Eclipse season, lunar liminalities and taking time

We’re in eclipse season right now, with a hybrid solar eclipse in the late degrees of Aries coming up tomorrow. Opinions vary on what eclipses mean astrologically, and that tells us a lot about what eclipses mean astrologically. Eclipses are wild card energy. Difficult to predict. Unlikely to manifest in the way we expect. This goes double for solar eclipses, which carry that dark / new moon energy where all is still in darkness, the seed hidden beneath the surface, biding its time. So new, it has barely taken form yet. Aries implies action, of course, intensifying the “seed” energy, a supercharged new beginning. Springtime in the northern hemisphere, growth is ramping up - just look around.

But this solar eclipse is at the very last degree of Aries, only 10’ of zodiac arc or about four hours of real time, before the Sun moves into Taurus. Even more interesting, every new moon since the Solstice has been at the very beginning of the sign. At 1 degree of Capricorn on December 23rd, 1 degree Aquarius on January 21st, then 1 degree Pisces on February 20th. Then 0 degrees Aries on March 21st - so this is our second new moon in Aries. A second chance, just before both Moon and Sun collapse with relief into the long damp welcoming grass of Taurus. This is the final spark of Aries, the culmination of a series of liminal moments, of thresholds to pause on, peering ahead to see what might be coming.

Then there’s that shift into Taurus. With Pluto currently sitting at 0 degrees Aquarius, every time a planet shifts sign, it makes an aspect with Pluto. Gets a glimpse of the underworld or a reminder of its power. The Sun moving into Taurus will square Pluto, a square in the fixed signs. Resistance, inner strength. The fixed signs cling on, but once they get moving, they are unstoppable. So maybe the solar eclipse in Aries is the touchpaper that lights up our willpower, which finally gets us to make that big decision, that meaningful change. The day after the Sun moves into Taurus, Mercury stations retrograde there. We might take that first step, but the next part needs to be slow, organic, embodied. Since the Solstice, we’ve been in a liminal time, perhaps on the cusp of something which is still in the process of taking form. This extra deep Taurus season is an opportunity to find that form, to refine it, to shape it.