ABOVE: a little sound sesh to accompany your eclipse reading… headphones on and enjoy the birds too! There’s a workshop video down the bottom of this post.
If you have the internet, you’ve probably noticed that there’s an eclipse about to happen. Perhaps because it will be happening bang in the middle of the day across north America, the world (well, the USA) is giving this cosmic happening a hell of a lot of airtime.
Cultural moments like this make me marvel at sociology - how DID we manage before the internet and social media made armchair experts of all of us? How did we KNOW what was happening in the world without the endless stream of memes, commentary and notifications? How did we form opinion, learn, or listen?
We looked up, that’s how.
Eclipses aren’t rare - we have a total eclipse every couple of years, this one just happens to be visible in a part of the world that demands (a lot of) attention. And you could say that the whole cross shape slashed through the US (created by the path of eclipse totality) as if it were being cosmically cancelled, is a kind of karmic smirk from the gods, who perhaps might be displeased with the US’s political interpretation of Aries this past year or two.
We’ve been observing the skies since forever. And watching eclipses since… forever. We just know a little more about them now, from a scientific perspective. But for the longest time, these fated, magical events have been cloaked in mystery, fear and deep symbolism.
Since time began, astrology - and its scientific sibling astronomy - has been the compass, the GPS for humanity to understand patterns and cycles of life. Eclipses mark major milestone moments in the trajectory, and the ancients used to observe the daylight darkness as a moment of extreme potency and significance. Imagine what it must have been like thousands of years ago, simply watching the sun vanish from the sky with no explanation, forced to tune into intuition, to journey beyond overwhelming apocalyptic fear in order to find some understanding of the eclipse phenomenon.
EMBRACE BEGINNER MENTALITY
Amidst all the cyber noise this weekend, it’s useful to apply that same sense of wonder, especially as this solar eclipse is happening in the sign of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac and the embodiment of childhood, clear new beginnings, and the absence of old storylines. I read something from one of my favourite astrologists (Colin Bedell of Queer Cosmos) yesterday about one of the greatest gifts of Aries being it’s lack of backstory; instead focused on total forward-facing presence and the gift of approaching all challenges and projects with beginner mindset.
I love this idea. What would you do if there was no precedent, no fear, nothing to look back on? How would you start your projects and ideas differently, from this point of internal pivot, this new starting block? When you think about moving FORWARDS, how much of your thought process is really about reviewing the old, trying to process, learn and transmute, rather than actually taking 100% committed, caveat-free action in an onwards direction?
This is a REALLY potent thought and one I’m carrying through this eclipse gratefully. I’ve always been pretty fearless when it comes to reinvention and just giving things a bash (that’s my dominant Scorp/Sag hybrid I guess) but especially as I journey my 40s, I’m noticing a lot more nervous anxiety and acute consciousness of previous mistakes and misfortunes curling like tendrils around my heart. This doesn’t stop me getting stuck in FOR SURE, but it does make the nailbaiting aspect of taking a leap of faith a lot more uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing, as every new beginning feels laced with the memories of past failure and fuck-up. So I guess channelling the Aries I AM HERE & NOW mindset is a super useful tool for me to embrace, helping to block out the old stories and start as though for the very first time.
Do you relate?
Often described as portals, gateways or corridors, eclipses quantum leap the prevailing energy from one state to another, amplifying, expanding and optimising the frequencies, warping them into new form, sculpting a new shape.
Short version - things happen hard and fast during eclipses. Often uncomfortably so.
But we’ve been in the run-up vibe for a few days already, and as I write this on Sunday night (Indian time), we are already in the dark moon - at 2° Aries, and things are ramping up HARD.
YEAH, BUT WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THIS WILD VIBE?
How to cope? Well there’s lots of fear around eclipses, perhaps ancestrally handed down from the ancients looking up in disbelief and calling on their Gods for mercy in the darkness. At tonight’s daily sunset sadhana on the beach, everyone was talking about staying in for the next 24 hours, and an earnest conversation about the need to wear a helmet on the motorbike ride home (unheard of on the tracks of Goa) ‘beacuse of the eclipse’ broke out. Some people were talking about stocking up on fruit and veg on the way home so as to avoid leaving home tomorrow. Jitters abounded.
I deeply believe that the art and science of astrology is here to support us in self-empowerment, self-awareness, self-inquiry and radical self-love. It’s not so much a free pass on our shitty actions (ie. it’s because I’m a Scorpio!!!) but a mirror in which to journey and explore all versions of our prismatic, powerful selves.
So fear has no place in astrology, for me, anyway. Perhaps useful to just hold a healthy awareness that pushing against the prevailing flow will reap chaos. This is the repeated lesson of Mercury Retrograde - go slow and REVIEW. Do that, and it’s peachy and productive. Ignore, and continue to bash on at breakneck pace, and you’ll for sure slam into a retrograde stop sign. (PS - yes we are also in Mercury Retrograde).
So here is your NEED TO KNOW.
The Aries new moon will eclipse in totality at 19°22” Aries on April 8th at 19.18 (GMT), 23.48 (IST) and 13.18 (CST).
The Path of Totality (yes it’s a real phrase although it sounds rather like the title of a Marvel movie) is the path where the eclipse can be seen at 100% - a total solar eclipse. In good weather, this will play as the famous ‘ring of fire,’ which is actually the corona of the Sun, it’s atmosphere.
The path tracks from the Pacific cost of northwest Mexico, diagonally north east across the USA, exiting land at Nova Scotia - inevitably there are huge crowds and parties expected as night falls at lunchtime across the USA, and no doubt a fair few retinal burns too (if you happen to be reading this in the US - do not look at directly the eclipse! Use a pinhole camera - Google it, there are a billion hits this week), but the eclipse will still be visible partially across pretty much the whole of North America. NASA obviously have the best guide to help understand this, and will be streaming the eclipse live:
https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/
Of course, it’s hard to avoid the fact that the pattern of tomorrow’s eclipse when overlaid on the path of the most recent eclipse across the US (in 2017) creates quite the shape - a giant cross. I’ll leave that one to the conspiracy theorists.
Meanwhile….
MAJOR ASTROLOGICAL ECLIPSE THEMES
It’s classic Aries stuff, amplified by the eclipse invitation to properly - no messing - reset and restart. Rebirth, newness, metamorphosis, out with the old to a point of disregarding it entirely. Individualisation, heightened awareness of self and needs of self (the I in relationship); masculinity and standing in yang power. Empowered masculinity and calling in connection to Shiva and inner strength. Fire. Rocket fuel. Starting lines.
This eclipse season is happening across the Aries x Libra axis and plenty of cyber-ink has been spilt on this already. Aries is the I, the self; Libra is the self in partnership, in 1:1 space.
It’s also - and this is actually what makes this eclipse rare - conjunct Chiron, the asteroid that symbolises the wounded healer. You can weave all this together to discover that the spotlight of new beginnings is on the old wounds/ghosts/traumas ready to be exorcised from your own healing journey. Lights out is a final moment of introversion, inner reflection, before metamorphosis - a new self emerges from the chrysalis.
Oh and yes, Mercury remains retrograde in Aries and Venus has also just arrived in Aries. So overall to understand how this whole she-bang is likely to land in your world, the best place to start is to check which house in your chart contains Aries. Whatever the theme of that house, it’s a ripe pile up of passion, communication blocks, old narratives and the urge for a new direction here.
I mean, you don’t need this. What you need is your own counsel, and yes, probably some quiet time. Aries may be fire and extroversion but the shade of an eclipse twinned with retrograde feels indicates a couple of days of quieter vibes. So it’s a nice time for self-prompted journalling, inner listening, and perhaps just a little ceremonial firestarting.
TAROT - The Emperor. Pull this card from your deck and have on your altar for a few days to encourage reflection on Aries themes of masculinity and power. I’ll also be bringing out The Fool - the ultimate card of new beginnings.
CRYSTALS - If you’re amplifying the Aries feels then carnelian, red jasper, and especially sunstone are your friends. If it’s all too hot, reach for aquamarine, selenite and moonstone to tune inwards. Place under your pillow tomorrow, especially if the eclipse is during the night for you.
JOURNAL - reflections on old relationships, old lovers, and places where you have given your power away personally, in business, in your politics or cultural space, are all front and centre. With Mercury also on the handbrake, it’s worth adding your thoughts on where you have or have not communicated your power - are you saying what you think, using your voice for good?
I’m in a new era of avoiding specific journal prompts and instead reading themes, sitting in stillness for a minute or two, and then freewriting, keeping pen on paper for 5, 8 or 10 minutes. As long as possible, actually, to see what pours forth intuitively.
SOUND - I made you a little video of some eclipse-y sounds to listen to while you write - it’s at the top of this post. There’s also some freestyle chatter about all the above in the video down below - if you find it easier to listen than read!- including visual references and a tarot spread to try out for the eclipse by my friend Claire
Wishing you all a powerful, expansive and dramatic eclipse!
Janie xxx
Video below - enjoy, and let me know your thoughts and feels in the comments!
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