 |
| The spiral galaxy M81. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/S. Willner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) |
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse @ 03 Libra 17'
March 23, 2016
5:01 AM Pacific
8:01 AM Eastern
As we near the end of the month, the current lunar cycle culminates with a penumbral Lunar Eclipse in the tropical sign of Libra just four days after the equinox (spring in the northern and autumn in the southern hemispheres). As you pass through this first eclipse portal of 2016, you may have noticed a shift within yourself (however drastic or subtle). Eclipses are moments of inner change, change that happens beneath the surface—often relating to an awareness of something new within yourself or your environment.
The challenge is holding onto the new awareness that the eclipse portal has gifted you. These are often brief periods of time where the ego has lessened its stranglehold upon consciousness. It is a fertile period for inner work and self-realization. And there is often an opportunity to accelerate internal growth and change. This Lunar Eclipse/Full Moon seals the deal, so to speak. It brings to a head the process that began just two weeks ago at the Solar Eclipse in Pisces.
Now that the Sun has entered Aries, you may feel a sense of a new beginning. You are responding to a collective shift which happens every year. Astrologers like to refer to this moment as the Astrological New Year because the Sun has begun a new cycle around the ecliptic. For you, that may feel like an experience of starting out fresh. New potentials wait to be revealed and brought to manifestation.
The Lunar Eclipse highlights the sign of Libra, an archetype with a strong association with relationship.The eclipse may correlate with a shift in how you relate to friends, partners, clients or those you work with directly. It may relate to inner changes that will be reflected within the social environment around you. Metaphysically speaking, the outer reality is a reflection of your internal state.
Pay close attention to the people you interact with on the days surrounding this eclipse. Choose to make it a point to simply observe and notice what is happening around you. Mercury, the messenger of the gods, is conjunct the Sun and in direct opposition to the Lunar Eclipse. Information, messages, omens, and synchronicity will all play a vital role in the eclipse process. While the mind may be focused on a new pathway that lies ahead of you—blazing that trail, so to speak, the heart feels compelled to focus on the needs, opinions, and perceptions of other people.
This can symbolize a subtle breakthrough in your ability to find common ground and compromise without sacrificing freedom, autonomy, and personal willpower. And realize that the new pathways you seek now will be revealed to you through your relationships. Focus on supporting certain connections and through them, you will find the freedom you seek. The dark side of this lunation is the temptation toward passive aggressiveness due to overt people pleasing and politeness; or conversely, defending a viewpoint to the point of annihilating the possibility of seeing the other side of the issue.
Can you bridge the heart and mind and come to a mutual understanding now, or will you simply butt heads, or totally surrender to someone else’s point of view just to avoid conflict (leading to the repression of your true feelings)? Explore your feelings now; allow them to enter your conscious awareness, and choose the path that has the most heart. To open your mind to another requires that you equally open your own heart.
Also, be mindful that this eclipse takes place near the Aries point. Any event that occurs at the entry of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) will activate the Aries point (technically the first degree of Aries). The Aries point is the intersection of the personal and the collective. It can often indicate the emergence of collective events which impact us all--that seep into our personal or intimate lives.
Newsletter Signup NEW!
I’ve been writing astrology posts on my blog since about 2009. That’s seven years. I’ve used this time to develop my writing and to build my confidence as both a writer and an astrologer. I think I still have a lot of work left to do. I’m not sure that will ever end. At this point, I’d like to connect more with my audience (that means you), and to do that, I want to invite you to sign up for my free newsletter. It will be sent out bi-weekly—that’s just twice a month. If you already receive e-mail pings about new posts from my blog that’s great, but my newsletter will be unique because, in addition to New and Full Moon readings, I will be including exclusive content only for newsletter subscribers that will not be available on my blog page. That’s pretty cool, right?
If you’d like to stay in the loop, then sign up below. Include whatever information you feel you need to. And thank you for supporting my work! Also, I want to assure you that your name and e-mail will be safe and sacred. It will never be exploited or used for anything except receiving the Kosmic Mind Newsletter.