The Eclipse Of Darkness

On 12 July 2018 we have a powerful New Moon and Solar Eclipse in Cancer. The New Moon takes place at 20° Cancer and is a partial Solar Eclipse, visible from Southern Australia, including Melbourne and Adelaide.

The Solar Eclipse in Cancer should be called the Eclipse of Darkness, but not necessarily because it will get physically dark. Although the Solar Eclipse is partial, it is nevertheless very powerful for the following reasons:

• It is the first eclipse on the Cancer Capricorn axis.
• The Eclipse is exactly opposite Pluto, the planet of transformation and the underworld. Pluto is notoriously associated with darkness, and the absence of light. Pluto is the Darth Vader of the zodiac!
• The eclipse is not only conjunct Pluto, but also conjunct Pluto’s nodes (yes, all planets have nodes, and Pluto’s nodes are at 20° Cancer / Capricorn right now). Talking about transformation!
• Cancer is the darkest place in the zodiac wheel – it is literally at the bottom of the wheel. That’s why Cancer is ruled by the Moon, which governs over night.

All these alignments make the Solar Eclipse cathartic and fated.

A Solar Eclipse means that the Sun is eclipsed and overshadowed by the Moon. The Sun is taken over. The light disappears. Life is disrupted.

We all know the Sun is the life giver to all creatures on Earth. Without its warmth, there would be no life as we know it. The absence of light can feel scary indeed.

But it’s only from darkness, that we are able to SEE. Paradoxically, it’s only in the space of nothingness that we can see things in a new ‘light’ – our inner light. It’s only from nothing that new beginnings can emerge.

Seeling In The Dark 

Pluto will take you on a trip to the underworld to show you what’s hidden on the other side of light as you know it. We, humans, are hard-wired to be terrified by dark, but ironically, that’s the only possible path to enlightenment. It’s only when we break down our egos and break through the veil of illusion that we can finally SEE. And this is what traveling to the underworld is all about.

“The opposite of light is not darkness, but the potential of light’ – dark because unknown, perhaps, but with the possibility of changing us into that thing we never were before” – Kimberly Grey

Even physiologically, it’s not completely true that we are not able to see in the dark. We just see things differently.

As you may know, there are two types of cells responsible for sight in the human retina – cones and rods.

The cones are active at daylight and help us distinguish shapes and colors. The rods, or the night cells, allow us to see shapes, but not colors. At night, things are less differentiated and less distinct. The color matters less, and is less distracting. It’s more about meaning.

What about when you close your eyes completely? When there is nothing to compare yourself with? When there is no reference point to the past or to the future? What do you see when you close your eyes?

“Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens” – Carl Jung

Water And Cancer – Where Everything Emerges

In astrology, light is associated with the Fire element: the spark of light that emerges from pure consciousness (Aries); the burning fire of self-expression (Leo), and the eternal flame of the Spirit (Sagittarius).

Cancer is a water sign. Water is in a way, the opposite of Fire. Water is cool, fire is hot. Fire is dry, water is wet. Fire transforms, water regenerates. While fire is visually striking, water is invisible. Water doesn’t have a color but reflects the color of the sky, of the soil, or of the living creatures inside it. Fire is the divine masculine, water is the divine feminine.

Cancer is the ultimate archetype of the feminine. Cancer is the nurturing, protective, instinctual energy that gives birth to new life and nurtures it until this new life is able to develop an identity on its own. The 4th house, together with Cancer are the most private places in one’s chart. The most vulnerable. And paradoxically, the strongest.

Think of a pregnant woman (a Cancer / 4th house archetype). She is more vulnerable than ever. She is willing to do whatever it takes to protect the life that is about to emerge. But at the same time, she is stronger than ever. Her vulnerability makes her strong. 

Cancer – or the dark night – is where creation emerges. 

This is the first Eclipse in Cancer since 2009-2010. In fact, on 11 July 2010, we had a Solar Eclipse in Cancer at the same degree as this eclipse. This eclipse will therefore bring to your awareness similar themes. What happened in your life back in July 2010?

Eclipses – Fate Or Free Will? 

Eclipses always happen on a nodal axis, bringing polarities into alignment. So when the North Node of the Moon in one sign, and the South Node of the Moon is in the opposite sign. We have no choice but to reconcile these opposite but complementary energies.

Eclipses are nothing else but times of karmic and cosmic re-adjustment. If the North Node energy points towards the future, the South Node energy is linked to the past. The Nodes of the Moon co-create our destiny.

If life was fate, we would only have the South Node. But life is a miraculous mix of fate and free will. The North Node is in a way our free will. The North Node is our potential, what could exist, the darkness from which life and creation could emerge.

We feel drawn to it, but we have little experience with it. And because we also fear it, we have a natural tendency to revert back to the South Node of the past.

It’s only when you resist your North Node, your true star, that life gets tough. This is when eclipses can bring difficult experiences. But when you embrace it, you dive into a world of pure potential, a world where everything is possible. You can overcome your karma, and co-create your destiny with the universe.

The Solar Eclipse in Cancer is a North Node Eclipse, which means it is more concerned with your free will, with the unknown, with creating new possibilities for the future.

The Cancer Solar Eclipse opposite Pluto is an invitation to plunge into the darkness of the unknown. Don’t be afraid! This is where it all begins.

You will be affected especially if you have planets or angles between 19°-21° in Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn. Look to the house where the eclipse falls in your chart for clues to what to expect.

• Solar Eclipse