By now, you’ve probably heard all the hoopla about the eclipses, eclipse season and all of the shake-ups they’re bringing with them. Well, in case you haven’t heard, eclipse season has begun and we’ve just had the first of three eclipses (there’s usually two at a time) scheduled for this summer, on July 12, 2018 (the Solar Eclipse in Cancer). The Lunar Eclipse in Aquarius (July 27) and the Solar Eclipse in Leo (August 11) are still on the way. If you don’t know anything about eclipses and their significance in astrology, here’s a quick primer:
Eclipses are essentially turbo-charged new and full moons. Solar eclipses mark profound beginnings while lunar eclipses mark profound endings. Whereas a new moon and full moon usually come along every month, eclipses come along every six months. Falling in zodiac signs that are considered a natural pairing (ex. Leo-Aquarius, Cancer-Capricorn, Gemini-Sagittarius, etc.), eclipses will take about 2 years to complete their cycle within one pair of zodiac signs before moving on to the next pair of signs. Ultimately, eclipses repeat themselves every 19 years, adding new chapters and developments to an old story. Eclipses wake us up and shake us up so we can grow, evolve, and value the importance of change.
Because of the unstable and energetically charged nature of an eclipse, the days that surround one tend to be emotionally and physically taxing, especially if the eclipses are affecting our birth charts in a major way. People will report feeling moody, tired, anxious, restless and may even find it hard to sleep. While the changes that eclipses bring tend to be unavoidable, we can still learn how to best navigate them. As such, I thought I’d offer a few tips on how to deal with the energy of an eclipse.
1. Get back into your body
Because the moon is associated with emotions and emotions often manifest physically in the body, it’s kind of a no-brainer that during eclipse season, our bodies tend to be more sensitive to the energy and vibes in the air. At the same time, the sun represents vitality and during a solar eclipse, when the sun is blocked out, it makes sense that we feel low-energy. Because eclipses tend to represent sharp and dramatic changes, we can physically feel thrown-off or off-kilter as our minds and our bodies work to keep from losing our footing amidst this sea of change. With this summer’s eclipses landing in the elements of Water (Cancer), Air (Aquarius), and Fire (Leo), we’ll need to compensate for the lack of earthy, stabilizing energy by doing things that help us to ground and calm our bodies. Exercise, sensory play or therapy, massage, acupuncture, and dance are just a few ways that we can get back into our bodies to achieve a sense of peace and calm. When it feels like everything around us is falling apart, it’s good to know we still have ourselves.
2. Lean on your community
With two of the eclipses landing in zodiac signs that represent family (Cancer) and community (Aquarius), we can get through the rough patches by spending time with friends and family that love and support us. While we’re often taught that needing or depending on others is a form of weakness, the truth is we need each other. Vulnerability is a strength. Love, nurturing, acceptance – human existence thrives on this. And get this: people often have a desire to help others in need. Plus, with all that’s going on in the world, it helps when we can give back to the community in which we belong. By representing the love and compassion that we want to see in the world, we not only make ourselves feel good, but we help to ensure that the goodness we feel spreads to others too. The eclipse in Leo will also highlight the importance of warmth and generosity.
3. Detach from a specific outcome
I’ve tweeted about this before and it’s probably worth saying again: don’t get attached to a specific outcome. One reason why it’s so hard to deal with change is that our fear of uncertainty tricks us into believing that we need to be in control of every aspect of our lives. The fact is, we’re not, and when things don’t go the way we want them to (or try to force them to go), we become unhappy. However, if there’s one thing that we can count on to be consistent and unchanging,it’s change. We need it. Otherwise, things will stagnate and die off. With change comes growth and with the eclipses shaking things up they way they’re apt to do, we might have a totally different idea of what we want when the dust settles. We might find that something we wanted is no longer what we want or we might get surprised by receiving something we didn’t know we wanted – up until now. The best way to deal with change is to stay open and flexible and to not assume the worst.
Have you experienced any weird feelings after an eclipse? Leave a comment below!