• NEW MOON IN PISCES AND TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE ON 9TH MARCH 2016 (Europe)

  • partial solar eclipseThere will be a New Moon and a Total Solar Eclipse on the 9th of March at 18° 56’ of Pisces, a mutable, Water sign ruled by Neptune (modern) and Jupiter (traditional).

    New Moons are notoriously the best moment to set fresh intentions for the month ahead. This one falls on the 12th-6th house axis (Pisces-Virgo) in traditional astrology so themes such as chaos vs order, compassion vs criticism and wholeness vs perfection come to mind.

    Raven Kaldera in his book “Moon Phase Astrology” calls this new Moon the “Dreamer’s Moon”. He goes on to describe this Moon as “a reflection of Neptune’s influence on the Moon resulting in people who never quite know where all their edges are, barely able to figure out what is real from what is imaginary.” On this Moon he suggests that we use the time for (day)-dreaming since our strength at this moment is now in believing that our wishes can come true.

    So much for the New Moon, since it is greatly “over-shadowed” so as to say, by the importance of the Total Solar Eclipse which will be visible only in Indonesia and the West Pacific. The Moon, however, will actually be at its shortest distance from the Earth during the Eclipse thus enhancing its effect on tides, earth movements and psyches.

    This is the first of four Eclipses this year. Eclipses take place when the Sun, Moon and Earth find themselves closely aligned.

    The effects of eclipses can be quite unpredictable, sometimes stressing emotions or bringing unexpected events into our lives, at other times they can go seemingly unnoticed. Although of different Saros series (please read further to learn about the Saros series) eclipses occur at similar degrees of the same sign in 19-year cycles as they move in a retrograde motion through the zodiac. Thus they have effect on the same house polarity in your natal chart (or on any personal planets or angles in Pisces, Virgo, Sagittarius or Gemini that fall in a 2°30’ orb for conjunctions, 2° for oppositions and 1° for squares). The last Solar Eclipse at 18°31’ Pisces took place on the 8th of March 1997 (Europe) – what was going on in your life then? You may also want to think back to the 13th of September 2015 (Europe) when a Solar Eclipse took place at 20°10’ Virgo…again on the same house axis as the present one. What themes might an eclipse on this axis highlight for you? Solar eclipses are in fact believed to manifest in external events as opposed to Lunar Eclipses which affect us on a more personal and intimate level.

    A tiny bit of history about eclipses:

    The Babylonians (747 BC) were able to predict the cyclic nature of the eclipses and by the 4th century BC had recognized that they occurred in series, later denominated the Saros Series by the Greek lexicographer Suidas in the 10th century AD.

    Bernadette Brady, an Australian astrologer, in her book “The Eagle and the Lark”, dedicates a whole chapter to the Saros Series. She explains that the Saros Series of the present Solar Eclipse is known as “18 South” and, due to the nature and aspects of the planets involved, is directly concerned with endings or separations. For the last eclipse of this series you will have to look back to the 26th February 1998 when the eclipse degree was 8 Pisces.

    The planets involved in this eclipse are the Sun-Moon both tightly squeezed between Ceres and Chiron in Pisces whilst all form a very wide conjunction to Neptune also in Pisces. The whole group opposes Jupiter in Virgo which is conjoined to the North Node and both form a T-square to Saturn in Sagittarius.

    As Christina Rodenbeck (the Oxford Astrologer) puts it: “that is a forceful opposition against one lone king (Jupiter in Virgo). That is a tidal wave against the monarch. The potential? Someone important is swept away”.

    Astrologer Alan Oken writes that a solar eclipse represents “liberations from previous circumstances” while acknowledging that this may not always be to one’s liking. In other words, a solar eclipse can free you from something.

    Researcher Michele Adler further adds:

    “Events connected to an eclipse can manifest up to two months before the eclipse or when the following New Moon squares the eclipse degree. This will happen on June 5, 2016, when the New Moon will be at 14° Gemini 53’ squaring the 18 Pisces eclipse degree. Occurrences related to the eclipse can occur around then. They can also manifest for this eclipse when a planet transits 18-19° Pisces or 18-19° Virgo.

    and

    OTHER DAYS TO WATCH: If this eclipse is important in your chart, watch March 15th-16th, when Mercury is transiting 18-19° Pisces and March 27-28 when transiting Venus will be in 18-19° Pisces. In May, from about May 22 – June 1, the South Node will be transiting at 18-19° Pisces. All of these time frames can bring about manifestations related to the eclipse.

    also

    The 18-19 Pisces degree arc falls at the end of the Cancer decanate of Pisces, prior to moving into the third decanate, ruled by Scorpio. Any time the final degrees of any of a sign’s three decanates are reached, they take on the qualities of the 29th degree, and can be associated with thresholds, transitions and endings. However, this degree arc also has themes that include “out with the old, in with the new” and “the transition of boundaries,” or the overcoming of restrictions.

    So all of these astrologers concord in saying that this Solar Eclipse is about endings or a passing of some kind.

    The Sabian Symbol for 19° Pisces is “A master instructing his disciple” indicating the transfer of power and knowledge necessary for the continuation of all manifestations of power and spiritual understanding.

    Let’s remember: “When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.”  Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam

    Does this Total Solar Eclipse touch any of your personal planets or angles? Care to share?

    Bibliography

    Brady B (1999) “Predictive Astrology, The Eagle and The Lark”, chapter 5 Eclipses and Saros Cycle, pp 207-236 and pp 307-352, Red Wheel/Weiser LLC, San Francisco CA USA

    http://www.alanoken.com/index.php?page=newsletter, March 9th Solar Eclipse accessed 27th February 2016

    http://www.oxfordastrologer.com/2016/02/the-eclipse-on-march-9.html accessed 27th February 2016

    Kaldera R. (2011) “Moon Phase Astrology” pp. 216-218, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont. USA

    Michele Adler on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/133883013445411/?fref=ts, accessed 27th February 2016 or visit her website at www.micheleadler.com

    Rudhyar D. (1974) “An Astrological Mandala: the cycles of transformations and its 360 symbolic phases”. pp 133-134, 251, Vintage Books Edition, Random House Inc., New York, USA