An Intensely Transformational Solar Eclipse New Moon

This weekend's Solar Eclipse and New Moon takes place quite late Saturday evening, almost midnight here on the West Coast of the United States, and therefore quite early the next morning of the 13th on the East Coast and in Europe. Being an eclipse, this is an extra-potent lunation, with effects lasting for six months, rather than the thirty days of the normal lunar cycle. For the rest of the month of September, especially, and through the remainder of the year, this New Moon is emblematic of a transformational impulse that will gain in momentum heading into December and beyond, when the Uranus-Pluto square that has been so prominent these past few years comes once again into close connection, being about 1 degree away from exact by the end of January 2016. Even though the series of exact hits that we saw from June 21, 2012 to March 15, 2015 is now over, this aspect coming as close as 1, or even 2 degrees, is still worth noting. The effects of this intensely impactful aspect between these two powerhouse planets, really its symbolic resonance with our earthly existence, are important over an even larger arc of 15 degrees. This is according to the research that Richard Tarnas published a few years back in Cosmos and Psyche, his classic work describing the timing of outer planet combinations all through modern history and their correlation with significant periods of Western cultural development.

Uranus and Pluto are, moreover, strongly emphasized in the eclipse configuration, along with Neptune and Chiron. Uranus is strongly aspected by the eclipse degree, and is close to Eris, further emphasizing this trickster archetype of surprising enlightenment. Pluto is stationing on September 24th, and already almost dead still in the sky, hence more powerful. There are also aspects to Pluto from Mercury, a square, and from Venus, an inconjunct. For Neptune, we find that numinous archetypal energy being opposed by Jupiter and in semi-square to a prominent Eris, This month therefore promises to be full of major change. The traditionally known outer planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, are all to some extent transformative in their synchronistic resonance with earthly affairs.

Uranus serves us as the Awakener, bringing a new sense of heightened reality, beyond the humdrum of "business as usual," opening us up to the sudden epiphany that can be the forerunner of metamorphosis. Uranus is also the ruler of Aquarius, reminding us that we need to contribute to the evolution of society as well as to our own. With Neptune in the picture of our affairs, whether by transit to a personal planet in your natal chart or, as now, by a powerful presence in the configuration of the current skies, there is a feeling of compassion for all of living beings, including ourselves; a rising to the occasion of sensitivity to the overriding Oneness of all creation, of seeing our life situation as a pattern of developmental unfoldment. Like Neptune, Pluto also speaks to the underlying power of unconscious process, the underworld of our deepest desires. Because symbolic of death and rebirth, Pluto is the quintessential archetype of major change that is not only possible, but inevitable. These are the changes that we feel coming up from inside, and that we know that we must somehow make, in order that we might grow.

Chiron, the Wounded Healer, is especially powerful in this New Moon eclipse formation, being closely opposed by the Sun and Moon, about a degree off from a perfect opposition of 180 degrees. Chiron symbolizes where we have been wounded in the past and where we might yet heal, by placing our dispassionate witness on the issues of reactivity that come up for us, and by acknowledging and accepting ourselves, without judgment or shame, in these damaged places inside us.

As we seek to understand ourselves at these deeper levels of our being, and as well the transformation that is called forth from within us at this timing, the Sabian Symbol for this eclipse degree sheds additional light on our ongoing situation. It is, for the 21st degree of Virgo, "A girls' basketball team." This seemingly mundane symbol has nevertheless a few ideas to offer us. For one thing, we might notice the gender switch involved, as it is feminine energy that is pulling together in what is traditionally known as the male activity of team sports. Interestingly, in this New Moon eclipse configuration, athletic Mars is located in close forming trine with the feminine warrior energy of Eris, an archetype whose time has come, signaling that the inclusivity of a feminine approach might be exactly what is now called for. Further, the implications of achievement in this socially oriented way are quite significant. Marc Edmund Jones remarks, "the self cannot exist in a vacuum, and there is no satisfaction in any effort expended for ends in which others are not vitally concerned." He goes on to state, "when positive, the degree is effective self-consummation through exceptional co-operation and adaptability, and when negative, listless conformity." And here is perfectly and succinctly stated our ongoing choice. Do we lie around and wait for someone else to save us, and our floundering society, or do we dare to push the envelope of what we can be and accomplish, for the benefit of ourselves and of our teammates? This is the question that these times call forth for us to ponder; and indeed, to answer.

An Intensely Transformational Solar Eclipse New Moon

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Chart for the New Moon on September 12, 2015

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