Total Eclipse for the Heart

BY: RAVI KARR, ASTROLOGER

Hello, Miraval.

My first astrology teacher told me that eclipses keep astrologers in business.  It wasn’t until I started my private practice that I knew what he meant.  Eclipses can bring about dramatic beginnings and endings – changes that would make you want an astrologer’s insight, especially since  the influence of each eclipse is thought to last at least 6 months.  These intense changes can be experienced as positive or less-than-positive; new opportunities may serendipitously present themselves or existing relationships may fall away; inspiring epiphanies may lead you down a new path or old wounds can be reopened, ripe for healing.  Whatever these eclipses bring you, please be reassured they are all necessary changes, and your soul – if not your mind – welcomes them for its continued evolution.

July 2nd we have the Total Solar Eclipse at 10° Cancer and July 16th we have the Lunar Eclipse at 24° Capricorn.  If you are an Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn or if your Moon,   Ascendant, personal planets or sensitive chart points are in these cardinal signs, you will likely be affected.  There are many factors within a birth chart that could make you designed to experience these eclipses intensely.  How will you know how you’ll be affected?  Don’t worry about it and let it happen.  There’s no way to outsmart God/Goddess’ surprising lesson plans.

Our minds function to keep us alive and, ideally, far away from pain. Our minds can not use Astrology, however, as a tool to avoid painful lessons. Trust me, I’ve tried!!! It doesn’t work that way.  God/Goddess knows where to find and surprise us – even when we’re hiding under the bed!

Astrology helps the mind absorb the meaning behind inevitable changes.  The mind would like to take astrological information and through ritual, setting intentions, praying or strategizing, control events that could be experienced as emotionally difficult.  Sorry, mind, that’s not what this ride is about and you don’t have that power!  Eclipses are wonderful opportunities for the mind to realize “YOU HAVE NO CONTROL!”

The soul is happy not to have control over life’s unfolding.  The soul – what my colleagues and I call the “I” in Miraval – understands eclipses are portals of change which are consistently and perfectly suited for its growth.   The soul can ride eclipses and life in general as if on a roller coaster, arms raised high, surrendered and almost in praise for the lifts and dips God/Goddess has placed on its path.  During these eclipses may we integrate mind and body in service of the soul whether the eclipses inspire celebration or grief.

These eclipses activate a particular theme, though the theme can be heavily influenced by other placements in your birth chart.  A skilled astrologer will be able to help you process and digest the meaning of these activations as they apply to your chart.  The theme for these eclipses are inspired by the polarities of Self and Society; Mother and Father; Nurturance and Discipline; Soul and Structured Living.  This polarity is accentuated by Pluto and Saturn’s neighboring influence which I wrote about last month, here, Cancer is not merely home and nurturance.  At its deepest, Cancer represents the security of the soul within the body.  And in the depths of Capricorn we experience what the soul hopes to build from its heart.

Look at your life.  The eclipses may force you to consider how you’ve consciously and unconsciously built your life.  Take inventory of your life’s structure (work, relationships, family, etc.) and feel if your heart sings with resonance.  Feel if your heart swells with pride, shrinks in pain, rejoices in gratitude, or shivers in fear.  Look at what you’ve built and consult the wisdom of your heart.  Your heart is connected to your gut, your gut to your soul, and your soul is INSEPERABLE from the Divine.  Trust that chain of communication as this month plays out and calls for or forces action.

Speaking of communication, don’t let this month’s Mercury Retrograde, July 7th-31st, be an excuse for confusion around the aforementioned inventory.  Be vigilant around your thinking and communicating.  Aim for clarity but also be forgiving to yourself and others if Cancer and Leo retrograde themes bring heightened sensitivity or self-involvement into greater awareness.  Use this sensitivity and self-involvement to go within and feel your heart through these eclipses.

I’m honored to affirm your sensitivity to these cycles. I’ll join you on this July roller coaster, arms held high in praise and surrender, heart exposed, during this Total Eclipse for the Heart.

Yours in celestial service,

Ravi