eclipses open the doors
the june 2002 forecast
contact me if you would like to have my latest forecasts sent to you automatically via email as they are published free of charge.
all dates and times are based on pacific time.
sun trines neptune (gemini-aquarius) |
june 1 |
uranus turns retrograde (aquarius) |
june 2 |
moon squares saturn and pluto (pisces-gemini-sagittarius) |
june 3 |
venus conjoins jupiter (cancer) |
june 4 |
sun opposes pluto (gemini-sagittarius) |
june 6 |
mercury returns to direct motion (sd) |
june 8 |
sun conjoins saturn (gemini) |
june 9 |
new moon solar eclipse (gemini) |
june 10 |
moon squares saturn and pluto (virgo-gemini-sagittarius) |
june 16-17 |
full moon lunar eclipse (capricorn-cancer) |
june 24 |
mercury opposes pluto (gemini-sagittarius) |
june 28 |
in last month’s forecast, i talked about the planetary pattern that we’ve been dealing with over the past two to three years. june is the last month that the planets remain in this pattern with intensity. there will be plenty of chances for revisitation, but that’s another story. for now, june looms ahead of us, an unknown factor. of course, it represents a time of great uncertainty, when things can go wrong, because the energies are extremely potent and intense.
however, a time of great uncertainty is also a time of great potential, and, even if we feel small in the face of major world events, we can have an impact in our own lives and an influence on the lives of the people who are touched by us.
between the worlds
when june opens, we are between two eclipses. there is a blessing in this eclipse cycle, because, even though the eclipse focuses on the power players of this season, the power of the release is mitigated by the fact, since the first eclipse (on may 26) was lunar, the moon has been waning, allowing the energies to relax instead of rise. in addition, mercury has been retrograde. both events may result in a suppression of a “normal” release of power from the eclipse and the great planetary event of may, the last exact opposition of saturn and pluto. you may notice that, although there have been threats, most of what we’ve experienced as a result of the lunar eclipse has been informational or awareness-inducing in nature. the weaknesses of the fbi have come out. george bush knew more than he let on. chandra levy’s body was found, but little more is known than before, except for the one most important, inexorable fact that her family and friends must now face.
while we are between the eclipses, we can feel as though we are “between two worlds” — aware of the past and how it must change, but not sure of how to go about it. the effects that we experience now are likely to be symbolic — the suggestion of a problem rather than the problem itself, a question arising without its answer. however, once mercury turns direct, we experience the energies more directly as well. mercury’s return to direct motion comes at a critical time — just before the solar eclipse on june 10th. this promises to be a time of powerful release.
the nature of eclipses
eclipses stop the light. that is, they prevent the normal flux of light from coming into our environment. in the case of the lunar eclipse, which happens on a full moon, just when we expect a culmination of energy related to the full light that the nighttime moon sends us — it’s not there! it’s a shock to our system, even if the eclipse isn’t visible (when it’s night on another part of the globe). at the time of a solar eclipse, a new moon, the sun’s light is blocked. this is the greatest of all visible shocks. the ancients feared it, considered this loss of the sun’s light a bad omen in cultures around the world.
the impact on our inner awareness is also to produce shock. with the lunar eclipse, the effect is more externalized, because it is, after all, a full moon, which coincides with a monthly peak of externalized energy: action. we often experience this through external events. saddam hussein (most likely unbeknownst to him) invaded kuwait on a lunar eclipse. the oklahoma city bombing occurred on another lunar eclipse, and timothy mcveigh was certainly not aware of the celestial events.
the solar eclipse, on the other hand, is much more internal, and perhaps therefore more momentous to each individual. the sun is our most powerful source of energy and light — the source of life itself. to lose this regular, rhythmic energy for even a few moments is shocking. it affects the heart, the organ ruled by the sun, often changing this vital organ’s rhythm as a solar eclipse peaks and wanes. it symbolizes an interruption in the flow of conscious-mind energy, creating a break or ripple in its field. we are used to always having access to our conscious mind, accustomed to its stream interweaving with the stream of the unconscious mind and the flux and flow of sleep and focused attention; our energy system, including body-mind-spirit, is powerfully affected.
this break allows the unconscious energy field to reach us for the briefest of times without the interference of the conscious mind field. therefore, we have the capability of getting in touch with our deepest urges and motivations. perhaps we discover what is most important to us, or we begin to recognize how our unconscious motives have blocked us from resolving a problem.
unlike the impression you may have from news reports, lunar and solar eclipses occur once every 5 ½ months at the new and full moons adjacent to each other. (the media only report those eclipses which are total, and only a few of them are.) their order depends on the position of the moon’s node relative to these lunations, for the sun and moon block each other’s light where their orbits intersect, and that point is the moon’s node.
because eclipses occur about every 6 months, their effects are not always immediate. in fact, events which seem to correlate with solar eclipses often occur up to 18 months after the eclipse which seemed to trigger them. (see the work of dietrech pessin for details.) this is true of nearly all catastrophic events, from earthquakes to plane crashes to wars.
the eclipses of may and june 2002
so what do these eclipses mean to us? although we have seen that the greatest releases usually occur at the lunar eclipses, the solar eclipse of june 10th has some powerful forces of release coinciding with its peak. this may result in some events bordering on the catastrophic. the one hope we have is the fact that the new moon is internalizing. this could turn the energy inward and give people some time to cool off. although the indian-pakistani and israeli-palestinian conflicts are close to the boiling point, the most volatile period was may 25–27. another volatile period comes on the june 24th lunar eclipse, when one of the sensitive points (uranus) in india’s chart is being hit. israel’s venus is also triggered by this eclipse. this could bring conciliation, although it is hard to imagine considering how deeply rooted in society the middle-eastern conflict is.
because the effects of a solar eclipse (more than a lunar eclipse) can be delayed, we must remain vigilant and know that, just because (if) we make it through june without incident, we can relax our guard. the sages of any religion tell us that we must always be vigilant, that we can never relax our guard. (they also tell us that we must rely on the forces not of this earth to protect us.) while these are grim thoughts, they are the sign of these saturn-pluto times (see my last forecast for more in-depth information). what we do not understand, we fear.
the brighter side
there is a brighter side to all this, but it’s what good comes of bad events. it’s hard to talk about the good in it, especially before it happens, to say, “yes, it’s good that pakistan may drop the bomb, because it gets people to pay attention to the problem of nuclear proliferation, (or blah-blah-blah).” because this is not good. before something happens (and we put our most fervent prayers and meditations toward peace and the spread of good so nothing happens), we must focus on the light and the good within us all. we must do what we can to affirm life (and that doesn’t mean to “support” the economy by spending money we don’t have).
we can (and perhaps must) experience our own growth in awareness during this time, because there are certainly personal lessons we can all learn which have nothing to do with world events. there is a brighter side, however, and it is, as always, that we humans can and do learn from our mistakes and the hardships we encounter because of them. we can place this in the realm of our personal lives, as well as in the realm of international politics and peace. this is why this is a time of great potential. we have the potential to overcome obstacles that seemed insurmountable before. out of the chaos of uncertainty comes the knowledge and wisdom that follows when we let go of false preconceptions.
our personal lessons
the eclipses in sagittarius and gemini bring lessons in communication and understanding. they challenge us to broaden our perspective and think about the situations around us less narrowly. they may induce us to want to communicate more or more clearly with others, to connect in some new way. we may be inspired by curiosity or intrigue to learn something new. we may want to challenge ourselves by exploring realms that are new to us. we may want to travel or learn about new cultures. we may discover a new sensitivity within us to our principles, or we may come to understand someone else’s. much depends on what houses in your chart the eclipses fall in, and whether planets or angles in your chart are triggered.
after june 24th
after june’s last eclipse, the energies of this volatile time dissipate rapidly, but they will reach peaks again in september and december, with variations in between. however, the overall effect is a dissipation of the tensions of the past two years. we’re almost through the worst of it, but, sobered and humbled by our experiences, we need to address the issues that have arisen so that they do not come back threefold when the next saturn-pluto event occurs, in 8 years. this will mean broadening our experience to include the global in our awareness and decision-making processes. we all probably want to hide our heads in the sand to inure ourselves against the problems that fill the news. however, to do so is, more than ever, to doom ourselves to an uncertain, probably violent, future. throughout history, humans have had a relatively high level of discomfort to deal with. what’s more, no civilization has ever survived mass complacency. a complacent society is unprepared to take the steps to perpetuate its existence. i am not advocating war, but a raising of consciousness so that we as a culture have the will to make changes in our ways of doing things. for instance, if we want to curb the appetite of zealots for american blood, we have to change the habits of our citizens/businesses, etc. which have fostered such hatred. (little things like macdonald’s doing a media blitz in india to create a market for coca-cola because of these mega-corporations’ sweetheart deal, rather than serving tea, the staple beverage of the indian diet.) changing corporate american culture is a daunting task, but it can and must be changed if the world climate of violence (and environmental destruction) is to be abated. fortunately, there are many great minds working on the same problem with good ideas. all we have to do is to think for ourselves, put our own ideas out there, and get behind the people and groups with the right goals.
this, in my opinion, is what this time period is about. many blessings to you and yours during this time.
