The ancient seers of Jyotish generally classified eclipses as inauspicious events. In order to understand why, it is important to learn about how an eclipse is caused, astronomically speaking.
Note: If you really don’t want to understand the astronomical meanings, scroll down to the Top Six Things to Keep in Mind About All Eclipses. (But you might really enjoy learning about this!)
The first thing to keep in mind is that the Moon is a satellite of the Earth. And that the Earth (and therefore Moon, indirectly) orbits the Sun.
During an eclipse, all three “planets”; (using this terminology for simplicity sake) Moon, Sun and Earth are all in one straight line.
During a Solar eclipse the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking the Sun. There are three types of Solar eclipses; partial or full or annual.
A Lunar eclipse is caused when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, causing the Moon and its light that is normally reflected from the Sun to be blocked, either partially or fully.
Depending upon where the three celestial bodies happen to be aligned within their orbit, the Solar and Lunar eclipses will only be visible in certain parts of the world.
Some say that if an eclipse is visible from your location on earth it will have a greater influence.
That said, I have personally experienced dramatic eclipse results when an eclipse was visible in the western US where I was residing, and I do agree with this theory.
OK, now that we have that technical stuff out of the way, we can learn about eclipses from an astrological perspective!
Sun and Moon are life giving celestial bodies for the Earth.
Without them nothing would grow, the oceans would have no tides and basically life on Earth would not exist!
First let’s understand the fundamental astrological meanings of the Sun, Moon and Earth.
Astrologically, the Sun represents the soul or Atma (the self).
The Moon represents flow (think tides!) and also the flow of consciousness, our thoughts and desires, our intuition.
The earth is representative of our physical form, being physically born (on earth) and ultimately you can think of the earth as it connects to perspective, or the rising sign which is created by the place and time of birth.
The Lunar Nodes, Rahu and Ketu are very important points during an eclipse. More on these two in my next article.
Now that you know how important the luminaries are, you can see why an eclipse might be considered unfavorable. When one of the life giving luminaries is blocked, darkness descends upon the earth and the mind, body and soul.
Top Six Things to Remember About All Eclipses
1. The illumination from the Sun and Moon are critical for clarity of thought, wait until after the eclipse is over to make important, life altering decisions!
2. Do not begin important new projects if you can avoid it.
3. Eclipse times are NOT good times to place yourself in risky or unsafe situations. This includes but is not limited to: base jumping, bull riding, free diving, etc., unless of course you are a professional. You get my drift?
One eclipse example I can share: Someone took their beloved, old and quite valuable guitar in for repairs on the day of an eclipse. The repair facility was certified by the manufacturer and had great reviews. The guitar was at the repair shop until the next eclipse! Seriously. Approximately six months later, it was picked up on the next eclipse. They did a horrible job on the beautiful old guitar, which sadly impacts the quality of its sound and its value to this day.
4. Best to avoid elective surgeries (such as for cosmetic purposes) on or around eclipses if possible. Of course, if you need to have a surgery for health reasons, please do not delay! A wise astrologer once told me “it is never the wrong time to do the RIGHT THING!” and I have always remembered this for myself and for my clients!
5. Solar and Lunar eclipses are fantastic times for spiritual practice, and that is about it! It is said that any mantras that are chanted during an eclipse is multiplied three-fold. You can chant a mantra to the Sun (Aum Sum Suryaya Namaha) or the simple, yet powerful, Aum Namah Shivaya is also good.
6. Vedic astrological principles suggest that one never view an eclipse. This is true regardless of whether you are protecting yourself from looking directly at the Sun with a specially designed eclipse viewer or not.
Here's why:
In Ayurveda, the eyes are considered one of the five sense organs (ears, skin, eyes, tongue, nose) that connect to the five elements (ether, air, fire, water, earth). The eyes are associated with the fire element. Taking in an eclipse through the eyes can impact the fire element in the body and it is also representative of ingesting the negative energies of the eclipse through the visual field.
It is ideal if you can remain indoors during most of the eclipse or at least during the peak time of the eclipse (especially if the eclipse is visible in your part of the world.
Eclipse Dates for 2019 and 2020
Get your planner out!
December 25, 2019 Solar Eclipse
Jan 10, 2020 Lunar Eclipse
June 5, 2020 Lunar Eclipse
June 20, 2020 Solar Eclipse
July 4, 2020 Lunar Eclipse
November 30, 2020 Lunar Eclipse
December 14, 2020 Solar Eclipse
Keep in mind your location may change the date of the eclipse one day forward or back. These dates are set for the west coast of the US and the signs are based upon sidereal zodiac calculations.
Your Solar eclipse energy forecast for Christmas day and solar eclipse horoscopes by sign will be emailed early to subscribers on Sunday, December 22, since the eclipse occurs on Christmas day!
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