The Cosmic Story: Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse, June 5, 2020

The Cosmic Story: Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse, June 5, 2020

The Old King is Dead. Long Live the New King.

Partial Lunar Eclipse

2020 just keeps getting more intense, doesn't it? We're just entering this year's first eclipse season and more intensity is on the way. It reminds me of the time during labor called transition when the labor pains keep coming without a break because the baby is ready to come out and be born.

So, here we go into eclipse season for more intensity. Eclipses are extra potent New & Full Moons that occur when the planes of the Sun, Moon & Earth meet at two points in space, called the Lunar Nodes. These nodes are believed to be points in a chart which show us the lessons we've come into this life to learn, both by what we leave behind (South Node) and what we have to learn (North Node). The nodes take about 19 months to travel backwards through a sign, and our present nodes just moved from Cancer (NN)/Capricorn (SN) to Gemini (NN)/ Sagittarius (SN).

Our new collective initiation and test for the next year and a half is to leave behind (Sagittarius SN) old belief systems, ideologies and ideas, whether religious or political or societal or economic, and look for all the information and options (Gemini NN) that would help create a more free, conscious, caring and united world.

There will be six eclipses this year instead of the usual four – 2 solar eclipses and 4 lunar eclipses (one was January 10, 2020). Eclipses are fateful turning points, both collectively and personally if they touch on aspects of your chart. Lunar eclipses reveal and release what is old and solar eclipses birth the new. In the next month, we'll experience two lunar eclipses and one potent solar eclipse. The other solar and lunar eclipse will be in November—December.

The Great Attractor

This week's partial lunar eclipse is on the Great Attractor – a gravitational force that is so strong it bends light (see Philip Sedgewick). And the south lunar node is near the Galactic Center. It looks like the heavens will be open to sharing some of their wisdom in this next month, so open your mind and be receptive to downloads. And pay attention to what you hear, see and dream, because whatever you're dealing with now will be waiting for you down the road this autumn.

But we shouldn't be surprised at the intensity of the past few years and the next few years because we're still in the vortex of energies created by the 7 squares between Pluto and Uranus that took place from 2012 – 2015. We are in the midst of Revolution and Evolution and we're all on this hero's journey together. And Americans are beginning our country's Pluto return, which always brings deep change and disruption to society. Hopefully, it will bring us reforms in government, business and finance.

Our world is on the brink of global change, and if we want it to result in a more peaceful, equal and healthy world, we have to do our part to make it happen. Because the old order isn't going down without a struggle. But we've all been born for this moment in time, so take heart – your soul knows what it needs to do.

In this time of uncertainty, there are so many stories about what's happening in our world. But are they True or False? How can we tell what to believe? Perhaps we've come to this cloud of unknowing as a global initiation to see if we can actually grow up into adult, responsible human beings and learn to live as one with Mother Nature and each other.

In this time of uncertainty, we are called to turn to our heart's knowing – after all, Venus retrograde just kissed the Sun and began her new Morning Star journey. She's happy to tune into the rhythms of her heart and listen for the wisdom there. This is a time when we have to trust our instincts, our human nature rather than our intellect. There are so many new possibilities to explore if we are open to them.

Our mind might be a traitor to the truth if we don't realize what is driving our beliefs. The media message is one of Fear, and our greatest unconscious fear is of death. But death is a part of life. What has made us so afraid of it? I believe it's our religious beliefs, because for centuries our ancestors were told that they would burn in Hell or Purgatory after death. Or religious wars that caused horrible deaths. Or being burnt at the stake or tortured. And they passed that fear onto us in our DNA. We've forgotten that death is just one gate of the wheel of life and that we do get recycled – both our bodies and our souls.

Where there is death, there is also rebirth. The Wheel of Life keeps turning. That's how evolution happens.

Fear, love, rebellion, anger, despair. Our thoughts are swamped by our emotions. These are not the messages of the Heart. The Heart understands feelings, which is how we value things. Something feels right or wrong. The Heart listens to the body and trusts its instincts. If something is really scary, our body knows. But we can trick it with our imagination if someone else suggests dire happenings. So it's time to stop listening to the media and start listening to your quiet heart.

The soul dwells within the hearts of all creatures, which is the source of real feelings and knowing. Yet this is not the physical heart but the core of our being, which we experience in the heart region of the physical body. The magnetic force of the soul, working through our hearts, holds us at a level that no external disturbance can reach. It regulates the heartbeat of creation. The causal body or sphere of the soul exists like a golden egg in the heart.

(Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization by Dr. David Frawley)

When we discover our heart's truth, we'll know our truth. Where we stand. Do we believe in justice for all? Do we believe we're all equal? Do we believe in sharing the burdens and rights of community and citizenship? Have we gotten over being consumers? Do we all have the right to health care? Do we want to heal the Earth instead of raping her? Just what kind of society do we want and do we deserve? These are the questions we have to answer in this year of initiation and change.

Meanwhile our prayers, hopes and support are with our brothers and sisters who are standing up for their rights all over our world. We have to take to the streets when our governments try to take away our freedoms and our lives – putting our bodies on the line in hopes of a better world. May the Spirit bless and protect us all.

Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse 2020

The Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon lunar eclipse occurs on Friday, June 5, 2020 at 12:12pm PDT/ 3:12pm EDT/ 5:12pm GMT. It will be visible in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia, Europe.

Gemini is how we learn to perceive the world.  How we learn to bring things together, how we see opposition, how we think about and organize our world. How we communicate with others.  It's ruler is Mercury, the traveling God, the psychopomp who helps us travel between dimensions.  With Venus meeting the Gemini Sun before this Lunar eclipse, our next journey will be to learn about Love, to live Love, to Be Love.  Our quest will be to learn to communicate it, to live it, and to learn about it from others.

Sagittarius describes our beliefs about the laws of life and spirit, our curiosity about our world, as well as our will to expand beyond ourselves into other realms.   It is our ability to open our arms to the Other, to welcome in immigrants to our homeland and our hearts.  Or to reject the Other because of philosophical  and religious differences.  This is the Truth Speaker, the Truth Seeker.  Or the fanatic and judge.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 15*34' Gemini is: A woman activist on a platform, in an emotional speech, dramatizing her cause. An interesting take on this by Lynda Hill is that the situation is probably about inequality and the effort it takes for a fairer outcome for everyone. So it speaks to our situation, and to the fact that many black women leaders are speaking out now about justice and equality. And perhaps it's time to listen to women, who have always been the nurturers of community life.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 15*34' Sagittarius is: Sea gulls fly around a ship looking for food. This image speaks of the issue of dependence on something or someone else for our nurturing. This lunar eclipse speaks to our need to stop looking to others for answers to our questions. What we are being fed are just the left-overs and scraps. The positive potential is to stand up for ourselves and not wait for others to give us our independence and freedom.

Since Mars is exactly square this lunar eclipse, the Sabian symbol for Mars at 15*52' Pisces is: In a quiet moment, a creative individual experiences the flow of inspiration. This image can inspire us to open up to whatever new ideas and potentials waiting to come into collective consciousness from the collective unconscious. Listen to your dreams and visions now. With Neptune so close, the creative imagination is available to play with. We have to remember to 'become like children' to experience it in all its full glory.

These three images give us an idea of how to handle these energies. Let go of depending on others for your beliefs, be open to inspiration and imagination from your soul and don't be afraid to take a stand on what you feel is true.

Venus retrograde is also conjunct the Sun, having just connected with it on Wednesday June 3^rd. It is the start of a new Morning Star cycle for Venus. During this eclipse, she anchors the Sun to her powers of attraction, beauty, love and body wisdom. We can be extra aware now of what our body is telling us. And since Venus is also squaring Mars in Pisces, she can challenge him to let go of his need to dominate and embrace her more life-giving partnership mode of relating. As we're hearing without stop on TV – We're all in this together.

What would happen if we opened ourselves to new possibilities and let go of our old beliefs that keep us boxed-in to a system of belief that is no longer viable? Our patriarchal religions and society no longer fit our needs or our knowledge. We can keep what is good and true from the past, but so many of those rules demand unquestioning belief that takes away our free will. We have grown more conscious than these beliefs give us credit for. Or else, these unconscious beliefs keep feeding our fears and prejudices and in some cases, keep us innocent of the truth of what our governing institutions are really doing. 

Blind Justice

 

Thankfully, this lunar eclipse wants us to look at these old truths and leave them behind if they're no longer valid. We were taught that American justice is blind, that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. And yet, we've known for decades this is not true for many of our people – in terms of race, of gender and of wealth. How can we continue to deny it when we see black citizens being routinely and brutally killed due to suspicion and fear? Or seeing our taxes go to big corporations and wealthy individuals instead of to the small businesses and poor? Why is socialism good for the wealthy and for corporations but not good for 'we the people' who need health care, better access to technology and schooling and fair wages for our work?

This lunar eclipse asks us to question our beliefs and stay open to new information and new possibilities. And the most important belief that needs to go centers around toxic masculinity – through the square to Mars, which symbolizes men and the masculine energy of life.

This Mars squaring the full Moon energy can make us angry, frustrated and emotionally conflicted. So watch ourselves because emotions are already high. But there is also the possibility that this energy can give us the imagination and spiritual awareness to make necessary changes in our beliefs about ourselves and the world.

Mars was part of the grand conjunction of Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter in Capricorn earlier this year. Mars often 'sets off' the energies it encounters, and it certainly energized our knowledge and response to the pandemic as it transited Capricorn and early Aquarius in March and early April. We could say it picked up on the ideas and energies of the Saturn/Pluto conjunction on January 12^th that echoed the breakdown of our society since the beginning of 2020.

The toxic part of that energy was apparent to everyone in America as we watched the mess the American government made of its response to the pandemic as well as the response to the riots happening now due to the continuing violence against our black citizens. The most toxic outlet of masculinity comes from our president and his tweets as well as some of our other elected leaders and police. (This is not true of all of them). The fact that we are not handling these situations with competence, grace and resourcefulness means that something isn't working. Our collective Mars is not doing its job of grappling with the situation until things come out right.

Now that Mars is in Pisces, these old masculine energies are up for renewal. Pisces dissolves old energies and brings them back to Source. We have to give over to death and dissolution when Pisces is involved. The Old King is dead – but he doesn't realize it. And that brings out in the worst in him, for he'll do anything to keep from dying and giving over his power.

This is dominator energy, 'my way or the highway' energy. This is 'the father' energy of patriarchy which we no longer need. We've grown up and have to make our own decisions. We can no longer agree to domination. We have to insist on partnership and cooperation. That's why we need to step into our own authority now.

With Mars conjunct Neptune in Pisces squaring this lunar eclipse, we can't bypass this energy. We have to deal with it. It needs renewal. The question is: Can we let go of old illusions, beliefs, superstitions and ideas (SN Sagittarius) that feed the anger, resentment and dominator control of patriarchy and open ourselves to new ideas, knowledge and solutions to our collective problems (NN Gemini)?

The New King

Can we let the old stereotypes of male superiority, of action over being, of intellect over heart wisdom, of power over instead of filled with power dissolve in Neptune's embrace and prepare that energy for its rebirth in the second half of 2020?

Because Mars will stay in Aries for the last six months of 2020 instead of its usual six weeks as it retrogrades in Aries over Eris, the Warrioress of the Heart and challenges the teetering power structures of our western society by squaring Pluto/Jupiter/Saturn in Capricorn. Mars in Aries can lead us to war, or it can lead us to new ways of being.

This will be the time when we'll need to stand up to stop any potential wars and martial laws that the powers-that-be might try to enforce. Our masculine honor and courage will be reborn during those months if we let it. We have to get over our fears about the virus and not be afraid to take a stand if that becomes necessary.

When we let the old king and his tools of violence, prejudice and domination die, we can look for the new king to arise with the strength to stand up for peace and justice.

So this lunar eclipse can open us to new ideas and new beliefs. We have to release any old beliefs that can keep us from creating this new world. That means fear of the virus, fear of the police, fear of the Other. Things are heating up in America, and while we don't have to get caught up in the violence, we need to contribute our energies to bringing down patriarchal power. This is the time. This is our moment.

Other astrological events:

June 3, 2020 at 10:44 am PDT/ 1:44pm EDT/ 6:44pm GMT. Venus kisses the Sun.

Venus conjuncts the Sun at 13*36' Gemini, starting a new Gemini Venus star-point. In 2004 and 2012, Venus crossed the face of the Sun during this same transit, something that only happens twice in a row every 120 years or so. So we are exploring a new dimension of Venus' powers as she becomes a Morning Star on June 12-13. Venus symbolizes the archetype of attraction, one of the primal forces of the cosmos. Our new quest is to find out what attracts us, what makes us passionate, whether in love or in knowledge or in discovery. So you know where Gemini is in your chart? It will help you discover these new passions,

The Sabian symbol for Sun conjunct Venus retrograde at 13*36' Gemini is: Bridging physical space and social distinctions, two people communicate telepathically. Hopefully this indicates that we'll be establishing our own 'innernet' connections so we can dump FaceBook and Twitter. Otherwise, it's about sharing our thoughts and feelings with others, no matter the distance. And understanding each other completely. This will be helpful if we continue to 'social distance' ourselves, but hopefully, we'll be able to also physically touch each other sooner rather than later.  Because Love will always be the answer. 

June 13, 2020 – Mars conjunct Neptune in Pisces

Here is the moment of dissolution of the old masculine and the birth of a new and vibrant masculinity. Or we can get lost in our illusions, delusions and fake news. The choice as always is up to us. It's always good to know where Pisces is in your chart – the place where you let go and let Spirit flow into your life.

June 17--18, 2020 – Mercury goes retrograde at 14*46' Cancer until July 12, 2020.

The Sabian symbol for Mercury at 14*46' Cancer is: In a sumptuous dining hall, guests relax after partaking of a huge banquet. This has been described as the manifestation of plenty and pleasure, of the bounty of Spirit here on Earth. As Mercury goes retrograde, we have to consider what will fulfill our needs. What is it we desire most? I'm voting for our new normal to be kind to Mother Earth and stop destroying and polluting her air, water, land and food. What about you? Find out where Cancer is in your chart so you can see what it wants you to re-imagine. New talents, new forms of work, new creative endeavors, new ways to be of service.

June 20—21, 2020 – Summer Solstice/Litha. Solar Eclipse in Cancer.

More on this in the next newsletter. Just know that this eclipse is in the same family of eclipses as the one that occurred in June of 2001 – before 9/11. This is why it is so important that we get our Mars in order – what kind of actions will we take if things take a turn for the worst? Will we let another president tell us to 'go shop' while they take our rights away again? It's time to step into our own power and authority.

Prepare yourselves for more initiations.

Blessed Be!

Cathy

Only Once

All which, because it was
flame and song and granted us
joy, we thought we'd do, be, revisit,
turns out to have been what it was
that once, only; every invitation
did not begin
a series, a build-up: the marvelous
did happen in our lives, our stories
are not drab with its absence: but don't
expect to return for more. Whatever more
there will be will be
unique as those were unique. Try
to acknowledge the next
song in its body -- halo of flames as utterly
present, as now or never.

~ Denise Levertov ~

(Selected Poems)