Eclipses Explained
Eclipses come about due to a tight alignment with Sun, Moon, Earth and the Nodes. The Nodes affect us on deep soul levels and are often referred to as the ‘axis of destiny’.
A Lunar Eclipse happens at a Full Moon (the Moon is eclipsed) and a Solar Eclipse happens at a New Moon (the Sun is eclipsed). There are different levels to which the sun or moon can be eclipsed – annular, penumbral, partial, total – all of which affect us, but usually total eclipses are the strongest.
When two (or three) eclipses happen together within the same four to six week span, it’s called an eclipse season. Eclipse seasons happen six months apart. So, twice a year (i.e. once every six months), we usually get a couple of eclipses back-to-back.
Crossroads, Endings & Beginnings
Given the involvement of the Nodes, eclipses are crossroads times. Sometimes the crossroads can be quite tiny; other times monumental. It’s as if the soul resets itself and reorients its direction.
Eclipses bring a sense of endings and beginnings. Some endings might seem minor and happen in our own emotional decisions and habits, e.g. releasing an outdated attitude and implementing a better one, but the small adjustment later brings big gains. Other endings are obvious and quite major. We each have our own rhythms and timing; how major an eclipse is for you depends on how it’s affecting your astrology.
Lights Switched Off and On
It can feel as if momentarily the lights have gone out and when they’re switched back on we see something differently. Eclipses might bring floods of intuition and become opportunities to sit and feel into the emotional multi-threads of past, present, future.
Sometimes, like lights switched on at a surprise party, life throws us a celebration for finally completing a soul task, one that might’ve been in progress for lifetimes, and gives us a fresh new start (as if the soul has graduated and is given a promotion).
The hidden soul side to eclipses makes them quite fascinating. We often get a feeling that change is in the air, and see destiny at play in our own and others’ lives during eclipse seasons.
Eclipse effects can often take six months to integrate (up to the next eclipse season); yet the integration period is very individual, and can take a few days or a few years depending on how strongly you and your astrology were impacted.
