while staying up to witness the Moon’s metamorphosis from silvery white to red ocher-orange, dark and rich hues.
In the Australian states that adopt Day Light Saving (NSW, ACT, NT, VIC) the Total phase will take place around 1.30 am on December 11, and completely end by 3.15 am. In Queensland the event will take place an hour earlier and in Western Australia a couple of hours earlier.
The event will be visible in its entirety all over Australia, New Zealand and most countries in Asia. No so lucky people in North America and Canada, where the Moon will be setting at Eclipse time, or Europe/Africa where the Moon will be rising instead. While South America will miss out on this event all together.
Click HERE for an informative sight where you’ll find the exact time of beginning, full phase and ending of this Eclipse from different locations in Australia and around the world.
The first image below shows where to look for Jupiter, toward the West, as the Moon begin to darken, around midnight local Summer Time. , in New South Wales Northern Rivers region (very similar view and time all along Australia’s East coast).
click to view larger image
Below are three Stellarium‘s skyscapes of three phases of this Lunar Eclipse: the beginning, full phase and end, as seen around respectively 0.15 am, 1.30 am and 2.45 am. The three snapshots represent the North-Easterly, at first, and then North-Westerly night sky.
In these images that also show the constellations note how the Moon seems neatly placed between the horns of the Celestial Bull, Taurus, close to Aldebaran, the alpha star, and also aligned to the Pleiades (Seven Sisters). Orion is dominating the sky above, and the most brilliant star in our firmament, Sirius, the Dog Star, walks at his heels. A whole mythical pageant is here to accompany the mystery of the Full Moon obscured by the Earth’s own shadow. Our collective Shadow Self revealed in all its glory, made conscious and tangible, if only for a few moments.
December 11, 2011, 0.15 am - Click to view larger image
December 11, 2011, 1.30 am - Click to view larger image
December 11, 2011, 2.45 am - Click to view larger image
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