The Current Eclipses: A Vision

Michael Erlewine

I am putting on my astrology hat on for a moment because once again we are in one of those intra-eclipse times and they don’t happen very often, a time when two eclipses occur one after the other within a two-week period. Two successive eclipses that embrace a fourteen-day period are not only rather rare but traditionally very meaningful. In this case we have a partial eclipse of the Sun on Nov. 25, 2011 and a total eclipse of the moon on Dec. 10, 2011.

I have written about this before here on Facebook. Astrology is the study of these cosmic cycles and this double-eclipse period has cycled back upon us once again and we are now living through it. And each eclipse period is different. What does it mean? I can only give you my own interpretation but I have studied these things for almost fifty years. First off, these rare two-week double-eclipse periods are special. They underscore or indicate a time of deeper imprinting. Eclipses embed or leave their mark on our mindstream, an imprint that may take us weeks or even months to unravel and read (or live) out. They have a meaning or message for us if we can manage to read it back out to ourselves and become aware of it. And this is happening now. We are in an eclipse time right now. Traditionally each eclipse brings with it a vision that touches us whether we know it or not.

Awareness of what is happening to us is always the key. Ignorance is just that “ignoring” or being unaware of what is taking place. In books and movies, visions are often depicted as like seeing pictures in the sky but in the flesh eclipses are a little more subtle than that. I think of visions as times of deep imprinting when vital or fresh cosmic information is placed or embedded in our mindstream and immediately starts to broadcast or affect us. It shines or like a scroll unrolls and, if we can be quiet enough, we can read what it says into our consciousness and become aware of it.

Every eclipse has a vision and visions by definition are seminal information that guide or direct our life whether we are aware of them or not. They “shine” and we reflect and see our life path by their light. When two eclipses go off one after the other like they are right now, that whole two weeks marks a light-filled time if we can see. So what to look for and what do these particular eclipses mean?

Look for signs in your mind and in life around you. Look for signs of shift or a change of direction and pay attention to where these signs point for they are a harbinger of your future. As mentioned, eclipse visions are not so much dream-like images as they are moments of sudden deepening when we experience or live the moment more vividly than we can remember. Eclipses seal off (or cauterize) the past by their realness, letting the past, well, pass. Just like the bible says. It came to pass, not to stay. Eclipses allow us to drop the past and look ahead once again. They are opportunities to move forward.

Eclipses refresh or reset our odometer. In other words, eclipse times are intense and it is often only later that we realize we had a moment of vision because as an eclipse fades in intensity we only know in retrospect that we have been through something real recently. In other words, we know what was real when it gets less real. That is what visions are like: intense moments of living that serve as guideposts or pole stars in our life. You may have to think this through, look in your life, and put it in your own words. What about this particular pair of eclipses? What do they mean for us?

While it is as complicated as we are, this particular coming Full Moon brings with it a vision of compassion or appreciation. We are touched and may be able to better appraise or appreciate the unity in life around us, all that unites our separateness. In other words, instead of an accent on how we differ, during this time the accent is on how we are united, how much we share. Compassion has to do with responding to what is and total compassion is total response to life – caring and serving and loving. Compassion is complete or total reflection. The vision of this particular coming Full Moon eclipse is one of being able to respond or appreciate deeply the unity or connectedness of life. It is about compassion. Hope this is useful.