ECLIPSE EDITION
Originally Published in the Awakened Soul Newsletter sent April 5, 2024
Where will you be between 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm CST on Monday, April 8 and what will you be doing?
On April 8, 2024, there will be a total eclipse of the sun across many parts of the United States. Where I live in the Chicago area of Illinois it will be partial at 97%. Should it be a celebration or ceremony? A group event watching the celestial show (with special glasses)? Should we stay inside a shelter to be protected? Will it be an ordinary Monday afternoon, at work, running errands, or driving on the highway?
As one following the earth medicine path, I have been asking myself where to be and what to do during this auspicious event. You may also ask yourself some of the same questions.
While there are eclipses of the sun somewhere every year, this particular path of the eclipse will not happen again for 340 years.
When considered at 4 different levels of shamanic reality, the eclipse can be interpreted in various ways.
Literally the eclipse of the sun where the moon passes between the earth and sun can be predicted at a scientific, astrological level. We can understand it as an awe inspiring beautiful phenomena that makes sense in the orbiting nature of the planets in the Universe.
Symbolically it can represent a model of dying and rebirth such as with the seasons and the cycle of life. Spiritually we can choose to see it as an invitation for us to have a death of what is ready to be shed and a space for something new to be birthed.
Mythically from the viewpoint of Incan cosmology, we could see it as grandmother moon (Mama Quilla) stepping in front of father sun (Taita Inti). This allows us to see the beauty and wisdom of the wise sacred feminine in the light of day, being haloed by the sun. What is the wise sacred feminine inviting us to notice?
Energetically, we could sense the gravitational push and pull of the planets as they shift positions. As part of the natural world, this will have an effect on us that we can attune to if we choose to. The sun being blocked by the moon may be experienced as an opening or portal to a new beginning. We may even feel like a baby in the birth canal moving towards an opening to be born again.
What if the eclipse is offering a doorway of choice for each of us?
I have decided to shift my schedule a bit on Monday in order to be able to step outside. Since I work from home on this day, I may even have a fire in the back yard to release symbolically what no longer serves me and to call in new opportunities for serving consciously. May you also have opportunity to release old patterns and habits that no longer serve you and receive the new beginnings shifting into view with the eclipse of the sun.
This is an opportunity for a perceptual shift. An opportunity for a rebirth of Spirit and the Divine Image we all hold.