1:02 am  AHST 11/08/2022
  3:02 am   PDT  11/08/2022

  6:02 am   EDT  11/08/2022
 11:02 am GMT  11/08/2022

This total Lunar Eclipse is an extra powerful Full Moon, the eclipse phase happening over about 6 hours’ time, and the totality for about an hour. It should be visible in North America and Europe, but especially over Hawaii, if there are clear skies.

What a chart! If this chart indicates an influence over the next six months, as eclipses do, then we are in for a kind of showdown between the conservative (Saturn) and radical (Uranus) elements in our society. Plus this eclipse is conjoined the North Node in Taurus, which concerns our future, the future of our Planet Earth, and what we need to be integrating in the coming months. Remember the planetary energies are just that, neither negative or positive, but like the weather, how we perceive the energetic changes will influence how they affect us, and in what areas of our lives. On some level, we will all be feeling the dramatic energies of this powerful eclipse for months to come.

With the Moon conjoined Uranus at the same degree, we can expect a shake-up, (or even a shaking) of life as we know it. Taurus rules the earth beneath our feet, and Uranus rules sudden and unexpected events. Uranus in Taurus, where it will be until 2025-26, is the energetic of the changes we must make, and the increased awareness we must cultivate and practice, of how we live upon the Earth beneath our feet. How these events will unfold is a mystery, but since Taurus also rules our values, and eclipses are shadow-exposing, there may be a fall in store for those who worship money and power in the old capitalistic ways.

On the opposite side of the polarity, there is the Sun in Scorpio, conjoined with Mercury and Venus. The deep feelings in our minds and our hearts have come under scrutiny by the cosmos, and are we found wanting? The intensity of Scorpio, especially during the added intensity of an eclipse brings us to the places inside where we are staring at the darkest, or deepest, parts of ourselves, our relationships, and our society.

Add to this, Mars has just gone retrograde on Halloween, in Gemini, and is in an approaching square (90˚) aspect to Neptune in Pisces, conjoined and intensified by Jupiter, which has also just retrograded into Pisces. Our thinking can be clouded, easily distracted. We may find our dreams being mixed up jumbles of ideas and concepts, as I personally have, most recently.

Saturn is at the fulcrum point of the T-square in this powerful chart. [See diagram, red lines] Saturn in Aquarius is an interesting placement, in that Aquarius energy (naturally ruled by Uranus) can bring us ideas and insights and yet Saturn by its nature asks us to deal with contraction, conservation, and the limitation of how much time we have left. So it may be that through our deep understanding of our suffering, in whatever form it may take, past or present, we are delivered to a fresh and new approach to life, the essential message of the Aquarius age. We can no longer live in a morass of distraction from the greater issues of our lives: the cumulative generational traumas of war, crime, and persecution and enslavement. This affects everyone on the planet, and affects how we treat the Earth. For example, the Compassion Prison Project is working with inmates to increase their understanding of how trauma has affected their lives, and to see their suffering from informed, non-judgmental viewpoints, rather than themselves as pariahs of society.

Much is at risk here, much is at stake. The whole world is on a razor’s edge of a wake-up call to become more aware of what’s under the surface of our daily lives. It’s no accident that this eclipse happens on Election Day in the US.  The results of this election will determine whether the US in its present form will be able to face the possibility of healing its shadow contents, the dark elements of its past. 

Interestingly, Neptune is in strong supportive trines to Venus, Sun and Mercury.

 [Blue lines in diagram] This is the strongly positive aspect of this challenging chart, a portent of the next months to come. Neptune being the planet of our dreaming, both inspired and misguided, we are left with this option: the only way out, is in. We cannot rely too much now upon our rational thinking mind, our left brains are in a kind of rehab facility now, with Mars retro in Gemini, the sign of our thoughts, until mid-January. We must use our intuition, and stay in touch with the still, small voice within that speaks to us when we aren’t exactly paying attention, i.e. when we are quiet, and undistracted by media or the “doings” of our lives. We can discover this Presence while doing art, music, dance, cooking, gardening, meditation, etc., anything that requires us to take a break from our constant, incessant mentation, which is the trance of societal norms and expectations.

The Moon/Uranus conjunction¹ indicates primarily large unexpected changes, new ideas, emergence of things and people who have previously been only in the shadows. Uranus also stands for diversity, the Aquarian ideal of all human beings belonging to each other, no matter their differences. My friend Jane van Loon used to say, “Divided we stand, United we fall” meaning that if we do not allow for diversity, then we are in trouble as a society.

Jupiter’s strengthening of Neptune’s energy is something to take advantage of. Though it may feel as though we are walking in a dream state at times, its brief and last journey in Pisces (not again for another 12 years) is a powerful time for healers, dreamers, and those for whom dedication to a peaceful world, in whatever form, may receive valuable insights into traversing the path that lies ahead.

[1] Both at 16˚ of Taurus. The Sabian symbol for this degree reads: “An old teacher fails to interest his pupils in traditional knowledge. The inadequacy of past knowledge in a time of crisis.” Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala.