The Lunar Nodes (part II) - The Eclipses and Our Life Journey

Welcome to Part II of the three part series on the Lunar Nodes. In this post, we will explore Solar and Lunar Eclipses, their relationships to the Moon's Nodes, and how they may affect our personal and collective lives here on Earth. Recall from the last post that the Moon's Nodes are points in space and time which describe the orbital dance of the Earth and Moon around the Sun - the 2 points where their orbits intersect. Basically when the transiting Sun and Moon make a conjunction to the Nodes, an Eclipse will happen. So how does this work? 

An Eclipse is observed when an astronomical body passes into the shadow of another astronomical body, thus obscuring its view 1. This is a unique event effecting the Earth’s magnetic field, and certain conditions must be met 2. For a Solar Eclipse to occur, there must be a New Moon (Sun/Moon conjunction) with the Sun and Moon also in parallel in declination. Lunar Eclipses happen during the Full Moon (Sun/Moon opposition) when the Sun and Moon are also contra-parallel in declination. As stated previously, both events must be conjunct the Moon’s Nodes - the points where the orbits of the Sun and Moon intersect. This cyclical nature of the Nodes has allowed us to observe and predict regular Eclipse cycles for thousands of years.  

In general, there are 2 to 5 Eclipses a year. They arrive in pairs with a Lunar Eclipse always 14 days before or after a Solar Eclipse. Each Eclipse belongs to an "Eclipse Family" also known as a Saros Series - a complex numerical system used to categorize Eclipses and Eclipse patterns. Each Eclipse within an "Eclipse Family" is about 18 years apart and contains between 69 and 87 Eclipses within a period of 1200 to 1500 years 3. We can use these 18 year intervals to help us “review and revise” previous decisions, events, and life changes. It's like a cosmic calendar. 

The first Eclipse in any "Eclipse Family" begins at one of the poles and travels along the surface of the earth, until it reaches the opposite pole. The series then ends, and a new one begins. For every Solar Eclipse, there is a "related" Lunar Eclipse from a different "Eclipse Family" opposing it about 9 years later. Whereas the Lunar Eclipse occurring within 14 days of the current Solar Eclipse actually belongs to an unrelated “family” of Eclipses. In comparing natal charts of family members, Nodal oppositions between a parent and child are very common, with the pattern often repeated through previous generations. So when considering the Nodes and Eclipse patterns in Astrology, we are essentially dealing with lineage 4.       

During Eclipse Season, the signs in which the Nodes occupy are activated. After spending the previous year and a half occupying the Taurus/Scorpio axis, the Nodes have now moved into Aries/Libra, marking the new Eclipse Season for April and October. In a year and a half, the Nodes will move into the Pisces/Virgo axis, and the Eclipse Season becomes March and September. With the Aries/Libra axis currently activated, issues around self (Mars) and other (Venus) are at the forefront. Now with Mars ruling the North Node, we not only have a chance to review and revise efforts from 9 years ago, but we will have opportunities to implement the talents and resources we've nurtured over the last few years while Venus was in rulership. 

On a collective level, one way we can see this play out is through the current polarization of society and culture. This is only one manifestation, but the "Us versus Them" dynamic is front and center right now, and we all have something to learn from it. We all have an inner masculine (Mars) and inner feminine (Venus). With natal planets in any of the activated signs, the Eclipses can trigger personal events which can be felt up to 6 months before and after the initial Eclipse, especially if it makes a conjunction, opposition, or square to a personal planet. Those of us born on or around an Eclipse will often experience a fated quality to our existence. In some ways, Nodal contacts and Eclipses are more powerful than any other placement or transit, as they inform our journey through time and space, providing us with the opportunity to learn and grow from our thoughts and actions. The Natal North Node and the Pre-Natal Eclipse in our chart are keys toward that path. More on that in the next post!  

If you are interested in finding out if there are any current Nodal activations in your chart, send a message or leave a comment. 

Best Wishes,
Peregrine

(Sorry the footnote notation isn't functioning correctly here.)

1 For the record, other objects can create other types of eclipses, but for the sake of this blog post, we are only talking about Solar and Lunar eclipses.
2 See Janksy, “Interpreting the Eclipses,” 17.
3 See https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaroscat.html
4 We’ll talk about how to identify your "Eclipse Family" in the next post.

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