Stories play a central role in our lives. Whether they are an adventure, a drama or romance, a cliff-hanger or a tale of horror, stories help us make sense of our world. They entertain and interest, inspire and motivate us; they challenge, even torment us. Stories help us understand the experience of being human; they can bring our lives a deeper meaning. Where would we be without stories?
Stories almost always contain an element of life’s duality; the good and bad, the black and white of our human experience. Although we naturally have preference for a particular type of experience, duality is a natural aspect of life. Just as night follows day, the rhythms of our lives flow through what we might term ‘a good or bad day’, or through longer phases of striking change, as we’re currently experiencing.
Just as with nature’s seasons the balance of light and dark in our lives shifts and moves in time. The cycle of the Moon waxing from new towards full is a potent mirror for the process of dark becoming light becoming dark again. As she waxes and wanes, the Moon reflects not only the tides of the ocean but our inner rhythms, moods, feelings and energy levels. Eclipses, when the Sun/Moon/Earth positions are most exactly aligned, highlight the dance of light and dark more conspicuously. They are like super-charged new and full moons, where duality is highlighted and its shadows starker. The light of the sun or moon is eclipsed and just as when we suddenly switch a light off and on, we can be left blinking as our eyes adjust to what appears before us.
We’re coming into the second eclipse season of 2020. In this current eclipse cycle the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius are emphasised in both their light and shadows. Gemini is the sign of information, communication and rationale. It’s informs the roles of the scientist, journalist and teacher. We could say it’s aligned with the brain’s left hemisphere; research, fact finding and sharing information. The Gemini shadow is where we get distracted, are insincere or unreliable, can tend towards exaggeration or gossip. The polarity to Gemini is fire sign Sagittarius. Its emphasis is on travel and expansion, physically and mentally, leading to discoveries about the meaning of life. Facts have less value for this expansive sign for Sagittarius is interested in how we grow and evolve, our belief systems derived from experience or the exploration of travel, philosophy, religion and lifelong learning. It’s the sign of developing wisdom. Eclipses in Gemini/Sagittarius draw our attention to the ever-shifting field of information, communication, how we process and derive meaning from what we receive or take in through the mind, or from our experience. They call us to expand beyond what we already know, much as this year’s events have done.
2020 has brought us the experience (and perhaps a deepening understanding and acceptance) that life is inherently insecure. As the physical world as we know it has been deconstructed, many of us have turned to our belief systems for the security we cannot find physically. As ‘normal’ has been replaced with uncertainty, our beliefs and stories about what is happening have become more important to us. With the fracturing of our physical framework of life, some of us have needed to hold on more tightly to our mental/emotional constructs about the current chaos and changes. Have you noticed the increase in conflict on social media arising from differences in opinions, information and theories this year? For some individuals, emotional attachment to beliefs has become a fighting force. The force of needing to believe in something, anything, rather than fully face the fact of life’s inherent uncertainty.
Life on Earth is constant change; life on Earth is duality. To take that a step further; for me it’s true that there is constancy behind our experience of duality and incessant change. Life itself. I know that as my Beingness; Life informing and expressing through everything here on Earth and beyond it. That’s true for me, it may not be so for you. Point of conflict? Perhaps for some, but true knowing needs no defence, so I would say not. As we come to eclipse season this is a key awareness. For it’s even more vital we see what we’re doing with the duality of ‘true for me, not true for you’. With the Eclipse energies the conclusions we make about what’s taking place in our communications and relationships, their fixedness or fluidity, are opening up, potentially finding new ground. In other words: more openness to change expressing as greater mental flexibility, adaptability and spontaneity. Often that happens through having to meet duality head on i.e. an encounter with a different opinion, belief or perspective.
Eclipses deliver their flavour of change at the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on 30 November and Total Solar Eclipse on 14 December. Just before this, on 28 November, the mystic planet Neptune, strong in its own sign of Pisces, stations direct, highlighting the constant fluidity of our experience. Neptune represents the beauty and mystery of our soulfulness, spirit in body, yet it also highlights how we see life through the filter of our own illusions. Neptune rules the subtle realms; our perception of energetic impressions, from deeply meditative states and the knowing of oneness, to intuitive knowing and psychic impressions, to utter confusion, disillusion or escapism. Neptune reveals what you ‘see’, what you ‘feel’, is what you get. It reveals the paradox that we’re all in this life together, yet we all experience it differently. There’s no black and white with Neptune; it’s always ‘both/and’.
In terms of our current experience Neptune delivers the faith to meet the current process of change with openness and willingness, with surrender to ‘what is’ yet not with passivity. It can play where we abdicate responsibility through simply following the rules without fully questioning their validity, through spiritual bypassing or playing victim. Neptune is active right now in terms of the illusions and deceptions playing out on our global stage. It plays through the conspiracy theories, the victim and the saviour illusions that infiltrate our global systems; it is evident in the fake news, misinformation and conscious veiling of truth in our political systems. It plays in the belief that the government, the medics, a guru, a former US president, or the dream that someone other than oneself is going to make it all better. This year surely must have shown us that we are all responsible and that doesn’t exclude the government or those who seem to be in power. We are all responsible for our own well-being and that of others, for the grace of life we are freely given in every breath. How that expresses in terms of our individual actions looks different for each individual, yet in fully engaging it we each contribute to global wellness.
In times of great change our beliefs, stories, opinions have to evolve. The starting point is to recognise that how we use the mind is powerful; how we communicate has impact, both on ourselves and others. In truth our beliefs and our words only have the power we give them. If we hang on to them as security, we become rigid, dogmatic and conflict orientated. If we are emotionally invested in our beliefs, we will be threatened by a different viewpoint. But if we give our perspective flexibility and fluidity, if we are open to realities other than our own even if we don’t agree with them, we can go beyond duality, beyond black and white, right and wrong, to discover, purely in this moment alone perhaps, a place of connection that is real. A place of connection that is beyond opinion or personal perspective, rooted in our common humanity and Life itself. Just like the yin/yang symbol, duality contains the seed of the opposite within both its polarities. To recognise this is wisdom. If we can consciously look beyond the framework of ‘either/or’ towards ‘both/and’, these upcoming eclipses will deliver a new foundation for what’s coming in 2021 both personally and collectively.
The Astrology
28 November: Mystic Neptune station direct at 18 Pisces
Walking on shifting sands. Everything is fluid, changing fast. Don’t believe everything you hear (or think). Finding faith in the process of dissolution and renewal, just as nature shows us; spring always follows winter. The veils are thin right now. Take time to enjoy life’s simple pleasures: nature, music, creativity, your spirituality. Be kind to yourself and others.
Key questions: What is my heart calling for? What would soothe or comfort me?
30 November : Penumbral Lunar Eclipse 8 Gemini
This eclipse delivers an overwhelm of communication, information and ideas, highlighting how we process mentally, our perceptions and belief systems, our opinions, stories and what they mean to us. With Neptune station it’s difficult to filter what’s most important or where the focus is. Allow heartfelt values to guide you. It’s a high stress time so taking time out to relax is essential.
Key question: What new delight might I discover by simply suspending my ideas, beliefs and opinions, just for this moment?
14 December : Total Solar Eclipse 23 Sagittarius
+ 15 December : Rainbow Bridge Chiron station direct at 4 Aries
A new beginning. Potentially a wipe-out of an old inner reality. Time to take full responsibility for what you’re creating. It’s an opportunity to manifest, or connect with renewed vision and potential, with long term vision.
Key questions: How does what I take in through my mind and the story I give it influence me, giving meaning to my reality and relationships? And given this, where is the new beginning calling, particularly in relating; what in my life or myself is calling for greater response-ability; what action do I need to take?
21 December : Blessing-giver Jupiter conjunct Wise Elder Saturn at 0 Aquarius, with Wisdom Goddess Pallas Athena at 4 Aquarius
Athena opens the door into the Great Conjunction at 0 Aquarian and the 2021 energies. More to come on this.
