Annular Solar Eclipse February 2017

‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat. 'I don't much care where -' said Alice. 'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat. '- so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation. 'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.’ – Lewis Carroll

Surreal, chaotic, unthinkable, drastic and disorientating: the delusional soap opera is unfolding under our eyes. Where are we heading? Holding the ‘not knowing’ and the longing to get SOMEWHERE is the challenge symbolised in yesterday’s solar eclipse. It was an annular eclipse with the sun in the full shadow of the earth for over three hours, so the ‘download’ of this eclipse is said to be active at least three years.

'Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to. Don’t try to see through the distances. That’s not for human beings. Move within, but don’t move the way fear makes you move' – Rumi

Avoiding moving ‘the way fear makes you move’ is the key. The new reference points are within not without. Either the fear catches us or we catch the fear as our heart awakeness of not knowing. Thus we get to the root of our actual condition hidden under the cleverly packaged mirage of security we used to enjoy. By tuning into the feeling rather than the content of our fear we catch the fear before it catches us! In this way we can keep dissolving fear-pain back into sadness-compassion, both for ourselves and for world since as we meet fear with awareness it becomes fuel for greater awareness. In the awareness we shift from seeing only ‘gross phenomena’ to reconnect with soul wisdom, our secret essence. This is how we ‘move within’.

'For he who thinks knowledge is things and ideas how can there be Self-knowledge?' - Ashtavakra

In this way the runaway madness of the world becomes perhaps the most powerful catalyst we could have for our awakening spiritual lucidity. Our capacity to stay humbly and reverently with ‘what is’, letting go of ‘what should be’, this simplicity is our magic, our innate wisdom mind which knows by itself the way as soon as we allow it a moment of space away from the sticky fragmenting bombardment of endless giga-mind-bites!

So the cosmic download yesterday, the ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse in Pisces can over time bring this dark-light spider’s webbed dreamscape into new focus. It symbolises an initiatory portal through which we must pass as we find a new orientation.

The energy imprint of the eclipse is both excessively fiery (yang) and excessively watery (yin) and generally tending towards excess. It has a sharp edged cleansing quality that can be used like a sword to cut through confusion and old habits of self sabotage. It challenges us ‘to boldly go where we are going to end up anyway’ (Alberto Villoldo) since our courage and perspective on the journey is exactly what will profoundly transform the outcome and the destination we are heading towards, however lost we may feel.

'When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for' – ‘We Were Made For These Times’ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

On the water side there is sun, moon and mercury and ‘dragon’s tail’ representing our global karmic past, held in the arms of magician-illusionist Neptune in Pisces spouting misinformation and subterfuge. On a higher octave this represents intuitive wisdom and spiritual attunement. On the fire side Mars, impatient in Aries, wired up to the high voltage Uranus-Jupiter duo, is fighting to expose – or exaggerate – lies and repression. Jupiter, upholder of justice or manic bigot has its second exact encounter with Uranus on 3rd March, ramping up whatever is happening over the next weeks to yet higher voltage.

To add to the emotional intensity of this period Eris, goddess of discord, she who indirectly instigated the Trojan war, is exactly aligned with Mars, Uranus and Jupiter at this eclipse. Whether this manifests as breakdown or breakthrough, unpredictable and disruptive shifts of alliances are in the offing, sparks of realisation or a spark that ignites more than it intended.

'When we come from love and wisdom, we can see that our ‘enemy’ is not so much any people, as it is unwisdom. Misplaced fear and anger. Lack of awareness and understanding.. all the forces present in our world are present within us. The choices we make in our personal lives shape our world through billions of acts of kindness or cruelty, wisdom or foolishness. All we can do is our best''. -Avaaz

Jupiter opposite Uranus can bring strokes of luck, revelations and relief of tension, the forward thrust of evolution. Einstein was born with Jupiter (exploration) opposite Uranus (awakened unknowing), in other words genius. These archetypes offer us the energy required for launching projects, leaping barriers, updating consciousness.

Since 6th February Jupiter is moving slowly backwards leaving glimpses of potential realisations hanging in the air. By 9th June it arrives – significantly – at exactly the position it was at the US elections last November, at which point it U- turns and retraces its steps forward. Pluto (control) is still in standoff with both Uranus (freedom) and Jupiter (the law-giver). Jupiter’s first ‘hit’ against Pluto was last 24th November, the next is 30th March (a backwards hit) and the last is 4th August.

The archetypal energies of Jupiter and Pluto signify fanatical ideologies consolidating underground control and corruption, or wisdom applied towards justice, transformation and the rule of law. Perhaps when Jupiter returns finally in September to re-encounter truth-seeking Uranus revelations of real ‘fake’ news may emerge into the light. This would follow the next (total) solar eclipse on 21st August which could also be a game changer for the US.

Beware in this period the shadow of Pisces, the ‘hopeless, helpless, worthless’ illusion! Passive aggression also would be an easy hook to get caught on with current strong fire/water energy. None of these shadows is who we are and all of them belong to the soap opera we are dissolving. The challenge is constantly to see through and beyond the surreal landscape woven of spin, paranoia, illusion and mind bending. We can’t hold back the tide but we can bring missing consciousness to it and keep a perspective of the vaster context we inhabit!

To add to the complexity of shifting energy in this period Venus (values and money) turns to move backwards from 4th March to 14th April. Every 8 years Venus retrogrades around the same area of the zodiac and this time retraces her steps of March 2009, a significant moment for world economy. Expect re-evaluations and unexpected moves.

As we rest in the heart and walk without fear knowing we don’t know where we are going, we shift from being ‘lost in space’ to becoming ‘space-holders’ for ourselves and others:

'This place is a dream. Only a sleeper considers it real. Then death comes like dawn, and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief' - Rumi

'Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it' – Lewis Carroll