This Leo Full Moon is a Lunar Eclipse

February 9, 2009

9:50 AM EST /6:50 AM PST/ 2:50 PM GT

20 Leo 00 / 20 Aquarius 00

This month’s Full Moon in Leo is a lunar eclipse that promises high drama, changes of heart and choices for personal freedom and growth. We’re still processing and internalizing the reordering that is part of last week’s exact opposition between Saturn and Uranus. This eclipse moves us to apply that restructuring on a very personal level.

Motivation to make personal restructuring may well come from our emotional reactions to what we see and learn under this eclipse. Those emotions are likely to be big and dramatic. The Moon is in Leo, the sign of the eternal child, who loves to be the center of attention and doesn’t mind demanding a follow spot if it doesn’t come automatically. Our inner children have a lot to say just now. They’ve been bundling up happy moments and slights alike for a year, and they’re going to be voicing their reactions loudly and clearly.

This eclipse is a stage of fruition and revelation in a cycle that has been ongoing since February of last year. Matters that have been simmering since then (or since last August’s New Moon solar eclipse in Leo) will come to a rolling boil now. The heat won’t turn off until next August, when the cycle ends in a lunar eclipse in Aquarius. For right now, we’ll get a good view of what’s cooking in the pot and may well see something that we didn’t realize was in there. Neptune, the cosmic fog machine, is loosely in contact with the Sun and Moon. Matters that were confused or hidden (deliberately or not) could come into focus.

What the Moon makes of this could go either way. For some people, the revelations will have inner children clapping and jumping up and down in delight. Other inner children will be screaming and kicking and setting off verbal pyrotechnics. The Sun in Aquarius will take a rational approach, understanding philosophically why things are the way they are or why they are best in the long run. The Sun is not going to talk the Moon out of her reaction, however, whatever that is. Instead, intellect and heart are going to work together to turn circumstances to your benefit. This lunation is ruled by Uranus, and your life will not pass through this eclipse unchanged. New perspectives are coming. So are new approaches, new situations and a new sense of feeling alive.

The Sun and the Moon are in close aspect to Saturn and Uranus, which just completed the second of the five oppositions they are making between November 2008 and July 2010. The Sun is making a growth aspect to his ruler, Uranus, and an adjustment aspect to Saturn. Our minds are on board with change. We have intellectually matured into the willingness to leave behind worn out habits and routines and build new support structures for our daily lives. The Moon is is a growth aspect to Saturn and an adjustment aspect to Uranus. Our hearts are evolving into committing to our own physical needs, and it’s time to make healthy choices to support them. The Saturn/Uranus opposition has cracked and destabilized structures and institutions all around us. This eclipse shows us the cracks and toppling in our personal structures and motivates us to choose, take charge of and begin our own remodeling projects.

If you discover that you are being ignored, you are not going to let the situation continue. If your light is being dampened, you will rearrange your life to protect your spark. In fact, use stoking the inner fire as your overriding image for this eclipse. A lot of people have been telling me lately that they are feeling less than themselves, exhausted, drained, uninspired, longing for the spark they once experienced. If this describes you, this eclipse will point out where (and possibly how) you could benefit from some personal remodeling. What could you do differently to recharge your body and spirit and keep your flame strong? Saturn in Virgo says your daily routine is the springboard for your life. A change in exercise, diet or habits could increase your energy. So could leaving obligations and situations that drain you or require you to conceal important parts of yourself. Allowing more play in your life could be revitalizing as well.

There’s a “best thing that ever happened to you” quality to this eclipse. Both luminaries are in close, hard aspect to Chiron, the wounded healer. Everything we do under this eclipse, every reaction we have and choice we make as a result, directly leads to a healing of how we think and feel about ourselves. Watch how your thoughts are changing. We are dropping labels that define us as damaged or defective. We are embracing the uniqueness and worth of who we are in our deepest, most loving and inspired selves. That is the person who gets to live your life from now on. That is the person that the rest of the world needs.

The Sabian Oracles speak to both the culmination/revelation aspect of this Full Moon and the role of Neptune in the event.

The Sabian Symbol for the Moon at 21° Leo is
INTOXICATED CHICKENS DIZZILY FLAP THEIR WINGS TRYING TO FLY.

Commentary: ‘Intoxicated Chickens Dizzily Flap Their Wings Trying to Fly’ is a rather amusing image. The ‘Intoxicated Chickens’ have been fired up by something, or eaten some seed that has become fermented. Having been ‘Intoxicated’, they are ‘Dizzily Flapping Their Wings Trying to Fly’. They have forgotten their true limitations and are trying to do more than they are physically capable of. This Symbol can indicate giddiness, mistakes, and headaches and regrets from ill-conceived projects.

Oracle: This Symbol can indicate somebody actually losing their sense of reality, or their sensible mind. First attempts at a new experience may prove less than elegant or skillful. There is possibly an attempt to do too much too soon. Perhaps you have not thoroughly planned what you want to achieve. Trying to accomplish something a little too eagerly and before the proper training has been completed can get you nowhere, no matter how much energy and enthusiasm is expended. Making a list of long and short-term goals will help to clarify your ideas. Soon things will improve and you can laugh about the mishaps and mistakes that were made when you started out. Being confused, or ‘Intoxicated’, can be solved relatively easily, with some constraint. Further, it can be drink or drugs that caused this ‘Intoxication’, or it can be unrestrained happiness and enthusiasm. Moderate any or all of these factors and you will gain a clearer vision and have a deeper focus on your situation. Either way, try not to worry about how much is actually being achieved. Right now, find enjoyment in this ‘Intoxication’, but remember to come back to earth when the feelings diminish.

Keywords: False courage. Inexperience. Trying to do something beyond the bounds of experience or possibility. Getting “out of it” in order to escape something. Getting all het-up over tiny or illusive prospects. Alcohol and drugs and the allure of escapism. Drinking binges. Ecstasy. Hangovers. The Caution: Giddiness, lightheadedness as the unwanted side effects. Getting nowhere. Inability to ground things in reality. Making a fool of one’s self. Intoxication that inhibits seeing what’s really possible. Alcoholism and drug habits. Losing reality. Mindlessness that confuses or misleads.

The very best addictive drugs are produced by our bodies when we’re in romantic/erotic love. Barbara Sher

I like liquor-its taste and its effects-and that is just the reason why I never drink it. Stonewall Jackson

Life itself is the proper binge. Julia Child

We never really know what stupidity is until we have experimented on ourselves. Paul Gauguin

When a man is intoxicated by alcohol, he can recover, but when intoxicated by power, he seldom recovers. James F. Byrnes

Look, I really don’t want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive, you got to flap your arms and legs, you got to jump around a lot, you got to make a lot of noise… or at least your thoughts should be noisy and colorful and lively. Mel Brooks
The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. Henry Miller

The Sabian Symbol for the Sun at 21° Aquarius is
A WOMAN DISAPPOINTED AND DISILLUSIONED, COURAGEOUSLY FACING A SEEMINGLY EMPTY LIFE.

Commentary: ‘A Woman Disappointed and Disillusioned’ is an image of apparent sadness and loss. As she’s ‘Courageously Facing a Seemingly Empty Life’, she’s putting on a brave face, even though it may feel to her that she doesn’t have much of a future. This could really be just a matter of perception and expectations. Perhaps there are some, or indeed many, things that she could be grateful for, but some areas of her life are unfulfilled and not working. Perhaps there are no children, no relationship or something has been lost.

Oracle: There can be feelings of wasted energy, trying to achieve something against the odds, while creating only failure. However, it is always important to look on ‘Disappointment’ and loss as a teacher. The feeling, or belief, that one will never have the life they want can lead to exactly that outcome. Trying to be objective can help, as things could improve far beyond your expectations or dreams in the future. As they say, while there is life there is hope and we always have something to strive for and achieve, if only we can have faith in it. ‘Courage’ is a key to recognizing the fullness and beauty of life, regardless of how others see it. The biggest barrier to overcome is the bitterness and barriers that can arise. There may point to someone else who really needs your support. Reconnect with what is available and possible in your situation. Although it requires courage and faith to get back on track, we always return to life with greater wisdom and understanding. Realizing one’s limitations, but doing so with a sense of purpose and hope will help ease matters. Try turning doom and gloom into faith, inspiration and thanks for what IS possible and IS available, and watch how things improve.

Keywords: Breaking through illusions. Facing stark reality with hope. Loneliness and depression overcome. Positive outlooks. Counting one’s blessings. Looking towards the future. Having to battle through relationship losses while maintaining a sense of self and purpose. Turning points reached. Having a belief in miracles. Choosing joy.

The Caution: Wallowing in failure. Not seeing the joy and beauty of one’s life. Accepting defeat. Feeling like all is lost. Bitterness. Walling one’s self off from others. Not trusting people. Finding nothing to be happy about. Feeling deserted and alone. Not letting go of the past. Injuries. Infertility. Incurable “dis-eases”. Unrequited love. The loss of the partner. Staring into space. Being a sad, old person.

Life is what we make it, and the world is what we make it. The eyes of the cheerful and of the melancholy man are fixed upon the same creation; but very different are the aspects which it bears to them. Albert Pike

Just think how happy you would be if you lost everything you have right now, and then got it back again. Frances Rodman

Remember that too many people who faithfully follow the prescription to work hard, sacrifice, achieve, accomplish, create and get ahead either “crack up” in the process or find an emotional vacuum at the end of it all. Arnold Lazarus

Some people are sympathetic; others are just pathetic. Peter Wasthol

Doubt is the vestibule through which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom. Colton

We consume our tomorrows fretting about our yesterdays. Persius

Even when I’m sick and depressed, I love life. Arthur Rubenstein

© Kathy Biehl 2009. All Rights Reserved.