Into the Mystic

The New Moon Solar Eclipse occurs on July 11th, 2010 @ 3:41 pm EST @ 19°24′ Cancer.

This is a total solar eclipse and for those that are interested in the specifics regarding path of totality, duration etc. detailed information can be found at NASA-Total Solar Eclipse of 2010 July.

Solar eclipses are supercharged New Moons and bring about completions to a way of Being that allows for new ways to come forth. Endings can occur in a myriad of forms dependent on your individual relationship to the Eclipse as reflected within your personal chart.

In my previous post on the recent Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn I shared my personal view of Eclipses. Following is a brief excerpt from that post:

My view of eclipses is that they function as course correctors. Where eclipses occur in our chart is where that which is no longer productive for our growth and viability may come to an abrupt conclusion or be suddenly altered to allow for a new course to occur. Though eclipses often do usher in extremes of experience there is no need to fear them if you embrace that what is leaving your life or being altered in some form was not in your best interest any longer and/or has simply run it’s course.

This current lunation-eclipse is following a pattern that has been prevalent for all of this year where the New Moon occurs after the Full Moon in the same sign. This is a reversal of the typical pattern of Full and New Moons and has brought to the forefront the culminations associated with Full Moons before we are able to set new intentions and sow seeds at the following New Moon. Robert Wilkinson at Aquarius Papers explains this phenomena in more depth in his articles related to the Moons and Eclipses. If you have yet to visit Aquarius Papers, Robert offers a wealth of information that appeals to a wide range of astrology students and practitioners.

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"Moon Over Armagh" by Miruna Popescu

This Lunation occurs within Cancer and hence will place emphasis on Cancerian and Moon(the ruler of Cancer) concerns: the home, family, feminine and the past. Cancer, the Sign of Cardinal Water, has the capability to demonstrate extremes of emotionality yet it is also this capacity to feel such extremes that enables Cancer to be nurturing and protective of the children and home for without an emotional connection to these things there would be no catalyst for these instincts to surface and be acted upon.

Cancer is a highly intuitive sign that is capable of easily tuning into the needs of those people and things they are charged to be responsible for and ideally this results in a smooth functioning of the family and home unit when functioning optimally. Dysfunction often occurs when Cancer is unable to separate the needs, issues and or ills of the individuals within a unit and becomes either over-sensitive and/or hyper-personalizes that which is not theirs to be (overly) concerned with.

Dysfunction of Cancer can present as the “domineering Mother” and demonstrates as a compulsion to intervene into the affairs of their “charges” in an unhealthy degree/form out of a belief that they are protecting said charges from some real or imaginary harm. Of course this can interfere with the necessary growth processes of the individual being “protected/sheltered”. Often this form of dysfunction is an overcompensation behavior stemming from not feeling as if one received adequate amounts of nurture in the early formative years.

Just as Cancer is capable of preforming in the fore mentioned capacity when dysfunctional it is equally true that a dysfunction of this sign can lead to a shunning of familial and home responsibilities. If  early life experiences were perceived as being difficult and/or unpleasant due to a ‘forced’ responsibility to take on the Mothering role before one was prepared to do so the wounds caused by such experiences can easily lead a Cancer to withdraw into their shell and to possibly act out the archetype of the Wounded Child. When this occurs there can be a reluctance to express the Cancerian nature stemming from a fear of once again becoming trapped in responsibilities that have previously been deemed difficult and/or damaging and resulting in a possible rejection of parenthood and/or an aversion to a setting down of roots.

As we are ever changing and evolving both extremes described above (and much in-between!) can occur at any time in one’s lifetime if we should find we have become stressed and/or unbalanced in our Cancer-related areas. While everyone embodies the energies of Cancer and the Moon to some degree, those with strong Cancer placements and/or an abundance of challenging aspects to their Moon will have more of a focus on these concerns, than others with a lesser emphasis within this sign or upon their Moon.

Possibly the biggest challenge for those with Cancer emphasis is in the releasing of past related patterns from early life experiences that sabotage one’s ability to not only be nurturing unto others but also to be comfortable in displaying one’s vulnerability so that nurturing can be received from others. In societies that place emphasis on one’s worth by measures set by patriarchal standards and one in which the emotional body has been reduced in value and is often viewed as a hindrance and liability in achieving that which current patriarchal standards dictate to be of merit this is indeed a challenge, not one only for women but also men, as they too are the embodiment of Cancer/Moon energies. Scores of men are beginning to express their desires to be the partner that takes a greater responsibility within the household and family unit and in the past decade we have seen role reversals occurring more frequently within family units.

Yet even with the redefining and re-balancing of the feminine/masculine that has been occurring, we still have much more ground to cover it would seem, for while it has become more socially acceptable for a woman to do and be “man’s things” we are not even close to that same measure being afforded to men where it is considered equally acceptable for a man to do and be “woman’s things”. Where we emerge from this balancing is left to the individual to surmise yet I doubt many would refute that we are indeed entering an era where the way we have related in the past to all that is feminine and masculine will likely have little resemblance to how we will perceive these roles/energies/archetypes in the future.

With this New Moon Solar Eclipse in Cancer we now have these above mentioned qualities highlighted. Over the next 6 months we will have the greatest impact related to this Eclipse though this event will continue to factor into our lives for nearly the next 3 years. Awareness of how we as individuals and as a collective are functioning in these Cancer/Moon related areas is already occurring and we will be making necessary adjustments and embracing new expressions and forms while releasing outgrown and non-beneficial expressions and forms, both internally and externally, in regards to home, family, the feminine, emotionality, sensitivity and the past.

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Aspects and Interpretation

This New Moon Solar Eclipse finds the Sun and Moon at 20° Cancer. The Moon is the ruler of this lunation as it is the ruler of Cancer. Support comes from Mars in Virgo via an exact sextile while Venus, newly in Virgo, forms a semi-square to the Sun-Moon. There is also a wide trine to a retrograde station Uranus at Aries Point and also a wide sextile to Saturn on the last degree of Virgo.

We also see in this chart that Saturn and Pluto are once again applying to their ongoing squares while Saturn and Uranus are again applying in a tight orb to their next exact opposition that will occur in Libra/Aries later this month. The Pluto/Uranus-Jupiter square are also once again applying as we come closer to the occurrence of the Cardinal T-Square also later in this month. The Saturn-Neptune inconjunct that has been causing discomfort is now separating.

The semisquare of Venus in Virgo to the Lunation reminds that practical service bestowed unto another is a legitimate form of representing your Love and appreciation hence also is a form of nurturing and should not be dismissed in importance.

Mars-Virgo in support of the Eclipse degree will bring assistance to initiating communications with others that have some part in our Cancer/Moon related situations. Thanks to Virgo’s ability for discernment this should help to find the right words and the right time to approach any ‘delicate’ matters. Mars in Virgo will also assist in stabilizing the emotions and allow for stating oneself as dictated by the emotions without demonstrating an excess of emotion that would work against one’s goal to communicate effectively.

Any new initiatives that have developed these past years while Saturn has restructured our Virgo area’s may also play into the arena of Cancer now as we have made many changes to our Virgo area’s and now may need to adjust our Cancer areas accordingly to achieve harmony.

The sextiles from both Mars and Saturn in Virgo also imply that we shall have the cooperation we seek with others for initiating any new directives related to Cancer and Virgo and their need to be harmonized. Once again, as was also true at the previous Lunar eclipse, Mars energy is available and supports the “doing of what one must do”.

Uranus, stationary retrograde, is a guiding impulse to allow that which needs to end to do so with as much grace as possible, and to embrace and initiate what one must to fill the vacancy left by departing forms, so that we can continue ahead in the very near future with our Aries directives.

We continue to be in the heart of huge transitions and this Solar Eclipse now brings even greater dimension to our rapidly changing and evolving existence!

Many Blessings! Kachina Houska