Not long after dawn tomorrow in my time zone, we’ll reach the Full Moon in Sagittarius which (because the Nodes of the Moon are in Gemini and Sag) is also a lunar eclipse.
This Full Moon is also a Supermoon, appearing larger in the sky because it is closer to the Earth. Supermoons have a stronger-than-usual impact on tides. In the days following a Supermoon, high tides will be higher than usual by several inches.
It’s often thought Supermoons have a stronger effect on our emotional tides as well. This Full Moon Eclipse Supermoon is turning up the intensity dials in several ways.
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This is a total eclipse, although a brief one. The Earth’s shadow will block the Moon fully for only 15 minutes. I won’t be able to see this because it arrives after sunrise in this eastern segment of North America.
The best views will be along the Pacific Rim, from predawn views along the west coast of North America, to post sunset views along the eastern edges of Asia.
The total time the Moon will be at least partly eclipsed is much longer, almost three hours. Theoretically, if I woke before dawn and had a clear view to the west, I might see at least part of the eclipse shadow. In fact, I have no view to the west, giving me the perfect excuse to sleep in.
Eclipses are part of what fueled the development of astrology. They are dramatic and apparently baleful happenings. A dark Sun, a blood red Moon, these are not welcome signs. Ancient stargazers wanted to predict these happenings. They did this by calculating the Nodes of Moon before knowing anything about orbits or the astronomical relations among planets. Eclipses remain fascinating today as phenomena, even with a detailed understanding of how and why they take place.
Eclipses upset the normal order of things. They hide what is usually seen and can reveal what is usually hidden. They create unexpected shifts. So the first thing to bear in mind about tomorrow morning’s Full Moon is, it’s not typical.
Eclipses are not a good time to perform the rituals or practices you usually do at Full (or New) Moons.
You might hear eclipses described as “supercharged” and think this will enhance your practices. It could indeed make them more powerful but will also make them more unpredictable. Unless you’re familiar with eclipses in general and this one in particular, best to wait for another lunation.
What do we know about this particular Full Moon lunar eclipse?
The Sun and Moon will be in Gemini and Sagittarius at 5 degrees of each sign. The Nodes of the Moon will be at 10 degrees, the North Node in Gemini and the South Node in Sag. Because this is a lunar eclipse, and the Moon is with the South Node in Sagittarius, we say this is a South Node eclipse.
The Nodes of the Moon are points, not bodies, in the sky. Specifically they mark where the orbit of the Moon around the Earth intersects the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. Eclipses occur when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned during a New or Full Moon.
In Vedic astrology, they are the head and tail of a great dragon. The North, or rising, Node is Rahu, the dragon’s head. This is a place where new things are brought in, sometimes greedily and without discernment.
In evolutionary astrology, the North Node is associated with the future, specifically with what we’re meant to be working toward in this lifetime. From this perspective, the North Node represents something that draws our interest but we feel we’re not skilled at, and so shy away from.
The South, or falling, Node is Ketu, the dragon’s tail, in Vedic astrology. This is a place where things go out of our lives, sometimes in a planned away and sometimes through losses we find difficult to manage.
In evolutionary astrology, the South Node is associated with the past, specifically with unresolved karma from previous lives. Here I feel it’s especially important to clearly separate the idea of karma from the Western concept of sin. Karma is consequence. It results from any action, well or ill intended. We can also carry karma that is shared within a family, or a cultural group, or perhaps a nation. So the South Node in this framework represents past karma of any kind we might have the chance to resolve in this lifetime.
Tomorrow morning’s Full Moon eclipse is with the South Node, Ketu, the past, and things going away. Looping back to what I said earlier about avoiding our usual Full Moon rituals and practices, it might be possible to choose instead practices about letting go, releasing what is no longer needed, or cleansing rituals. But I do not recommend these unless you are fully informed about eclipse workings of this kind (which I personally am not).
Eclipses don’t necessarily have a strong impact on every chart. They are big events likely to be reflected in the news (although sometimes the stories don’t reach the media until sometime after the fact).
They generally impact our birth charts more strongly when they aspect something important in our charts. At the least, you’ll want to check where those early degrees of Gemini and Sagittarius fall in your chart.
Eclipses are complex phenomena though. They form different kinds of cycles, one called Saros and one called Metonic. A Metonic cycle is 19 years, give or take, and forms the basis of the lunisolar calendars used in many cultures around the world. They accurately track eclipses for about 4 or 5 cycles.
I became fascinated with the Saros cycles after reading Bernadette Brady’s works on the topic. These are eclipse-specific cycles that last several thousand years and track all eclipses in a particular family from their birth at one of the poles to their end at the opposite pole. The periodicity of Saros cycles is 18 years 11 days and 8 hours, close to but not the same as the Metonic cycle. Since the Saros system is specific to eclipses and groups them into families, I focus on this one.
Tomorrow morning’s Full Moon eclipse is part of Lunar Saros 121. This Saros family was born with a Lunar eclipse far to the South on October 6, 1047. The final eclipse in this Saros family will occur far to the north on March 18, 2508. This span of time might feel overwhelming, but somehow I find it comforting that we live our lives inside much larger cycles.
We needn’t look to the first or last eclipses to gather more information about this one, though. Instead, we look to the last eclipse in this family, and perhaps ones before that, depending on our current age. If we can associate that previous eclipse with some significant happening or an important time in our life, it might point us to something of a similar nature happening now. I’ll list the previous four eclipses for reference:
May 15, 2003, 11:36 pm EDT with the Full Moon in Scorpio
May 4, 1985, 3:53 pm EDT with the Full Moon in Scorpio
April 26, 1967, 7:03 am EST with the Full Moon in Scorpio
April 12, 1949, 11:00 pm EST with the Full Moon in Libra
Notice that the eclipses in each Saros family moved gradually backward through the zodiac. It’s not that these eclipses all occur in the same sign, but rather that they occur in the same relationship to the Sun, Moon and Earth: They are all located at the same Node, about the same distance from the earth, and at about the same time of year.
Perhaps you will find a pattern through the Saros families of eclipses that help you anticipate what this eclipse might bring.
It’s always worthwhile to look at the specifics as well. And now we come to my title for this eclipse: Festina lente. This classical motto means to make haste slowly, which is a paradox that asks us to combine determination with thoroughness, urgency with care, and action with an understand of its long term consequences.
This motto might fit the eclipse experience in general, but especially applies to this one. Here we have an eclipse across the Gemini-Sagittarius axis, two signs know for their speed. Gemini is always ready to jump to the next idea, Sag always prepared to jump on a swift steed and ride to the far horizon. So we might expect things to unfold quickly. And they might.
Except that Mercury, also in Gemini, is moving very slowly. In a few days, they will station retrograde and move back through the degrees just visited, including the eclipse degrees. So the Sun’s ruler is slow, not fact, and deliberative rather than glib and clever.
Also, Saturn, who loves all things slow, has just stationed retrograde himself and still moves slowly. At 13 Aquarius, he is out of orb to aspect the Sun, but he does make a trine to the North Node, urging restraint and careful consideration on a point that loves speed.
The South Node, where the eclipse takes place, is in Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, who is very happy in early Pisces. Here we might continue to feel a need for speed but remember this is the Node of the past, associated with things that are going away.
So, yes, perhaps, some things can be let go of quickly and without regret, but Mercury and Saturn urge caution. We should at least check in with our future plans before chucking too much out the eclipse windows.
Do check your birth chart to see where this eclipse falls for you. In my chart, the Gemini group falls in my 10th House of career and public things, while the Sag group in my 4th House of home, family, and the deep psyche. Perhaps changes at home will affect my work. Perhaps there are adjustments called for in my psyche that could allow me to move further ahead. Either, or both, or other interpretations related to these Houses could be true. But this is where I’ll be looking as the Full Moon eclipse unfolds.
The astrological charts are my own. The images in this post include the title,
adapted from the turtle carapace by Jorge Aguilar,
and the following images:
lunar eclipse blood moon by Martin Adams,
dragon by Jade Lee,
Computer-generated graphic for front of Antikythera mechanism by Tony Freeth,
Festina Lente bookplate digitized by the British Museum, and
the hare by Vincent van Zalinge