The Solar and Lunar Eclipse - Is Any Eclipse Destined to Have Bad Effects?

by Robert Wilkinson

There is a lot of fear and trepidation connected to Eclipses, an unfortunate leftover from previous centuries when Eclipses were believed to augur the fall of empires, dynasties, and powerful people anywhere the Eclipse shadow fell. While Eclipses do tend to shut down some elements in the area of life (house) in which they fall, this is not necessarily a bad thing, since we must bring some things to an end if we are to embrace newer, better ways of doing our Being. While the future effects of an Eclipse may be powerful, in that they last over a long period, they are not necessarily bad.

No Astrological event need be "bad," or have "evil" effects, regardless of whether we're using Vedic, Chinese, Western, or any other approach to defining "All-That-Is" within a precise system of space-time factors. Though a circumstance may seem to have "bad" omens for the future, we can always transcend any negativity and turn the future to beneficent possibilities. No matter where an Eclipse falls, we can turn it to good.

Here it is important to remember Astrology is NOT a "predictive" art, in the usual way this is understood. The craft is less deterministic than most believe, including we professional Astrologers who seem to be able to "hit the mark" regarding future manifestations.

Pattern is everything, and time is a continuity. By knowing the past and present, we can often extrapolate the future. But we can never know how a being will respond to any given life challenge, whether pleasant or painful. Each has their ability to respond as they choose in the moment.

This directly related to the concept that each planet has a duality of function. It is up to us to determine whether the Moon, Sun, Mercury or any other planet involved in eclipses, "bad" aspects, configurations and other phenomena manifests productively or non-productively. To remind you, a square can be more productive than a trine, and an opposition can produce awareness. Polarization is only a problem on the ego level. Seen from a higher angle, oppositions are necessary for us to acquire objectivity and the ability to encompass duality within a higher view.

We who explore Astrology can see patterns, but EVERYTHING is "free will" in a higher or lower sense of that concept. How we respond to any challenge or circumstance entirely determines the outcome. Period. There is no Astrological configuration or event that can override our potential responses. Everything depends on our acuity, intelligence, and willingness to do whatever it takes to bring order out of chaos, and wisdom out of experience.

Bringing this down to specifics, I had an eclipse fall on my Ascendant in 1989. As with all eclipses, it did bring many things in my life to an end. However, it also opened an 18 year period of working and then living in California. Did my old life in Austin end? Yes. Was it "bad?" No.

Necessary endings lead to powerful beginnings and manifestations of destiny if we ride the wave rather than resist it. When the 1989 Eclipse conjuncted my Ascendant, I had been in a period of deep grief, frustration, and feeling a profound lack of fulfillment in my life since I had "been there, done that" for longer than anyone else I knew. I felt I had fulfilled my potential in Texas, and having just completed my first trip to California, I couldn't figure out what my past, present, or future held for me.

The 1989 Leo eclipse ended that phase and opened me to a whole new healing process and work that resulted in my sponsoring a bunch of men's gatherings and a national media event that opened the door for thousands of men to express their feelings. It moved my grief work into a much more effective process, and gave me a sense of my life being in motion again after a long period of being dead in the water in several areas of my life.

It trined my Sun, opposed my Moon, and made other aspects that definitely showed exactly as we are taught they do. It kicked off a very harmonious beginning of a long chapter in my life. While I've had other challenges (remember all challenges are our eternally human "grist for the mill of Soul") it's easy to see that my life before the 1989 Eclipse was radically different than what I've been experiencing these past 19 years.

I have no doubt that though things end throughout our lives some endings are very much a blessing. After the 1989 eclipse on my Ascendant, my intense grief resolved itself within 2 years of that event and I no longer suffered the roller coaster of one shipwrecked in Hell. I ended old heart constrictions (Leo) and understood clearly my need for more creativity and connectedness with life in ways that made me feel good.

In the time after that eclipse, I started making money and having fun in sunny SoCal hitting the beach on a regular basis, and opened a much wider circle of friends. I was more appreciated for my skills than I had been in years, and so yes, it DID "shut down" an old self image and matters of the heart while opening me to more love and appreciation of my life, friends, and clients than I had known for years.

All in all, that eclipse on my Ascendant began a very enjoyable 18 year period of my life that opened many doors and changed my life and self image forever. You can apply this in other ways, For example, the one on my Sun in 1997 ended a frustrating life struggle and coincided with my "Mercury Retrograde" book breaking to international acclaim. There are countless ways an eclipse can manifest, depending entirely on what we're doing in our world.

So take heart, and stop worrying about possible negatives to come after this or any eclipse. Better to apply yourself wholeheartedly to letting go of what you no longer need physically, emotionally, and mentally, and embrace the adventure of breathing out the old life substance so you can breath in some newer, more fulfilling future tendencies. Any eclipse shows us it's time to empty our cup of old substance, and welcome the ambrosia that could be ours.

© Copyright 2008 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Matt]

Hi Robert -

Thank you for the inspired entry above. I pray that the coming eclipses will finally end some phases of my life (that I have been working hard to close peacefully!) while simultaneously starting a new harmonious phase. My sense of faith that this will happen is enhanced knowing this eclipse trines my Sun as it does yours... and that the eclipse on the 16th conjoins my Venus and trines my Pluto.

Warmest blessings -

Matt

[Dirk A. van Mulligen]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for both your article on the August eclipses and this more general one. With both sun and moon in Leo, I've got a very strong link to the eclipses: solar eclipse conjunct sun (as does Barack Obama!), lunar eclipse opposed moon. And my ruling planet Jupiter smack in the middle in Leo (conjoins the sun on 8-8-8).

Definitely a time to let go of heart constrictions and letting the Lion roar!

Best regards and wishing you a refreshing eclipse!

Dirk

[Henry]

Hi Robert!.

Glad to read you again on the stream.
It's curious how, in my case, the 9º degrees Leo Mars/Saturn conjunction fell on my Natal Venus (ruler of my 7th and 12th) in 9th, and a relationship with "lack of horizons" ended during the developments).
Now I see that the Eclipse falls on my Venus again, and I'm starting to work far away abroad in a few weeks after a depression/lack of perspective period.

Feel very identified with what you say, althought Venus is not the Asc. and perhaps implies new ways of enjoying life and a 12th house "closure processes' end" with a 9th house expansion.

Great post.
And hope the Eclipse patterns (aspects) will be not very hard to deal with...

[Lorna]

Beautifully said, Robert, as always. Last year's August eclipse hit my Ascendant and was traumatic in that a rumor destroyed 90% of my business but it also caused me to cull the emotional vampires and troublemakers from my life and has since freed me up to live serenely, doing exactly what I want--which is a twist on my old business. It was tough for a few months, but it really did launch a wonderful new phase for me and I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. As for this year's eclipses, I'm expecting the highest of manifestations! Thank you, once again, for such inspiring words.

[j. sue gagliardi]

AMEN, Robert; what a wonderful article. Everyone needs be reminded occasionally that the planets do nothing to us; we do to ourselves."As above; so below" is an ancient axiom that speaks of reflection, not persecution.
Blessings and more,
Sue

[reefaroundme]

Dear Robert,

Thanks for this lovely article. I admit, I am afraid of this one, which falls 2 degrees off my Sun, but I'll try to look at it from a higher angle! The February 2008 eclipse fell on my Ascendant and obviously I don't know the full story yet, but I lost my father a few months later and many other developments have been if not as Earth shattering, still painful and even scary (a prolonged but ultimately disappointing consideration of my creative work; my partner is undergoing harassment, threats and intimidation from a thuggish neighbor). Well, Uranus on the North Node and Chiron and the North Node on the Ascendant are not to be discounted, either!

Your article reminded me of an eclipse on my Sun in 2000, whereafter I moved and found more fulfillment in many areas. Fighting my newfound fear of some of these transits I'm undergoing may be the lesson of this eclipse for me, as I'm a mighty Leo, not no cowardly lion (haha). Thanks again!

[Patty]

Dear Robert,
Having just found this site yesterday I have been helped greatly through your positive words and realistic understanding of Astrology. I tend to be a natural worrier but feel calm after reading your post today. I will continue to read and I am rereading my 1989 diary! :) Thank you, Patty

[Melody]

Dear Robert and everyone,

I always appreciate everyone's insights .. especially Roberts wonderful articles ...

Robert your sharing about an eclipse conjunct your ascendent has helped as this eclipse is a mere 3 degrees off my ascendent .. and new self image and new locale's are ALL on the table for this one.
I have been reading Robert Jansky's book on eclipses if anyone can get a copy and read it I whole heartedly suggest you do so .. He qualifies eclipses as taking on the energy of either crisis or emphasis. This is invariably very true .. at least for me. Though that does not need to mean BAD. Just what needs to be purged. He also speaks in depth about the Saros cycles of eclipses .. back tracking my own life .. I can see where this energy starts with a cycle and rounds out by the next one in a natural progression of things. I have found that the energy of an eclipse is not a one event deal but a progression of things that gives way to growth. An interest side bar about eclipses and saros cycles ... when analyzing the cycle and the energy it brings forth, in the houses it touches .. it has also held true that if you add many of the asteroids .. they too play a role in some significant way as part of the play of the eclipse in each individuals life and or psyche working each of us towards our own individual destinies ...

Melody

[Alix]

Hi Robert,

Thanks so much for this article :) and it's so good to see you back :D

The eclipse on your ascendant in 1989, was it a south or a north node eclipse? Because that does seem to make a lot of difference.

[Rhonda]

"We who explore Astrology can see patterns, but EVERYTHING is "free will" in a higher or lower sense of that concept. How we respond to any challenge or circumstance entirely determines the outcome. Period. There is no Astrological configuration or event that can override our potential responses. Everything depends on our acuity, intelligence, and willingness to do whatever it takes to bring order out of chaos, and wisdom out of experience."

Thank you, Robert, for that wonderful expression of how we who "explore" astrology do not attribute every movement of the planets to something that is going to act upon us in a fatalistic way that we are unable to resist. In my efforts to educate my closest friends in the value of astrology in my life, this is the perfect expression of what it means to me. I am a new poster, but have followed your blog for several months now. Thank you for your wonderful insights. Every time I realize that there is another significant astrological configuration approaching, I check your blog... and without exception you have already offered the most sound observations.

[Zorfa]

I was born on August 6, 1953, in the morning hours in Karachi, Pakistan. The exact time is not known. I am having a difficult time at work and with financial investments. Is this eclipse going to bring some relief? A response is appreciated. Thanks.

[Damien]

Wow, i'm experiencing a hard Saturnine/Capricornian bluntness in some of my relationships...i.e. 'How could you think like this, how could you say something like this?' etc...I even FEEL more weighed down physically...any explanation for this Robert...1/7/82 Fullerton, CA 2:09 pm

Namaste

[Robert]

Hi all - Medical emergency came up for a friend. I can't answer comments for a while.

[AceStar]

hi Robert! lovely article really touch my heart my good friend :)
take care and fly high hehe :)

good luck

LOVE

[Robert]

Hi all - Just a few minutes but I'll answer as I can.

Hi Matt - It should harmonize with anything occupying 2-18 Fire and Air signs, and help release anything 3-17 of Fixed signs. The trine to the Sun should be very positive, as are the aspects to the coming Lunar Eclipse.

Hi Dirk - Well, I would think a major part of your light/life is going to find out you've made it to a great place. Barack hopefully will find this marks the point where his old life ends, and his new one begins. Something about the coming convention springs to mind.;-) Yes, the one at 10 Leo in 1989 cut my lion loose!

Hi Henry - Glad you pointed out the connect between the Mars-Saturn conjunction in Leo and this Eclipse. I had forgotten, but this Lunation will definitely be related to lessons learned in that past cycle. Glad you're on the move and that good things seem to be beckoning. Your old way of "ruling" the 7 and 12 house things in your life is ending through 9 house happenings. Remember that means Jupiter is also close to a triseptile with your Venus, marking a turning point in your view of Venusian things.

Hi Lorna - Sorry that a rumor created a mess, but they often do just that exactly so we can dump the rumormongers from creating problems for us in the future. Glad you've found happiness in such a short time. Thanks for your praise of the site. May this eclipse bring you the next phase of whatever better things are appropriate to your spiritual evolution.

Hi Sue - You bet. We have far more power to steer the process than most suspect, and even a small adjustment done at the right time can avert a pile of problems and bring us into safe harbor. Taking the moment to know how we're being transfigured can often open doors and windows we never even saw right in front of us!

Hi reefaroundme - Well, even if our light is dimmed in one area, we still shine in other areas, and sometimes chapters MUST end so we can be about the work our Higher Self knows we must do. My condolences on the loss of your father, which is definitely a part of the self-image (Asc). Karma must be fulfilled, and our job is not to go into funky places but instead know that a chapter is done and it's time to open to newer adventures and wisdom. Disappointment with creative work also is temporary, so it also shows it's time to express something else, or in a different way than before. Harassment is a drag, but there are ways to deal with such things that guarantees resolution. Even if it seems to be a difficult outcome, it can teach us how to avoid such creatures in the future, or how to blunt their influence before it becomes a problem. And fear is definitely a dangerous disease that must be cured in every way if we are to lead happy and fulfilled lives, both this one and the ones to come.

Hi Patty - Welcome to the cantina and thanks for your appreciation of what we're all building here. I try to be practical in my astrological approaches, since both the craft and our ability to play the changes deserve respect. Definitely stop worrying about things that can't be solved by your worrying!;-)

Hi Melody - Jansky was a true pioneer in the craft re: eclipses. "Crisis or emphasis" are both apt keywords for these phenomena, since eclipses do throw us into crisis by what is emphasized that we don't want to let go of. Eclipses are continually triggered by transits to the eclipse sensitive points even years after the event, so they do mark points of release and a diminishing of the light so we can see other light sources.

Hi Alix - Same as this one. New Moon Solar Eclipse on my Asc with NN in Aquarius near my Moon, like this one. And of course the next Solar eclipse in Jan 1990 was in Aquarius conjunct the NN on my Moon.

Hi Rhonda - Welcome to the roadhouse. I'm not very fatalistic since I know from direct experience that we can direct our energies, as interpreted through planetary symbology, in many directions not explained in the textbooks on the craft. And of course, thanks for your kind words on this work.

Hi Zorfa - Mercury rules your house of resources, Jupiter rules your house of investments, Venus rules your profession, while Saturn rules your work you do for others. Eclipses shut down old ways and open new perspectives. This should help you know you have "made it through the night" sometime in the next 2 years. Of importance is that you are entering a peak year, when some things will be excellently culminated while other things will come to a complete end. You have a very powerful grand Air trine working 2007-2009 which should bring you good ideas and associations. Pluto is fairly favorable, though Uranus is focusing your Saturn-Neptune sextile Pluto in a Yod, or Finger of God. Sacrifice whatever you need to of superficialities, drifting tendencies, procrastination, or over-weighing things and get focused on the future you're sensing in vague but profound ways. You may need to travel or get newer, wider education later this year into next. September should provide clear tasks that can benefit you long term.

Hi Damien - Saturn is stabilizing the details of your life as you stand on the threshold of a new adventure, truth, or future that you glimpsed in March, saw from a new angle in July, and will begin to live actively in September-October. Mars in late July and early August shows a practicum of what must be accepted as Dharma or duty between now and next July. Saturn's recent square to your Uranus will help you let go of old willful Sag stuff and help you feel more compassion and ways to help and be helped. Uranus is currently quincunx your Saturn. That could explain some of what you're going through.

Hi AceStar - Thanks for checking in. Am taking care and flying high, though not so high as to melt the wings.;-) Be well, my friend.

[Zorfa]

Thanks Robert.

[zorfa]

Thanks for your previous comments. One concern that weighs heavily on my mind and has given me sleepless nights. I am having difficulty in recovering most of my hard earned money that I invested a couple of years ago. When do you see me get it back. A reply would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Rhonda]

Thanks for the welcome, Robert. This Friday is my birthday (8-8-56). It's fun to see the triple 8's coming up. With Saturn is sitting on my Virgo moon, any birthday message you would have would be awesome! Thanks!

[Wild Horse Running]

Hi Robert,

I read somewhere, maybe here that "change is unexpected"...I didn,t understand that, untill now....all of a sudden there are new behaviors suddenly appearing/or inner discipline/strength of will...negative mindsets/behaviors that are being replaced with optimism/posistive behaviors/ability to uplift/support others.... and I am surprized...I "feel it" grounding within. I real eyes I never had a strong inner foundation...and I feel/believe that over the last 2 years, there has been serious inner work, that has been happening. During this time I have been in a "desert expierence", but now I am grateful for it.
I now have a clearer understanding of what lies ahead. I have read alot of esoteric material-Alice Bailey..."Baptism by Water"....the nine tests of Scorpio...and I am "seeing" who I have been and the things I have to "let go of"...old behaviors/un-concious addictions...the Lunar eclipse conjuncts my Chiron-opposing my Uranus..stimulating the grand square I have in fixed signs at 22-23 degress..squaring my Sun and Moon...and when the sun squares the eclipse point on Nov 15/16, the full moon of Nov occurs on the 13th with Sun and Moon returning to my exact birth posistions. So I am in Transistion now...for re-birth then, with "testing" before?

Blessings to you, amigo...
namaste...

Blessings to you, my friend.

[Robert]

Hi Zorfa - Well, some investments must be written off as difficult experiences, while others turn around according to local conditions. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose - it all depends on what we bring out of it in the way of detachment, dispassion, discrimination, and generating good will.

Hi Rhonda - Happy Birthday and Solar Return. Restructure what nurtures you and what you care about. Stop worrying about things that cannot be solved by your worrying, and take heart that Jupiter is very favorable right now. End whatever needs ending, open to new practical adjustments, and expect a new set of opportunities to open in BIG ways early 2009. Enjoy the steady pace of growth over the next few months, and stop fussing over the details, but just organize, take responsibility, and know that over time it's all ordering itself in fine style perfect for what new adventures you're about to experience next year.

Hi WHR - Good you're recognizing new strengths, optimisms, and disciplines. Alice Bailey is one of the best. When you mount and master the Crosses, then the Door of Initiation swings open, and you join the Sacred Company who await your entrance. Uranus is now favorable for your late Scorpio/Taurus energies, so triangulate. You could be on the threshold of a greater transformation than you suspect. Please read "Initiation Human and Solar" by the esteemed Ms. Bailey, since there are things that can open for you in the proverbial New York minute.

[Wild Horse running]

Robert,

Thanks for your reply...this Lunar eclipse conjuncts neptune/my chiron in my 5th,....I had a dream last night that showed me more about old parts of myself/illusions? I have carried around, I will be letting go of...and emotionally it might be rough. I feel that I have been "watched over" in this desert expierence...as starting in 2003 a continuous dream journey started...and it is if I have been guided...had it not been for this dream connection...I don,t know if I would have made it through. The transformation/Initiation you speak of...and group involvement/possible leadership, has been shown/also that it happens very quickly...maybe this is why I have written to you "checking" to see where Im at. But now Im starting to feel it...and I know that I am almost "Home".

Thank you for your wisdom, kindness and support...you are helping many, many people.

namaste...

[wild horse running]

Robert...I just ordered Alice Bailey's book, Initiation Human and Solar. I went back and read your response..."you COULD be on the threshold of a greater transformation than you suspect",....many many of those dreams contained "crossroads-2 opportunities-choices"..and the dream last night showed a Dweller on the Threshold expierence, which I am almost "seduced by", but at the last minute, I let go of....

I am also starting to "focus" and "hear"....thanks again for your choice of words in responding...

:-)

[Rhonda]

Thank you, Robert! I am looking forward to continued reading of your commentaries.

[Robert]

Hi WHR - Sure. In my experience, as we surrender to the Love of Truth and the Knowledge of Truth and show up, willing to be of service to suffering humanity once we get the proper training, then all kinds of permanent spiritual awakenings occur that will take us across space and time toward greater work than we've ever imagined. It begins with personality integration, gentle control of the desire nature, and working with the first three fetters: 1) Delusion of self, 2) Doubt, and 3) Superstition. Once we get moving and grooving along these lines, then we break on through to the other side forever when we are ready, willing, and able to do the higher work. And of course, each step attained opens the lessons of the next step to come. Initiation Human and Solar shows the path, but we have to get trained to walk it. That's why it's a "could be" rather than "will be."

Hi Rhonda - You're most welcome.

[Mani]

Dear Robert,

I have a Cancer ascendant at 25degrees. And my sun sign is Scorpio. DOB-5 Nov 1967 India. Time 23:03

Last time there was an eclipse in 2006 in Aries, it meant a change of job for me.

Do you think the August eclipses will mean job changes for me?

Mani