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Just like Lunar eclipses come twice a year, so too do Solar eclipses. They are paired with the lunar ones and come about 2 weeks afterwards. If this isn’t an indicator of divine order, I don’t know what is. During a Solar eclipse, the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. So while the Lunar eclipse is about shadows, the Solar eclipse is about blocking light. So that is the question: how will our light be blocked? And how will we re-emerge after the light returns? While Lunar eclipses are visible from everywhere on earth as long as it’s nighttime, Solar eclipses cut a path around the globe and are only visible to certain parts. That is why WHERE the Solar eclipse cuts its swath is so important, and in the case of this April 8thTOTAL Solar eclipse, it cuts across Northwestern Mexico, from the middle of the Southern USA in Texas at Eagle Pass to Northeastern Canada and onward to the tip of Ireland. The last Total Solar Eclipse that happened that crossed the U.S widely was in February 2017 in Pisces. 

This is an Aries eclipse, and eclipses happen at new Moons, which are about new beginnings. So this eclipse is saying good-bye to something big and hello to something new. This eclipse is unique in that all the planets are in only 3 quadrants of the zodiacal circle: Pisces, Aries, and Taurus. The eclipse will be followed ten days later by a conjunction of Uranus and Jupiter in Taurus, which often can cause banking upsets and earthquakes. We have already seen one in Taiwan. These types of eclipses also indicate a time to say goodbye to major leaders. While some are predicting that King Charles will not make it, I wonder about Jimmy Carter as the path cuts across part of the Southern United States. I also know that Vladimir Putin is in danger, and Benjamin Netanyahu is in some hot water as well. Others have said that Pope Francis could die, but I frankly have not checked to see if that is a possibility. 

At any rate, this eclipse, for the United States, indicates the end of one era and the beginning of another, and yet, with all those planets going through Aries, and everyone seeing the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction, this will indicate major change for all. In addition, the planets will not spread out and balance themselves until late summer, so we can expect things to be literally out of balance until then. We are supposed to become Weebles. You know, “Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down”? Or maybe we will be like one of those punching bags that is seated on the ground with sand in the bottom: you hit the thing, and it comes back and hits YOU! Uh-oh!

So, let’s deconstruct what a Solar eclipse is about. We have said that the Lunar eclipse is about emotion and Mother. In Libra, the recent Lunar eclipse has been about relationships and perhaps letting go of those that no longer serve us. The Sun is a target—the glyph for the Sun looks like a target. Also, the Sun is a LIGHT. The Sun is HOW WE SHINE OUR LIGHT. So, I am a Virgo, and I have had to learn, over my lifetime, how to shine MY light as a Virgo, which is a person of service. I did not start out that way. I started as a detached Aquarius, from my Moon. I have grown into my Sun sign and am still learning, at my ripe age, how to become the best little Virgo I can be. So, what is your Sun sign? What is your target? How are YOU supposed to shine YOUR light?

However, this eclipse is in Aries. The eclipse indicates that our personal light as an independent individual moving forward into the future has been metaphorically dimmed, previous to this. As the Sun emerges from behind the Moon (or as the Moon passes by,) we must emerge as an idealistic, proactive, forward-moving free agent, in our own authority, with our ownideals and beliefs guiding the way. This may require us to take risks, because sometimes being ourselves out in the open can be risky. Witness the tragedies of many LGBTQ persons who have suffered after “coming out.” But, they just want to be who they genuinely are, without fear or reprisal. And they deserve that option in life, as all of us do. So this eclipse is about exposing our pain (Chiron in Aries sits right in the middle of this eclipse) and showing it and then working through the pain. A Chiron is Aries pain is this: I don’t want to go it alone. I don’t want to be the only one. I don’t want to be the leader. I don’t want to take risks. I don’t want to be in charge. To heal the pain, we must become an independent leader, unafraid to go it alone, if necessary, to be proactive, and to take a risk by holding our ideals out in front of us and letting them guide us, whatever backlash we may receive. This is a tall order, but this is the only way to heal the pain. Once one accepts this fate, the pain becomes less. And then suddenly, you find you are no longer alone, and you no longer have to carry a burden alone, because you have shared your ideals, and like-minded people will come out of the woodwork to support you. Then, you will never be alone again. See how that works?

So, get ready to COME OUT. Have a ball. Have a gala. Have a party. BE YOU. Once you are YOU, others like you will find you. But you can also be proactive enough to go looking for them, too! Try new things. Volunteer for your favorite cause. What is the thing you have most passion for? Get involved. What do you yell at the TV about? That’s a clue as to your passion. What do you hate? That’s a clue, too. I am not saying get involved in a hate group. I am saying to flip that around and ask yourself what you can do to change that situation or thing that you dislike so much. WHAT CAN YOU DO? Aries is, after all, ruled by MARS, and Mars is the planet of DOING and ACTION. If you do nothing…that’s when the planets really get you. And with Mars, that can turn around and slap you in the face really hard, if you don’t take action. Don’t let yourself be FORCED to take action. Volunteer to do it!  CHOOSE to take action. That is the positive response to Mars, to Aries, and to this Aries Solar eclipse that will tweak that after-COVID PTSD that we have all been carrying around the last few years.

This eclipse is also connected to the North Node in Aries. The North Nide is where we should be headed, our destiny. So, everything I just said, read again. The story is the same.

During this eclipse, Saturn will also conjunct an approaching Mars in Pisces. Pisces is water, feelings, intuition, art, love. Mars in Pisces is action in those areas. Mars can activate those things. Saturn will try to suppress, oppress, or depress those things, because that is Saturn’s nature. So Saturn wants to control your actions to do those things. Said another way, Saturn can discipline you to, for example, take art lessons, practice using your intuition, express your love. That is the positive side of Saturn the teacher: to discipline us and help us get organized and aligned. The negative side happens if we do nothing. If you practice the piano, you will do well at your recital and gain the admiration and compliments of all. But if you do nothing and don’t practice, you will be pretty darn embarrassed when you get on that stage. Oops!

In addition, Mercury is retrograde until the last few days of April. Dang! Throughout this whole thing, you will need to be clear about how you communicate. Dot your i’s and cross your t’s. Then, double check. Expect communication delays, perhaps mechanical and communication breakdowns, fender benders, and more. Just par for the course for Mercury Retrograde, but in Aries and during an eclipse, may be a little more volatile. I use prayer, mantras, meditation, and surrounding myself and others with light to try to mitigate the volatility of Mars in such situations.

Venus, so lost and unsure next to Neptune in Pisces, will get pretty feisty and active as she moves into Aries. You can use her creativity and inspiration to make things happen and get people on your side, as long as you don’t argue—work WITH people as a supportive influence, rather as than a contentious one.

Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus are already in the orb, close enough to bring new things our way. Jupiter makes things bigger and offers opportunity. Uranus is the great disrupter. Taurus is food, the earth, banking, and beautiful but useful things. That said, this can bring new technology useful to our food industry as well as new technology to help the earth. This could also cause surprises in the banking industry as well as earthquakes. The energy MUST be released. I also read about a new Bird Flu virus that has spread to a human via COWS. The cow is the Taurus. The spreading apart is the Jupiter. The Uranus is the unexpected disruption of the discovery and the potential harm, we may suddenly face. Not another pandemic, please!

This eclipse also connects with the following Fixed stars: Aldebaran, success through integrity. (Remember those Arien ideals I was talking about?) Altair (boldness and expansion) conjunct Pluto in Aquarius—didn’t I say take a risk to come out, be different, and try something new? Yes. Bellatrix: Success through the Shadow. How fitting that this fixed star is exactly connected to the Midheaven, which is exactly where the Sun/Moon eclipse is taking place, connected to Chiron. What did I say? Take your fears and pains and turn them around and embrace them; BECOME them. This is the nature of success through the shadow. We may be in the shadow of the Solar eclipse, but only for about 4 minutes, guys. Do you think you can handle that? I think you can. And then what? Zosma at the Ascendant, the most important place in the chart, where everything rises up: What is Zosma? Zosma gives you the choice of being a victim or a savior. Which will you choose to be? Do the Aries thing. Take action. Step out. Take the risk of BEING YOU, fully and openly IN THE LIGHT as it returns. You can do it! You’re no victim. You just may save the world!