Solar Eclipses are extra potent New Moons in which the sun is obscured by the moon, as the moon appears to align itself directly between the sun and the earth. The impact of eclipses can be tremendous on multiple levels and are generally feared and looked upon by spiritual aspirants as negative. That’s because they stir things up and empty things out whether we’re ready to release them or not. They push us to piss or get off the pot.

The partial solar eclipse on September 12th/13th is 20 degrees of Virgo, in opposition to comet Chiron in Pisces, highlighting healing in all of its various forms. It is addressing almost all of our various woes and wounds – physical, emotional, mental, spiritual. This earthy New Moon reflecting the Wounded Healer in the sign of karmic completion is most troubling for us in the areas where we are most accustomed to masking our pain rather than treating the cause – where we reach for a pill or a pacifier instead of fully acknowledging the grinding, pulsating, sometimes terrible, sometimes beautiful torment of life’s jagged edges. This is not meant to criticize those who need to medicate. It is a statement about our widespread addiction to distraction and avoidance of what life presents us with in its raw, unfiltered state.

As Chiron also represents the Wounded Child, our attention may directed to children in our lives that need healing or to our inner child that was neglected or abused. It’s time to take our inner child on an “Artist Date” (read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron), explore nature, or to simply allow ourselves a return to innocence…

I just came home last night from a first-time adventure at Faerieworlds festival in Oregon, which was one of my inner child’s dreams come true!

This Solar Eclipse could be vastly liberating for those who dare to do rather than to merely dream, to answer with action rather than ask for permission, to boldly venture into the unknown, and to pierce the veils of illusion that perpetuate the cycles of disappointment and despair.

Juno forms a sextile to Saturn at his last degree of Scorpio, clearly indicating to us those who we would do well to work with in some way and those who we would best release. Juno has been in Virgo since June 30th, putting partnerships of both the romantic and business varieties through a process of purification, pressure cooking, and profound change.

Earth Magic

Saturn is doing a final cleanup in the sign of death and transformation, before entering Sagittarius on September 17th. Between now and then the ground is fertile for deep psychological and sexual healing. The Sun conjunct Juno in Virgo, trine Ceres in Capricorn also points to the way to more effective tools and methods for healing and repair than we have been aware of or have used in awhile. We are reconnecting with totem animals, root medicines, herbs and elixirs ~ all that encompasses the meaning and manifestation of true earth magic. Jupiter’s opposition to Neptune in Pisces also heightens the ability to give and receive healing to and from the earth and other dimensions. We are dancing with the elves (at least I can speak for mys‘elf!)!

Mercury is forming an opposition to its higher octave Uranus in Aries as the eclipse forms an inconjunct to Uranus, creating an itch for revolutionary and evolutionary change. As much as we attempt to fight and defend ourselves against the endless onslaught of actual and imagined attacks or to influence others to do as we think they ought to do, there is not much of anything we have any real control over in this world. However we can direct our energy in ways that are more conducive to wellbeing. We have consciousness and we have choice. It’s time to embrace the chaos within and around us and to recognize the divinity in disorder, the mystery of the Cosmos that our ordinary minds just cannot seem to grasp.

Relationship Review

On the same day that Saturn exits Scorpio (September 17th), Mercury turns Retrograde in Libra until October 9th. The planet of communication is beginning to slow down, having entered the pre-shadow phase on August 28th. While Venus was Retrograde in Leo from July 25th until September 6th we had a chance to review creative endeavors and release emotional entanglements involving finances, love, and partnerships. Venus remains in a post-shadow phase for exactly as long as Mercury moves Retrograde through Venus-ruled Libra, so the focus continues to be on sorting out relationship snags, healing old rifts, letting go of roles that have been played out, or people who no longer have an appropriate role to play in our lives. The planetary goddess of love and beauty enters Virgo on the 8th, and exits the post-shadow on the 9th.

Self Love & Forgiveness

With this Solar Eclipse in Virgo on September 12th we are metaphorically kneeling at the feet of an immensely radiant and ageless goddess in the in the guise of a haggard, hump-backed witch doctor, warts and all, begging for forgiveness and requesting cooperation in restoring harmony to the earth and each other. Perhaps this ugly projection of the feminine represents an disowned aspect of ourselves that we have finally – after much criticism and resistance have come to love. Whether burned at the stake in past lives or currently suffering from body and lifestyle image distortion due to cultural brainwashing, there is so much that has prevented us from even recognizing and experiencing who we really are. The flower essences of Crab Apple and Manzanita might be helpful over the next few days, assisting with self-acceptance and appreciation.

Another possible symbol of the times we are in is that of this gentleman comforting a cow in a field. Like the princess kissing the frog, we might be surprised where or what a bit of humility gets us.

“Be humble, for you are made of earth. Be noble, for you are made of stars.” – Serbian proverb