The Cosmic Story: Leo New Moon Solar Eclipse, 2018

The Cosmic Story: Leo Partial Solar Eclipse 2018

The Gift of Creative Self-Expression

Evolutionary creativity always renders invalid 
the 'law of large numbers' and acts in an elitist way. 
Erich Jantsch: The Self-Organizing Universe

Leo is the astrological sign related to the Sun of our solar system. It is a fixed fire sign, and just as the Sun gives us light and life, so too Leo shines in all of us when we grow in self-awareness and evolve. And the way Leo likes to express this light and life is when we live life joyously and creatively through our creative self-expression. Or as Carl Jung would call it, through our individuation.

Leo’s gift to us (wherever our Sun lies) is our unique expression of the divine Spirit of Life. For Leo is the Divine Child within us.

The astrologer Alan Oken says, “Leo as the sign of the Sun expresses the creative potency of the focused power of will—the will to be. As we mature and unfold our creative potential, we come to the clear realization that without a focused will, we can produce very little of anything. We also come to realize that if this will is centered only in our little egos, then what we produce has no lasting value and can and often does inhibit the creativity of others.”

So our creativity (Leo) must feed everyone (Aquarius), not for our self-aggrandizement but for the health and well-being of our souls.

In these chaotic and transformational times, our purpose is to be so uniquely ourselves that we do not fall prey to the delusions of the collective mindset. As the old paradigm of patriarchy dies, it is not giving into death gracefully. It seems that if it has to die, it will try to take all of us with it. As the Earth burns and trembles, the powers that be are blind to what people really need. And because people are in fear and confusion, they are easily swayed into actions that would horrify them if they were conscious.

The author Madeleine L’Engle (who wrote A Wrinkle in Time) says in her book Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, p.39: We cannot Name or be Named without language. If our vocabulary dwindles to a few shopworn words, we are setting ourselves up for takeover by a dictator. When language becomes exhausted, our freedom dwindles – we cannot think; we do not recognize danger; injustice strikes us as no more than “the way things are.”

We see this happening in America today with our president’s limited vocabulary and his adherents willingness to be swayed by it. So it behooves (to have need of) the rest of us to make up for this loss of naming by expanding our own vocabulary. The more words we use, the more ways we can think about our lives. We need to expand our vision and understanding of life now more than ever before, since so many of us no longer subscribe to the old religious beliefs of patriarchy. Unfortunately that leaves a vacuum that is often filled by conspiracy theories or by petty dictators. Fake news. Or meaningful reality. This is our initiation – what do we believe about life? Is this 3-D reality all there is or is there a spiritual reality that shapes and guides us?

Since Leo thrives on self-expression, this upcoming Leo solar eclipse is a perfect opportunity to expand your vocabulary as well as create some art – in life, in love, in work and in expression.

With Mars retrograde so closely aligned with the South Node of the recent Aquarius Lunar Eclipse, we need to focus our will on changing the prevalence (condition of being widespread) of the old masculine energy of war, domination, competition, rigid hierarchy and self-interest. The new masculine energy arises from the divine feminine – it is an energy of cooperation, of stewardship of Life and the Earth (the Celtic Green Man), of protection and honor, and a willingness to work with the feminine as equal partners. 

 

Masculine energy is generative (to beget or produce) – it is the doing to the feminine’s being. So first we have to know who we are (our beingness) so we can act in accord with it (our doing). The Feminine is the foundation of life – the Masculine is what comes from that foundation. After centuries of patriarchy, this cosmic law of life has been negated and reversed. As Albert Einstein said the servant has become the master. It’s time to change that.

We do that first within ourselves and then we go out into our society as shining examples of who we all can become. The trouble of our times is that people have lost their connection to these cosmic laws and in their fear and confusion, they are caught up in the delusions of our consumer society.

We all need a new story, a story that nurtures Life instead of Death, hope instead of fear, love instead of hate.

To do this, we need to let Spirit move through us – we need to surrender to the divine spirit within us and let it birth what we came into this lifetime to be and do. Like Mother Mary, we are all called to give birth to the Savior.

This week’s partial solar eclipse resonates with last August’s total solar eclipse. The image for that eclipse was: A Mermaid emerges from the ocean waves ready for rebirth in human form. This mermaid symbolizes our heart’s hope, our individual connection to the collective unconscious and all its hopes and fears. She also symbolizes our soul’s gifts from previous lifetimes as well as the healing of our genetic inheritance.

The great alchemical work we are engaged in is to bring our soul’s passion and purpose into the world, despite the forces that work against our individuation. It takes courage and faith to go against the collective rules of society, to stop giving into the fears it provokes in us. It’s time to begin to work on our soul purpose.

The Sabian symbol for this partial solar eclipse at 19* Leo is: A houseboat party. And it symbolizes the enjoyment of temporary freedom from rigidly structured social behavior. (Dane Rudhyar) (I just read this symbol after writing the above. I love synchronicity!)

Of course a mermaid would also love a houseboat party – it rides on the waters of the unconscious! And she can always jump in the water to get refreshed. It’s time to turn our attention to our inner worlds and to learn to trust our intuitions and feelings. It’s time to trust our hearts.

The Leo Solar Eclipse, August 11 2018

The Leo New Moon solar eclipse occurs on August 11, 2018 at 2:58am PDT/ 5:58am EDT/ 10:58am GMT.

A solar eclipse is an extra powerful New Moon that weaves together our solar consciousness and our lunar consciousness. It signifies a new beginning. It’s a time to plant seeds that will blossom in the next year. So take time to meditate, imagine and listen to Spirit so you can shape those new seeds of solar light. 

 

This New Moon solar eclipse is the third and last eclipse of the year and with only one more eclipse in the Leo/Aquarius axis occurring next January 20, 2019. After that, the eclipse cycle moves into Cancer/Capricorn. So use this new energy to open yourself to your imagination and creativity and let your inner child play!

This New Moon eclipse is aligned with Mercury retrograde and the asteroid Pallas, the goddess of strategic wisdom. So do your homework – go within and find out what the heart wants and needs in this next stage of your life journey.

With 6 of 8 planets retrograde (the Sun and Moon never go retrograde), all the juice is inside us. It’s a good time to do some inner journeying. It’s a great time to find your creative seed and plant it. What do you and your divine inner child want to do next? It helps to recap your life story and begin to work out a new story for your future. (I’m giving an online workshop this fall on this topic.)

Pluto retrograde in Capricorn inconjuncts this Leo New Moon solar eclipse. We have to stretch a bit to access that creativity, to really believe that it’s important and achievable. We do have the power to turn things around, but we need our freedom, our imagination and our creativity to do it.

The Sabian symbol for Pluto at 20* Capricorn is: A hidden choir is singing during a ritual. This symbolizes the need to add our creativity to the collective broth. We need to know that all we do is connected and unified in Spirit.

Neptune retrograde in Pisces is also inconjunct to this solar eclipse. An inconjunct needs us to stretch, to have patience, to re-adjust our thinking. Neptune can inspire or delude us, depending on our self-awareness. The Sabian symbol for 17* Pisces is: An Easter parade. This is a symbol of transformation and resurrection, of gathering together in accord with Nature’s energies. Easter is the Spring Equinox, the time of Nature’s rebirth. Open to Neptune’s true creative imagination – one connected to the workings of Spirit rather than the workings of your small ego-self.

Together, Neptune and Pluto join forces and create a YOD with this New Moon. A Yod is called the Finger of God or the Sword in the Stone. It is a powerful energetic pattern that, once released, gives us the power to change ourselves and the world.

So be brave, call on Arthur and pull that sword out of the stone.

Jupiter in Scorpio squares this Leo New Moon eclipse, challenging us to take up this sword of Light and find our Truth.

Jupiter expands and amplifies the issues of whatever sign it’s in. Halfway through Scorpio, it is opening us to our hidden depths and that of our society. Passionate opinions, overblown emotions and raw fear and pain can only be met and transformed if we have the courage to look within ourselves and deal with our shadows.

Our collective shadows are holding sway over us as well, and the only way to transform them is for each of us to individuate – to become our truest Self. With Jupiter squaring this solar eclipse, it’s time to face the music. It time to dance with our shadows and redeem that lost energy. And then, as Jung so wisely saw, we’ll see that beneath the unconsciousness, there’s 99% gold.

Saturn retrograde in Capricorn trines Uranus retrograde in Taurus. Our inner world must be shaken up and transformed now. Don’t get lazy. Saturn also squares both Venus in Libra and Chiron retrograde in Aries – take responsibility for who you are. Don’t let others confuse you. Find your center and stand there.

Enjoy the end of the summer and let in the Light!

Cathy

Individuation

The difference between the “natural” individuation process, which runs its course unconsciously, and the one that is consciously realized is tremendous. In the first case, consciousness nowhere intervenes; the end remains as dark as the beginning. In the second case, so much darkness comes to light that the personality is permeated with light and consciousness necessarily gains in scope and insight. The encounter between conscious and unconscious has to ensure that the light that shines in the darkness is not only comprehended by the darkness, but comprehends it (from “Answer to Job” in CW 11, par. 756).

The goal of the individuation process is the synthesis of the self. ~Carl Jung; CW 9i; Page 278.

Individuation does not shut one out from the world, but gathers the world to oneself. ~Carl Jung; “On the Nature of the Psyche,” 1947.

Copyright 2018 – Cathy Pagano. All rights reserved.

Please like and share.