Saturday’s Full Moon is also a partial lunar eclipse, and includes a powerful alignment of seven planets in a Grand Cross formation.
Let’s first look at the lunation (lunar event) itself. The Sun in Cancer is opposed by the Moon in Capricorn, and because the lunar nodes are within 15 degrees of the Moon (in this case the nodes are 8 degrees from the Moon) the lunation becomes an eclipse.
This in itself is significant, because the lunar nodes are connected to the evolutionary journey of the soul, from past (the South Node) to future (North Node). Here we have the South Node conjoining the Sun, with the North Node conjunct the Moon. The Sun represents our conscious awareness, and the Moon reflects the inner yearings of the soul, our emotional interior which rarely makes itself known to the outer world. With the North Node conjunct the Moon, we are being shifted into an inner experience – the lunar experience rather than the solar.
Here the Moon is in Capricorn, an earth sign of supreme practicality. Achievement, responsibility, structure – these are not qualities that we normally attribute to the Moon. In fact, the Moon is said to be in its detriment in Capricorn because its qualities of emotion and fluidity have little room in the structured world in which Capricorn excels. Yet the North Node is urging us to embrace the gravity of our situation with all of the heart that the Moon can muster as a means to our soul’s evolution during this eclipse of the Sun.
During the eclipse of the Sun the Moon becomes more powerful – even more powerful than it is in an ordinary Full Moon. Eclipses have been feared for thousands of years, but there’s no reason to fear an eclipse. Yes – sometimes we do have emotional outbursts, and sometimes our lives are changed forever by a single event that occurs during an eclipse. Eclipses, especially solar eclipses, have a tendency to unmask that which has been hidden, especially anything hidden in the emotional realm.
The Sun in the eclipse chart is conjunct Mercury, and Mercury is also positioned opposite the Moon. Mercury is the mind – our mental function and the filter through which the experiences of our lives is processed. The mind is active now but Mercury has a bigger role to play – it also provides us with the means to move more quickly through the emotional realms of the Moon.
Pluto is tightly conjunct the Moon in the eclipse chart – amping up the intensity and suggesting that something must be released in order for transformation to take place. Pluto is like the vulture of the zodiac, swooping down to destroy the carrion of anything in our lives that is already dead. As Pluto is aligned with the Moon in this chart, it opposes the Sun and serves to block the efforts of Mercury to rationalize away the depth of our experiences. Pluto demands that Mercury offer only the Truth as the emotional realignment of this eclipse unfolds.
Forming the Grand Cross is another opposition: The conjunction of Jupiter to Uranus in Aries which is opposed by Saturn. The Jupiter/Uranus combination is volatile and disruptive, but also ingenious and creative. It breaks down barriers and expands our confidence, forcing us to acknowledge situations and feelings that feel stale or confining. Saturn provides compression and seeks stability, and the tension between that urge to build a solid foundation (Saturn) and the desire for flight and rebellion (Jupiter/Uranus) is embedded in this eclipse chart.
This eclipse will be felt most powerfully by anyone whose natal planets are in the early degrees of the cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Capricorn, Cancer). But there is enough planetary energy locked into this eclipse chart that others may also benefit from its power. This eclipse is probably the peak of the Cardinal Drama that we’ve been watching unfold over the past year because so many planets are so tightly aligned now.
This is not a time to be afraid – doors are opening now and it’s time to walk through them. Our world is in a state of terrible dysfunction and a rebalancing is necessary. Any fears and areas of discomfort that arise now are emerging so that they can be seen for the shadows that they are rather than the experiences of reality that we believe them to be.
love it
Thank you so very much for this information. I’m having a Full-Moon ceremony on Saturday June 26, 2010. This information has added so much understanding as to what sort of past we can release and barriers we can break down. Thank you, again. I am new at all of this but I am sharing with the women of my neighborhood, how to find themselves and truly Live in Love, and power to transform our Universe one step at a time. “I honor the place within you where Spirit Lives”.
wow loved the info lynn. the transiting sun is conjunct my sun in cancer in the first house, and mercury conjunct my venus… while saturn is conjunct my pluto & ic, and uranus is conjunct my mc, so i’m thinking this may be pretty full on for me – bring it on… can’t wait – have been having some pretty amazing dreams the last few nights, and in fact in one of them i was shown a ‘portal’ or ‘gateway’ with a ‘key’ right in the centre that looked like a planet glyph, however it was one i’d never seen before (had characteristics of neptune tho)but i remember being incredibly happy & thankful, there was also some clockwise action of orion (i think – u know dreams, very obscure!!!)anyways… see u on the other side! lol! tamara
Once again, your explanations resonate, and I think I get it! My daughter was born during a late-degree cardinal cross (1975) with six planets involved in angular houses (also with a Full Moon in Capricorn). The current cardinal cross hits her Libra Asc (and Pluto) within 1 degree, and the lunar eclipse will be in her 4th house. Clearly, this is a pivotal period of her life – a time of great inner psychological change that will be reflected in her home life and her relationships. I believe she’ll be just fine because I also believe she can “break through barriers of mind and body, and allow [her] higher [self] and guides to facilitate real transformation now,” though it may take a while.
Lynn – some of us newbies out here miss your astro-oriented profiles on public figures. I found them to be informative and helpful in getting a working example of astrology terms. For example, Gen. Stanley McChrystal – that would be great example but perhaps it’s difficult to locate birth times???
Thanks again for your blog.
Hi–thanks for your continuing insights! Just one question–when I land on your page the “music of the spheres” plays–where did you get all three tracks together? I recognize the solar one but what are the other two?
Thanks!
what degree of Capricorn will the moon be at the time of the eclipse on Saturday? i am traveling and don’t have the info with me. looking for it online.
thanks!
Amrita
Enjoyed your very intelligent reading on June 26. It being the first day of the G8/G20 summit in Toronto, I wondered if you had any thoughts on how the Grand Cross applies to that event. The security measures installed in the downtown area are at a cost of 1 Billion. This includes tear gas, pepper spray, snipers, the whole nine yards. It begs the question: If this is a gathering of politicians who represent the will of the people then why is it shrouded in so much fear and militarization?
not sure if you will get to this with all of the other questions, but how does the fact that Saturn is still in Virgo, not a cardinal sign, change the energy of the grand cross? 28 virgo makes a t to my natal jupiter-uranus opposition (on my ascendant), so I am particularly interested.
Julie
THX ! !
Great insight, was mostly cloudy here North East US.
Was outside in my car looking for a good line of sight.
Sun was intense then ducked behind some clouds when time for eclipse started. Perfet ! !
GB
Perfect view from Kangaroo Valley here in NSW, Australia.
Watched for hours through skylight windows, moonlight shining on the bed!
Fabulous.
well i asked for info on the degree of capricorn that the moon was and got no answer. i have found out that it was 4 degrees, which is exactly on my natal sun. important information for me to have had. too bad i didn’t get a reply.
Hello and thank you for your loving insight on the aligment of June 26th. I am a bit confused as the information I have in my astro charts is that the north node is the the doorway from your current life into the future and the south node is the doorway from your past life to your current one. Can you expand on this and share your insights as to why it conflicts with what you are saying in the June 26th alignment information above.
Thank you and blessings,
Rael
Hello. I am a Scorpio with moon in Aries. Is my moon, because it is in Aries, felt more powerfully during this eclipse? In other words, would the planets represented by these cardinal sun signs in ones chart be affected more than the ones that are not? Great article. I wanted to share this new fun sight I’m learning a lot from…it is called astrologyland.com. Thanks, Lydia
In agreement with Gillian Taylor, am a little confused as have did think we were working from south node to north node, or karma to dharma as someone told me recently, is this a different perspective?
I’m sorry to be so late in responding to comments. I had my own eclipse drama, and then had to write the Skywatch! First of all, one of my biggest faults is that I am a bad proofreader. Frankly, I don’t proofread my posts at all (I have Gemini rising) so I’m always glad when readers catch my errors and that’s what the nodal axis problem is. I’ve corrected that. Transiting Jupiter and Uranus are squaring my Mars, so I am more reckless than usual and more prone to errors.
Julie in Boston, when a planet is very close in degree to an aspect with another planet but in a different sign, we call that an “out of sign” or “dissociate” aspect. The two planets are challenging each other but it is weaker, because instead of being in conflict the two signs are compatible. I use very tight “orbs” for out of sign aspects, usually no more than two degrees. At the eclipse Saturn was within two degrees of the aspects so I included it.
Amrita, if you have an important question that needs answering asap try emailing me instead of leaving a comment. I try to keep up with comments but sometimes I am unable to.
Lydia, you will hear differing opinions on your question but my view is that the planets in the cardinal signs in the chart ARE more affected by the eclipse if they are between zero and say 12 degrees of the cardinal signs. If they are in the later degrees of the cardinal signs the effect will not be strong.