Eclipses touch us.
Eclipses indicate periods of transition and change.
They primarily affect things at a worldly level but if you pay attention you’ll notice that they influence us at a personal level too.
Next week we’ll have the first of 3 eclipses that all occur within one month of each other. (June 1, June 15, July 1.)
According to jyotish, eclipses are events to be aware of because they tend to block energy rather than facilitate it, causing disruption rather than flow.
Knowing the specifics helps us act accordingly.
Here are some tips for making the most of eclipse periods.
On the Day of the Eclipse
The actual day of an eclipse is not a good day to initiate major events or plans.
However, it’s an especially powerful day for resting, quiet time, and for spiritual or inner focus. (Note that jyotish considers each day as going from sunrise to sunrise.)
It’s not uncommon that on the day of an eclipse, things get “eclipsed”. Letters or emails go missing, important phone calls don’t get returned, trips go awry, reservations get dropped; things like that. So either do these things on a different day or plan to do a bit of extra followup.
It’s not recommended to go outside to view an eclipse, especially if you’re pregnant.
On a Solar Eclipse
Consider that the Sun represents your self and how you shine in the world.
Because this light is blocked, it’s not a good day for trying to impress people or to strongly rely on your authority.
Instead, it’s a great day for inner and/or spiritual pursuits, especially those where you take some time out to investigate, recognize, and honor your own self and who or what you are.
On a Lunar Eclipse
It so happens that Rahu and Ketu, the grahas that cause eclipses, often cause confusion in whatever realm they influence.
The Moon represents your perceptive mind, your moods, emotions, and intuition. You may find that your intuitions or moods are disrupted or feel confusing to you.
It’s not a good day to be involved in things where you need to rely on your emotions or intuitions as part of major decisions.
You also may want to avoid situations where you need to be on an even keel or situations that are emotionally volatile.
But it is a good day to explore those things quite deeply, go deep and really feel, and it’s a good day for some deep meditation and quiet time.
The Time Between Eclipses
The time between eclipses is not a good time for beginning new ventures. If at all possible, launch that new project either before the first eclipse or after the last. (That means not during June this year.)
But it is an excellent time for finishing up old business, and completing those projects you’ve already begun. Cleaning up loose ends also includes things like cleaning house and letting go of old baggage of various kinds. Have any of that? 😉
The Time After an Eclipse
First, it’s interesting to watch world events as they unfold following a set of eclipses.
A rule of thumb is that their effects last about 6 months.
In December I noticed that the January eclipse was in a Nakshatra related to water and because there was another water-related conjunction going on indicating sudden events, I suggested there may be some difficult water-related catastrophes coming up. Sure enough, look at all the water-related disasters that have been going on (e.g. epic tsunami-related disasters in Japan, floods in Australia, and record flooding along the Mississippi in the U.S.)
So if you watch world events, you’ll notice they often reflect the eclipse indications in an obvious way.
And then, if you know your chart positions, you can see if your Ascendant or any planets are at the eclipse degree. If so, you’ll want to take special care in areas represented by that planet and its position for 2 weeks following that eclipse especially and for the next 6 months in general.
The Upcoming June/July Eclipses
Next week, I’ll give you some specifics about the 3 upcoming eclipses.
So if you want even more tips, please check back!
[Update: First article with details about the June 1 eclipse is posted and can be found here.]
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14 Responses to “How to Make the Best of Upcoming Eclipses”
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“But it is an excellent time for finishing up old business, and completing those projects you’ve already begun. ”
That sounds just wonderful. I might get time to actually finish my personification book, then! Finally the world shall know of MY (and no one elses, of course) discovery! 😛
Thanks for the article and I’m looking forward to knowing about the coming eclipses and if there’s something I need to be extra aware of.
Hi Sol,
Well, that sounds like a plan! Glad you can adjust and/or work with the timing — that’s what it’s all about. AND I’ll look forward to your book. How exciting!
Thanks for coming by; nice to see you, as always!
Hi Patti,
Loved this! What degrees do the eclipses fall on? My ephemeris is in storage!
This is going to work out perfectly for taking the month of June to finish up the project I’m working on.
Thank you for sharing this great information with us!
Hi Angela,
I’m going to do degrees and indications in my next article, but let’s see: June 1 is Tropical 11° Gemini 02′, Sidereal 17° Taurus 6′; June 15 is Tropical 24° Sagittarius 23′, Sidereal 0° Sagittarius 22′; and July 1 is Tropical 9° Cancer 11′, Sidereal 15° Gemini 16′. So there ya have it, from one astrologer to another! 😉
And finishing up seems to be the theme… I think it’s funny how people often seem so glad to hear that. We’ve all got those projects that can benefit from that, and it feels soooo gooood to finish! Good luck!
Thanks for coming by, AND for your retweet! You are SO sweet!!
Wow. I’ve always ‘felt’ eclipses were significant but never really understood how or why. Can I ask why it is recommended we don’t look at the eclipse?
I can’t wait to read more details about each eclipse. What kind of impact is having 3 in a row so close together going to have, do you think?
Hi Lindsay,
The idea of not looking at eclipses is born, I think, simply of the idea that they are negative events. The two grahas (“seizers”, the sanskrit word that we translate to planet) that cause them are not often pleasant to work with. It may sound kind of superstitious in our day and age, but on new year’s eve 2009, my daughter in law looked at the total lunar eclipse (and so did I, it was beautiful) while she was preganant. The baby is wonderful, but she had an extremely difficult delivery. Her labor went on for days… and days. So… I like to mention it so people consider their options.
As to 3 in a row, well, usually they do occur in pairs. I don’t think 3 in a row in itself is an issue except that there will be another 50% more disrupting going on. I’ll get a better sense what that might mean when I look more closely, so please stay tuned for my next eclipse article later this week, k?
Thanks for coming by and chiming in. Always nice to see you.
Hi Patti,
Congrats on your awesome article in the A list Blogging news. Your an incredible writer. I thought you should know that:)
Hi Tess,
Thank you!!! Yes, quite the surprise as you well know. I didn’t even discover it until more than a day after because I’ve been having a rare holiday weekend. But that Mary is such a sweetie to host me! I’ve learned so much from her and A-list (including you) I could probably write forever about it.
And I don’t know about “incredible” writer (so sweet coming from you who truly ARE an incredible writer), but I make do 😉
Thanks so much for the compliment and the congrats. It means a lot to me. (AND thank you for retweeting!)
This is very interesting Patti, thank you. I’m very sensitive to the moon phases, but I didn’t know all this about eclipses…so I’m looking forward to reading your next post!
Hi Cristina,
I’m thinking that since you notice your sensitivity to Moon phases, then it would be interesting to see if you feel anything different when there’s an eclipse (lunar OR solar.) Probably so. People who are not as sensitive may not notice anything.
Thanks for coming by!