Stay tuned to Planet Waves for special coverage of the solar eclipse this week. I’m planning to dust off Planet Waves TV, and will have a special edition of Planet Waves FM that we release a little earlier in the day Tuesday.
Tuesday’s total solar eclipse in Pisces is far beyond the ordinary: for an eclipse or any other astrological event. It’s a centerpiece of what is by any measure a truly extraordinary time, and much of what’s so, well, ‘now’ about now involves Pisces.
Mediterranean Sea, from a series called Daybreak in the Path of Annularity, in Valencia, Spain, 2005. Photo by Eric Francis.
By ‘now’ I mean all of 2016 and well into 2017, the first new epoch after what I’ve been calling the 2012 era, that being 2011 to 2015. Notice the palpable change of feeling tone, the sense of unpredictability, the sense of uncertainty, the lack of any tangible grounding.
Eight years of Pluto in Capricorn has been like living in an earthquake zone, especially as Uranus in Aries has squared it seven times. To that we add living on a flood plain with a tsunami rolling in every week or so. But now, despite the seeming chaos (which is really change), a new kind of focus is available. Things that seemed utterly impossible are now within reach. It’s no longer necessary to be driven madly in some direction, disconnected from purpose; indeed, purpose and action are now right within reach.
For Tuesday’s eclipse, many planets are gathered in Pisces, including Mercury, Neptune, Chiron, the South Node of the Moon, the Moon itself, and the Sun. There are also lesser-known planets that I’ve been writing about: centaur Nessus, Borasisi and Manwe in the Kuiper Belt, and an asteroid called Memoria.
It’s genuinely noteworthy that we are having all of this happen in Pisces with Neptune, the modern planet associated with this sign, right there. It’s like Pisces itself is working at triple strength. The result is oceanic, vast and encompassing every dimension of life.
What is happening now is a sea-change that is more than just the daily turning of the tide. It seems to be referencing a phase of history that takes us back more than a generation. An ideology that has driven American society and indeed been an undercurrent in British and European culture has begun to dissolve. We are seeing it before our eyes. And the same astrology that is describing this series of events is also illustrating a quickening of the energy in our own lives.
There are people for whom this is just too much: too much change, pressure, confusion, chaos. There are people struggling, people lost in uncertainty, and some who feel like they are drowning. Even if you’re doing pretty well, you likely have many days when you feel overwhelmed, because that’s how life is right now.
If you’re one of those folks who is really struggling, I suggest a few things. You might not need to tune out more; you might need to tune in more. That could start with tuning into yourself. All water is connected; and if you have a bathtub, you might fill it up, add some salt and slip in and feel the vibes.
Avoiding all the bad news of the world has a way of being its own trap. I think that it’s essential to have some point of contact, some one issue you follow and understand. And/or, you might try opening up your aperture a little and allowing in more of something — music, art, conversation, ideas, an orgasm or three. If you are a practitioner of any sort of art, dive in.
We are talking about water energy here, and water is about going with the flow. It’s also about riding with the wind, and keeping your hand on the rudder. It’s better to direct movement consciously, but remember that here in the deep element, you move differently; it takes less energy to assert a change in direction effectively.
It takes a heck of a lot of energy to go against the tide.
For those who are riding this energy like the crest of a wave, I suggest following an idea given to me by a surfer one day when I was on the beach in Scarborough, Maine: Look where you want to be. When you’re riding that wave, fix your eyes on your destination, and your movements combined with those of the wave will deliver you there.
This is astrology that calls for some solitary time, some inner inquiry and opening up of your introspective senses. Pisces delivers most of its information from within. There are several planets delivering vital themes in this eclipse. Borasisi is urging us to come out of denial. Chiron is also a specialist in this particular art.
Yet the planet of any sort — in this case an asteroid — that’s the closest to the exact eclipse is called Memoria. One thing I’ve noticed as the Internet Age has progressed is that while more information and more facts are available, it’s as if a kind of amnesia has set in. I know that Americans in particular have a lot of things they would rather forget about the past 20 years.
The message of this chart is that it’s time to remember. Remember what? Start with the obvious. Start with what you’d prefer to forget. But there is more, which is about remembering something of profound importance to you.
A solar eclipse in Pisces is the perfect image of an unveiling. The combination of factors now developing has the sensation of pulling back a curtain or a scrim. It’s as if something is about to be revealed. Please pay attention.
A beautiful piece Eric; thank you. For many days I’ve been sensing a shift; after tuning in to the democratic debates, I felt it even more so. So, I lit some incense and the gypsy got out her cards. The first one down I turned over to find the High Priestess; and you’ve summed it up in your last paragraph above. It so happens I start a new job on Tuesday; it is also International Women’s Day.
Thank you for this wonderful piece, dear Eric.
Good luck with your new job, Dorothy!
Stunning photo.
Thank you Lizzy!
“….it’s as if a kind of amnesia has set in. I know that Americans in particular have a lot of things they would rather forget about the past 20 years.
The message of this chart is that it’s time to remember. Remember what? Start with the obvious. Start with what you’d prefer to forget. But there is more, which is about remembering something of profound importance to you.”
Ah yes. This Pisces is feeling it . Memories have been coming in via dreams and thoughts. These memories are triggering things and feelings that have become too heavy to hold. Those things we all prefer to forget, personal things and the insanity in which we live, are all crawling out of the shadows, unbidden and uncomfortable.
We are in trauma and like the people of the naked emperor, we prefer not to think about it or deal with it because the magnitude of it is overwhelming; especially if you are sensitive water. Like an abused child, we distract ourselves in order to ignore the constant soul-crushing abuse that surrounds us.
We need to cry, scream, rise up, and vent our rage in a safe space and then, we need to take a collective deep breath and change. Change ourselves, change our neighborhoods, change our planet. We can do this. WE CAN.
Carrie, that’s a solid message! We watched Spotlight last night, and rage is exactly what most people will feel when they see this magnificent movie. Hopefully the rage will be quickly followed by forgiveness after awareness. I dreamed about taking out the trash last night. I woke up wondering why I was dreaming about trash! And is it any wonder so many people want to believe Donald Trump and want him to be president when the politicians have lied to us repeatedly, abused the use of half the tax payer’s hard earned money while stealing jobs from the other half, and allowed our entire food system, waterways, and sky, to be poisoned? All for a little money? All of them take money! To borrow the phrase in Spotlight, if it takes a village to protect the nation, it also takes a village to destroy it. Those men and women have much to answer for.