Interpreting eclipses

While they foremost have a mundane signficance, people usually ask what the eclipse means for them so I will focus this paragraph on the interpretation of an eclipse in a natal chart. First thing to find out is what house the eclipse falls in and which sign. If it falls in one of the angular houses (1,7,4,10) the effect of the eclipse is enhanced because the 4 angular houses are also the 4 corner stones of life: profession, relations and marriage, home and family and the (bodily) self. The sign of an eclipse tells you in what kind of way this eclipse will work out.

The third thing to find out is whether this is a North Node eclipse or a South Node eclipse. The difference between the two is that North Node eclipses signify areas of new beginnings, gained strength and vigor while the south node eclipse is about giving, an area of vulnarability, where you might be confronted with some crisis. While backtracking some of my own eclipses, which I admit I didn’t have a lot in my adult life, I didn’t really notice a difference between south node eclipses and north node eclipses. Perhaps that is also because many of the eclipses occurred in my 1st and 7th house; which is also the natal position of my Nodes. Perhaps that’s what’s meant in this article, “On the other hand, an eclipse falling in a house of the North Node influence may open new doors and present major life-changing opportunities.”

Aspects the eclipse makes to natal planets are only important if they’re conjunctions or oppositions. Some count squares or parrallels as well, but I personally wouldn’t do that. The planet in conjunction or opposition to the eclipse point will color the entire meaning of the eclipse. In my own chart you can see that my Mars/North Node in the 7th house is on the exact spot the July 21st eclipse will hit. A solar total eclipse in an angular house is literally active for years and it remains a sensitive point for quite some time. Usually the eclipse also needs to be activated by either Sun, Mars or Saturn since these are the planets that have the biggest impact.

Solar Eclipse Chart july 2009

• 7th house: relationships, partnerships (business), open enemies, contracts.
• Eclipse in Cancer (water): home(land), family, large crowds, the public, popular subjects of the moment. Those dealing in domestic products or services of interest to women will find that eclipses in the sign of Cancer precede a transitional period [Teal].
• Eclipse conjunction to Mars: health issues, feeling like you have confidence “fight spirit” but at the same time conflicts, one of the most eclipsed planets prior to the marriage of a woman [Teal].

Points of discussion
Some astrologers say that you need to be “in the path” of the eclipse for it to be of signficance to you.

Here are some of the images that you will be able to find:

Pretty neat! If you’re not an astrologer or astronomer I don’t think you can amuse yourself with the SKY module very long, but it’s definitely interesting to know what they look like.

You know why I think this? I am constantly tested ENTJ, Enneagram 8, I did a profession test once years ago and it said I should become “A logistics manager”. My behaviour however, if you look at it, hardly matches one of ‘an overly social creature that would just die if left alone’. If I don’t fit in your little model, then there’s something wrong with that model;) I remain a Saturnian creature, can’t help myself to classify!

Then I remembered my book on Elements and Crosses in Astrology by Karen Hamaker.

In astrology the Crosses (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable) and the Elements (Air, Fire, Water, Earth) together define both how you wish perceive things (elements) and how you wish to adjust/confront your surroundings (crosses). So here’s an overview of what means what:

* Cardinal: progressive energy, needs interaction with the outside world.
* Fixed: regressive energy, self-sustainable.
* Mutable: both progressive and regressive, can go both ways.

* Air: “Thinking”, how this fit?
* Fire: “Intuition”, a form of indirect perception.
* Water: “Feeling”, how does it make me feel?
* Earth: “Perception”, is it physically here? Can I touch it?

There is of course more theory to this, including ways to narrow down planets that will be forced to grow to another Element or Cross during the course of a lifetime. I won’t go into the theory of that, though it will prove important for the conclusion.

My astrologic “type” is Cardinal, superior element Air. If you look at my Myers-Briggs test result, ENTJ, E and T are already there – so you would say. And what is N and J? Simple, these are the ‘helper functions’ in the following diagram:

I bet my socks anyone that’s a little ‘high’ on the cardinal side is automatically ‘classified’ an E-type. The difference here is, that Karen warns not to see Cardinal, Mutable or Fixed the same as Introversion or Extraversion. I think what she means to say is that Introversion and Extraversion are terms that are not sufficient enough to describe “what’s really going on”. I actually would like to add to that: in analysis you’re still lacking the full spectrum of what else is in the chart. If I go back to my original italicized statement: it should be clear that astrology’s elements and crosses do nothing more than for example a good Myers-Briggs test would but if you want to have an idea on how you will fit this model you look at how easygoing (for fixed, mutable) or eccentric (for cardinal, mutable) the personality is (astrologically, from the rest of the chart). How to measure that non-astrologically? I have no clue, though I’m expecting Cardinal-Fire (the extravert archetype) and Fixed-Water (the introvert archetype) to be more susceptable to fit in these black and white models.

-cross posted to my blog-

The Great Eye of the Universe opens! Through this astral art the secrets of the
cosmos are mine to know… for the stars are my dominion! – Star maps of the ancient cosmographers.

Trapped forever in the catacombs of Ur…
your screams are heard in Babylon!
Warnings etched into the cuneiform tablets of Ur… – The Dreamer in the catacombs of Ur.

Just thought I’d share that. ^^;