Eclipse Season, Part One
signs and wonders
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Never in my life have I witnessed such a furor over an eclipse. Certainly, eclipses are always noteworthy and can be spectacular to watch (safely, never looking directly at the eclipse, of course). But this year’s eclipse season has exploded into the collective consciousness in astounding and alarming ways. The Total Solar Eclipse on April 8th is sparking collective angst and a fair amount of prophetic and doomsday rhetoric. However, the lunar eclipse on March 25th is also causing much conversation.
Let’s discuss…
Eclipse Season 2024
The March 25th Lunar Eclipse
Let’s set the stage with a little background information for the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 25th in the constellation of Libra.
On March 20th, the sun shone over the equator for the first time in 2024, marking the spring equinox, zero degrees Aries, the beginning of Aries Season. The next day, the Devil Comet (12P/Pons-Brooks) passed close to the Triangulum Galaxy, the second closest galaxy to the Milky Way after the Andrometer Galaxy. The Triangulum Galaxy is named for its location in the Triangulum Constellation.
Triangulumn - a small northern constellation that is visible between the constellations of Andromeda and Aries and that is represented by the figure of an isosceles triangle. ~ Websters Dictionary
Isosceles Triangle Symbolism
The isosceles triangle, characterized by two equal sides and one unequal side, carries its own unique meaning in spiritual contexts. It represents duality and balance, as the two equal sides symbolize opposing forces or energies coming together in harmony. This symbol is often associated with the concept of yin and yang in Chinese philosophy, where the contrasting forces of light and dark, masculine and feminine, are seen as complementary and interconnected. The isosceles triangle is also a symbol of stability and strength, reflecting the ability to find balance amidst diversity and change. ~ Inner Hunches
Note Bene—I’m pointing out the triangle as a symbol that you may find useful to work with during eclipse season in your own inner explorations. If you’ve had a chance to dive into the Spring Equinox Exploration & Experience Self-guided Creative Retreat, you’ll know that one of the things we look at is the yin and yang symbol in connection to the Equinox.
On March 23rd, the moon is at apogee, its farthest point from Earth. This could indicate that the moon’s influence is briefly diluted and remote, removing intuition in favor of intellect.
On March 24th, Mercury, a planet of communication, commerce, thievery, trickery, and traveling between realms, the messenger of the gods and the one who retrieves Persephone from the Underworld and returns her to Demeter at the beginning of spring, reaches its highest altitude in the evening sky. Mercury’s influence is elevated now.
Finally, on March 25th, we have the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, when the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. This will be visible all across the Americas and last 4.5 hours. A penumbral eclipse is a subtle event in which the moon's light is only dulled, not eclipsed. This dulling of reflected sunlight from the moon’s surface may mean a dampening of intellectual clarity and a heightening to the point of imbalance of intuition or spiritual perceptions during the eclipse.
The earth's shadow passing across the moon means earthly concerns and lower elements and impulses get in the way of higher spiritual sight. Because this eclipse is in Libra, issues involving justice, balance, legalities, contracts, equality, and double standards may be confused and fuzzy, and it may be hard to discern the truth.
This Lunar Eclipse also occurs on the Jewish festival of Purim. The full moon of Purim is also the first full moon after the spring equinox, which sets the date of Easter as the following Sunday.
Let’s look at Purim through the lens of Tarot for a moment and see if we can gather more information about the quality of this lunar eclipse.
The Tarot cards corresponding to the Hebrew letters in Purim are The Tower, sometimes known as the House of God (corresponding to Mars), The Sun, and The Hanged Man (corresponding to Water). Because Hebrew is read right to the left, we could reverse the order to The Hanged Man, The Sun, and The Tower.
There’s all kinds of visual symbolism to explore here.
First, I will point out that the Hanged Man’s legs form an Isosceles triangle (the contrasting forces of dark and light, finding balance amidst change, and the presence of The Tower suggests sudden change.) Purim is a day to remember the Biblical story of Esther, which is often said to be a story of the world turned upside down, apt for the Hanged Man.
We also see the Sun in the center, whether you read left to right or right to left, showing that the Sun continues in its role as a divine enlightener, but in The Tower card, we see the dimming of the lunar light, the darkened sky and a sudden divine (en)lightening strike causing even ordinary people to assume the position of the Hanged Man. Here, I suspect we see a powerful and abrupt occurrence that turns people upside-down, leading to their enlightenment; notice the little sun surrounding the hanged man’s head.
While the lunar eclipse may cast a hazy film over our ability to discern issues of justice, legality, and what the karmic balancing of the scales looks like, the pairing with Purim suggests a sudden divine surge that will rapidly expel poor perception and impart sudden enlightenment. This might come at a cost; the experience may be unpleasant and initially turn you and your world upside-down.
This full moon eclipse occurs not only on Purim but is also the heavenly sign that calculates the date of Easter. So, it is significant in the Christian sphere, and the cards do not disappoint in this realm either.
The Eclipse Before Easter
Let’s look through a mystical Christian lens and see what we might learn.
The Sun is in The Center. In the context of a pre-Easter lunar eclipse, The White Horse seen on the Sun card may be the White Horse from The Apocolypse of John, “a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice, He judges and wages war.” From there, we may view the red feather worn by the Child as the feather of Maat, the Egyptian personification of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice (perfect for a lunar eclipse in Libra) used to weigh a soul after death during judgment. The red banner echoes the act of sacrifice and the cost of redemption (symbols of the Hanged Man.) The Divine Child welcomes you home to the walled garden, a bountiful and balanced paradise filled with sunflowers or little suns. The Sun card is associated primarily with success and, in its more obscure esoteric meaning, is the successful journey of the soul welcomed back to its Origin.
Through this lens, the Tower card can be understood as the Tower of Babel, a symbol of humankind's hubris and the human institutions, systems, and machines we construct to dominate and control our fellows and the earth. Usurping Divine status is never tolerated, and it is no surprise that when we cross the line from reverently emulating the divine and working in service to the Divine Will to claiming divinity for ourselves, we are struck down. This can be seen as righting an imbalance in thinking. Rejoicing in being made in the image of the Divine and achieving wonderful and amazing things using our spiritual gifts sours when we are deluded and begin to think we are the Divine. Toppling worldly institutions and systems is the most obvious way to signal radical recalibration. In light of the Easter story, we could interpret The Tower as the rending of the veil in the temple that opened the holy of holies to the people, showing them the shining reality of God (The Sun card), further making clear the distinction between mortals and the Divine.
Finally, we must look at The Hanged Man. He is often associated with Jesus (though through the lens of Norse myth, he could be Odin hanging from Ygdrassil, sacrificing himself to himself to acquire wisdom and the Runes, a topic for another time.) Here, we see enlightenment and the experience of becoming a new creation, with the old washed away and a new person born. We can come back to the idea that during this lunar eclipse in Libra, something will suddenly cause the people at large to adopt the action of The Hanged Man in imitation of Christ and the truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice of Maat’s feather will be restored as we follow the example of the White Horse and Rider whose name is Faithful and True. The correspondence between Water and the Hanged Man hints that this is a watershed moment when something deep in our personal and collective unconscious shifts.
Aries, The Emperor, and The Devil Comet
This cosmic drama full of eclipses, comets, signs, and wonders began at the Spring Equinox when the sun moved into the constellation of Aries. The coming Total Solar Eclipse will occur on April 8th during a new moon in Aries when the fluctuating Moon is hidden, allowing for solar creativity, understanding, stability, realism, objectivity, and the responsible nature of Aries/The Emperor to become established.
The Emperor is the benevolent ruler who brings justice and order (as opposed to authoritarianism and chaos). The Emperor (corresponding to Aries) is the manifestation of the balancing energies of the spring equinox on Earth. After willingly sacrificing himself, we might imagine that The Hanged Man matures into The Emperor, ruling worldly structures well with wisdom and justice. If the Tower Card topples prideful and unjust systems and wrong perceptions, the way is cleared for renewal during Aries season for the Just and Good Emperor to emerge.
While all this talk of The Emperor and Aries might sound hopeful, we must remember that beginning today on March 21st, the Devil Comet appears near the Triangulum Galaxy; it is the first moment when the comet could conceivably be seen with our eyes, bringing it into our conscious awareness. Now, we perceive the Adversary.
The Devil Comet continues hurling through our neighborhood, peaking in brightness on April 21 and coming closest to Earth on June 2nd.
Symbolically, this is a game changer, particularly when combined with Mercury's prominent influence so close to the lunar eclipse. Is Mercury bringing communication from the gods, acting as a trickster, or both?
Signs and wonders indeed!
Final Thoughts
I sense that both the Lunar Eclipse and the Total Solar Eclipse point to a War in Heaven, so to speak, a fierce battle that seeks to restore balanced creativity, understanding, stability, realism, objectivity, and responsibility in society and individuals. The Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 25th primarily affects individuals, and the coming Total Solar Eclipse will impact the entire nation.
Next week, in Part Two, I’ll explore the Solar Eclipse and its relationship to the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. There is already a flood, no, a tsunami of predictions and pronouncements, facts and fiction about the April 8th eclipse. I would say a new mythology (perhaps a temporary one) is forming around this event, making it significant and worth exploring.
I’m not an astrologer, just to be clear. I’m more of an energy reader who looks deeply, studies traditional Western symbolic systems, and uses Tarot to connect the dots.
If you have observations or questions, post them in the comments. We can then discuss what’s going on in the heavenly realms that can affect us and how we can prepare and respond.
The comments section is a safe and welcoming space to share your insights and experiences.
Comments and conversation are always appreciated and enjoyed, so feel free to let your voice be heard. I read them all and try to respond to each one.
March Tarot Offerings
In March, I am offering Spring Equinox Tarot Readings. I will draw pairs of cards to explore balance and imbalance in your life. This reading is very flexible and can be personalized to your concerns and situations.
45 min. Spring Equinox reading ~ $99
Paid Hedge Mystic Subscribers ~ $79
Other types of readings are available; learn about them HERE
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I really enjoyed reading your explanation, thank you. I have to say, as a full time Tarot reader, I have noticed a lot of delay recently and things coming to a head in the 1st half of April! All make sense to the transitional space a lot of people seem to be inhabiting just at the moment, waiting for significant change. Death seems to be making a regular appearance in readings, to me dramatic change, a major crossroad and leaving the past behind and entering into a new and better place (birth and renewal) and or at least getting some clarity, one way or another, of where you are headed at last. I always find it interesting that if Death is in a reading the Sun card is often in the same relationship in the reading as in the card! Sometimes replaced by the Ace of Coins which is a replica of the Sun anyway. To me this is comforting as it shows that no matter how bad things maybe good things are to come out of the change. While one has to deal with pain and loss I am always amazed at how some readers prefer doom and gloom rather than seeing the positive change can bring.
Jan, your concluding thought leaves me with a question: "a fierce battle that seeks to restore balanced creativity, understanding, stability, realism, objectivity, and responsibility in society and individuals"
Clearly the unrest is palpable here on earth. How or when will we know where this battle is meant to take us? Or is that for each of us, as individuals, to decide?