Solar Eclipse – August 11, 2018
We are still in crazy eclipse season when energies seem to be magnified and you could be forgiven for thinking that life has become surreal and you’ve landed in the middle of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. The third and last eclipse of this season, a partial solar eclipse, occurs on August 11that 10.57 a.m. set for London. This eclipse takes place at 19 degrees of Leo, following on from the lunar eclipse of July 27that 5 degrees Aquarius and the solar eclipse of July 13that 21 degrees Cancer.
Calendar years have a minimum of four eclipses; this year we have five – three solar, at the New Moon, and two lunar, at the Full Moon. The upcoming eclipse will be a partial solar eclipse, which occurs when the Moon does not completely cover the Sun’s disc and casts only its penumbra on Earth.
The term eclipse comes from the word ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun as the earth orbits it. At an eclipse the Earth, Moon and Sun form a straight line. With a Solar eclipse the light of the Sun is blocked as the Moon passes between the earth and the Sun, whilst during a Lunar eclipse the Moon loses its reflected light from the Sun as the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon.
The ancients saw an eclipse, particularly a total eclipse, as a terrifying omen for their survival. Today, whilst we still associate eclipses with powerful events, we link their effect with transits and with the general power of the Full and New Moons. This becomes particularly important because the power of an eclipse is not limited to just that day, or even that week – it is part of an overall and much more comprehensive process.
So this solar eclipse is wearing Leo clothes – the sign of someone who wants to lead, someone who may indeed be a drama queen, but who seeks attention, praise, admiration and adoration and will go about their day seeking this in whatever way they have learned to do so. Leo is a fire sign and is signified by the Sun itself. The Sun is the main luminary of the zodiac and as such carries the light, fire and vitality needed to illuminate the path on which we are destined to tread.
At the solar eclipse, however, the Sun is eclipsed as the Moon blocks the light of the Sun. The Moon represents our inner emotions and needs, our behaviour patterns, how we need to be nurtured and as such our inner child. So, on a personal level it is important to question at this eclipse point what it actually is that your inner child needs right now in order to gain its rewards. It’s a time to search your soul to discover what you truly need within yourself to feel acknowledged, worthwhile and important.
A New Moon is always a new seed – a time to start off differently. This New Moon sits with the asteroid Pallas Athena and Mercury, the planet of the mind and communication. Pallas Athena is essentially a warrior goddess, but she works in terms of wisdom by stimulating one’s mental creativity to break down existing patterns and thereby enabling enlightenment as to how to bring about different life structures. In this respect Pallas Athena and Mercury make good companions here. However, around the time of the eclipse they are both sitting so close to the Sun that their energy is being burned and consumed. But, for a brief time, the light of the Sun will be eclipsed by the Moon, so if you can get some sudden bursts of inspiration take them on board and use them, because if you are operating from a place where some of your learned behavior patterns no longer serve you (and lets face it most of us do) then take this point as an opportunity to start off a new seed, a new regime, a new section of the path.
Leo is the heart of the lion – so what does your heart desire, what does it want for you? The Sun and Moon at this eclipse make a conflicting aspect to Jupiter, which suggests that to get to this heart’s desire we may have to take a risk and gamble – a leap of faith – so you will have to weigh up any risks involved. However, the road that needs to be navigated would be best done through spirituality, compassion, gentleness and nurture rather than aggression, because Jupiter is making a tight positive aspect with Neptune. Both Jupiter and Pallas Athena, however, add the ability for strategic planning, so this is a time for leaders to have the potential to be able to take a strategic overview and nurture their people in order to bring about better results for the future.
On a more ‘mundane’ level (mundane in astrology speaks of nations, politics, economies, as opposed to mundane as in boring) it is interesting to note how these three recent eclipses have resonated with several of the Royal Family’s charts. The Queen’s chart was hit by the first eclipse and this upcoming one, Prince Phillip by the upcoming eclipse, Prince Charles by this and the most recent eclipse, whilst Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, resonates to all three. So perhaps something to do with the Queen’s reign is rumbling in the palace corridors.
The UK chart also resonates to this eclipse and the first one of the three, whilst the UK Stock Exchange has been hit by all three. There has been a rise in base rates by the Bank of England but I wonder if there will be some news which might hit share prices. We are currently in one of the longest bull markets we have ever seen. The “Post Crisis” bull market that began on March 9, 2009, is now more than 9.4 years old, making it the longest-lived “Great Expansion” bull except for the one that lasted from October 11, 1990, to March 24, 2000 (9.5 years), However, I’m tempted to consider that there will be greater volatility seen in the latter quarter of this year. The EU chart is also triggered by this upcoming eclipse – I could wishfully hope that this might be good news for the UK Brexit negotiations but I’m not holding my breath.
We must never forget the influence of the Sun on our everyday lives – the Sun is the centre of our universe. And I think we have all indeed felt its heat over the last few weeks!! The Sun’s magnetic power has increased by over 230% since the 1970’s and observers have noted physical changes in the planets, e.g. melting ice caps on Mars, an atmosphere growing around the Moon and Saturn emitting x-rays. During 2018 we have so far had 116 days without sunspots, which suggests we are rapidly approaching Solar Minimum, (originally forecasted for 2019/20). Solar Minimums also often coincide with market downturns – just another pointer economically.
Our universe is changing and perhaps eclipses serve as a reminder that we ignore this at our peril. As well as the way that Man contributes to the downfall of the planet, archetypal energies also serve as a reminder that nothing stays the same; everything works in patterns and cycles and we should become much more aware of the signals that we are given.