Tag: Dharma

Eclipses & Metonic Cycles

Eclipses & Metonic Cycles

Are you ready for new adventures — ready to get back out in the world?  We find ourselves in the middle of Eclipse Season and the eclipses are happening on the Sagittarius/9th house and Gemini/3rd house axis.  The axis represents the quest for knowledge and the ability to expand our horizons by having the freedom to explore the world and the people living in it.

Eclipses are big leaps forward in consciousness and can impact you for many months after they happen.  They occur in conjunction with the nodes of the Moon. The Moon’s nodes are the two points where the lunar orbit passes through the plane of the ecliptic (the plane of the earth’s orbit round the Sun). These points determine where and when the eclipses happen.  The North Node of the Moon represents our collective future destiny, or our dharma.  The South Node represents our collective past, or our karma.  We spend a good deal of time dealing with the past, so karma is a term that most of us are familiar with… but it is your dharma that you are here to pursue.

The nodes spend about 18 months in each of the six axes: Aries/Libra, Taurus/Scorpio, Gemini/Sagittarius, Cancer/Capricorn, and Leo/Aquarius. Like most things in life, there is a cycle that governs the eclipses called the Metonic Cycle, which takes approximately 18-19 years. 

The last time the Lunar Nodes were in the Gemini/Sagittarius axis in the same combination (North Node/Gemini and South Node/Sagittarius) was October 2001 to April 2003. Think back to this time and see how events then mirror what is happening in your life now.  Usually there are echoes of the past.  If you moved during this time, started a new job, recovered from an accident or illness… chances are you are experiencing similar events, or comparable energy.  You can even go back a further 18-19 years — March 1983 to September 1984 — and look for parallels from that period when the nodes were also in Gemini and Sagittarius.

The Full Moon, Total Lunar Eclipse that happened on 5/26 (at 5 degrees of Sagittarius) was a huge release. As we prepare for the 6/10 New Moon, Annular, Solar Eclipse we have an opportunity to use the power of this Gemini/Sagittarius axis to create some superpowered, new intentions as we move forward. 

We will have another series of eclipses towards the end of this year (Nov/Dec 2021); the Lunar Eclipse in November will be in Taurus, which will indicate that the nodes are getting ready to shift in early January 2022 into the Taurus/Scorpio axis. The last eclipse of the year is a Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius happening in December. As the nodes shift into a new axis, our collective focus will shift to 2nd house (Taurus)/8th house (Scorpio) matters. These are all about personal vs. shared resources — tangible (money, food, shelter) and intangible (resilience, perseverance, kindness).

These cycles can help us to see how we are coming along in our path of evolution.  It gives us an opportunity to use our life experience to make better decisions by evaluating our dharma/karma — in other words, where we are coming from and where we want to go.  Look and see where these axes are in your chart.  Knowing this information will help you to recognize the areas of your life where you have extra opportunities to work with the energies of the universe to reflect/release the past (karma) and embrace/navigate your future (dharma).

Neptune square the Nodes of the Moon  – January 26, 2021

Neptune square the Nodes of the Moon – January 26, 2021

A long-running configuration of Neptune — squaring the Nodes of the Moon and creating a t-square — will perfect on January 26, 2021.  Now is the time to understand that our past (South Node in Sagittarius) is just a reference point that can inform our journey ahead (North Node in Gemini) as we continuously consult our imagination (Neptune in Pisces), and navigate our path to the future.

Neptune is in his rulership of Pisces at 18 degrees. Neptune went retrograde at 20 degrees of Pisces at the end June 2020 and stayed retrograde for almost five months. He retrograded all the way back to 18 degrees, where he has remained since early October 2020.  On January 26, Neptune will move into the 19th degree of Pisces and exactly square both the North Node in Gemini (our collective destiny) and the South Node in Sagittarius (our collective karma) — both at 19 degrees of the Gemini/Sagittarius axis, which is about information and freedom.

This is a very important time for us individually, and collectively for humanity, but it all begins with what’s going on inside of you. Neptune rules the 12th house, where your emotions, compassion, and imagination reside. This t-square invites you to consider your thoughts, hopes, and dreams for yourself and for the world.

What is a T-Square?

Basically, the t-square configuration is an isosceles triangle, which is simply a triangle with two sides that are the same length.  So, you have a 90 degree angle, another 90 degree angle, both known as “squares,” and a 180 degree opposition connecting them. 

Squares indicate inner conflict and oppositions reflect outer conflict. If you apply this to Neptune squaring both of the Nodes — who are always in opposition — then this t-square is about releasing the collective past in order to envision a new collective future.  The question is: how do we do that when Neptune keeps fogging up the road ahead?

The Challenge

Envisioning a new collective future can be difficult when we are so divided from our past, but let’s look at the houses and signs associated with this t-square.

  • Our future (North Node) lies in Gemini/3rd house, ruled by Mercury, who dictates how we communicate and perceive.
  • Our past (South Node) lies in Sagittarius/9th house, ruled by Jupiter, who expands our knowledge, our experiences, and our beliefs.
  • Our reality (Neptune) lies in Pisces/12th house, ruled by Neptune, who can cloud our judgment, hide the truth of our reality, but also allow us to create new worlds.

The 3rd, 9th, and 12th houses are to do with the mind, higher wisdom, and the psyche.  Basically, we are all “tripping” through the universe of our imagined reality at the moment, but it’s time to get serious.  We have an opportunity to effect tremendous change by shifting our focus.

The Shift

Remember, your focus determines your reality. Instead of looking in that rearview mirror all the time…keep your eyes on the road ahead so you can better navigate the journey before you.  This will require inner focus, discernment, and imagination working in harmony to shift from the narrative of the past to the potential of the future.