Eclipses

 

October 8 2004

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/oct8.html

 

Dear Readers:

Before the next edition of this column posts, there's going to be an eclipse of the Sun in Libra, on the 13th or 14th depending on your time zone. This is the Libra New Moon as well. If you're into astrology or just getting started, eclipses are events to get excited about, and to learn from. They tend to speed up the process of life, shake the tree of fate, and propel us from one reality into the next. Between now and Nov. 1, many of us will make a transformation from one space or chapter of life to the next.

 

There are, I trust, quite a few personal awakenings on the event horizon as well. Eclipses are intense! They can bring up a lot of feelings and give us a weird sense of our lives being lived in automatic mode. But it's very important to pay attention at these times because there are always decisions to be made and these decisions can have consequences that last a long time.

 

Eclipses come along twice a year. Each time they arrive, we typically get a solar and a lunar; this time around, in that order. The corresponding lunar eclipse to this solar eclipse occurs on Oct. 28, when the Moon is eclipsed in Taurus. The charts for both these events, in two different formats, are posted on this page.

 

Each eclipse is unique. This one has some interesting features, one being that it makes an exact square to Chiron. Whatever occurs will be an opportunity to see a Chiron dynamic in action. With this chart, one could predict an event of some kind (square aspect suggesting 'event'), that somehow feels fated and reaches many people, and from which there is no turning back (all indicative of an eclipse), that provokes awareness of the way things are right now (Chiron).

 

Chiron in Capricorn has certainly been stirring up a lot of consciousness about the government and corporate dimensions of reality. Awareness, while free, is a fairly scarce commodity. Then, once it's out there, it's not always so popular.

 

Now, a square to an eclipse is one thing; a conjunction is another. This eclipse does make an exact conjunction -- to an asteroid called Hybris. For this body, Martha Wescott gives the keywords: fated; bound by limits; or exceeding them. Hybris is the original Greek form of the modern word 'hubris'. Typically, hubris is a form of very damaging pride possessed by great (or seemingly great) men, and which, amongst various Hamlets and Macbeths of history, leads to their downfall. It can also be about their rising-above by people and individuals under difficult circumstances.

 

There happens to be a critical historical event on the eve of this eclipse, specifically the third debate between John F. Kerry and George W. Bush. These two men, who have taken on so much (in such different ways) are going to be facing off before the world with their backs pressed right up against this astrology. It will be very interesting to see what happens. It certainly raises the stakes. Then there is whatever we don't happen to know about.

 

One additional comment. At times, the Moon makes an exact conjunction to a planet, passing neither above or below it as it goes by, but rather covering it exactly. This is called an occultation. They are not extremely rare, but neither do they happen that often and they are usually fairly random in the calendar. Next week's eclipse is preceded within about 24 hours by two occultations: Moon to Mars, and Moon to Mercury. That adds quite a bit of emphasis to whatever happens and charges the Moon up with the energy of Mars and Mercury when it exactly crosses the disk of the Sun.

 

I'll be covering these events in greater detail in Planet Waves Weekly, as well as on PlanetWaves.net. That's the astrology service that carries my sun-sign horoscopes and essays, and which sponsors this page on Jonathan's site. SEE SPECIAL OFFER BELOW! And an announcement.

 

Now for your letters this week.