The New Moon Solar Eclipse is a powerful time to reflect on necessary changes and embark on a transformative journey. This influence challenges us to identify our inner motivations and create a more conscious inner world. This week, consider asking yourself what your deepest motivations are and how you can align your actions with them.
The cycle of Solar Eclipses occurs every six months, and the most recent cycle started on April 19 at 9:12 pm PT with the Sun and Moon at 29° Aries. In astrology, 29° is known as a “finishing degree” and marks both the ending and beginning of cycles and often brings a sense of urgency or pressure to complete things. In a finishing degree, a Solar Eclipse can feel paradoxical as it brings the emergence of new seed ideas and events but also reminds us of unresolved matters that need attention. To find harmony between these conflicting energies, it can be helpful to acknowledge that every ending holds the potential for a fresh start and that life is a continuous flow between these two states.
A Solar Eclipse can powerfully affect our lives, especially when it makes strong connections to our natal chart. Eclipses are archetypal catalysts for change and push us to make shifts in specific areas of our lives. The effects of a Solar Eclipse, which can last for at least a month, may institute changes we will need to work on for the next six months or until the next Solar Eclipse. For this reason, it is essential to pay attention to what’s happening during this time and reflect on what changes need to be made in our lives. Contrary to popular belief, eclipses are not necessarily negative or ominous. By navigating the challenges of an eclipse cycle, we can experience profound personal growth and transformation.
Pluto at 0° Aquarius plays a dynamic role in this eclipse cycle as it is in a near exact square to the Sun/Moon conjunction. Pluto intensifies whatever it touches, amplifying our connections with strong forces in the world and within ourselves. Pluto challenges us to become more aware of our deepest inner motivations, which may be difficult to face or confront due to these issues being repressed. If we do not become aware of how these unconscious impulses greatly influence our behavior, it can lead to emotional eruptions or a tendency to use force. Using excessive force to push things forward often stems from our ego and results in harmful outcomes. Therefore, it’s crucial to identify what’s behind the intense emotions. The eclipse in this challenging alignment with Pluto suggests we may feel the need to take extreme positions or experiencing others taking strong positions on matters, which in turn have the potential for profound unintended consequences. This emphasizes the urgency to be cognizant when we feel reactive behavior coming on and endeavor to trace its roots before acting out.
Pluto represents the archetypal principle of “purity” or “essence” that helps us determine what is genuinely authentic within ourselves. However, this process can be challenging and requires effort, compassion, and healing. It takes courage to discover the desires, motivations and values operating deep in our unconscious. Bringing them into our awareness involves being honest with ourselves and embracing both our strengths and weaknesses. By doing so, we become stronger, more mature and authentic. When we work to take responsibility for our reactions and emotions, we also create a more stable inner world and feel empowered to face all of life’s twists and turns with resilience. This plutonic process of self-discovery not only leads to healing old wounds that trigger destructive patterns, but also transforms us into living a more spontaneously creative, soul-directed life. This process of exploring who we are and experiencing life’s deeper meaning is what Joseph Campbell called the “hero’s journey.”
In just two days, we will also enter the Mercury Retrograde cycle, which also asks us to review and look more deeply at some areas of our life. Mercury turns retrograde on April 21 at 15° Taurus and returns to 5° Taurus where it will turn direct on May 14. We’ll write more on in upcoming articles but for now, this Mercury retrograde occurring in sync with the eclipse cycle is significant and points to possible areas needing change involving our perceptions of situations that arise and/or how we communicate with others about what we’re experiencing.
By using this time to reflect and make positive changes, we can make the most out of the Soli-Lunar Cycle and set ourselves up for growth and transformation in the months ahead.
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