Full moon fire ceremony September 16th 2016
What is an eclipse?
The term eclipse comes from the word ecliptic, which is the yearly path the Sun takes to travel through the twelve signs. The Moon, which is in orbit around the earth, travels through the twelve signs of the zodiac in one month during which it completes its cycle of phases from new moon to full moon and back to new. Every two weeks the Moon crosses the Sun’s track at points known as the Moon’s nodes. It is when the Sun is close to one of the nodes as the moon crosses the ecliptic that an eclipse occurs.
A Solar eclipse occurs at the new Moon as the Moon lines up between the Earth and the Sun at one of the nodes. The Moon is much smaller than the Sun, but from Earth it appears to be almost exactly the same size. During a solar eclipse the Moon moves across the Sun blocking its light and casting a shadow on to the Earth. At a total solar eclipse the Sun’s light is totally blotted out whilst a partial solar eclipse the Sun’s light is only partly obscured. When the Moon is at its greatest distance from Earth it is too small to cover it entirely and a ring of sunlight remains visible at mid eclipse – this is called an annular eclipse. During a solar eclipse the Moon’s shadow moves across an area of the Earth’s surface in an eclipse track and very often the area of this track will be very evident in events that occur at the time of the eclipse.
A lunar eclipse occurs at the time of the full Moon as the Moon crosses the ecliptic in opposition to the Sun. the moon simply reflects the light of the Sun and has no light of its own. As the Sun and Moon align on either side of the Earth, the Moon passes through the shadow projected by the earth and almost appears to disappear as the earth blocks the light of the Sun. Unlike a solar eclipse a lunar eclipse has no eclipse track.
Its not hard to understand how terrifying the phenomenon of the Sun’s light being obliterated must have been in ancient times and eclipses were often accompanied by ceremonies of drum beating and techniques to scare away the dragon which they believed was swallowing the Sun’s light.
More facts on Eclipses
Eclipses always arrive in pairs, one solar and one lunar, and appear in a family of signs, which will keep occurring in pairs for 18 to 24 months. Every 19 years eclipses repeat in nearly exact degree.
The effects of an eclipse
Eclipses are like wild cards – like a moon on steroids – they carry messages of change as they home in or ‘illuminate’. They may bring unexpected changes particularly if they touch something in your own personal chart. Changes may happen instantly but they can also take a period of months. In general solar eclipses are about beginnings whilst lunar eclipses are more emotional and bring endings. Eclipses are periods of excitable energy and it is often wise not to make important decisions until the energy has settled.
Current Eclipses
The current eclipses encompass the Pisces/Virgo energies and continues into early next year with a total number of six eclipses.
The solar eclipse of 1st September 2016 occurred at 9 degrees Virgo. On a personal level it depends where this falls in your own natal chart as to where your soul purpose is renewing or deleting. On a collective level this solar eclipse also picked up the current story in the sky which is the clash between the planets Saturn and Neptune – boundaries versus no boundaries, limitations versus going with the flow, religion with rules versus religion/beliefs without rules, reality versus illusion, mundane life versus glitz and glamour. Interestingly the final eclipse in this pairing of signs is on February 26, 2017 so a situation which perhaps began or was current on September 1st is once again highlighted in some way next February.
The lunar eclipse of the full moon fire ceremony occurs at 8.05 p.m., exactly at the time of this ritual – how fitting and amazing and shows how awesome astrology is. This is a powerful full moon ceremony for those who are attending. The Moon in emotional and compassionate Pisces is sitting in the 12th house here – the house of the unconscious, what is hidden from view. The Moon is sitting next to the asteroid Chiron – the wounded healer – so our wounds and what is painful for us is in our minds but perhaps we hide these wounds, not wanting to talk about them too much because they can be so overwhelming. The Sun lies in Virgo with Mercury, the planet of the mind and communication, at his side ready to pick at all the details of our emotions and allow them to surface into our conscious mind
so they don’t fester and become open sores. The planet Uranus, symbolizing sharp change and enlightenment is standing at the doorway of expression and is particularly ready to show the way in terms of relationships with others. The planet Pluto, symbolic of transformation and healing, sits at the top of the chart making a lovely aspect with our karmic destiny and our subconscious.
This is a truly awe inspiring chart for the full moon fire ceremony. Enjoy.
Joyce Lambert Astrology
Email: joyce@joycelambert.com Tel: 07989607383