Total Solar Eclipse on April 8: The Astrological Context

I vividly remember the “Great American Total Solar Eclipse” on August 21, 2017, when the moon’s shadow eclipsed the Sun at 28° Leo. My then-husband and I drove seven hours south from Chicago to arrive at the southern tip of Illinois, in a town called Makanda, which is beautifully nestled in the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. Our destination to view the eclipse with approximately 2,000 other ticket-bearing folks that day was a winery, actually (the beautiful Blue Sky Winery), and I can still recall the visceral response my body experienced at approximately 3 p.m. when the moon’s shadow completely eclipsed the light of our beloved Sun. Lasting several minutes in duration, the moment of totality was profoundly eerie to me, but I was ritually ready then with an altar to Sekhmet laid out on my mandala-themed picnic blanket stretched out across the grass, onto which I’d laid my Egyptian-made Sekhmet statue, my sistrum, an offering plate with various spicy foods for the Goddess, and my massive chunk of quartz crystal, which I intended to program as a “battery” to house the profound healing energies the “detonation” event of an eclipse can bring, spiritually/energetically speaking.

At first hushed, the crowd began cheering, whistling, applauding, and even screaming at the moment of totality. I was grateful for the noise as my own shouting of my prayers whilst vigorously shaking my sistrum went largely unnoticed by folks seated around us (though afterwards, I did field respectful questions on what I was doing from a nearby couple that drove all the way from Louisiana with their adorable Siberian husky just to witness the eclipse). The temperature immediately dropped by several degrees. All wild birds had gone completely silent. It was a complete sensory experience tinged with Numinosity and yes, terror.

While I do heartily recommend that spiritually attuned folks make the most of these cosmic energies by bringing intentionality to their experience of especially a total solar eclipse, you have to be mindful that there are costs or tolls to be paid. On a mundane level, a logistics nightmare of travel to and from cities and towns in a given eclipse’s pathway awaits. You have to deal with limited infrastructure in terms of roadways, jammed as you’ll be with perhaps tens of thousands of other stargazers wanting to create a mass exodus and head home simultaneously. Plan for that. (Our return drive to Chicago took us a whopping 19 hours!)

On an emotional level, eclipses take a toll as well because they invariably eclipse things in our lives we hold dear (e.g., health, jobs, relationships, financial stability, living situations, etc.). A total solar eclipse is always a detonation event. The “Great American Solar Eclipse” of 2017 eclipsed my marriage. This is where astrology can somewhat prepare us, but never truly emotionally prepare us, for the sweeping changes that may arrive in the wake of a total solar eclipse. Tomorrow’s eclipse is a doozy because of the important cosmic backdrop of a powerful array of planetary aspects that are afoot; some will exactly align with the moment of the eclipse itself, while others will build and find fullest expression towards the end of the month. As this is Aries season, it’s always a wild ride, so buckle up!

Virgo Planetary Ritual Featuring Spellwork for Successful Job Hunting

When it comes to magical workings, timing is everything. And when you can harness the planetary power within your own natal chart to effect changes you want to have happen in your lived experiences here in consensus reality, all the better! Even though we’re still a week out from the Sun’s annual entry into Virgo, there are plenty of heavenly bodies already transiting Virgo—to wit, the Waxing Crescent Moon, Mercury (which rules Virgo), Mars, and the Medium Coeli or Midheaven, a “destiny point” in a chart (it’s a vertical axis that serves as the cusp of the 10th House). I happen to be a Virgo Sun Sign person with natal Mars in Virgo and it’s this tide of peak energy (transiting Mars will only be in Virgo for the next nine days for the rest of this year) I’m capitalizing upon with the following ritual and spellwork I’ve devised to help folks like me who are always ready to upgrade their job situation to something better. But it’s really the symbolism of the newness of the Waxing Crescent Moon in Virgo that’s driving the symbolic power of this ritual. Ready to join me on this magickal odyssey? Have your offerings to Hermes and Artemis at the ready!

Jupiter Transits Taurus

It’s always astrology news when our Big Daddy of our solar system, luck- and abundance-dealing Jupiter, makes His yearly ingress into a new sign for a yearly transit. Like other Earth Sign folks (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), I’ve been eagerly awaiting Jupiter’s ingress into the Fixed Earth Sign of Taurus, which occurred today at 12:20 pm CDT and will last until May 25, 2024.

Revolution is in the Air: The Significance of Pluto’s Ingress into Aquarius on March 23, 2023

Tomorrow morning at 7:13 Central Daylight Time (US), Pluto, the most remote planet in our solar system that archetypally expresses Death and Rebirth energies, the Hidden, and Underworld sojourns, enters the Fixed Air Sign of Aquarius. While there will be initial back-and-forth Retrograde periods that will have Pluto backtracking into Capricorn for several months this year, He (and I always refer to the Planetary Intelligences by the Gods They are named after) will stay put in Aquarius starting in January 2024 for a transit that will last until March 8, 2043.

Saturn in Pisces: Welcome to the Great Resignation

As of 7:35 am Central Standard Time, Saturn has exited out of Aquarius and made His ingress into the Mutable Waters of Pisces. There are profound energetic shifts any time a planet transits into a new sign, but this is especially true of the outer planets of our solar system, which move at a much slower rate than the personal planets closer to the Sun. And given the fact that we have the heavyweight of Pluto also changing signs later in the month (more on that in a subsequent post), March 2023 is a Cosmic Green Light to the activation of sweeping changes / structural overhaul that will affect us collectively and individually.

The Astrological Context of the November 8 Total Lunar Eclipse at 16° Taurus

Friends with Sun, Moon, or Rising Sign in Taurus, I really feel for you. This total lunar eclipse in your sign (it is also, incidentally, the Sign of the Moon’s exaltation) is already intense for you because it’s occurring in the zodiacal First House of your very Self, calling so much of your very identity and how you show up in the world into question/reevaluation.

Yet the intensity is ratcheted to an even greater degree for you more than any other sign (Aquarius claims a close 2nd place in the eclipse intensity factor) because of the “wild card planet” Uranus’ conjunction with the Moon (at 16° Taurus, and trust me, the degrees matter!) and the Dharma-Bearing North Node (at 13°) while opposing no less than a stellium of four planets in Scorpio (the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Karma-Clearing South Node) AND squaring dour Saturn, the Inflexible Lord of Karma, Who currently transits 18° Aquarius at the time of the eclipse. Phew!

It’s a lot to take in, not just for you patient (and stubborn/resistant to change) Taurus folks, but for us all, every person aboard Spaceship Earth, as the very structures of our societies and how we envision the concept of “good governance” are up for a complete overhaul, which has many people in power (whether they deserve to be in positions of authority or not) completely scared out of their wits (and for good reason!). For those of us in the United States, this Taurus Full Moon Total Lunar Eclipse just happens to be taking place on our day dedicated to the 2022 Midterm Elections, which are fraught with all kinds of apprehensions, expectations, and deep-seated fears. There’s much here to unpack, so let’s dive right in!

Friday’s Taurus Full Moon Eclipse: Radical Changes, Ready or Not!

No matter where you are in the world, Friday’s lunar eclipse at 27° Taurus will be impactful. For starters, it’s the longest eclipse in duration in over 580 years of human astronomical reckoning: it will last three and a half hours! In the Central Standard Time zone of the U.S., which is my time zone (please adjust for your corner of the world accordingly), the Taurus Moon will noticeably begin to become engulfed by Shadow at 1:15 a.m. and the Shadow will have dissipated by 4:45 a.m. on Friday, November 19. The apogée of lunar fullness happens at 2:57 a.m.

What Mysteries will our beloved Luna undergo during this long descent into Shadow? Her story will ripple out and reach us all, especially with the dramatic backdrop of planetary aspects that set the stage for this eclipse.

 

“Proud to be a Virgo”: A Poem

Big Astrology News: Jupiter Enters Pisces This Week!

Our Big Daddy of the Zodiac is on the move; starting this Thursday, May 13, at 5:36 p.m. Central Standard Time (please adjust to your corner of the world), Jupiter enters the Mutable Water Sign of Pisces. This signals a major shift in the collective consciousness!

Seeking Stability: The Astrology of May 2019

I apologize for the tardy post, as we’re already one week into the month, but I’ve been reeling in shock over the untimely death of the mother of a dear friend from early childhood. Actually, the death energy ties into an astrological energetic current I’ll be highlighting in my planetary activity overview for the month. Let’s jump right into it.