New Moon in Cancer / Total Solar Eclipse — July 11, 2010, 19:40

The New Moon in Cancer is a total solar eclipse, the second of the eclipses of this season. Two weeks ago we experienced a lunar eclipse conjunct Pluto. The intense cross alignment formed by the slow-moving planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto, gives extraordinary potentiality to these two eclipses.

The Moon in Cancer has a tendency to play safe. The eclipse takes place at the South node of the Moon. The South node represents the past, the familiar territory of life, and the things which we may want to cling to. This creates some amount of resistance to change. Nonetheless, the current sky urges to try something new.

Eclipses are powerful transition points which offer us a chance to move stuck energy and take a new approach in life. The sextile between the New Moon and Mars helps the start-up. The eclipse falls in conjunction with Juno and Varuna indicating a revaluation of our relationships. Profound honesty is required for a functional outcome.

In mythology, Juno was the patroness of marriage. She was the loyal and jealous wife of Jupiter and the mother of Mars. Asteroid Juno represents committed and meaningful relationships. It can symbolize the rewards and fulfilment that they offer, but it can be an indicator of possessiveness, jealousy and power struggles as well.

Varuna, a potential dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, was discovered nearly ten years ago. The object was named after an important Hindu god, who was believed to be present at every gathering and know all thoughts of all humans. As a sky god Varuna could be associated with Uranus. As the god of oceans and rivers he can be identified with Neptune. Varuna judged the actions of humans and punished those who did not keep their word. He was riding a sea monster Makara and catching the liars with his noose. In other words, Varuna loves truth. In the eclipse chart he encourages us to look at ourselves and our relationships honestly and act righteously.

The Venus-Neptune opposition shows proneness for romantic idealism. The energy of Neptune can be delusory. It can blur the reality and give illusions about love. Chiron in conjunction with Neptune helps in facing the truth. Chiron works through raising awareness.

Each eclipse belongs to a larger pattern and is a member of a particular eclipse family, which has certain characteristics. These series of eclipses are called the Saros series. They were first discovered by the ancient Babylonians. Each Saros series will run for well over a thousand years and produce a solar eclipse every 18 years when the Sun, Moon, Earth and nodes of the Moon have returned to the same positions relative to each other.

Each Saros series has a beginning, a middle and an end. The series starts as a tiny partial eclipse at either the North or South Pole and will finish at the opposite Pole to where the series started. At any given time, there are about 42 Saros series active, half running from North Pole to South Pole and the other half running from South Pole to North Pole, all at different stages of their lives. As one series finishes another will be starting, and taking its place. There is an overlapping period when the two series are both producing eclipses within a month of each other. This will be the case next year, when we will experience two solar eclipses during the summer season.

We can study the characteristics of a particular Saros series by delineating its birth chart. Also, we can look back and find similarities between events that have occurred 18 years apart at the time of the eclipses. The current Cancer solar eclipse is a member of a Saros series number 12 South. The first eclipse in this series in 1541 occurred in Libra, the sign concerned with relationships and justice. Based on the aspects and planetary patterns of the chart, Bernadette Brady suggests that a long-term worry “at first seem worse and then clear, with successful outcomes.�

References:

Wikipedia, Juno (mythology)

Encyclopedia Mythica, Varuna

Wikipedia, Saros cycle

Mary Dowton and Steve Cahill, The Astrologer’s Textbook Of Astronomy, 2002

Bernadette Brady, The Eagle and the Lark, Samuel Weiser, 1999

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