On Monday, March 25th exactly at midnight on the West Coast, the Moon opposes the Sun and the Earth casts its shadow on the Moon. This is a partial or penumbral lunar eclipse, and the prelude to a month of accelerated growth and awakening at the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction on April 20th.
For now, the cosmos is offering up a period of reflection, a final accounting perhaps, before we lift off into a new cycle of growth and a new understanding of our divinity. It’s time for shadow work. If you’re like me, you’re getting sick of hearing about the shadow. We’re all chomping at the bit to get through this year and leave the darkness of this passage behind. We’ve been doing our work all along, but now it’s time to dig deeper.
The heavenly bodies have aligned and are broadcasting energy to support us. It is an opportunity to lighten our loads yet again, decide that maybe we’ve packed too much for the trip, and we don’t really need that heavy weight we’ve been schlepping around.
Eclipse
The first fingerprint of shadow work is the eclipse. It’s obvious. Darkness creeps across our luminaries signaling it’s time to pay attention to the shadows. Eclipses also involve an enormous amount of aligned energy. Earth moves into resonance with the Sun and the Moon, the masculine and the feminine counterparts of our dual makeup.
We can tune into this energy, and bring Spirit, Soul and Body into resonance with the Earth. It is becoming clearer to me that the Earth herself is inextricably bound to our enlightenment. I have been listening to lectures and reading books about the mysteries buried within the Earth’s sacred grid, information that describes the technology of the future. Imagine a scope, for instance, that could see into the quantum field and multiple dimensions of reality. The unseen would become visible and transform our world. Our paradigm would be shattered, just as it was when Copernicus and Galileo after him, proved the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of our Solar System.
At the moment of the eclipse, the Sun is at 5+ degrees of Aries; the Moon at 5+ Libra. The theme is balance and harmony. When we have a lunar eclipse, our emotions come out of hiding. Strong emotion can help us discover shadow material. If we follow our feelings into the dark, and press our minds into service, we will begin to get insights. What is this emotion showing me? Where did it originate? What pain is it covering up? Ask the subconscious to release the answer and then pay attention. Defenses, attitudes and beliefs will surface. A journal is a great place to process. Just writing down our thoughts can reveal circular thinking, or blockages that trigger other emotions that bring up other issues.
What we are seeking is a balance between Aries, the sign of selfhood, and Libra, the sign of relationship. That isn’t limited to romantic relationships. It includes our relationship with ourselves, our society and our neighbors. Also with nature, with Soul and Spirit and Higher Self.
Mercury Shadow Phase
Mercury entered its retrograde shadow on March 18th, at the 27th degree of Pisces. What is the retrograde shadow? It’s the territory Mercury covers during its retrograde period that begins on April 1st at 27+ Aries and retraces its steps all the way back to 27 Pisces, where it turns direct on April 25th. Considering the alignment with April Fools Day, there may be some trickster energy at work.
Three times a year Mercury pauses to review its progress and every time it makes a retrograde conjunction with the Sun, which takes place on April 11th at 22 degrees of Aries. This is the beginning of a new Mercury synodic cycle and a period in which we turn within, take stock, complete unfinished business and set a course for the next cycle. What loose ends need tying up? What decisions would benefit from reconsideration? In Aries the focus is on the self – integrity (another word for wholeness), balance, authenticity, agency and sovereignty. Beyond those issues is the question “Who am I really?” What is my true identity?
Once we’re in the retrograde shadow we can see the themes that form the content of introspection. I have one already – a silly one – but I have been watching Alice and Jack on PBS. I find myself adoring Jack and hating Alice, with a passion. I judge her mercilessly, shout at her from my couch and occasionally want to smack her. Such an over-reaction obviously requires some consideration. Why do I hate this fictitious woman so much? It’s ridiculous, but apparently holds some issue I need to explore.
Grand Earth Trine
So far we have two indicators of shadow work, but this one completes the picture. Jupiter at 15+ Taurus is trine Orcus at 14+ Virgo and Ceres at 14+ Capricorn. In the USA it falls in the 1st, 5th and 9th houses. Let’s break this down.
We know about Jupiter, god of the gods, wielder of lightning bolts, provider of joy, faith, abundance, good fortune, spiritual growth and expansion. The only caution is to avoid excess, but it’s hard to turn down such a cornucopia of gifts. Jupiter is in our 5th House of self-expression, joy, fun, creative play and childlike wonder. What is our relationship with our inner child? What fear or wound or grievance does he/she carry that blocks the release of our joy?
Ceres is at the end of our 1st House providing a context of protection, nourishment, comfort, and mother-love. A month or so ago we examined the importance of self-love. Without it, we are handicapped in our ability to love others, to love life. The 1st House is about our identity, associated with the sign of Aries. This strong mother signature asks us to take a look at our own mothering. Did we get the nurturing we needed as children? If not, can we become good mothers to ourselves?
The third player is Orcus in the 9th House where our perceptions, opinions and information are tranformed into a philosophy, a world view or paradigm by which we live. Orcus is currently connected to oaths and oath-breaking. This seems to me to suggest his function is to work with cosmic justice, but he is also the dwarf planet of shadow work. Orcus helps us uncover shadow material and transmute the dark energy of our blockages into light.
Furthermore, Orcus is opposite transiting Saturn and Venus, the Lord of karma and the feminine energy of love and beauty. When Saturn is involved the admonition is always to take more responsibililty for one’s life, because this is the path to maturity and eventually mastery. Venus, of course, advises the gentle path of peace, harmony and love.
Karmic issues provide the material of spiritual evolution. A great many of us incarnated at this time to do the work of releasing karma, not just our personal karma, but to chip away at big karmic issues that have plagued humanity for millennia. We’re here to harness the ego, explore the depths of our consciousness, puzzle over and resolve the blockages of ignorance, prejudice, patriarchal conditioning and false beliefs about human nature. We’re here to explore the frontiers of consciousness, challenge the dogma, reclaim the glory of humanity and bring about peace on Earth. My whole life I have heard platitudes about peace on Earth, while our news is preoccupied with war after war. Enough is enough. And until we choose peace, until we agree to stop harming one another, humanity will be blocked from enlightenment. That’s not to say that individuals cannot achieve it. We can and we will.
Mars has recently moved into Pisces and is trine Haumea in Scorpio and square Sedna about to enter Gemini on April 27th, but still lingering in the final degree of Taurus. How lovely to have Mars in service to these beautiful goddesses of regeneration and enlightenment. Transiting Makemake in Libra is opposite transiting Salacia in Aries. How will Salacia help us see a bigger picture? The nodal axis is heading for a conjunction with these two planets. The North Node joins Salacia on July 3rd. South Node hits Makmake on July 22nd. July is starting to look like another significant milestone in our growth.
Salacia is about intimate relationships and the right timing for people to come into our lives. She functions to bring us true love and when it appears, it is up to us to take a leap of faith, like she did when she married Neptune. The result? She became a goddess and acquired divine powers which were unavailable to her as a nymph. So from the bigger picture, Makemake points out, Salacia is about the power of courage and love to transform us.
Because Salacia is in Aries, I can’t help wondering if she isn’t pointing to self-love as well, and the transformation of self when we stop judging, resisting and struggling with our dual nature. We’ll see.
Mercury conjunct Eris
One more note about Mercury. At the Full Moon it is one degree away from Eris, but will be exactly conjunct the next day. So Eris is part of our shadow work.
Eris has been working by square to Pluto all through the recent dark times. Pluto has been ploughing the soil of our collective unconscious, releasing shadow material long hidden in the dark. Eris has been creating chaos out of the jumble of our collective mind. Both are agents of transformation. The mission of Eris is to level the playing field, to embrace diversity, confront our phony ego selves, erase prejudices and embrace our authenticity. All of this in preparation for the humanitarian work of the Aquarian Age.
We all really deserve some praise. Over the next two weeks, we can ponder our inner strength, our resilience, our courage and increased tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. In the face of resistance and opposition, we have made progress. We have grown, we have defined our values and, despite what hits the news, we have become more compassionate. Good for us!
The Spirit of Easter
We cannot overlook the synchronicity of Easter with the many astrological events clustered in this Spring season. This is a time of rebirth and Easter is the day we commemorate the immortality of love and the ascension of its Master. Halfway between two eclipses, the energies of regeneration, transformation and ascent are prominent themes.
On April 8th we have the New Moon in Aries, a powerful total eclipse, less than one degree away from our natal Chiron. April is just around the corner and it will be eventful. Be good to yourself and do the work now. You’ll be so glad you did.
Leave a Reply