Why isn’t there an eclipse every month? That is because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is tilted by about 5º. The Earth’s axis is tilted by about 23.5º due to the path that all the planets take around the Sun. Our entire solar system is roughly on the same plane. This is called the ecliptic. When the orbit of the Moon intersects the ecliptic, which it does at roughly the equator, that is when the eclipses will occur. Eclipses generally speaking will occur roughly three times in the same pair of signs over a year and a half until that point of convergence shifts into the next sign. 

Saturday marks the 2nd lunation since the nodes entered the Pisces/Virgo Axis. This will be the first New Moon of this new nodal cycle. The nodes take 18.6 years to go through the entire zodiac. This is the result of the nutation or nodding of the earth’s axis that is caused by the effect of the Moon’s gravity as it orbits the Earth.

To understand eclipses you first will need to understand the basic mechanics behind the different types of eclipses.  For solar eclipses like the ones that occur during the New Moon, there are three types, total, annular and partial. Whether you see it or not depends on the time of day that the eclipse occurs and where you are on the planet, and where the path of totality is located. The movement and rotation of the Earth and Moon gives those paths the shapes that you see on maps of where the eclipses will be visible and when.

The type of eclipse, total or annular is determined by the distance that the Moon is from Earth. When the Moon is closest to the Earth this point in her orbit is called perigee. The Moon happens to be a perigee on Sunday March 4th. When the Moon is farthest from the Earth that is called apogee. An eclipse that occurs at this time creates the annular eclipse. 

When you consider the paths that a solar eclipse can take there are usually two zones in that path. One is the area of totality or the umbral path. This is from the Latin word for shadow. The areas outside of that are within the penumbra or the second shadow. This is because the way the light of the Sun is blocked by the Earth and the Moon. The smaller Moon casts a narrow umbra on the surface of the Earth. The penumbra is much larger. 

This is a partial eclipse in Aries. The umbra misses the Earth but the partial eclipse will be visible in Northern Africa, Europe and into North America. Remember the North Node is at 27º Pisces. The Moon and the Sun are at 9º Aries therefore this eclipse is out of sign and that much cooler. While this may seem not right, it is correct but that is why it is only a partial eclipse. The Sun can be within 18º of the node and there will still be an eclipse.

Eclipses are significant astronomical and astrological events. There has been quite a bit said of them such as the fall of kings and empires. I am not interested in history at this point. I am more interested in the effect they have on us currently. 

Solar eclipses are associated with the New Moon beginnings but it is the beginning of a much larger cycle. I like how other astrologer’s are coming around to the idea that the eclipse cycle is one continuous energetic loop that brings the energy of the eclipse into our actions up until the next eclipse, six months later. 

When you do enough astrology you will find that from a daily perspective that external circumstances change very slowly, if at all. Our attitudes, approaches and personal circumstances change very quickly. By combining the energy of the Sun and Moon and giving it a metaphorical form, in my case it was two dragons, one white and one black that would take off from the point of the solar eclipse and would travel through the zodiac to the next node. The white dragon would follow the path of the Sun and the black dragon would follow the path that the nodes take. 

One was scouting ahead looking for future opportunities to make good on the promise of the eclipse, what we are becoming. The black dragon, Umbra, was moving backwards to revisit and reexamine our past successes and failures. What improvements will need to be made? What will the new focus be once the nodes are flipped? This added a sense of both destiny and history to the early forecasts of Daily Astrocat. Like a transportation hub, it is a point of departure and arrival.

The new lunar node cycle began when the North Node entered Pisces on January 11th. 0º Aries is the culmination point and 29 Pisces is the beginning of the new cycle. No wonder why the end is a beginning and vice versa. We take all of the complications we have gathered over the cycle and we need to rework them. Patterns emerge and hopefully evolve, if not they repeat until the lesson is learned. The nodes beginning in Pisces tell us that we are on an inner journey to understand what it is that we are destined to be doing in service of ourselves and others. Faith in oneself and good health are the twin pillars of this seemingly new portal that we find ourselves entering. 

We are in the first chapter of a new story or are we? What if there is no end or beginning? What if this is just our way of levelling up? What you choose to do is important. Eclipses are here to help us be mindful of our good habits and make us aware of our bad habits. Lightening our load in this manner makes us unencumbered and gives a double meaning to the term enlightenment. 

These thoughts are my first step. Carl Jung felt that archetypes were not  these static ideals. They evolve constantly. I am sure that my ideas will do the same. The evolution that is taking place with the shift of the nodes is pointing towards this moment and it is up to us to recognize this and allow ourselves the chance to make the most of this transformative energy. 

The coming eclipse is here to remind us of what it is that we will need to be focusing on until the next round of eclipses in September.