Eclipse Watch

For some reason, one of my favorite astrological phenomena is the eclipse.  Sometimes I do mini-readings for people based solely on sun sign and it amazes me how often people ask about the areas of their lives that are undergoing an eclipse cycle.  The next eclipses are scheduled for September 7 and September 22 in the signs of Virgo and Pisces.  What does this mean to you? 

Well, all of us--you and I and everyone else--are in the early stages of an approximately two year cycle designed to bring changes in some area of our lives.  All of us are actually always in the midst of one eclipse cycle or another. It's part of the cyclic nature of life.  You can find out what area of your life is scheduled for change during this cycle by looking for your sun sign in the chart below: 

Aries and Libra:  Job changes, hidden things coming to light

Taurus and Scorpio:  Changes in love and friendship, creativity and children

Gemini and Sagittarius:  Changes in career and residential or family matters

Cancer and Capricorn:  Changes in matters relating to education, travel, communication or matters relating to foreign enterprises

Leo and Aquarius:  Changes related to financial matters

Virgo and Pisces:  Personal changes and growth, changes in key relationships

That's a pretty incomplete list, but it will give you a rough idea.  To me, it's exciting that there is always at least one area of our lives targeted by the universe for growth.  Not everyone agrees.  Astrological thinking on eclipses varies.  The ancients felt that visible eclipses signaled calamities and dire events.  Some modern astrologers consider them insignificant at best. 

I fall somewhere in the middle.  I find them fascinating.  Not all eclipses produce much of an effect.  Some produce quite startling ones.  There may actual be a physical basis for the ancient association between eclipses and natural disasters. I saw on TV that at least one researcher thinks eclipses may be associated with earthquakes and floods because changes in the gravitational pull of the moon during eclipses can trigger effects below the surface the earth's crust.  On a less dramatic note, I also read recently that a soil scientist has documented that drought and rainfall patterns in parts of the US Midwest follow an 18.6 year cycle that tracks with eclipse patterns. 

Geological effects aside, one of the things that intrigues me about eclipse cycles in human affairs is that they illustrate the often seemingly backwards nature of the way the universe can work to improve our lives.  They seem to work on a two steps backward, three steps forward principle.  I vividly recall one eclipse series I went through in my financial houses in which at the beginning of the cycle my income went down, upsetting me greatly. By the end of the cycle, I had received a big unexpected windfall and was making more money than I ever had.  During another eclipse cycle highlighting my love life, I endured a breakup at the beginning of the cycle.  By the end I had a much better boyfriend.  I've seen eclipses work with the same pattern (backwards then forwards) in other areas of my life. 

If you aren't aware of eclipse cycles, they can be unnoticeable.  Their effects can be subtle.  But, in my experience, they are real. 

One of my vices is to collect data from people who don't give a darn about astrology.  That is, I'm curious about their lives and always want to know what's going on, how they're doing. It frequently amazes me how often people who neither know nor care about astrology will talk about events that I recognize as being part of an eclipse cycle.  In my view, the ceaseless, orderly patterns of the universal cycles of life make for an ever-changing kaleidoscope as people go through their stages of growth, as if on cue. 

The reason eclipses are on my mind tonight is that I've already heard a couple of people mention things related to their current eclipse cycles.  Eclipses are funny in that the events, realizations, or pieces of information associated with them can come to light anywhere from about five or six weeks before the date of the eclipse to an equal amount of time afterward.  I actually tracked when eclipse events happened for a period of several years and found that there was no particular way to tell when an eclipse event would occur during that time frame, other than that events seem to cluster around the date of the eclipse itself or about a month before or after. 

The actual events associated with the eclipses often came as something of a surprise to the people affected.  Sometimes a minor surprise, sometimes not so minor.  In spite of my knowledge, I find myself surprised by the eclipse events in my own life more often than not.  Still, once you know about eclipse cycles you have an advantage in that you become aware of an area of your life that can significantly improve by the end of the cycle. If you're unhappy on the job, for example, and you know that your current eclipse cycle is job-related, you can actively work on your own behalf to cooperate with any and all changes the eclipses bring. You'll know that they can signal an opportunity to gain a better situation. You'll also know not to be too thrown off, depressed, or upset when the "two steps backward" phenomenon takes place early in the cycle. 

It is my hope that by talking a little bit about eclipse cycles, some of you will be able to take advantage of them in your own lives.