This evening, there is a total Lunar Eclipse that is visible from the United States. It is the last Lunar Eclipse for almost three years. This evening's eclipse will occur in 1 Virgo 53 according to the Western Tropical Zodiac. This is the Zodiac as described by Ptolemy in his books τετραβιβλου or Tetrabiblos and μαθηματικἠ σύνταξις or The Almagest, and it is different from the siderial zodiac or the observed stars in the sky. This is due to the precession of the equinoxes over time, and will be discussed in a future blog entry.
This Eclipse's Sabian Symbol is "A large white cross dominates the Landscape"... which is a symbol of the need for each of us to offer up our ego and attachments so that we can experience life and interact with the Gods on thier level - not ours. There has been a lot of talk about "God" over the past eight years in the United States -from our President, his cabinet, and other politicians. There have been reactions against "God" and "god-talk" by prominent individuals. This eclipse shows us that we need to get past the talk and begin to act.
This eclipse is telling us we need to meditate and reflect on who we truly are and what we need to leave behind - both as individuals and as a nation - as well as what we want to keep, protect, and nurture. Once we have our answers, we need to ask ourselves if we are "doing" or "being"... if we are too busy "doing", this is time during which we should shift to "being". When we are "being", we are in a place where we can listen to what the Gods are telling us, and act in accordance with their desires and actions.
Many of the problems that we see in the world today center around people who have problems with their egos - which is not surprising. This is symbolised in Astrology by the placement of our Sun... our Apollo principle. If we are too busy "doing" what we think we should to please others or to "fit in", then we are denying our inner Apollo (as well as the other Gods!). This will be felt as a tension within our inner world as well as a general malase when we interact with others in the outer world. This tension can, if ignored, become the basis for severe physical and mental imbalance and illness.
If you are feeling any tension, stress of imbalance in your life and inner world, this would be an excellent time to address that . This eclipse would be a good time to enter therapy or begin self work; it is also an excellent time to perform a ritual (or rituals) asking for the favor and input of the gods for ways that you can change... but if you do this, you MUST be committed to change. This is not a time to "fake it" or try to BS your way through life.
Finally, an interesting interfaith analogy - this eclipse occurs at a Sabian Symbol that speaks to Christians in terms of the cruxifiction of the ego-centered emotional life - this eclipse emphasizes the TRUE MEANING of the parable where Jesus told his followers to give up all their posessions and follow him. Jesus was telling his students that they needed to give up those things that owned them, the posessions that dictated their lives and emotions, the things that they felt "made them who they are", the things that the world valued - but that ultimately had no real value. Only by giving up these things, could they be themselves... and only when they were themselves could they have a relationship with God like Jesus had with God. This is something that we as pagans should remember when we enteract with Christians who try to prosyletise us or persecute us for our beliefs - they are ignoring the central teaching of their own prophet and teacher. We need to recognise that such individuals are not yet even aware that they need to give up their own Egotism (which is not healthy - egoism is healthy, Egotism is neurotic) in order to truly do the work of God, and their need to be "right" and follow "the one true way" is based upon their own fear, self-centeredness, perfectionism, and insecurity.
The Tropical Zodiac chart for tonight's eclipse:
Links for more info:
A great tutorial on the mechanics and physics of the Lunar Eclipse:
http://www.asterism.org/tutorials/tut32.pdf
The NASA page for tonight's eclipse http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html
Astronomy.com webpage for the Feb 20th Total Lunar Eclipse: http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=6613
Astronomy.com podcast about Lunar Eclipses in general and the upcoming Feb 20th Eclipse in particular.
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=5911
A nice page about eclipses in Astrology:
http://www.zodiacarts.com/whatsup/LunarEclipse.shtml
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