What Is A Solar Eclipse and How Does It Affect Our Life?

by Robert Wilkinson

Since we usually have two Solar Eclipses each year and they often affect us for several years after they occur, today we’ll explore what they are and how their influence works. They are recurring important stellar events, and there’s a lot of myths about them. Historically, an eclipse, whether Solar or Lunar, is one of the most dreaded events in all of astrology.

I originally posted this 10 years ago. Today I’ve rewritten key parts to make it more readable, and where appropriate, added material to expand the concepts.

Tables of various eclipse cycles have been kept since antiquity in several cultures, and it is said that the ancient Babylonians had eclipse tables over a 500,000 year period. Traditional sources of antiquity state that when the shadow of an eclipse falls on a nation or people, it is assumed to have dire consequences for the future of that nation.

Historically, more than not this is accurate. Without this becoming a boring recitation of different empires crashing under the weight of their own excesses rather than an astronomical phenomenon, I will remind you that an astrological event does not make anything happen, correlations notwithstanding. That being said...

There are many cycles of eclipses, some recurring relatively frequently, some taking decades, even centuries to recur. The ancients felt that its shadow signified the passing from power of a ruling family or dynasty, the invasion of the nation by hostile foreign powers, the death of an era, even famine, drought, or pestilence.

Solar Eclipses indicate the shadowing of the "great light" by another object that obscures that light, if only momentarily. So an eclipse blocks the light of the Sun for a period of time, from a few minutes to a few hours, and in those places that the Eclipses are most visible, the skies go dark and we can see other, fainter light coming from stars we wouldn't ordinarily see.

This is certainly true of a total Solar Eclipse, and to a lesser degree during partial eclipses. The ancients also thought that the number of hours a Solar Eclipse lasts over a nation shows the number of years it would suffer affliction, and the number of hours a Lunar Eclipse lasts shows the number of months it will suffer. But of course, that doesn't happen in our ultra-rationalistic, left-brain reality any more, right?

Well, leaving aside any argument of causality, I have found that where an eclipse falls in a birth chart corresponds with something ending in that part of the life. Whatever house it occurs in is where something is about to end in a significant way. It could be said that eclipses are “Cosmic Recyclers,” taking away what we no longer need, creating space for new things to present themselves.

We can learn a lot about how they impact us by seeing how they aspect our planets and angles. If the eclipse conjuncts a planet, we can expect to see endings in that old planetary psychological function. And of course, it will affect the houses ruled by any planet it touches.

For example, if an eclipse conjuncts your Venus, you may assume that sooner or later you will confront the end of an old way of enjoying life, an old value, or an old relationship. You will see this work out in the houses ruled by Taurus and Libra.

If it conjuncts Mercury, an old mindset, perception, attitude, or interpretation that was a significant part of your life will pass away through the life areas ruled by Gemini and Virgo. If an eclipse conjuncts your Saturn, an old important responsibility, obligation, hinderance, or fear will leave the life as seen in the areas of life (houses) ruled by Capricorn and Aquarius.

If the eclipse affects the Moon, expect the ending of an old habit or way of experiencing life. Usually there are major personality shifts and endings associated with parts of the life represented by the house where you have Cancer. If Mars is affected, it could mean that an old hassle or quarrel will end, or there will be a hassle as a result of an ending in the houses ruled by Aries and Scorpio. Of course, it could mean the end of an old way of “attacking the problems of life,” or an old way of responding to a call for immediate action.

If a Solar Eclipse impacts our Jupiter, an old vision, philosophical view, or an obsolete moral stance will end, or there will be something taken away that affects the houses with Sagittarius and Pisces on the cusp. If the eclipse falls on your Sun, expect the end of your Light or Life in some way. This shows the passing of an old life order, but of course since Nature abhors a vacuum, it also shows that a new life and light will begin. It will most affect the house with Leo on the cusp.

So it primarily shows as an ending in the house in which it falls. It shows as an ending of a psychological function if it conjuncts a planet, and this works out through the houses ruled by the planet it touches. Of course, if it affects a planet, it also affects all the other planets that are connected to the eclipsed planet by sign rulership, i.e., if an eclipse conjuncts your Venus, it will naturally affect planets you have in Taurus or Libra.

It is useful to remember that in a chart all the planets represent important people in your life, both past and present. If an eclipse conjuncts your Jupiter, expect a relationship with a Jupiterian, Sagittarius, or Pisces to end, or go through such a radical change that it will seem like you're relating to an entirely different person. If it impacts your Sun, expect the passage of someone of power, authority, or significance to your life or illumination.

The same with Saturn and the rest of the planets. When an eclipse conjuncts your Saturn, it usually signifies the passing of an elder, someone in a position of power in your life, or someone who kept you under a limitation or fear. So even an eclipse can be beneficial in that it can remove obsolete elements in your life, or people that no longer symbolize who you really are, or who you have become since you originally met them.

Eclipses occur several times a year, and not all eclipses are equally influential. Yet they all indicate coming endings, obscurations, and the passing of people and things out of our lives, and maybe even deaths, both literal and metaphoric. We always are under the influence of more than one from the past, and always have others coming within a few months, due to the conjunctions with the Moon's Nodes.

One more thing to note: a Solar eclipse is a New Moon, while a Lunar eclipse is a Full Moon. Like all lunations, the Full Moon brings to form the promise of the seed represented by the New Moon. Eclipses work the same way, but are considered more influential over a longer period.

To return to an important point, Solar Eclipse effects last for years, while Lunar Eclipse effects last for a few months. From one approach, the Lunar Eclipse may distill the essential elements that must be shut down in the weeks it is in play, and after that, other transits trigger the Solar and Lunar effects in secondary ways.

That’s why an Eclipse can still be triggered years down the road by the outer planet transits, and demonstrates the importance of what houses and planets have been impacted by past eclipses. And as I mentioned, we always have several from the past that are still at work moving things out of our lives so we can attract other things more appropriate to who we are now.

© Copyright 2008, 2015 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[helina]

Something will end at my DC. (Cannot be life partner - which I don't have).
If something will also start, is there signs that at next Full moon Eclipse?

[Stacey]

Helina, I wonder if perhaps, end of singleness? The eclipse falls midway into my seventh, opposing my natal pluto in the first. I wonder if my independent lifestyle might be shaken up a little? I always get excited at eclipse time regardless. Wishing for you an enjoyable experience.

[helina]

You name it Stacey. I have also Pluto opposition as you have. Let the Eclipse shake our "lifestyle" :) And let's wish that our Pluto planets will be wise.

[Stacey]

You are stellar Helina. How exciting--the similarities between our charts in the aspecting. I love the idea of the eclipse shaking our lifestyle and for pluto to be wise : )