by Robert Wilkinson
We have TWO Solar Eclipses coming soon! As I've told you before, no eclipse of itself is "bad," nor do we have anything to fear. We cannot lose what belongs to us; but there are good times to clear out the old to make space for the new that is not yet here.
Though I gave this to you back in February, it bears re-posting since many fear eclipse effects, even though they shouldn’t. While this Solar Eclipse will of course lead to many endings, it also marks a time when many have hit the fulfillment of “a quest,” and now can perform the role they are trained to play. This marks the culmination of some effort at excellence, and a command of skills to exhibit our uniqueness.
There is a lot of superstition about Eclipses, mostly focusing on "dreadful" or difficult elements that often seem to accompany them. However, while all eclipses take something away and/or shut something down, an Eclipse can have beneficial effects if we just know "when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em, when to walk away, and when to run."
Eclipses are both dreaded and misunderstood recurring phenomena. Solar Eclipse effects usually last for several years, while Lunar Eclipse effects usually last for a few months. And not all eclipses are equal in strength or duration, making some stronger and longer than others.
The coming Partial Solar Eclipse falls at 21 Cancer at 7:48 pm PDT on July 12, 3:48 am BST July 13. The penumbral phase is 2 hours 25 minutes, indicating an influence lasting 2 years and 5 months. As the magnitude is extremely weak, this eclipse should be treated more as a New Moon than (for example) last Summer’s very powerful Total Solar Eclipse at 29 Leo. This year is also different in that we have another Partial Solar Eclipse coming August 11 at 19 Leo. So 2018 features THREE Partial Solar Eclipses, none very strong, and none very long.
Today we'll continue our discussion about eclipses in general and a little about this one. In following articles I'll elaborate on the astrophysics of the phenomenon, who is most affected by this Eclipse, symbols, aspects, patterns, and what we can expect from this Partial Solar Eclipse at 21 Cancer.
I've composed quite a few articles on past eclipses in the archives that bear re-visiting, since the Solar Eclipses of 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 are still manifesting effects since then, if traditional Eclipse lore is to be believed. Links to Solar Eclipses from 2011 to now are at the bottom of this article. 2012 and 2013 Eclipses were very bright and most were very long, showing the past several years were still impacted by those long-ago events.
Remember that eclipses are “Cosmic Recyclers,” removing what is over and done in our lives. While eclipses shut down some elements in the area of life (house) in which they fall, this is needed for growth, since we must bring some things to an end if we are to embrace newer, better ways of doing our Being.
Though I gave this to you in January, here's another important article explaining the effects we can expect to result from Lunar and Solar Eclipses. For your reconsideration, The Solar and Lunar Eclipse - Is Any Eclipse Destined to Have Bad Effects?
As I’ve offered you in the past, 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.
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." 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 if we find the right point of view. No matter where an Eclipse falls, we can turn it to good.
Favorable ways to use Eclipse energies can be seen by the aspects in eclipse charts as they impact our natal and progressed planets. And because time is an unbroken continuum, we can anticipate what is ending and let it go with grace and a sense of surrendering to a greater life in the becoming.
The choices we make at crucial astrological junctures bring pleasurable or painful circumstances, depending on what we need to learn. These choices are directly related to how evolved our planetary responses are. As I explain in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, each planet has a duality of function. It is up to us to determine whether our Moon, Sun, Mercury or any other natal planet involved in eclipses, "bad" aspects, and configurations manifests productively or non-productively.
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, it is useful to see that they only eliminate what we no longer need.
Some things are removed quickly, others are removed gradually, over time. Some Eclipses are VERY beneficial in that they create a void for us that we can fill appropriately, according to our evolved awareness and intention. Favorable ways to use Eclipse energies can be seen by the aspects in eclipse charts as they impact our natal and progressed planets.
This Partial Solar Eclipse in Cancer over time will lead us to a time of fulfilling something we've been chasing for a long time through something being taken away so we can "put on the show." This is the culmination of a life ambition, for better or worse. This is a productive Eclipse, where all of us will play an expert social role, and find "success," however we define it. These changes will lead us to transformation on the social and emotional levels of our existence, and bring closure to old ways of experiencing life and fulfillment of ambition.
Whatever is shut down by this Solar Eclipse creates a space for new forms of personality integration on the social side of life, new ways of creatively expressing our unique gifts and talents, and new “spiritual quests” of personal meaning to be demonstrated or given to others. This eclipse is going to open us to other values so that we may find worth in all of them. See the good in other values rather than resist them or criticize them.
All Eclipses radically transform areas affected by the planetary positions, so look to where you have 21 Cancer to see what will be shut down. That life area will yield a new way of looking at everything associated with the Cancer sector of our lives. With the Moon as the ruler of the Eclipse, it is still one of three final dispositors in the chart, which we’ll discuss in a future article.
Though there are always endings associated with any Eclipse, these open the space we need to align with Spirit in natural and productive ways. Take a new look to see what really matters and what you do and do not want to bring with you into the new world you're already living.
We've all blasted off into new realms in the past few years, and now many have reached a point of graduating into a new realm of being because of the navigational skills they’ve cultivated up to now. This Lunation is the next step in preparing for our next life chapter. We’ve quickened this past year, dropped a lot of unnecessary baggage, and found a greater expression of love, enthusiasm, creativity, and connection to where our hearts are really at.
This Eclipse, though not very strong, will help us pull many things together at the culmination of an old life chapter. With the opposition to Pluto, we can let go of old habits and sentimentalities as we prepare for what is to come, already being shown by the models of the future on display since early June. With Mars retrograde, keep adapting to the slowed pace and take a look at potential new methods to accomplish your goal of finding the right stage of Life to sing your song.
See you soon with more on this 2018 Partial Solar Eclipse in Cancer!
Past Solar Eclipses
These were all active for 2 to 5 years.
For more about the November 2011 Sagittarius Solar Eclipse with links to the 2011 Gemini Solar Eclipse, please check out The Solar Eclipse at 3 Sagittarius November 24-25, 2011 Pt. 3 - Signs, Sabian Symbols, and What It All Means. (You can follow the internal links in this article to the previous articles about this specific Eclipse.)
For more about the May 2012 Gemini Annular Solar Eclipse, here’s The Solar Eclipse at 1 Gemini May 20-21 2012 Pt. 3 (You can follow the internal links in this article to the previous articles about this specific Eclipse.)
For more about the 2012 Scorpio Total Solar Eclipse, here’s The Total Solar Eclipse at 22 Scorpio Nov 13-14, 2012 Pt. 3 - Signs, Sabian Symbols, and What It All Means. (You can follow the internal links in this article to the previous articles about this specific Eclipse.)
For more about the 2013 Taurus Solar Eclipse, here’s The May 2013 Solar Eclipse in Taurus Pt. 3 – How Will This Lunation Affect Us? (As with the previous links, follow the internal links in this one to the previous articles about this Eclipse)
For more about the 2013 Scorpio Solar Eclipse, here’s A Hybrid Solar Eclipse New Moon in Scorpio Pt. 2 – What’s Happening in November 2013 as well as 2014-2015-2016. (link to pt. 1 at the bottom of that article. Pt. 3 has the Sabian Symbols.)
For more about the 2014 Taurus Solar Eclipse, here's The New Moon Solar Eclipse in Taurus Pt. 2 - What’s Happening in May 2014 (Part 3 elaborates on the Sabian Symbols and other factors.)
These are still active at this time.
For more about the 2014 Scorpio Solar Eclipse, here's The October 2014 Solar Eclipse in Scorpio Pt. 3 – Signs, Sabian Symbols, and What It all Means (Links to other articles on the Eclipse at the bottom of this post.)
For more about the March 2015 Total Solar Eclipse at 30 Pisces, here’s The Total Solar Eclipse at 30 Pisces Pt. 3 (You can follow the internal links in this article to the previous articles about this specific Eclipse.)
For more about the September 2015 Partial Solar Eclipse at 21 Virgo, here’s The Partial Solar Eclipse at 21 Virgo Pt. 3 (though there are no links to previous articles in that Eclipse series, you can find them in the articles posted in the week before this link).
For more about the March 2016 Total Solar Eclipse at 19 Pisces, here’s The Total Solar Eclipse at 19 Pisces Pt. 2 (though there are no links to any other articles in that series, you can find them just before and just after this one.)
For more about the September 2016 Annular Solar Eclipse at 10 Virgo, here’s The Annular Solar Eclipse at 10 Virgo Pt. 2 (though there are links to previous articles in that series, you will have to go to part 3 to find the Sabian symbols, Jones pattern, aspects and more.)
For more about the February 2017 Annular Solar Eclipse at 9 Pisces, here’s The Annular Solar Eclipse on February 26, 2017 at 9 Pisces Pt. 2 - What’s Happening in February-March 2017 (and through 2022!) (You’ll have to go to parts 1 and 3 to find out the Sabian Symbols, aspects, Jones pattern, and all the other details about its qualities).
For more about the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse at 29 Leo, here’s The Total Solar Eclipse on August 21, 2017 at 29 Leo Pt. 2 - What’s Happening in August-September 2017 (and through 2022!) (You’ll have to go to parts 1 and 3 to find out the Sabian Symbols, aspects, Jones pattern, and all the other details about its qualities).
For more about the February 2018 Partial Solar Eclipse at 28 Aquarius, here’s The Partial Solar Eclipse on February 15, 2018 at 28 Aquarius Pt. 2 - What’s Happening in February-March 2018 (and through 2022!) (You’ll have to go to parts 1 and 3 to find out the Sabian Symbols, aspects, Jones pattern, and all the other details about its qualities).
In answer to questions about why I don’t include the Lunar Eclipses from years past in this section, it’s because their effects are usually only for a few months, and so they’ve completed their work long before many long lasting Solar Eclipses. If you’re interested, you will always find what I wrote a couple of weeks before or after the Solar Eclipses, depending on when the Lunar Eclipses fell in those years. They’re all in the archives.
© Copyright 2018 Robert Wilkinson
Hi all - From a FB comment section where a friend and I were discussing a 2015 Eclipse still showing effects, I said I believe that many things that must leave often surprise us long after the event triggering that necessity. We create the cosmic recycling material, and the eclipse sets the recycling truck into motion. When it gets to our place is entirely up to our chart. And they do make regular passes, b/c we usually cannot recycle all our garbage at once. That would be overwhelming to anyone!
The idea of it all happening at once is a bit awesome, and I offered that I've lived long enough to remember times I termed "an avalanche" with so much coming down all at once. But after the shock came a new life. No doubt about it. New view, new attitude, new understanding of what was and what was not. Great for wiping off a huge part of the blackboard and starting a new project.
Posted by: Robert | July 08, 2018 at 10:44 AM
Thanks for the article!
This eclipse lands within three degrees of my natal midheaven.
Since my career has been completely stalled (and I've actually been homeless/house insecure) ever since Pluto entered Capricorn, I'm pretty certain that this can only bring good news for me.
I have a big plan to make the world better, I just haven't figured out how I can get paid, other than becoming a very public person (and as most of my natal planets are in the 12th house, that's a scary prospect).
Hoping this one brings me some healing and courage!
Posted by: Esmé | July 12, 2018 at 06:58 AM