Total Solar Eclipse 22 July 2009

The total solar eclipse on July 22nd 2009 will be a powerful solar eclipse between two lunar eclipses ( July 7th 2009 and August 6th 2009). This year we have two new moons during the Sun’s sojourn Cancer, sometimes referred to as a Pink Moon, whereas two Full Moons in a month are referred to as Blue Moons. This total solar eclipse at 29 degrees Cancer is the first solar eclipse along the Cancer-Capricorn axis in years, thus the harbinger of the nodal axis changing signs. The eclipse resonates to the themes of Pluto in Capricorn: sweeping changes as old systems fail the struggle of bringing about positive social and political reforms. Uranus trines the eclipse point adding to the unpredictability, the uncertainty about how we all feel about the great changes ahead.

The eclipse path travels from the west coast of India across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Tibet, the southern islands of Japan and across the Pacific Ocean and highlights a greater impact on the lives of millions of people in these areas. Historically, eclipses are not viewed favorably by these cultures as they have since ancient times been seen as omens and harbingers of great cultural shifts.

NASA views this eclipse as particularly important because of its totality and length. It lasts for about as long as an eclipse can, about 7 minutes. It has an unusually wide path and is the longest eclipse of the 21st century. Astrologically it has special significance for these reasons and also because it is at the anaretic degree of Cancer. The anaretic degree is the 29th degree of a sign, a point associated with karma, fate, decision-making and re-evaluation. Being in the sign of Cancer which represents our homelands, we could see more of a focus on border security disputes, with more people attempting to flee from worn torn countries, security and terrorist issues arising yet again and a focus on the poverty, hunger and genocide that still exist in these areas.

As part of Saros Series 11 South (Saros 136) this eclipse cycle began at the south pole in June 1360 O.S. Of this eclipse cycle, Bernadette Brady comments “this family of eclipses is concerned with the need to make sudden reforms. Old ideas or methods will fail and new systems are required to deal with the events brought by the eclipse. As a consequence the person will need to think of new ways of handling the issues. Any blocks could be violently or tragically removed.”

Eclipses act as wild cards bringing to the surface buried issues and hidden problems. By their nature they are unpredictable. Solar eclipses are usually marked by external events whereas lunar eclipses have a more internal expression. Because of the predictability of eclipse cycles we can look back to previous eclipse seasons to gauge how the eclipse might impact upon us. This particular eclipse series, all lasting about 7 minutes in recent decades, last occurred in on July 11th 1991 at 19 Cancer, close to which time Boris Yeltsin was elected president of a newly-independent Russia, Yugoslavia collapsed as Croatia and Slovenia declared independence, with other countries like the Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia also declaring their own independence from the old Soviet regime. Tim Berners-Lee announced his World Wide Web project to the world, which soon became what we now recognise as the internet. The previous eclipse of this series, on June 30th 1973, was around the time of the Watergate scandal which ultimately brought down the Nixon administration, as well as coups in Greece, Afghanistan and Chile. Three months later, following the Yom Kippur War, the Arab Oil Embargo began. The eclipse prior to this, on June 20th 1955, occurred 12 days after the aforementioned father of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee, was born, and occurred a month after the Warsaw Pact united the Soviet-bloc countries in a military alliance.In Iran at the moment June 2009 opponents of Ahmadinejad are demanding a new election and the government is intensifying its suppression of communication, including the press, the internet , and cell phones, but, Twitter has become the lifeline of the Revolution. This Eclipse at 29 Cancer will conjunct the Iranian Charts Jupiter exactly (the chart most commonly used based on the Proclamation of the Islamic Republic, on April 1, 1979, at 3 PM, in Tehran) .

Extreme weather conditions and events can also be correlated with eclipses. This time of the year is the monsoon season for the countries directly affected by the eclipse and the typhoon season for the Pacific islands in the path of the eclipse.

The Sabian symbol for the eclipse degree is “a daughter of the American revolution” andso the Pluto and Uranus influence is heightened here. A revolution demands an overthrow of a tired old system of values, the patriarchal ways are dying and the new consciousness is one where the values and knowledge of the deep feminine wisdom are celebrated and enshrined in a new vision for our future. The crucial environmental issues and global financial crisis continue to challenge us to find ways to make a difference.

Deep feminine wisdom (symbolized by the Cancer-Capricorn axis) embraces and nurtures mother earth and initiates positive change for all of us in the global family. The journey will be rocky but with intention and insight we can move into a more connected relationship with ourselves and our planet.

Agent 77

For more details on the Saros Series -
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2009/TSE2009.html

Brady, Bernadette Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and The Lark 1999 Samuel Weisner Pub. P.324

eclipse season

During a solar eclipse the light of the Sun is blocked by the Moon. The Sun in the chart is the individual identity, our consciousness, the rational mind, ego and vitality. The Moon is our subconscious, our instinctive behaviour, our emotional being, our deep feminine wisdom. When the Sun is eclipsed by the Moon the solar energy is blocked and this allows for a wellspring of feeling and thought to arise from the unconscious. There can be a release of the old at the time of an eclipse and for the following 6 months. A solar eclipse (always a new moon) often brings external changes, making us redirect our focus for a while.



We are in the eclipse season now. The solar eclipse takes place on 7th February 2008 at 17 Aquarius. Check your chart to see if you have any planets or points at this degree and its polarity 17 Leo (a tight orb is recommended not more than 2 degrees). If you do these planets or points are being directly activated by the eclipse. You should also check your midpoints for 17 degrees of the fixed signs ( Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) and note which house polarity the eclipse is falling in. Create a story around the images you see here.



If it's your first house will ideas and issues around your identity and your place in relationships be under the spotlight? Will you be beginning something new? Or in the fourth house, perhaps a change in family home or some shake up in the family?

Is it hitting your Venus? Then what do you really value at this point in time, are there old patterns that can be released from your relationship? What about your Saturn...is there something you are not taking responsibility for or are you taking on too much responsibility, what boundaries do you need to set and/or relax?



This eclipse in Aquarius is challenging our ideas, our mental processes and our communication skills. Aquarius is also concerned with environmental and ecological issues and our connections with each other, big picture humanity, social justice. So with Pluto having just moved into Capricorn this eclipse might be calling us, generally, to look more carefully at the footprint we leave on the planet and review our use of the planet's non renewable resources.

Momentously, Kevin Rudd the new Prime Minister of Australia is choosing to say "sorry" to the stolen generations, the indigenous children who were forcibly removed from their families under previous governments institutionalised racist policies, in between the solar and lunar eclipses this month.



This eclipse is part of Saros Series 10 North. Bernadette Brady says the following : " There is a very strong emphasis on communication and, at the same time, frustrating or inhibiting events may come into the person's life via news, paperwork or a young person. The person may feel tired and drained, and is therefore a good time to take things quietly and work through the difficulties one at a time." This same eclipse series took place in January 1990( how was that year for you?) and there has not been an eclipse at this same degree in over 100 years. The Sabian symbol for this degree is " a man unmasked"...we are being called to be accountable for our actions and our ideals, to reveal the truth.



This is a powerful time to face your inner demons and daemons, so take a moment on Thursday around 2:56pm to sit quietly and feel the energy of this eclipse and then watch how it unfolds for you in time.

The Fourth Zone

This is the space for entries about the fourth zone. The Imum Coeli or IC of the chart refers to our roots, our family of origin. So here we will post ideas and opinions about the roots of astrology itself ...ancient, medieval, classical and traditional astrology will be commented on in this zone.
The fourth house is ruled by Cancer and the Moon in the natural wheel so there will be moon stories and rituals too.
As a lunar person I am not too familiar with the world of technology and so this blogging is very new to me. Bear with me as I learn "how to", watch it grow in time.
But just as a first here is a little Moon Magic for you.....begin to tune in to the phases of the Moon and feel the difference within you from a new Moon to full Moon to dark Moon and new again. As the Moon moves through her cycles she moves around our charts triggering beginnings/seedings and harvests in each house and sign axis in the chart over a year.
With each new Moon you can make your own ritual to engage with the energy of the cycle and make it personal by noting which house in the chart the seeding takes place.
Light a candle, sit quietly, perhaps draw a card from your favourite divination deck and then write down what it is you wish for in the coming cycle. Your wishes will be more potent if you use the imagery of the house and sign that the new Moon is in.
The next new Moon is in Aquarius on the 7th February and it is an eclipse so is even more powerful than usual. Where is 17* Aquarius in your chart? Are there any planets or points that will be triggered by this eclipse, (use a very tight orb of only 1 or 2 degrees) ? This degree of Aquarius falls in my first house so I will be framing my wishes around new beginnings and my identity as an astrologer. It is very importanat to write your wishes down and keep them. Treat yourself to a beautiful Moon wishes book and then you can reflect over time on how your wishes are coming true.
At the full Moon we give thanks for all that we have and also let go of that which we no longer need in our lives. These patterns or experiences that are no longer needed should be written on a piece of paper and ceremonially burnt. Again create your own ritual to support this process. The next full Moon is in Leo on the 23rd January (southern hemisphere) at 1* Leo.
Begin this Moon Magic and be surprised by how it works. Good Luck!