Healing for the Future

It is finally time to talk about the much anticipated solar eclipse that will occur at Aries 19°24′ next Monday, April 8 at 11:21 AM in California, 12:21 hours in Mexico City, or 20:21 hours in Santander. When we look at the enclosed chart, we see a surprisingly compact configuration with plenty of punch. We can clearly see that the planets, plus Chiron and the North Node, continue to lie within the arc span between Uranus and Pluto—109⁰ at the time of the eclipse. All planets but Mercury are moving direct and most of the energy is in the first two signs of the zodiac, pushing for a new spring of beginnings. But, there is respect (and more) for the past, in the form of three planets in Pisces. This is the first new moon after the year began at the equinox and it will set the tone for the remaining of the year, so let me provide a bit of context before looking at the chart.

A Consciousness Portal

Every six months, the nodal axis aligns with the Sun–Earth axis such that eclipses will occur.¹ The two axes remain aligned within tolerance for about 35 days, called the eclipse season, which produces a solar eclipse at the new moon and a lunar eclipse at the full moon happening within the season.² Looking at the meaning of those lunar phases, it is clear that solar eclipses bring opportunities for action whereas lunar eclipses do the same for consciousness. The first eclipse in a season opens a portal of opportunities that remains open for a month or so, until the season ends. The first season of 2024 already brought a very powerful penumbral lunar eclipse a few days ago which opened a portal of consciousness that will end with next week’s total solar eclipse.³

The meaning of any eclipse must take into account, if not be driven by, the polarity of the nodal axis. Since July 2023, the axis tension has stood between our personal autonomy and independence (Aries), and our need to relate under a value system (Libra) consistent with our personal dharma. The North Node in Aries calls us to accept life experiences that are related to our right to be a distinct individual while the South Node in Libra brings for review the quality of our current and past relationships in light of such right, especially those perhaps established by karmic law and which are seen as “fateful” in one way or another.

If the full moon made us aware of those relationships that have become a vicious circle (or cycle) or which are based on a “wrong” value system, the new moon will be a call for action with respect to such awareness. In mundane astrology, the equivalent to personal relationships are bilateral agreements between countries and many of them are currently being reconsidered since the lunar eclipse, such as the relationship between the United States and Israel.

Chiron Costars in the Eclipse

When looking at the chart of the eclipse, we immediately notice Chiron at Aries 19°24′, the exact location of the new moon! In Greek mythology, Chiron was a half-human and half-horse centaur, son of the Titan Cronus (Saturn) and the nymph Philyra. Chiron is said to be the wisest and most just of all centaurs, at times depicted wearing a robe and having human legs instead of forelimbs. In the myth, he is a notorious teacher of many heroes and a healer who, ironically, was mortally wounded and could not heal himself. The archetype of Chiron is quite complex, at one level it will make us feel a deep hurt wherever it is found in a chart by sign and house, which may cause us to become defensive or overprotective in those areas, but it may also become a source of great healing once we are able to overcome and transcend the hurt that will never go away.

In 1977, Charles Kowal discovered Chiron and it became the first of a collection of objects, now known as centaurs, that orbit between the asteroid and the Kuiper belts. The enclosed diagram depicts the highly eccentric orbit of Chiron. It goes from its perihelion just inside Saturn’s orbit to its aphelion just outside the perihelion of Uranus, although it never quite reaches the average orbit of Uranus. Chiron revolves around the sun every 50½ years and it has been transiting in Aries since February 2019, the sign in which it spends the most time (8.4 years). Also, it has formed a conjunction with the North Node (5° orb) since last December. In spite of what may seem, I’m not trying to overwhelm you with Chiron trivia but to provide background about the important role that it will play in the upcoming solar eclipse.

Hurt and Healing

In the past, I have mentioned that the energy of a planet resides along its orbit, its nature depending exclusively on the orbit’s ranking order in the solar system. Such energy becomes focused where the planet is found, as a point of light, in terms of the sign and especially the degree. Straddling planetary orbits, the centaurs serve as “bridges” between the orbits they cross, and so Chiron “connects” the structured world of Saturn with the transpersonal realm of Uranus.

To understand Chiron, we must keep in mind the double prism of Saturn and Uranus. In particular, what I’ve called the Chiron hurt is mostly present at the Saturn (societal) level. It tends to follow the myth by showing us a field of experience where we can help others achieve high levels of success yet are unable to apply the same lessons in our lives. An example would be a marriage therapist with Chiron in the seventh house of close relationships who can give excellent advise while his own marriage is on the rocks, or perhaps he isn’t even married, or a travel agent with Chiron in the ninth house who sends his clients to dream vacations but stays home for the holidays. In all cases there is a feeling of not deserving that which we help others obtain, and that leads to feelings of insecurity that fuel either overcompensation or shyness to protect us from the hurt, or anger that makes us wish others feel the same hurt.

We experience the three dimensional world of Saturn through the lens of Mercury, the planet of our day-to-day experiences as sense perceptions, and of applying rational thinking to them. Our worldly view of the hurt is of a suffering we didn’t deserve and yet makes us feel pain every time the situation arises. The hurt may place us in the role of victim, continuously bemoaning our “bad luck”, or in that of executioner, making sure others experience our undeserved pain. To overcome the hurt, we must adopt a different perspective. If we view the same situation through the intuitive eyes of Uranus, Mercury’s higher vibrational octave, we can become the healer who has such intimate knowledge of the hurt so as to help others and ourselves.

A Ménage à Trois

Chiron in Aries symbolizes the hurt of simply being in this world. People with that placement in their charts often complain of being unsure of their right to exist, unable to form a personal identity independent of external influences within the area of experiences marked by its house position. They may move from one relationship to the next, terrified of being alone since that is not a secure place to be. In extreme cases, they will actively sabotage other people’s right to exist. This is evidenced in many current wars being fought to deny groups, races and even nations of such a fundamental right.

Every month we look at the new moon as a seed of potentiality for the entire lunation. When the new moon includes a solar eclipse, such seed potentiality may remain active for the next six months, until the next eclipse season. The fecundation in a solar eclipse is significantly more potent, capable of initiating the lunation cycle with a clean slate in spite of whatever energies remain from the previous one. The moon steps in front of the sun to “clean” any remnants of the past, like a mother wiping off a child’s face who, for a moment, is unable to see when his is face is covered by the cleaning towel. This mental image is particularly relevant in the current situation, given that the last lunation of 2023 is ending.

I mentioned a while ago that in a solar eclipse, Earth is directly viewing the “fecundation” of Moon by Sun as if peeping through a keyhole. Next week, it is not just Sun but the Sun–Chiron conjunction, precise to the minute, which will fecundate Moon for distribution of existential hurt and healing through the month.

Sabian Symbol

When we wrote about the Aries psychological type, we emphasized that Aries 19° is the degree of conscious beginnings, associated with the day of Resurrection in oriental traditions. In numerology, 19 is considered a profound number that couples the 1 beginnings with the 9 completions. At the same time, the symbol for the twentieth degree of Aries, where Sun, Moon and Chiron are located, has the image: “A young girl feeding birds in winter”, further explained as overcoming crises through compassion. Its theme is: The Transmutation of Life into Love.

The last time Chiron touched Uranus’ orbit was on May 27, 2021 (its last aphelion) at Aries 12°, from which it brought cosmic order, according to the Sabian symbol’s image: “A triangularly shaped flight of wild geese”, expanded as an idealistic reliance upon a mental image of universal order. Such image of large birds escaping the winter cold by flying south stands in contrast to that of smaller birds unable to escape wintry deprivation or death. However, man can maintain the life of the spirit (symbolized by birds) through all crises if, like a “young girl”, he is widely open to the promptings of the love and sympathy necessary for true compassion.

Mars and Saturn Conjunction in Pisces

Mars, ruler of Aries and the eclipse, is at Pisces 13°03′ and forming a very close conjunction with Saturn (Pisces 14°27′), which will be exact just two days later, on April 10, at Pisces 14°41′. The conjunction Mars–Saturn is one found in many military career officers, representing organized, tactical action. José Millán calls it the aspect of either a compassionate warrior or a destructive psychopath. In a natal chart, this conjunction suggests inner strength and the resourceful use of physical energy; it is also sometimes prominent in sports professionals. On the negative side, there may be a tendency to anger caused by inhibited self-expression, and an inclination to precipitous action that can lead into violent and dangerous situations. If not checked, a brutal, malicious and even sadistic nature may emerge, which may give rise to even more unsavory world events after the middle of next week.

On the Jupiter–Uranus Conjunction

One of the topics discussed in the preview for astrological 2024 was the conjunction already forming between Jupiter and Uranus, which will be exact on April 20. In the next article, I will give a final assessment of its powerful and future-oriented energies but I would like to say a couple of words about the current cycle that is coming to an end, because it seems to have started rather awkwardly with three conjunctions in the span of six months. The first conjunction, on June 8, 2010, was in the first degree of the zodiac, at Aries 0°18′, but the subsequent conjunctions happened in Pisces. The second was on September 18, 2010 (Pisces 28°43′) when both planets were moving retrograde, and the third an final one was on January 4, 2011 at Pisces 27°02′. The fact that the cycle nearly started in Aries, the sign of all beginnings, only to “reconsider” and properly start in Pisces, the sign of all endings, made for a “timid” cycle. The next couple of weeks will hopefully cap a wisdom-gathering phase in many areas related to technical and scientific achievements. Stay tuned.

Discussion

You will probably recall that 2023 began with a new moon just a few hours after the vernal equinox, in the same first degree of Aries. We have discussed at length the meaning of that Sabian symbol (“a woman emerging from the sea with a seal wrapped around her”), which heralds a new consciousness emerging from the Collective Unconscious (Pisces). Such emergence is compelled, not chosen, just like we involuntarily received last year a quantum leap in consciousness amid much external chaos. However, 2024 begins with a different story, for the new-moon symbol talks about a deliberate call for the love and sympathy that will generate compassion toward those in spiritual need.

A while ago, we argued that an individual is, at the highest level, a whole composed of body and “soul”, the latter being analogous to the presidency of a nation. Even though it is devoid of intrinsic power, the “soul” is the active component that confers its power to the body (and mind). The “soul” does this so as to advance in its cyclical evolutionary process over many incarnations. Any given lifetime is but a cycle in such a process, which may be further decomposed into three phases of 28 years each. At times, our “soul” will appear as our conscience, capable of guiding us through hunches, remorse or general intuition. At times Chiron acts as the agent of communication with our “soul”, especially when involved in matters of the North Node, as in this solar eclipse.

Wrapping Up…

José Millán titled his video: “The grand yes or the grand no”, and claimed that the eclipse will mark the moment when we must make an important decision regarding our future. I believe the time for deciding will be over with the current lunation. I began this article on its Last Quarter phase, when we are called to face a crisis of consciousness: how will we best integrate what we “saw” two weeks ago, at the lunar eclipse, in our life? There is nothing more to decide, it is time to lighten our load as much as possible because the solar eclipse will be a call for action.

The solar eclipse is getting us ready for our place in the new civilization. This weekend will be the final opportunity to let go of old habits and attachments that feed feelings of inadequacy and a lack of self-worth. Your intention for the month should include the love and sympathy toward ourselves needed for a future based on compassion.

In the preview for 2024, I gave the analogy of accelerating at high speed on a runway so as to take off in 2025. The upcoming solar eclipse and the Jupiter–Uranus conjunction a few days later represent the tremendous acceleration we experience as it firmly pushes us against the back of our seats. Our planes will take off. Enjoy the flight.

Always Love. 🌹🙏💖

1. For a lunar eclipse, the full moon must happen within 11°38′ of the nodal axis, while a solar eclipse requires the new moon to be within 17°25′. ↩︎
2. Due to the season’s length, it is possible to have up to three back-to-back-to-back eclipses, either solar–lunar–solar or lunar–solar–lunar. ↩︎
3. If not partial, solar eclipses may be either total or annular depending on the distance between the moon and Earth. The moon will be at perigee (closest to earth) on April 7, which is why the eclipse will be total the following day. ↩︎