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You are here: Home / Archives for lunar

July 5, 2020 By Janet Booth Leave a Comment

Holy Uncle-Samoly!

It’s our country’s “birthday” and not very often is there a Full Moon at the anniversary of our independence. It’s even more special if it’s a lunar eclipse! Since eclipses can repeat after nineteen years, this has happened before. A lunar eclipse occurred on July 4 in 1936. Repeats came within a day or two of the fourth, and thus in a 1-2° “orb” (or range of influence) of our “solar return” (the astrological equivalent of a birthday), in 1944, 1963, 1982, 2001 and 2020, which is the last in this series.

With such a big deal as a lunar eclipse on a birthday, we’d expect big events to be associated with it or to occur “around” that time (possibly months before or after). Looking back, we indeed see these years have indeed been very important.

1936

We were in the midst of the New Deal during the Depression and the three-year “dust bowl” was coming to an end. Gone With The Wind was published. African-American athlete Jesse Owens won the 100-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics. The US joined an international brigade to help fight for Spain in the Spanish Civil War.

1944

The tide was turning in the Allies’ favor in WWII with D Day and the liberation of Guam. The gang rape of a black mother by six white men in Alabama, and the failure to indict any of them, provokes nationwide protest and activism among the African-American community. FDR was re-elected for an unprecedented fourth term (which he would not complete). A Supreme Court decision ended “white primaries” in the South in which only whites could vote.

1963

Travel, financial and commercial transactions between the US and Cuba are outlawed. In George Wallace’s inaugural speech as governor of Alabama, he proclaims, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever!” amidst a year of major Civil Rights protests. The Supreme Court rules that state courts must provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants who cannot afford their own attorneys, and that Bible-reading in schools in unconstitutional. And of course, the assassination of JFK was the biggest story in 1963.

1982

Amidst a powder keg of anti Asian-American animosity in Michigan, a young Chinese-American was beaten to death in a strip club at his bachelor party by two white auto-workers (a planet supervisor and his laid-off stepson), who thought he was Japanese and the cause of the declining American auto industry. An economic downturn from July 1981 to November 1982 was triggered by tight monetary policy in an attempt to fight inflation. (This was the worst economic downturn to date in the US since the Great Depression.) Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil and Republican President Ronald Reagan reach a deal to cut spending and raise taxes. After November election, the stock market soars to a new high.

2001

The giant game-changing story of 2001 was the terrorist attack on 9/11, so you might not remember other key events. For instance, despite a recession beginning in March, a giant tax cut favoring the wealthy was passed in May and signed into law in early June, two days after Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party, shifting control of the Senate to Democrats. In April, an unarmed Black teenager was shot in a police pursuit (wanted on misdemeanors like driving without a seat belt), sparking four days of protest and unrest considered the largest urban disturbance in the US since the 1992 Watts uprising. Following 9/11, the Patriot Act gave sweeping surveillance powers to the government, infringing on 4th Amendment privacy rights. The US invaded Afghanistan, President Bush withdrew the US from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and China was granted permanent normal trade status with the US.

2020

President Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for attempting to withhold aid to a foreign government in exchange for information he hoped would affect the upcoming election. He was not convicted by Republican Senators, who refused to hear witness testimony. A virus pandemic enveloped the globe and the US has failed in its response, reaching record cases and deaths. Black Lives Matter marches have continued non-stop since the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man suspected of passing a forged $20 bill. Just ahead of our birthday, news emerged of Russian bounties paid to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, where the 19-year-long war continues. The President claimed not to know and now seems disinclined to do anything about it. And we’re only half-way through 2020.

The US was born with Mercury in retrograde and we seem to repeat some of the same situations over and over, not learning our lesson. Get ready for more of that. Mercury was ending a backtrack at the 2000 election and remember that hanging chad debacle? Mercury ends its retrograde this November on Election Day, too; don’t be surprised by unclear results or disputed vote counts.

Mercury is retrograde at our birthday, a time when the influences present extend their sway for the coming year. We should think twice before doing anything major to try to avoid what we might regret. Mercury is in a troublesome “T-square” pattern across from the Moon, both perpendicular to the duo of Mars and Chiron, which are a little over 5° apart. Mercury in Cancer inclines us to be whiny and express our feelings, although the Moon in mature Capricorn counters with a stiff upper lip. The Mars-Chiron combo adds gripes about illness or wounds. These two are in Aries, fomenting heated discussions with hurtful potential.

Mars, Aries’ ruling planet, spends the second half of 2020 in a long visit in its home sign due to a retrograde there beginning mid-September. Arguments and impatience are likely to cause trouble and the possibility of armed conflict or martial law are not out of the question, although not necessarily occurring in America. Hong Kong comes to mind as a hotspot and this lunar eclipse is accentuated on the North/South line there. The Middle East is always precarious, as well. At the summer solstice (providing indications for the summer season), Mars and Chiron lines enclosed Israel, Jordon, Lebanon and Syria. When Mars entered Aries on June 27, one of its lines ran right through the Straits of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil travels.

This year, we can’t get away from the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, which promises big changes in finances, governments, laws and international relations. Pluto also happens to rule viruses and death. The second of three occurrences was on June 29 (the first being April 4 and the last coming November 12). Throughout their alignment, both are square Eris, the dwarf planet of discord and rivalry. Mars joined in the fray around the time of the spring equinox as it passed through Capricorn and will add to the trouble when it joins Eris in Aries three times: August 17, October 3 and December 22. Seeing this coming down the pike and noting the lunar eclipse at our birthday, last fall in my 2020 Highlights, I remarked “Holy Uncle-Samoly!” not knowing what all would develop. Current events are even more dramatic than anything I could imagine, and who knows what’s coming next. Enjoy the fireworks!

Filed Under: Featured Post Tagged With: birthday, eclipse, lunar, repeat, USA

June 6, 2020 By Janet Booth

A Trio of Summer of Eclipses

Most of the time when we have eclipses, there’s a pair, one new moon and one full moon, in either order. Not as often, there’s a trio, like we have in 2020. When there are three, none of them is likely to be total, and indeed, none of this trio is. The first eclipse is a lunar eclipse full moon on June 5. Next is a solar eclipse new moon, exactly on the summer solstice – and that combination is very rare and extremely potent. Third is another lunar eclipse full moon, this one on Uncle Sam’s birthday July 4-5 in the overnight wee hours. When there’s a full moon on a birthday, it points to a big year and an important crescendo, even more so when it’s an eclipse!

Eclipses by definition occur near the path of the North and South Nodes (which are an intersection of the Moon-Earth orbit and the Earth-Sun orbit). They form an axis of opposite degrees which slowly moves backward through the zodiac at a pace of about eighteen months per pair of signs. The Nodes have just left Cancer-Capricorn and moved into Gemini-Sagittarius. The North Node shows us the direction for growth even if growing pains are part of the process. The South Node shows what it would be beneficial to shed or put in the past. The South Node also shows what comes easily, which we can fall back on or use as a springboard to go toward the hard things the North Node is calling for.

The new instructions beckon us to bring out the best of Gemini: curiosity, education, communication and community. Using Sagittarius associations in positive ways will help us in that regard, such as higher principles or religious beliefs, freedom, the media and the internet, and international contact. The old slogan “Think Globally, Act Locally” expresses it best. Negative Sagittarius traits might hold us back, such as not being serious enough, being easily sidetracked and pontificating. We’re finishing a period of moving in the direction of Cancer energy: caring concern and a love of home, family and nation. What we should have been leaving behind are negative Capricorn affiliations: judgment, authoritarianism and repression.

The June 5 full moon eclipse is in Sagittarius highlighting the South Node newly into Sagittarius. Laws relate to this sign and there are some old ones that could stand to be changed. A key feature of this eclipse is the Moon and Sun forming a T-square pattern with Mars, the planet of anger and action. We see this shown by the protest marches around the world. Mars in Pisces isn’t usually outwardly angry, but Pisces is the sign of the underdog, so that’s who people are fighting for now. Mercury is in Cancer, indicating emotional communication, and Mercury is riding high in the sky, beyond the Sun’s range that defines the normal planetary path (said to be “out of bounds”). Voices are loud and will not be silenced.

In two weeks, summer begins the afternoon of June 20 and less than nine hours later, the new moon solar eclipse in Cancer kicks off the new season with a bang. What happens at the time a season changes reverberates throughout the following three months. The Moon and Sun at the first degree of Cancer are a little more than a degree away from the North Node at the end of Gemini, emphasizing our new marching orders to look around, listen, learn and speak up. Because Cancer is a water sign, we put feeling into these endeavors.

The eclipse chart set in our nation’s capital has Uranus on the rise, less than three degrees from the horizon (Ascendant). This could bring rebelliousness and surprises. Uranus in Taurus can literally mean sudden movement of the earth, such as earthquakes, not necessarily that one will happen in the DC area (but it’s not unheard of – there was one in 2011). Mars is still in Pisces, close to this sign’s ruling planet, Neptune (adding even more emotion and sympathy). Its square with the Sun, nearly exact on June 5, continues, now about five degrees from exact. This would mean its effects are dissipating somewhat except that this eclipse is at the season change, so the fiery feelings persist throughout the summer season, reinforced by the Moon being exactly square Mars at the solstice.

The most difficult of the trio of eclipses is apt to be the third in early July. By then, Mars is the sign it rules, Aries, having entered on June 27. Mars spends the remainder of 2020 in Aries, a long time in one sign, because it’s retrograde here from September 9 to November 13. This powerful planet at its strongest can bring impatience, decisive action (whether wise or rash), selfishness and war or military involvement. At this eclipse, Mars is approaching Chiron a little more than five degrees away (they join July 14). Chiron can show where a weakness needs to be strengthened or a wound needs to be healed. Mars wants us to take action to cure what ails us. This eclipse is also very near the second of three conjunctions of Jupiter and Pluto (June 29), which portend big changes, extremes in economic matters, and the potential for high death tolls. Covid-19 is not going away any time soon, unfortunately, and the economy is still in serious danger.

This is a precarious time! On the individual level, improving communication and maintaining perspective and humor are in keeping with the Gemini-Sagittarius nodal shift. The robust Mars energy can be utilized for physical activity and competing. Be careful of temper and try to find ways to channel anger into constructive action.

Filed Under: Featured Post Tagged With: Aries, Chiron, eclipse, lunar, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, out of bounds, Pisces, solar, solstice, summer

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