The Total Solar Eclipse at 19’24 Aries is exact on Monday April 8th, 2024 at 2:20:49pm EDT- commencing a new Lunar Cycle that is focused on activation, taking action, initiating and having agency! There is Light and Shadow to Aries- so the shadow of this cycle can express as unskillful rage, violence, war, aggression, selfishness and conflict. This is a North Node Eclipse so the new beginnings and initiating energy are amplified tenfold. What is set into motion right now needs to come from the Higher Self- not the ego. Once these new things pick up speed there will be no going back- so it is important that we set things into motion wisely.
This New Moon Eclipse is precisely TO THE MINUTE conjunct Chiron. This is incredibly rare and it is amplifying the archetype of the Wounded Healer in profound and also perhaps intense ways. We are being asked to wake up and heal- to see and face our shadow so we can integrate it with our Light. This is deeply personal but also profoundly collective. The Chiron North Node conjunctions from February 19th and March 5th- are now being amplified by an Eclipse (and Mercury Retrograde)- and there really is no escaping this journey we are being asked to navigate.
Where do you need to heal? Where do you need to activate and set things into motion? Where do you need to temper ego and selfishness? Where do you need to stop sweeping things under the carpet and stand firm and face things? For each of us the healing path will be unique- but heal we must! I was going to name the title of this blog ‘Heal or Die’ but I felt it was a bit too dramatic and perhaps anxiety producing. And yet isn’t that the Truth? In science stasis (meaning no movement or growth) is a precursor to death. All things change and evolve and the moment they stop evolving they begin the process of decay and will die if they stay stuck there.
Healing is synonymous with growth and evolution. To heal is to not run away from our past or deny our past- but instead face our past, deal with unresolved things and find deeper capacity to bring all parts of self back into Wholeness. With both Chiron and Hygeia very strong in the last couple lunar cycles- we have potent Healing allies present as guides right now. But in order to heal we must FEEL- and with Aries so activated what we need to feel is likely related to anger and rage. Do we stuff anger and rage? Deny it? Spiritually judge it as lower vibration and bypass it? Or do we express it but we do so in ways that are aggressive, violent, abusive and selfish? Honest self check-ins are key right now!
This New Moon Eclipse is conjunct Chiron and the North Node- and also conjunct Mercury Retrograde and Eris. The Mercury/Eris conjunction occurs 2 hours after the eclipse- bringing the Goddess of Discord and Chaos, as well as the Activist and Revealer of Shadow front and center. Are we ready to pull back the veil and see more Truth? Within? Without? If the answer is yes- this kind of astrology can be liberating and freeing! If the answer is no- this kind of astrology can be deeply disturbing and shocking. We are asked to rise to the moment and choose healing above all else.
Mars is the ruler of this Lunation and he is in Pisces headed to cojoin Saturn two days later (April 10th). Mars and Saturn are the Malefics and yes that term has etymological root connections to the word malevolent. The ancients saw both Mars and Saturn as heavy and karmic- but they do have gifts to give us when we learn to work with them and master how we wield their power. In addition to heading into conjunction, Mars and Saturn are parallel each other in the Eclipse chart- so we have a Super Aspect between them (Super Aspects occur when two bodies are in aspect by both declination and degree). They are also both parallel the Sun and Moon! Parallel aspects are like energetic conjunctions- so it is as though the two Malefics are also conjunct this Total Solar Eclipse as well! Add that to Chiron, Eris and the North Node and this is a firecracker of an Eclipse!!!
Mars and Saturn demand that we master our egos and deal with our karma. These two Planets are experienced as heavy when we have not done the inner mastery work. If we suppress healthy ego/are in denial of karma OR if we act out in ego and create more karma for ourselves- we will feel assaulted by these Planets. But when we learn to work with them both in masterful ways they become exceptional allies. Mars helps us deal with things in the moment- head on, without avoidance. Saturn helps us grow up and choose maturity rather than chase after things that provide momentary pleasure or avoidance of pain. At their best they can help us be here now, deal with reality, be responsible and show up to do the work!
Of course the shadow of these two in Pisces during a Total Solar Eclipse in Aries is that we can use them both to escape, deny, avoid reality, turn to addictions to numb out, be deceived, do the deceiving and generally just bury our heads in the sand. Shadow Pisces does not want to see and face what Aries/Eris/Chiron/the North Node is revealing and the Pisces energy can be used to Spiritually Bypass instead of be present to what is. Awareness of these tendencies that will be easy to collapse into is key (awareness is half the work!).
Add in some of the asteroids and we see the Aesculapia is conjunct the North Node- also a healer archetype! The Solar Eclipse is conjunct Chiron, Venus is conjunct Hygeia and the North Node is conjunct Aesculapia (aka Asklepios). With three major archetypes of healing showing up- there really is no escaping the healing journey and where it is asking (demanding?) that we go to grow and heal.
Mercury and Eris are conjunct Amor- which is about love and specifically about the conditions we place on Unconditional Love. The South Node in Libra puts up with way too much stuff- sweeping things under the carpet to keep the peace for far too long. Mercury/Eris/Amor remind us that setting boundaries or limits on what happens in relationships is also Love. It’s fierce Love and it is self-Love- and it is medicinal and necessary when we have played the doormat for too long. This also speaks to where we keep turning a blind eye- not wanting to see things as they are and speak to them- preferring to keep the peace at any cost. As Martin Luther King Jr said “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”
Venus is also conjunct Eurydike which illuminates patterns of dependence and codependence (very Libra South Node). We are being asked to heal this and not just sacrifice ourselves for others- but also take care of ourselves. Not just maintain appearances but pull back the veil and speak to what is really going on. Venus is also conjunct Siva- which is about crises of death and rebirth, and breakdown/breakthrough processes that must happen for healing and regeneration to occur. And last but certainly not least Uranus is conjunct Siwa (the other version of Siva) amplifying the same intense energies of death and rebirth- while also being conjunct Panacea which represents looking for the cure. How on point is that with so many healing archetypal energies present right now?
With so much Aries we are likely to be moving fast- and yet healing demands we SLOW DOWN to feel. Being aware of where we may be overriding our own feelings, needs and experience is going to be key in this intense and firey portal.
I leave you with the Star Sparks & Sabian Symbol degrees for this Eclipse. They both are powerful and insightful and you can read the full text below. The Star Sparks degree speaks to the healing journey of CHOOSING OURSELVES. Not our ego self but our integrated self. The South Node in Libra has many of us negating ourselves- sometimes thinking this is the right and spiritual thing to do. For some the healing movement is to come back to the self and remember that we are worthy. For others who overfocus on themselves the healing movement is to get underneath that bravado and remember the little one who had to become overly self focused in order to survive. And then seeing what needs to happen to put others first in healthy ways.
The Sabian Symbol speaks to overcoming crises through compassion- to not just only think about ourselves but open our hearts to others, give to others, love others as we love ourselves (to quote the bible). Such a juxtaposition in these two degrees- one says to tend to yourself, the other says to tend to others. This is the yin and yang of life. This is also the yin and yang of the Aries/Libra Nodes- me versus we, self versus other, independence versus interconnection. Too much, too far in either direction creates imbalances that will lead to crises that arise when we have allowed them to get out of balance.
The secret here is in seeing that they are opposite and yet they are the medicine for each other. Libra needs to learn to stand alone and do what is best for herself. Aries needs to learn to put others first. Libra needs to learn to take action and face things. Aries needs to learn to slow dow and pause and not be impulsive. Each of us have our own sweet spot of healing that is calling to us. Pay attention to your dreams for messages and pay attention to your relational dynamics for mirror reflections right now- no doubt they are both very rich in symbolism, imagery and insight!
As Rumi says “The wound is the place where the Light enters you”. So use this powerful time to tend to your wounds and face your shadow so you can open up to and embody more of your Light.
Blessings…
~Harmony
ANNOUNCEMENT– I am having a Flash Sale on all Courses & Masterclasses from Monday April 8th’s through end of day April 20th (From Solar Eclipse to Jupiter/Uranus conjunction!). Learn more about my Flash Sale here- https://divineharmony.com/astrology-blog/flash-sale-on-all-courses-masterclasses-4-8-4-20/
STAR SPARKS
by Ellias Lonsdale
Aries 20
An empty courtyard.
Keeping an open mind, letting all options remain, and making sure not to fill the life with too much stuff. Somebody knows how to counter the poisons of the times by not going for the kill, not buying the program, hanging loose and hoping for the best.
Maintaining this attitude is the world’s greatest challenge. Everybody and everything says, You won’t get anywhere this way. This is not about getting somewhere. It’s about clearing out, making way.
Freedom sparks strange choices. We must stay with ourselves in a spacious way, while knowing very little about ourselves that we can be confident and sure of. It’s a matter of heading in the right direction and recklessly disregarding good advice, well meant reflections.
Something can be offered in tough, hard situations from this place that would never be there otherwise. A brilliant capacity to attune to all kinds of messes and strange combinations is evidence. There’s nobody to get in the way of what’s going on and to do something about it.
However, self-compassion, self-accompaniment, self-forgiveness, and self-appreciation are very hard to come by here. The self is taken as a given. The world is taken as a place you gotta meet and not drag your feet. The picture held of the self/world continuum is harsh and painful and alienating.
The path turns toward coming to terms with the missing part. To be there for self is sometimes an art form of which we are clumsy and awkward within. Do we deserve affirmative attention?
Well, everybody else does. But the self seems not to count somehow. To get in there after this illusion is quite a task and worth the effort, completely.
SABIAN SYMBOL
by Dane Rudhyar
PHASE 20 (ARIES 20°): A YOUNG GIRL FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER.
KEYNOTE: Overcoming crises through compassion.
Nature’s seasonal rhythms imply an oscillation between living and dying. Through creative imagination man can “fly over” the cycle, and discover means not only to escape from the fatality of seasonal decay or deprivation, but to assist other living entities to survive through crises. Migrating birds fly south (cf. symbol of Aries 12°), but by establishing a partnership with other creatures unable to escape wintry deprivation or death, man can maintain the life of the spirit (symbolized by birds) steady through all crises if, like a “young girl,” he is widely open to the promptings of love and sympathy.
At this fifth stage of the symbolic sequence we witness human activity motivated by sympathy overcoming the seasonal phase of impotency. Life potency in nature spirits reaches a higher level in the human being. The theme is THE TRANSMUTATION OF LIFE INTO LOVE.