There seems something magical about this eclipse falling at midwinter. The Winter Solstice takes place as the Sun slips into Capricorn marking the return of light. In Christian mythology, Christ is ‘the light’ and he is the son [sun]. We adorn trees with sparkling lights, mirroring sunlight falling on the earth which will bring forth the verdant green of summer.
Only a few hours before the solstice, there will be a lunar eclipse. The combination of winter solstice and an eclipse is a rare event in astrology and suggests that this eclipse may carry some weight.
The lunar eclipse takes place at 29GEM21 on the 21st December 2010 (UK). The lunar Sabian is :-
A Parade Of Bathing Beauties Before Large Beach Crowds
The Moon’s symbol calls forth many of the typical associations with beauty pageants such as ‘beauty is only skin deep’. It’s funny because the other day I was reading about how a group of woman in a beauty contest posed in swimming costumes on a beach in freezing weather conditions. I found it extraordinary that these woman should be expected to freeze half to death for the sake of a photo – couldn’t someone have created a set indoors in the warm?
This simple story seems to dig out the underlying associations of the symbol in that there is no concern for the person themselves, only beauty matters. As long as everything appears beautiful then everything is okay.
The Sun is in the middle of a traffic jam of the Mercury, Mars, Pluto conjunction which has just passed. Retrograde Mercury ruling the Moon suggests we may have things back to front and need to see things from the inside out. The Sun is also conjunct Pallas who is exemplary in her wisdom and the fixed star Acumen, also associated with insight. The Sun is seemingly weighed down by strong masculine energy. The Moon in this bucket chart has the difficult task of carrying all the weight – everything seems to hinge on her.
The Sun on the symbol The Pope Blessing the Faithful, highlights the shallow beauty parade of the opposing Moon. There is something here about the virgin and whore archetypes.
With it being so close to Christmas, the Virgin archetype is certainly in the air. This miracle remains central to Christian mythology despite us knowing that if a woman has a baby it kind of proves they are no longer a virgin!
Somehow beauty and sexuality have been separated from faith. We hear about purity and the horrific results of ‘celibacy’ in the Church. The demonisation of sex has created a demon all of it’s own.
The energy of the chart seems to me like a split between masculine and feminine energy. Juno lies in opposition to Uranus, signifying the pull between needing comfort and intimacy and needing independence and freedom. The Sun-Moon opposition is square to the Uranus-Juno opposition creating a grand challenging square in the eclipse chart.
Positive aspects from the Sun and Moon to the Neptune-Chiron conjunction suggests that it may be useful for us to find a guide, a hero or heroine to help us along the way. If we look to the midpoints of the Sun-Moon opposition, the Sabian symbols read
30 Pisces
A Majestic Rock Formation Resembling A Face Is Idealized By A Boy Who Takes It As His Ideal Of Greatness, And As He Grows Up, Begins To Look Like It.
29 Virgo
Totally Intent Upon Completing An Immediate Task, A Man Is Deaf To Any Allurement
With Jupiter and Uranus in Pisces square the eclipse, there is a struggle to expand our sense of identity without losing a sense of who we truly are as individuals. The eternal conflict between the concept of masculine and feminine and between men and woman must move forward in order for us to grow as a race.
As Pisces 29 shows, we must be careful of who or what we idealise because that which we idealise and follow will shape us in years to come.
In today’s modern western society, beauty has become almost a religion. We deify those who are beautiful both men and woman. As a result, many try to force themselves into the mould, damaging their minds and bodies in the process.
This lunar eclipse has an edge to it that forces us to start making the necessary changes. There may be tension between the sexes, between logic and intuition. As the Earth’s shadow crosses the Moon, we must remember that it is the unification of opposing forces that create life. Sun and Moon, light and dark, masculine and feminine. Find your guide, look at what you have faith in and bow to the beauty within.
