Rare eclipse of the midnight Sun, photographed in Tana, Norway. © Renate Westlien, 2011. See end of article for link to more spectacular images.
The second of three eclipses in barely a month, the lunar eclipse at the Full Moon on June 15 is primarily about coming to an understanding of what area of your life will go through a series of adjustments in the next two years.
You may know the answer to this question already, as we’re well into the new eclipse pair of Sagittarius and Gemini, which began dramatically at the solstice in December 2010. That does seem to be the case for me, although I’m holding my breath to see what transpires in the next couple of weeks.
Of course, the Full Moon also represents endings, and lunar eclipses can be read as a supercharged Full Moon. But the way I see it, the ending we’re about to experience is tied to the solar eclipse on July 1, which is the last in the outgoing series in Capricorn and Cancer and a sign that old business finally is wrapping up.
This Full Moon is more of a confirmation of the new path we’re on. One could argue that confirmation is an ending or conclusion, as you’ve now eliminated all other options. I’m reminded of the Eight of Swords in the Tarot. I used fear this card, until one day I realized that it represents the cutting away of all options but one. Making a decision indeed can be scary and can produce a nagging feeling that we made the wrong choice.
Making a choice and thereby eliminating all other options is a very Saturnine theme. Saturn gets a bad rap for being the planet of limitation and constraint, and it’s not wholly undeserved. However, we might view this function as one of Saturn’s gifts. Our material world is manifested from unseen energies in the cosmos. At the point when those energies coalesce into something, they are no longer available for anything else. Likewise, we don’t manifest anything in our lives by scattering our energy to the four winds. Attaining our desires requires focusing our energy – which often means cutting out activities, relationships, or situations that drain us.
In the chart for the New Moon eclipse on June 1, Saturn was at a favorable angle to the Sun and Moon, just as he was stationed and ready to return direct between the New and Full Moon. This tells me that whatever we’ve been pouring our energy into has a good chance of manifesting in the next three months and possibly in the next two weeks.
There’s a lot going on in the chart for this Full Moon eclipse – as you might expect with the Sun in Gemini. The first thing that jumps out at us is the continuing cardinal T-square, with Saturn and Uranus widely opposed and Pluto at the apex. As I’m always so fond of pointing out, the conflict represented by the T-square has an “out” in one of two ways, either through whatever is opposite the planet at the apex, or via trines and sextiles, which provide an open path for energy to flow.
Click on image to enlarge
There are two nice trines providing a means to channel the conflicting energies of the T-square into something positive. The first is between Saturn and Venus, indicating that fair, equitable relationships are attainable. I’ve communicated with many people who recently let go of relationships that no doubt involved strong karmic ties but that were painful, largely because they were one-sided.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that there are so many stories in the news about powerful men being called out on their behavior with women. We’re experiencing a planetary shift toward a unification of the divine feminine and masculine, whereby both command equal respect and reverence. The last Full Moon was conjunct Algol, the fixed star representing Medusa. I commented back then that perhaps a wave of divine feminine power would ride in on the Buddha’s love and enlightenment. At this Full Moon, Mars is conjunct Algol, triggering another round of the Divine Mother’s rage.
The other “out” is an applying trine between Jupiter and Pluto that peaks on July 7. With both power planets in earth signs, energy is available to us to make positive changes in our material circumstances.
The second striking thing about this chart is the strong trine from Mercury, ruler of this eclipse, and Neptune, which recently turned retrograde. In classical mythology, Mercury was the only god who could travel at will between the world of the living and the underworld, symbolic of the conscious and unconscious. Neptune, especially when retrograde, represents other dimensions of time and space and what some call past lives (I prefer “other lives”). I urge you to continue monitoring your dreams and also to keep notes during the day for flashes of insight. Just remember that Mercury is the trickster, and among Neptune’s attributes are illusion and deception. Not everything that comes to you will be true, but it will be the starting-off point for investigation of higher Truth.
The last important thing I see in this chart is the mutable T-square formed by the Sun and Moon with Ceres at the apex. While Mercury was the only god who could travel at will between worlds, Ceres was the only deity to force Pluto to make an exception of his no-return policy for her daughter, Proserpina (Greek Persephone). As we work toward a cherished goal, we often meet with “gatekeepers” in the form of tests, challenges, and obstacles. Many people must go through a “dark night of the soul,” which may feel like going to hell and back. In going through this process, we come into our true power, and only then are we able to fulfill our destiny.
I leave you with a link to some incredible images of the June 1 solar eclipse, which could be seen at midnight in northern Europe. Imagine an eclipse of the midnight sun …
