Astro-Notes on January 20, 2019 – Leo Full Moon/Total Lunar Eclipse

A very powerful and potent Full Moon/Total Lunar Eclipse will transpire tonight at 9:15 pm PST. As this is the last eclipse on the Leo/Aquarius axis, it will bring a theme that started in late summer of 2017 to an end.

However, the Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse highlights the very first degree of the signs Leo and Aquarius, which means as things are coming to a head in the areas of our life, where the eclipse has an impact, we could experience a sudden and unexpected awakening or revelation that concerns our identity, personal life and children and this could confront or conflict us in regard to starting anew in matters of personal creativity and purpose versus social creativity and group purpose.

In any case, this eclipse has the potential to stir up our emotions for better or for worse. The eclipse energies are involved in stressful aspects to Jupiter in Sagittarius, emphasizing the need to look into our long-term options in this context. Jupiter-ruled Venus in Sagittarius is square Neptune in Pisces, Mars in Aries is square Saturn in Capricorn and sesqui-quadrate Ceres in Scorpio, who is also quincunx Uranus in Aries and trine Chiron in Pisces, while Mercury in Capricorn is semi-sextile Vesta in Aquarius and Pallas in Libra is squaring the nodal axis across Cancer/Capricorn.

Thus, we could be feeling disillusioned or disappointed and uncertain as the result of unfulfilled expectations, longings, dreams and visions. Our intentions and initiatives are met with obstacles, limitations and resistance and our self-assertion or actions are curtailed time- and structure-wise.

Therefore, it is important to take some kind of action to influence the nurturing principle in our life, especially in regard to our work or business and shared values. Necessary adjustments have to be made if we want to see change or progress and bridge the issue. We have to set our agenda accordingly and make decisions that take care of and support our future prospects, thereby breaking with unproductive or outdated patterns of the past. With Venus approaching a conjunction with Jupiter, we know what we want and aim for greater opportunities, happiness and fulfillment. The Sun’s ingress to Aquarius early this morning ushered in a period, during which we seek to reform our life, reinvent ourselves and individualize.

As the Capricorn lunation cycle climaxes with this special Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse, the impulse that sounded forth at the time of the Leo New Moon back in August of last year, also comes to fruition. In the symbolical language of the Sabian Symbols we get the following: ‘Exercise’ – ‘the need for physical activity and play’ (keynote of the SS for the SE/Cap NM) has caused ‘the mobilization of vital energies under the spur of ambition’ (SS for the FM/LE) and ‘freedom from social rigidity’ (keynote of the SS for the Leo NM from August 2018) has resulted in ‘the concretization of an ideal’ (keynote of the SS for the Aquarian Sun).

The Sabian Symbol for the LE/Full Moon at 00:51 Leo states:
“Blood rushes to a man’s head as his vital energies are mobilized under the spur of ambition. Keynote: An irruption of bio-psychic energies into the ego-controlled field of consciousness – CONFLAGRATION.”
The Sabian Symbol for the Sun at 00:51 Aquarius states:
“An old adobe mission in California. Keynote: The power inherent in all great human works to endure far beyond the workers’ life spans – THE CONCRETIZATION OF AN IDEAL.”

(Dane Rudhyar, “An Astrological Mandala: The Cycle of Transformations and its 360 Symbolical Phases”, Pages 131-132 and 248-249, respectively)

Implied by these symbolical pictures is that we are upping our game in order to see the desired result.

Tarot card of the day is “The Emperor”, symbolizing the masculine principle, the animus within us and the patriarchy. This card is representative of structure and stability and thus implies that we’re creating order out of chaos by mapping out what needs to be done, sticking with the plan and seeing it through to its completion. We have to be highly organized and coordinated in our approach and must maintain our concentration and focus. Moreover, we need to become or bring forth our own authority and know that we can master our world.

Astro-Notes on January 5, 2019 – Capricorn New Moon/Partial Solar Eclipse

At 5:28 pm PST today begins a new lunation cycle in the sign Capricorn, which is an auspicious time to set intentions towards getting our New Year’s resolution off the ground, if we haven’t done so already, as well as toward achieving our ambitions, working on our goals, organizing and structuring our life, accomplishing tasks and responsibilities, setting boundaries and rules, focusing on our career and professional life, taking charge and strengthening our backbone and sense of authority.

The Capricorn New Moon is also a Partial Solar Eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon, the Earth and the Sun align with the Moon’s nodal axis and the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth’s view of the Sun. During a partial Solar Eclipse the area of the Earth, which falls within the penumbra of the Moon, where the Sun is partly covered and its light dimmed to varying degrees, sees how the “Moon is taking a bite out of the Sun”. The phenomena of this transition is so palpable to our senses that it transcends the boundaries of space and time as fate seems to unravel right in front of our eyes and the pace of events accelerates.

Things that have been eclipsed in the area of our life, represented by the house in our natal chart, where the Eclipse has an impact, now have a chance to be brought into the light of conscious awareness, triggering individual and collective transitions, marked by endings and new beginnings. An Eclipse is a pattern-setting event with duration for up to half a year and longer. Eclipses belong furthermore to a larger pattern; each Eclipse is a member of a family and each family has specific characteristics.

The current Solar Eclipse is a member of the Saros Series 2 South, which means the Solar Eclipse is conjunct the South Node of the Moon, a point of extraction that is triggering the release and filtering of accumulated energies. This Saros Series was the last time around on December 25, 2000. What was happening in your life then and how could this relate to events unfolding now? A personalized reading can help you understand the patterns playing out in your life and provides guidance. 

The hallmark of this particular Saros Series is that the nodal axis is on the midpoint of Mercury/Jupiter; Jupiter is on the Pluto/Node midpoint; Mercury is on the New Moon/Venus midpoint and Neptune is on the Uranus/Pluto midpoint, for which Bernadette Brady gives the following interpretation:

“This eclipse is concerned with unusual groups and the individual’s involvement with those groups. This could be the time when the individual notices or suddenly desires to find a particular group whose concerns would be with healing, the arts or the love of humanity. The individual will feel that through involvement with such a group he or she will gain a great deal.”

(Bernadette Brady, “Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark”, Appendices, Pages 310-311)

The Sabian Symbol for the New Moon at 15:25 Capricorn states:
“School grounds filled with boys and girls in gymnasium suits. Keynote: The need for physical activity and play, especially in adolescence – EXERCISE.”

(Dane Rudhyar, “An Astrological Mandala: The Cycle of Transformations and its 360 Symbolical Phases”, Page 239)

The common theme here is to join a group through which we can express our individuality and at the same time further our knowledge or education and this could be to our advantage.

Retrograde Eris in Aries, Pallas in Libra and Ceres in Scorpio are connected in a lesser asymmetrical triangle configuration that brings new angles to a situation, where adjustments need to be made. Parties or groups of people will either confront individuals with conflicting mindsets (regarding their selfishness, mindlessness or carelessness) or integrate them in their network and mutually empower each other, depending on the character and attitude of the person (Eris symbolizes our ‘state of mind’). This could lead to a breakdown or a breakthrough. Venus in Scorpio forms a trine to Chiron in Pisces and a quincunx to retrograde Uranus in Aries, which is indicative of the successful bridging of an issue that was a long-standing source of wounding through value and priority adjustments and reform that was long overdue.

With this South Node Eclipse being wedged between Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, there is a sense of heaviness, stark realism and accountability. Charges could be brought forward in cases where power was abused; checks, rules and regulations could be put in place to curtail such abuses and some people could fall from power or be removed from their positions. Institutions could be shut down or undergoing an overhaul. People mean business, influence is being demonstrated and affairs are being brought into order. There will be disclosure of sealed or hidden ‘histories’. As Mercury is now transiting through Capricorn as well, conversations are rather serious and the tone quite somber as well as based on reality.

Tarot card of the day is “The World”, which signifies the end of a cycle or matter and the final and successful completion of any issue at hand. What goes around comes around. We reached our destination and are ready to proceed with the next step.

Happy New Year 2019!

I have been writing daily updates combining a Tarot card for the day with the astrological transits for over a year now on my Facebook Page I also named Shifting Realities. Whenever I post an entry here, it will also appear on Facebook, but when I share a post on Facebook, it won’t be published on this blog. It is much easier for me to create and publish a quick update/post on Facebook than trying to do this on WordPress, especially with the limited time I have available in the mornings when I need to leave for work. Since I don’t want to give up this blog, where I also have a donation button for payment options for my services, I wanted to write up lengthier entries covering the New and Full Moons, but haven’t gotten to that lately either for various reasons – my struggling health being a major factor. However, it’s not my intention to start the new year with complaining, whining and excuses. Mars, whose retrograde journey last summer corresponded to a very challenging personal trial, has finally made ingress to Aries yesterday evening, triggering our drive, motivation, action-urge, self-determination and assertiveness, while the Sun met Saturn in Capricorn today to start a new synodic cycle that aligns us with our ambitions and goals. So, this year is off to a different start and for me personally this means that I will look into options to update this site and eventually do some video clips. After all, the Tarot card of the day and for the year is the “Ace of Pentacles”, introducing new aspects on the material and physical level and opening up business ventures, investment potential and new resources for these purposes.