February 15th: New Moon Solar Eclipse

This New Moon Solar Eclipse takes place in the sign of Aquarius, one of the 88 recorded constellations suspended above us in our night sky. It occurs on a Thursday, ruled by Jupiter. The Sun is in Aquarius, and so is our Moon. This partial solar eclipse sits right in the middle of two highly unusual Blue Moon months. At this time, the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth, but slightly out of alignment. That’s why there’s a shadow on the Sun, blocking out some of the light. Things appear slightly different. We may be forced to look more closely, a bit differently, now that we have an invitation into the abyss of beginnings. What can this blank slate look like for us? Is it the cool marble of the Moon? The burning explosion of the Sun? Or a new, hopeful combination of the two?

One day, Grandmother Moon will be too far away from Earth to totally eclipse the Sun—in another 538 million years. But for now, we have eclipses about every 173 days. This eclipse is partial; only the outer part of the Moon’s shadow can be seen on Earth. This eclipse can be seen only in parts of South America, the Pacific, and Antarctica. We can work with the energy of a solar eclipse New Moon all the same. That is to say, an eclipse can be described as a New Moon in ALL CAPS. Different ground to break. A new beginning to start. A fresh breath to inhale up into your lungs, shooting up your throat, opening up your crown, projecting your vision wide and clear. A different, clearer space to jump into.

Our waking up continues. Another opportunity for movement lies herein. This New Moon Solar Eclipse may call us to examine, define, and embark on new projects and legacies of our lives. As we are beginning to think of the collective more and more, we may be thinking of healing 
connections on larger levels than ever before. More and more, we may be examining our relationship to the whole, the duties that beckon to us as compassionate, conscious humans. Our intentions ripple out in undulating layers and planes. They are imbedded in the energy and intentions we bestow in our daily actions, the relationships we have with those around us, the types of work we take on, the ways we choose to communicate, the messages we try to convey, as well as the various mechanisms we inspire in the greater public. Truly, we are all stars: pinpoints of consciousness in the massive web of life.

What few things can you do, today through the weekend, to beckon in fresh ideas, different forms of consciousness, new commitments to your healing?

Think back to the last major lunar event that happened in the sign of Aquarius, six months ago: the partial lunar eclipse on August 7th. Some of us could be coming to an ending or wrap-up around themes or patterns that started or heightened for you during the hot, hot month of 
August 2017. Do you remember what was happening for you? Can you look back in your journals, or in your last workbook? Can you remember what was happening in the collective? Here’s a memory jog: unrest. Violence. Longstanding institutional hatreds and bigotry glaringly unmasked. Upheaval. Very, very fast change. Polarities almost shocking in their great divide. 
Actions of collective resistance. Actions of collective love.

Eclipses are always innocent. All celestial events are. It’s us tiny humans who feel so out of control so much of the time, trying to project the good, the bad, the ugly, the scary onto them. Funny how we see ourselves as so very evolved from ancient times and their archaic, agricultural customs, yet so many of us play out the same superstitions, still share the same fears, albeit through crystal screens in our hands. Everything can always be looked at as a curse or seen as an opportunity. Remember, a closed door in one place only means another door down the hall and up the stairs must be knocked on. Darlings, at this time, pay close attention to your world. Your perceptions of things. Pay close attention to messages, themes, patterns welling up in your personal narrative. How your story connects to the collective’s themes. Take note of them. Open up to really seeing them and naming them. This pertains to the positive. This pertains to the gifts that you know you have that must be expressed for your higher self. For the collective. This pertains to the healing that occurs when we embark on the path that has been waiting for us on the other side of the darkness. When we are finally tired of shivering, we grab a sweater, turn on the kettle, and start a fire. We walk out alone, flashlight in hand, and finally find the trailhead. It was there all along. Somehow, we couldn’t see it in the distractions of the daylight.

This is now the time to begin. To turn the page. Start your next chapter. Eclipses can be sneaky shaker-uppers, sideways elevators, a unicycle ride across state lines. Eclipses can be a secret locked tunnel with a lock box code that was written on your forehead the whole time; you just had to look in a clearer mirror upside down to see it. An eclipse can feel like the invisible ink finally getting close enough to a lightbulb, a Polaroid image that finally got shaken up enough.

At the time of an eclipse, we have the Sun (a star), not quite aligned with the Moon (our satellite), not quite aligned with the Earth (our home planet): that’s what makes the shadow, via our perception of the celestial event. Our consciousness can be affected—after all, this is a slightly out-of-the-ordinary cosmic event. With both the Sun and the Moon being in Aquarius, we have a doubt dose of fixed air! Consciousness can be altered and expanded, perceptions can be affected—inspiration can strike. The movie screen projector of our life may need an upgrade. The lens might need dusting off. The bulb might need to be replaced with a rosier colored one. Think about if you were watching a movie of your own life. Would it be entertaining? Annoying in its repetition? Do you need to write a new script at this time?

Remember that you are the star of your own life. Remember that you can change. Your mind. Your patterns. Our brains remain elastic; we can always change the pathways. Remember that our consciousness is located 
everywhere and nowhere. We can tap into new and different sources all the time. It just takes a little experimentation and a suspension of wanting to control outcomes. It just takes listening to new music, learning a new language. Plugging into a different outlet. Changing the channel when you are sick of the static, or working with the fuzziness and turning it into a touring noise band. Remember that you are allowed.

In the Tarot, the card that is associated with the sign of Aquarius is The Star: a welcome sight to see after the usually brutal and disorienting experiences and lessons of The Devil and The Tower, the two preceding cards before her. An almost otherworldly woman crouches, one foot on water, one foot on land, pouring an endless supply of water out. The star symbols evoke the Star of Isis, symbol of the annual flood that nourished ancient Egypt. This is illustrated in the traditional Rider-Waite-Colman-Smith deck in the ibis positioned in the background of the card. The ibis is the first to leave before a storm hits, and the first to come back. This card represents a homecoming to ourselves after many travails, the true healing that can take place when we allow ourselves to be as vulnerable as we can be, truly laid bare to bask in the beams of starlight, nurtured by the cleansing waters of an unwavering source. We may be finding ourselves at the precipice of a new dawn. This New Moon can symbolize the hope of the new, the relief of finding a different way forward.

Alone in the night, The Star is aligned with her purpose. When we give away as much as we take, and nourish as much as we allow ourselves to be nourished, there’s a smooth balance and equilibrium. We don’t hesitate to cry to our friend because next time, it is our pleasure to listen to her tears. We feel fine about asking our roommate to cook because next week, you’ll bring home takeout, no problem. That’s what this card illustrates. Glimmering tides lapping gently at shores. The whoosh of a grey wing rustling on the wind. Being carried by the trust that what we receive is matched by what we give. If you need to do work around expectations of yourself or others, if there is clearing that needs to be done, if it is time to ask for more help in general in your life, this card can indicate that now is an opportune time to do so.

The Star card also illustrates rest and healing, and if it is time for you to take a dedicated break, please find a hot tub or spa this weekend. Make an acupuncture appointment. Allow your brain chemistry to rest in meditation, dreaming. Lie on your floor, listening to music. The Star exhibits an undying hope for the future. Now freed from the limitations and chaos of The Tower, the figure is naked, unmasked, replenished with nothing to hide. She gazes softly at her visage in the reflected water, able to see clearly for the first time in a great while. The eight stars above her provide light and inspiration. Tonight and this weekend could be an optimal time to create, to make art, poetry, songs, or strategies. Look high above your head for clarity and insights. Pay attention to the pin cushions of light that poke through the velvety cold New Moon sky. Know that the same matter that floats in the cosmos can be found in your body, your cells.

The Star card is Key 17, or, an 8, when we reduce it down. (1+7=8.) There are 8 stars in the card’s sky, each with 8 points. This is also the number of Pagan sabbats in the wheel of the year. In Islam, an eight-pointed star is the “seal of the prophet.” In Chinese tradition, it was a way to concisely depict the entirety of the Universe. In Christianity, the eight-pointed star can mean regeneration and can represent baptism. In Hinduism, it is the Star of Lakshmi. Ancient Babylonians affixed its meaning to the goddess Ishtar. It takes eight minutes for the Sun’s light to touch the Earth. There are eight notes in the tonal scale. In the Tarot minors, the themes of eight are fulfillment, movement, growth, living out your path, and being “in the zone” more often than not. They encompass healthy stability and being fully functioning in your realm of genius. They are indicative of the positive, quick transformation that occurs when we are in profound alignment with our path and work. We can think about this symbol as one of source, as one of spirit, as the light within connecting to all the other various forms of celestial and natural light. As within, so without. As above, so below.

Almost every element that exists on this planet, including us, is a reflection of the cosmos. Almost every element we have on Earth was formed at the heart of a dying star. The supernova explodes, spewing iron, nickel, carbon, hydrogen, helium, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon into the universe, dispersing across planets, space, and time. This celestial matter shows up in us, in our beloved bodies, in every cell. Our cells fade away and are renewed frequently. Our bodies are made of the residual of stars that exploded in galaxies thousands of years before we were born. We are made of star-stuff, Carl Sagan famously said. You are a star. We are all stars.

How do you invoke the Star, the Sacred Star that You Are? By showing up with presence. By locating your honest self and honoring that truth. By being willing to be naked and replenished by simply being. By focusing on actions and words that are loving, clear, and kind. By stepping into the movie of your life, even if there’s some script rewriting to be done. By holding fast to the valuable pieces of the puzzle you’ve painstakingly put together so far—pieces that have been scrounged together after many setbacks, a dumpster’s worth of shattered glasses, bloody bandages, and multiple urns of tears. The glimmers of radiance are here to be excavated and extolled. You are not meant to hide your light. These are all gifts to your personal altar of healing. These are all markers you leave on your own trail. It is time for you to show us all your gifts. Rough, raw, blemished, or challenging, honesty and authenticity, hope and faith, are the lights we all need.

The Moon, the Sun, the Stars, and this eclipse are all mirrors. They reflect our own light and shadows back to us. All of us stars, orbiting our own path. All of us stars, pinpoints of consciousness in the greater web we weave, lit up from within. Shining brightly, refracting with all of our beauty and all of our breakthroughs.

Journaling questions for this New Moon, you may wish to pull cards:
Where am I ready to heal?
How can I do this at this time?
Where am I ready to take up more space?
Where am I ready to be more authentic?
What invocations am I ready to invent?
What would the movie of my new life be called?
What would the soundtrack be?

How am I ready to embody The Star?

Suggested affirmation: “I am my own North Star. I allow my unique light to shine brightly. I allow myself to be changed. I allow myself to be change.”

 A Suggested New Moon Ritual

A simple cleansing bath

You will need:
A place to take a private bath or shower
A scrubber/exfoliation sponge of some kind
Salt
Lavender or lavender oil

Violets or violet oil
Kunzite
Blue kyanite
A candle or two

As you run the water for your bath, ground and center yourself in your body. Envision what you want to invoke during this next cycle, imagine it filling you up with colors, sensations, and images. Place the herbs, salt, crystals in the bath, and light your candle(s). Turn out all the lights. Slip into the bath and get relaxed, emptying your mind. Begin scrubbing as much of your body as you can, from your toes up to your neck. Once you’ve sloughed a bunch of cells off, recenter. Spend as much time as you need invoking your desires and your new story into your body. Imagine the light of the candle on the wall as the projector of your new movie. Try to visualize your dreams and new behaviors onto the light. Take as long as you need to make some of the scenes become forms in the flame—until you feel a shift in your spirit.

This excerpt is from Many Moons. To buy your own copy, go here.

To work with Sarah, book here.