August 21, 2017

By now, nearly all of planet Earth knows of the coming Total Solar Eclipse in North America, with the “path of totality” strictly in the United States (except for small portions of open oceans in the Pacific and Atlantic).  Like many celestial alignments, it may seem a bit over-hyped, but in this case, I think the hype is certainly warranted.  The last time a Total Solar Eclipse took place strictly in the contingent 48 States of the US was in the year 1257, which was 760 years ago.

Now, for those in the USA who won’t be able to catch the eclipse while total, will have other chances in the next decade in 2023 with an Annular (or Ring) Eclipse (in the Western US, including Oregon, Central America and northern South America) and in 2024 another Total Solar Eclipse (with the path also going through Mexico, Texas, several eastern States then northeast through part of NE Canada).  One can see that solar eclipses are common world-wide as they happen about every 6 months, but only sometimes are they total.  But in this case, it is rare in that it is only really in the United States that one can get the full effect of a Total Solar Eclipse.

What does it mean?

This Total Solar Eclipse (The Moon covering the disc of the Sun) takes place at 28 degrees 53 minutes in the sign of Leo, very close to the star Regulus, the Heart of the Lion (constellation).  This eclipse is very nearly exactly opposite the Natal Moon of the United States (nation was born when the Moon was in the sign of Aquarius).  This alignment highlights or illuminates the idealism and the revolutionary breakthrough of the nation’s founding.  The eclipse becomes a marker and trigger for the creative wisdom pulled forward to today and expressed/shown in our current political, governmental, cultural, social-economic blood and soul of our identity and image.

The eclipse can provide us an opportunity to create a new vision for our nation, to summon the courage to embrace radical, radiant self-love.  With a new vision, courage and self-love, we can make manifest what we want for ourselves and, of course, for the US.  It is a particularly sensitive time in the world and especially in the West, where governments are experiencing radical transformations with energy being placed in a new form of nationalism while a growing counter-nationalism energy rises as well.  This solar eclipse can be a portal or window into looking back at the intent of people who founded the US (triggering other revolutions in Europe years later).

Between now and 2028, the nation of the US is accelerating toward a cradle of transformation that is intended to shift our identity beyond the attachment of our ideals, former dreams and burying of our shadows.  Pressures, the gravity of reality and the potential to emerge out of the infancy of our conscious perceptions is on the horizon.  This coming eclipse is a major highlight of our future, but one that looks at what we were and how the past cannot be re-created.  We have already shifted part-way toward a space of infinite possibilities, which could be called the Great Unknown.

While we cannot re-create the idealism of the past (or the selected memories of an idealized culture or Golden Age), we can draw from the past of the wisdom learned as a collective and individually to start work on a new template for humanity.  Including being open to receive a new vision and shining with our own inner love, we can invoke the courage to create the world that we want.

Creating that world does mean purging out the toxins of our souls and making room for the changing river to stream into us, instead of resisting it.

Part of the process includes facing our deepest fears and owning up to our truths.  This includes taking responsibility for our changing selves, shedding our collective skins and tuning into frequency of our authenticity.

Regulus

In the moment of the solar eclipse, the star at the edge of the eclipse, the star Regulus (at zero degrees Virgo), becomes the heartbeat of that moment, just visible in totality.  Recognized for many, many millennia, the star is one of a handful of prime (or Royal) stars because of its nearness on the Path of the Sun (ecliptic).  Not only is it the Heart of the Lion constellation, but is part of the association of the four corners of the Earth (or 4 quarters of the heavens).

There is much ancient imagery around the Lion, especially seen in ancient Egypt, which includes the Sphinx (which has a powerful shared essence with the Lion Constellation) and its association with the constellations of the Bull or Ox, the Man and the Eagle (this can vary depending on the interpretations, but the Scorpion can sometimes replace the Eagle, represented by the star Altair.  Both the Scorpion and the Eagle can be found in the same quarter of the sky along the band of the Milky Way Galaxy).

Regulus has an ancient communion with humanity and that star will be only a degree or so from the point of the eclipse, nearly occulting the star.  Perhaps we can ask ourselves how we can shine while in the shadow of our lineage or past.  How can we glimpse our future without acknowledging the importance of grieving for who we once were and what we have lost, but also embracing what we can become when letting go what we can’t control and what no longer is healthy for us (or US).

Other Points of Light

Beyond Regulus, the planets Mercury, Venus and Mars will be visible (varying in brightness in all 3) during the 2 minutes of totality.  Mercury and Venus are more commonly visible during total solar eclipses, but the nearness of Mars (only 8 degrees away at the time of the eclipse) is more rare   Five times in the last 58 years has Mars been in the ‘underworld’ (invisible in the glare of the Sun) during a total solar eclipse with the most recent time in 1998, which was visible in Central and South America.

Having all of the rocky/inner or terrestrial planets visible during this eclipse adds an extra element of making it special.  Mercury is retrograde by August 21^st and in the sign of Virgo, but only 10 degrees from the Sun and Moon, adding an eccentric sacredness along with fulfilling the role in assisting the carrying of information from Great Mystery from the shadow to the light and back again.  It’s a sacred charge in keeping the lines of communication open during this magical time.

Venus, representing the Feminine Principle, is on the opposite side of the eclipse (closer to the high point of the sky) in the sign of Cancer.  It will be easy to spot during the 2 minutes of darkness (and even potentially during the partial eclipse stages) being 34 degrees away just below Castor and Pollux, the head stars of the Constellation of the Twins.  Venus adds a mother’s nurturing love to the energetic dynamic of the solar eclipse event, allowing for the authentic expression of healthy and responsible caring and loving of those in the larger human collective family (really, though, extending to embrace the essence of ‘mother earth’).

Venus will have just been in a conjunction with the Moon on the 18^th of August and in Shamanic Astrology, represents the Gate of Power.  This is deep, personal power of the Solar Plexus chakra that is being activated in this story of the Descent of Inanna (goddess pre-cursor to Venus).  The  gate is a challenge to the powers-that-be that the feminine is not afraid to storm the gates of its own shadow and share its vulnerable self.

Mars, representing the Masculine Principle, at 20 degrees Leo, is currently and slowly emerging from the underworld (which it does on Sept 11^th).  The process or initiation Mars is experiencing (and does about every 2 years) is intended to be transformative and empowering after its time in a Sun Dance-like time or in Leo’s case, a dying and reborn king/queen.  It is a great summer trial for the masculine with the underworld playing the role as an antidote to hubris.

The Solar Eclipse and The Donald

It is no coincidence that our current President 45 (of the US), whose natal Mars and Ascendant are within only 1 and 2 degrees from the specific point of the eclipse will be personally on the front line of this eclipse initiation.  Hubris has been seen quite often with number 45 and eclipse can assist the lion king in finding his heart instead of reacting to his wounded pride/ego.  But is there any help for him?

The Donald is a perfect example of someone who has little capacity for taking responsibility for his words and actions and letting go of his old story and only what he can gain from holding on.   At the time of his greatest achievement, the Sun is setting on him only because he appears to be unable to see his own truth and his own heart.

Perhaps there is something deeper there in that he simply cannot come to terms with himself?  He thrives on controversy, being with those clap at every word and being a contrarian, but it is those very qualities that are at a tipping point and the solar eclipse may trigger some opportunities that pushes number 45 to the limit of it all, heralding a potential personal crash.  Of course, he seems to outlast almost anything that may befall anyone else, but the tank of hubris has its limits, even in him.

Final Thoughts on the Total Solar Eclipse

I plan on seeing this eclipse from Oregon and it will be my first time seeing a total solar eclipse.  I imagine a hundred million others will try to be on the path of totality, a 60-mile wide band where daylight turns to night for about two minutes.  I do believe this is an important event for the US and especially the people here in approaching one step to be open to a more connected and less isolated country.

The eclipse in near-exact opposition to the natal Moon position of the US is profound and creates an electric charge that will last well beyond the short time of the eclipse on August 21^st.  We can be creators in our world, break from the chains that have bound us to a specific template of the kind of people we should be in this dollar-worshipped nation.  But it does require courage and not without risk.  But it trusting our soul’s direction, we can be our authentic selves, moving into our true role (small, moderate, big or otherwise) not just for own benefit but for that of the greater human community.

There is a Cherokee proverb that states, “We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be.”  Some can take that to be toxic / harmful to the world while others choose a healthier path that is truer to ourselves.  We all have the free will to choose and no astrological forecast can take that away, but instead provide an awareness and knowledge for us to make informed decisions.  Shamanic Astrology can empower but it is up to us whether or not to give that power to ourselves.  The eclipse can, for a brief moment, give us a helping hand.

Erik Roth