by Robert Wilkinson
This Solar Eclipse will have a beneficial (even if a bit hard edged) effect for a short time. All eclipses shut something down, taking away elements of our lives no longer true for us. Over the next 3+ years we will go through endings while finding more appropriate ways to do our Being in the Aquarius arena of life.
Aquarius is the sign of the Angel and our greater Life together beyond the separateness of ego. It is a naturally self-sustaining greater vision of the greatest good for the greatest number. It is the promise of a brilliant present and a greater future. It is where we take all the power we gather in Capricorn and offer it to all, for all time. It is how the heart power of radiant stabilized Love of Leo externalizes, and vice versa, so this weak Eclipse in Aquarius is part of the dance of externalizing the very strong Leo Solar Eclipse of August 2017.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth. The Moon blocks the light from the Sun and casts a shadow on Earth. In eclipse lore, where the Eclipse is visible will be where the greatest effects can be expected, lasting the number of years that the eclipse is long in hours.
Because this Eclipse lasts 3 hours and 51 minutes from start to finish of the penumbral phase, it’s of fairly short duration, so will have an impact of about 3 years and 10 months. As its magnitude is weak and it’s only visible in Antarctica and the southern area of South America, eclipse effects are not strong.
Because an Eclipse conjuncts the Moon’s Nodal axis, the nodes are very important guides showing the line of greatest development and showing what we know. The NN shows the line of development, so the challenge is to grow into a greater heart expression. Whether playful, creative, dramatic, or “sporting,” whether easy or difficult, grow in that direction.
Embrace children, or your inner child. You could even remember times when you “put on the show,” and grew in strength and courage. You could also be called on to “put on a show” in the future in ways that bring a greater social harmony or even “beatitude.”
SN in Aquarius helps eliminate old ideals and any obsolete ways of viewing group work or a greater good. It can also provide opportunities to express the heart energy of the NN in a group situation. Whatever is cleared out via the Aquarius SN will over time attract new forms of Leo expression and activities.
Look to the house where this Lunation falls to see what area of your life will be impacted, just as the houses where past Solar Eclipses fell have already been shutting down obsolete patterns since then. I gave you the positions and links to past eclipses in the previous eclipse article. And remember that whatever is taken away will create an attraction for something more appropriate to who you are now, and who you are becoming.
So What’s Happening Where?
This Partial Solar Eclipse happens February 15, 1:05 pm PST, 4:05 pm EST, 9:05 pm GMT. As mentioned, it will not be visible to anyone on Earth except those in the southern parts of Chile, Argentina, and the Falklands. And penguins. I’ve been using information from the NASA Solar Eclipse site for many years. In the past, they included a bunch of information about each eclipse, but now they’ve changed their site and it has very little scientific data about this eclipse.
More On the Influence of Eclipses
Besides the factor of where the shadow falls, in Astrology Eclipses are said to be most powerful when they conjunct the Sun, Moon, Ascendant, or Midheaven of a birth chart. When this happens it always brings endings related to the planets and sectors involved, but these can be of great benefit in clearing away old life factors that have no place in our future. As it was once sung, "something's lost and something's gained in living every day..."
Of course, besides these past echoes and the usual general effects, the Eclipse will also bring losses and endings where it falls in our individual birth charts. In an example I offered in the article explaining Solar Eclipses in general of how a loss can work to great benefit, if it conjuncts the Saturn in a birth chart, it can indicate the ending of old, lesser responsibilities, limitations, or fears, and open the being to a greater sense of purpose. If it conjuncts Jupiter, then it could show the ending of an old philosophy or belief system and open the gates to something far greater.
Given a Solar Eclipse is a New Moon, then like all Lunations that work their influence over time, it triggers events related to previous celestial events, and is triggered by subsequent transits to those points. For example, because of where the North Node is, we can assume this Eclipse at 28 Aquarius will set developments into motion related to lessons dating back to when Jupiter went stationary retrograde on this degree in June 2009, preparing us to move into a vaster life influenced by this degree after Jupiter again went over it in January 2010. As we prepared during that time, we have reaped Jupiterian rewards since then.
Summing Up
Given the mixed bag of aspects in this Eclipse which I’ll cover in greater detail in future article, we can expect some productive (if occasionally jarring) events related to anything ruled by Venus and Mars, which are in square. However, Saturn is a great stabilizer in this Eclipse, and has so many important aspects that if your inner Saturn function is healthy, you’re going to find yourself on the edge of serendipitous choices and changes that will open new possibilities of unique self-expression.
The recent very powerful Lunar Eclipse will be extraordinarily good for many, with favorable Light of Aquarius expressing through the equally favorable Light of Leo. Overall, I regard these eclipses as productive for shutting down old Leo/Aquarius things and attitudes we no longer need, with the void opening new heart connections, new forms of natural living, new ideals to be realized, and new ways of being genuinely happy in our social milieu.
Remember that some endings are more a blessing than a problem. With this, we’ll see how we have prepared since 2010 for what we’re living now, and/or we will see how we need to prepare for a future time yet to come. When in doubt, overcome insecurity and speak your heart and show your stuff! We “got in shape” last year, and dropped a lot of unnecessary baggage. We also no longer expect what we used to, and have quickened to a different set of expectations.
We’ve now left the series of Virgo and Pisces Solar Eclipses behind, except for dealing with the effects for some time to come. We are now firmly in our series of Leo and Aquarius Solar Eclipses! A lot has been shut down in past years so we could bless, forgive, forget, generate compassion, as well as get in training to use these Aquarian and Leo energy wisely.
In the next part of the series, we'll explore how this Eclipse will manifest and its astrological components, including Sabian Symbols, which signs will be most affected, and more on the mixed energies at work in this Partial Solar Eclipse. This one will ultimately yield a lot of metamorphosis, and those who have confronted their past in healthy ways will have a new identity revealed for their enjoyment. Show courage in standing for what you believe in, see the new life order being revealed, embrace creativity and self-maintenance, and revise you attitude to overcome set patterns, allowing a new love to shine forth.
See you soon with the next article on this Solar Eclipse!
© Copyright 2018 Robert Wilkinson
Hi Robert, great post as always. How do eclipses work when conjuncting a cusp and/or an angle? For instance, my 9th/10th house cusp is 29’37” Aquarius, 3rd/4th house cusp at 29’37” Leo. Thank you for any insight you can give.
Posted by: Heather | February 12, 2018 at 08:44 PM
Hi Heather - I believe I have discussed that in the parts where I speak about the house an eclipse falls in. In your case, last Summer's Total Eclipse in Leo is far more powerful than this one, as it fell exactly on your nadir. The nadir is the root of Being. It includes the early life and one's sense of "being home." You can find more associations about 4th house things via numerous sources. As I explained in the articles, Eclipses shut something down. So some things from your past, or memories, or home life, or family have begun to shut down, and will continue for the number of years that Eclipse is in play. This one on your 10th is mild. Expect a mild shutting down of something related to your profession (if you have one) or your sense of who you are and how you're regarded in public.
Posted by: Robert | February 14, 2018 at 08:29 AM