Leo Lunar Eclipse 2009

Leo Lunar Eclipse, February 9, 2009

This Leo lunar eclipse will be powerful, not only because an eclipse focuses and intensifies the energy of a full Moon but because of all the energetic shifts that occur around it. So before we get to the eclipse itself, let's talk about how crazy this week is really going to be.

The day after last month's full Moon, Mercury, who had just ventured into Aquarius, decided he needed to turn around and check out Capricorn one more time and see what damage Jupiter caused in its year-long stay there. Just check the news for what he found out. On SuperBowl Sunday, he stopped. He'd seen enough. Besides being the god of merchants, he's also the god of thieves. Understanding came easy. In his rush to turn around and get out before the building collapsed, Mercury seems to have created accidents and falls, brought bad health news – forget the economic news! - and made for a surprising SuperBowl game. Now he's moving forward, 'cause he can't wait to see what Aquarius will come up with once he presents his findings. Your projects will start to move forward again, and will slowly pick up speed until Mercury reaches the place he turned around at on February 21st and then, it's blast-off. So get your feet under you and start moving.

Monday, February 2nd was Candlemas or as the Celts call it, Imbolc. It is the time of year when we finally see that the light is indeed growing stronger. It is the time to feel the quickening of life within you and around you. A good day (give it three days for an energetic shift) to meditate on what you want to do with this new year. What new projects, new visions, new desires arise in your imagination?. What are you willing to dedicate yourself to? Our friends down under are celebrating Lammas – the festival of the first harvests, and a marked decline of light. We in the northern hemisphere will be there in 6 months – so, what will be our harvest then? The answer: whatever you dedicate yourself to now.

The other thing that happened on February 2nd was that Venus left Pisces and entered Aries. After the beating she took during the month she spent in Pisces, dealing with everyone's fears, guilt and longings about money, love and the viability of life persisting on Earth, Venus needs something new. Aries is all over new – that's what it does best. Sometimes Venus in Aries can be selfish, and in truth, sometimes she needs to take care of her 'self' better. But there are a few indications that Aries' fires will be more intense this year. Late on February 5th, Venus will square Pluto (in the first of three squares) and get caught up in very transformative fires. When Venus goes retrograde on March 6, the heat will intensify. Now Venus will be challenged to burn off selfish desires and replace them with creative vision. Before Venus moves forward again, she has to go back to Pisces and remember what the Spirit of Life desires of her. She was born out of the ocean, out of the fires of heaven. Love has heaven's blessings and earth's gifts to share. Just after the 2nd Uranus/Saturn opposition, as Venus and Pluto square each other, both planets semi-square the Sun, bringing up control issues that need to be confronted gently but persuasively.

Mars, which moves into Aquarius on February 4th, will send inspiration and innovative visions to Venus, sustaining her in the fires and reminding her of communal obligations. He can help you find new ways to unite with like-minded people, strengthen existing bonds and open up new avenues of thought and unlooked for opportunities.

By Thursday, February 5th, we could be vibrating with energy. This is the second of five oppositions between Uranus in Pisces and Saturn in Virgo. Imagine them as two cosmic Sumo wrestlers, circling each other, ready to engage in ritual combat again. Their first opposition resulted in Uranus' new vision pushing Saturn's old vision outside the ring. In America, the people voted for change, and Barach Obama is charged with creating change in the government as well as in the economy. But each of us who voted for change now has to change ourselves, and so the wrestling match continues within. Old vs.New. What do we conserve and what do we dump? What gets transformed? What gets birthed? The first engagement of these two sumo planets gave the vote to the innovative, original, revolutionary vision. This second engagement will be more strategic. What did we learn from last time? Since the first opposition, we've had our eyes opened to the unsustainability of our economic structures. What structures in your life have to go? How do we re-structure our beliefs to incorporate both freedom and responsibility? It's a dilemma we baby-boomers bequeathed to the world. We wanted the child-like freedom that Leo promises but obviously forgot the Leo responsibility to individuate and channel this creative energy into something larger than ourselves. The quest of this lunar eclipse is to strike the right balance between the urge for change and the conservation of the good of the old order, because both Saturn and Uranus are the rulers of Aquarius. Which structures can be viably renovated to house these new visionary energies? And which ones block the view?

Saturn in Virgo is diligent and disciplined. Use its energy to build better internal behavior patterns, for these new patterns must contain the energy and vision that Uranus wants us to incarnate. Are you staying healthy, because you body is the temple of your soul. Do you know who you are, because you can't bring your unique talents to the table if you're unsure of your purpose. You have to love yourself even as you objectively eye yourself in the mirror. Blemishes and all. Saturn in Virgo takes us within and keeps us meditating with the stricture: Know Thyself! And it keeps us humble.

In Greek myth, Uranus was the starry heavens, the original pattern of creation. This original imprint creates the urge in us to reform, revolutionize and innovate until we reach its original perfection. Pisces represents those unseen worlds and dimensions that play a part in our human journey. Uranus in Pisces combines innovative vision and objective problem-solving with compassion and human kindness. Yes, there's a lot of idealism, but what would life look like without it? When Uranus energizes this collective unconscious, we get inspirations out of the blue, are side-swiped by unexpected events, and are awakened to our infinite possibilities. And it opens our imaginations.

So let's leave our Sumo wrestlers circling each other for their next round in September and get on to the eclipse itself.

A lunar eclipse happens near the transiting moon nodes – now in Aquarius/Leo – when the Earth lines up with the Sun and the Moon. As the Sun and Moon oppose each other, the Earth slips between them and casts her shadow onto the Moon's face, eclipsing the sun's reflection there.

Lunar eclipses symbolize the sacred marriage of the Sun and the Moon, a union that brings fertility to the Earth and a right relationship to the twin forces of our cosmos. These twin forces we call masculine and feminine energy. The Yin and the Yang of life. When they are balanced, we get heaven on earth. Although humanity is still a ways from creating a heaven on earth, we get a much needed infusion of balanced cosmic energy during these shift times. Each one of us has the chance to inhale this balanced energy and make use of it in our lives. That's why these times get so intense – the more out of balance you are, the more these times negatively affect you, to ultimately knock you back into balance. And conversely, the more in balance you are, the more these energetic shifts help you create the life you are here to pursue.

The eclipse occurs in the signs of Aquarius and Leo, signs of individual creativity and group creation. This eclipse, Aquarius is entertaining a large and important lineup of guests.

Imagine that there is a heavenly mansion with a big bay window that looks out on the constellation of Aquarius. Its energy sets the tone for the house: innovative, eclectic, revolutionary, humanitarian. We are standing in the house of group consciousness and its evolution. Mars the Warrior rushes in and asks what he can do to help. Jupiter and Juno/Hera greet with with the news that something BIG is up, and it's related to our group destiny. So groups and networking and change are all on the agenda. The groom of this eclipse is the Sun, and his groomsmen are Neptune and Chiron, so we know that healing and imagination are the order of the day.

Chiron, understanding how wounded people and institutions can be, offers his advice. He is the teacher of heroes, the one who unites within himself both mortal and divine blood. He helps us build the bridge between Saturn, our physical world, and Uranus, the many other realities, just as the asteroid Chiron orbits between them. So Chiron shares this wisdom with the Sun at the eclipse: if we don't acknowledge that we are both spirit and matter, we are scr**ed. We can't deny it any longer – we have the capability to live consciously and act nobly. Let's get on with it.

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