THUNDER PERFECT MIND-ECLIPSE SAGITTARIUS

Red Moons or Blood Moons are how the ancient’s used to refer to an eclipse, because the moon turns red as the shadow of the earth moves across its face. I named my Astrology Practice “Red Moon Revival” because I am enamored with the symbolism and import of integrating shadow and light. And believe the way forward is found in these realms. For this reason I like to really dig deep around eclipses. They are pivot points in our collective timeline. And really spending time to demarcate the landscape around an eclipse is important for our evolution.

There’s a lot on the table for this last Solar eclipse in Sagittarius, before the Lunar Nodes change signs. The energy is intense, heating, and activating. Kind of paradoxical for this time of year. Often we think of the time of solstice as a period of going inward. Yet at the same time, an inner spark alights, an ancient, future remembrance is finally activated. Leading us into a new inquiry around what is real, and true.

Sagittarius functions in a lot of ways as the town square. It is a place to discuss higher ideas and pose big questions. Think of Socrates’ classroom in Athens.

Jaques Louis David

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
― Socrates

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
― Socrates

“To find yourself, think for yourself.”
― Socrates

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
― Socrates

If we examine just these few quotes by Socrates, we begin to see that part of his brilliance was that for him, inquiry was the destination, not finding answers. And likewise the stars point to the exact same thing this month. It is far more important to remain supple, and open minded, than hardening around a specific topic.

Sagittarius is the sign of the renaissance person, the philosopher who seeks an endless stream of higher knowledge. As a mutable fire sign, Sagittarius is constantly navigating change and then acting on it. And so we can be sure this eclipse is going to kick off a season of new beginnings, endings, and adjustments, and allow you to witness how you steward yourself through a period of wide variation. Are you tender and gentle with yourself? Are you surrendering to the bigger thing that wants to claim you? Or are you gripping to the edges, trying to control the outcome?

On it’s shadow side, Sagittarius can manifest as extreme Hubris, and Egoic Manifestations of inflated Rightness. There will be a plethora of people who resist change, and will be angry and immovable because they have crystallized around their world view. That’s ok. Just as the Moon reflects the Sun’s light and during an eclipse casts a shadow, so must the shadow be exaggerated in this moment. It serves our evolution. How you show up for yourself during this time of planetary shift is what really matters.

Ophuicus From EarthSky

The Solar Eclipse happens at 12 degrees Sagittarius beside Mercury’s Superior conjunction at 15 degrees on December 4th at 2:44 am. If you follow sky stories, the sun is crossing the constellation of Ophiuchus, and is opposite Black Moon Lilith, indicating a steady stream of serpentine, symbolism, and mythology are up for consideration.

Let’s begin by looking at what Ophiuchus represents. Consider this passage from EarthSky

Ophiuchus in myth and star lore:

“In Greek sky lore, Ophiuchus represents Asclepius, Greek god of medicine and doctors. He is always depicted holding a great serpent or snake. And, depending on how it’s used, a snake’s venom can either kill or cure. It’s said that Asclepius concocted a healing potion from the venom of Serpens the Serpent, mixing it with a Gorgon’s blood and an unknown herb. This potion gave humans access to immortality, until the god of the underworld, Pluto, appealed to the king of the gods. Pluto asked Zeus to reconsider the ramifications of the death of death.

We hardly know how Pluto made his appeal. Perhaps he said only that which never lives never dies, and that no mortal can have one without the other. Sophocles may have expressed the myth’s inherent message when saying:

“Better to die, and sleep the never-waking sleep, than linger on and dare to live when the soul’s life is gone.”

In any event, according to the myth, Zeus confiscated the potion, removed Asclepius from Earth and placed the gifted physician into the starry heavens. Today, the Staff of Asclepius – symbol of the World Health Organization and other medical organizations – pays tribute to this story and echoes the mighty celestial shape of the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.” -EarthSky Magazine Online

Wow, that really packs a powerful punch. We are seeing so much of this story play out currently..

Last year, astrologers noticed that any time Jupiter (Zues) and Pluto came into conjunction, it produced what scientists have termed a “new wave”. This applied throughout all of 2020 to the original strain. It is this very phenomenon that produced the “potion” we are all so concerned with today.

They also mention that the potion is made from “Gorgon Blood”.

We spoke at length during the Lunar Eclipse in Taurus about the type of fear that is generated by the patriarchal myth of Medusa. Medusa has been made synonymous with terror, horror, murder, death, and total and utter destruction. And for that reason, anytime she is active in a story, you can bet someone is trying to use the fear of the gorgon to manipulate an outcome. It is also this very potion in the myth of Ophiuchus, that has torn at the very fabric of our society. But underneath that debate, lies the deeper questions that we are all really struggling with.

What constitutes a life well lived? What is worth sacrificing to have that life? And what is my personal relationship to death? The fear of death causes people to act in all manner of unsavory and out of control ways. I know I’m guilty of that myself when the terror causes me to become disembodied.

We each have a different relationship to these questions, and even a different relationship to our individual capacity to live inside of an open question, rather than having settled answers.

Instead we have talking heads, offering one sided, mono solutions to problems, that keep kicking the can further and further down the road, perpetuating a state of fear, and alarm within the public, meanwhile, we are locked in an endless cycle of bad news. How do we change the narrative for ourselves?

Image From Witches Magazine

Look no further than Black Moon Lilith (BML). She offers clarity and true gnosis from across the zodiac. Situated at 14 Gemini, she currently resides in Mercury’s home sign. Remember Mercury is conjunct the eclipse, and therefore both are making an opposition to BML.

As an Air Sign, Gemini has a Yang-like energy, representing the breath or prana, the lungs, - the realm of ideas and archetypal associations that link the physical and non-physical world together. It also corresponds to expression and everyday communication. The ability to balance duality, and polarity. All forms of relationship and thought fall within its purview.

So considering her placement here, I believe she’s uniquely qualified to offer her Medicine during this eclipse, and to provide a pathway to navigate the months to follow.

Lilith is the seed of the Deep Primordial Feminine. In her book, “Lilith: Keepers of the Flame”, author Mary Blue says Black Moon Lilith’s “Sacred Archetype personifies wholeness/holiness of women, reflecting back our capacity to experience Oneness with the Creatress Mother’s Consciousness as the Creative Dynamic of Universal Evolution itself.

Her seed exists as not only a directing force which influences the psyche...but corresponds to the act of unconscious conception, part of the blueprint of our feminine divinity. Through Lilith a woman's spiritually evolves and matures to realize the Source/Consciousness that empowers and created her. It results in the Soul’s embodiment in a physical form through embracing her wild, erotic, sovereign, nature. As the seed of unconsciousness develops, it grows through three evolutionary stages known in Evolutionary Astrology as “consensus, individuated, and spiritual”.

For reasons explained below, Lilith is asking us to move out of the consensus stage of evolution and further our soul’s journey on the path towards individuation, and sovereignty, which inevitably fertilizes the ground on which a true embodied connection to spirit flowers.

Because of this eclipse’s close proximity to Mercury, the opposition to BML and a variety of other sky factors, not least the fact that we are still under the illusory effects of Neptune Stationing Direct, I think a worthy area of exploration is Serpentine Wisdom, and How we really know something, vs, the act of just thinking about them. How do we cultivate a "Perfect Mind"?

The Serpentine Wisdom of From the Deep Primordial Cult of Lilith comes in to ally with us. We are being tested like no other time in recent history. We need to develop skills and tools to assist us in adequately meeting this moment. Shortly, the Lunar nodes will change to the signs of Taurus our physical resources, and Scorpio our spiritual resources, bringing the message that we must align with our higher values, and heal our deeper wounds in order to evolve. If not, much of the next two years will be spent in survival mode. Undernourished, under resourced, and feeling depleted. So let’s take a look at what we can gain from Lilith here.

Serpent wisdom comes from unconventional channels. It is the wisdom of the womb, the body, the unconscious, our “gut instinct”, and our dreams. It comes from the cosmos, the earth, nature, our hearts, and our own common sense. And most importantly, as EarthSky says, it acknowledges that the poison can be medicine. Meaning that often what feels like a curse becomes a blessing through embodied alchemical transmutation. And our greatest growth and sense of accomplishment is often manifested through extreme hardship, or illness.

Serpent wisdom DOES not come from books, or data, or scientific studies. It is not linear, or statistical. It is not the result of a poll, or a survey. It is not arrived at by complex computations, and cannot be shared through graphs, charts, and tables. It is the wisdom of our own inner knowing. Not the knowing that comes from authorities, or experts.

That doesn’t mean we discredit experts, or stop weighing the wisdom of authorities. But rather that we elevate this serpent wisdom from its current pile, labelled, “outdated, dangerous, junk”, and put it back into the rotation of methods we use to assess our risks and make our OWN decisions.

More than ever we live during a time in which the consensus drives our reality. And without a strong sense of self, the consensus doctrine threatens to overtake us. These mainstream consensus movements appear to have filled the role that the church traditionally held, with its dogma and all. Pushing us harder and harder to conform to the dictates of the group, rather than think for ourselves. Robbing us of what fundamentally makes us each authentic, unique, individuals. That doesn’t mean that sometimes we won’t choose to do what the consensus does. But rather that we run our options through our own channels of wisdom before we make our choices. Serpentine wisdom helps us with that process of evolution. It helps us stay embodied while the collective egregore, or shadow if you like, is trying to pull you out of your body and into a hive mind of fear and fantasy.

Justin Achilli

Through Lilith and the woman of the Serpent Lineage, it is important to remember their gospel, that no matter the circumstances; life does persist. And no amount of worrying or effort increases or decreases that which has been set in motion. All we can do is our own work, and show up where we are asked.

(From Thunder Perfect Mind)

"For I am the first and the last.

I am the honored and the scorned,

I am the harlot and the holy one.

I am the wife and the virgin.

I am the m[oth]er and the daughter.

I am the members of my mother.

I am the barren one and the one with many children.

I am she whose marriage is multiple, and I have not taken a husband.

I am the midwife and she who does not give birth.

I am the comforting of my labor pains.

I am the bride and the bridegroom.

It is my husband who begot me.

I am the mother of my father and the sister of my husband.

And he is my offspring.

I am the incomprehensible silence and the much-remembered thought.

I am the voice of many sounds and the utterance (logos) of many forms.

I am the utterance of my name (13,15-14,15)."

Adding another layer of interpretation to the eclipse forecast is the Tarot. The card for Sagittarius is in the Major Arcana: Temperance.

Temperance corresponds to our Spiritual Education, Freedom of Action, and Learning by experience. To have temperance means to cultivate the ability to hold all things in equilibrium. To keep all polarities, all elements, and our inner and outer self in mind when considering the best path forward.

The symbolism on the card is a red fire winged being, (who also relates to the serpent cults) holding a chalice, pouring the contents from downstream to upstream. The opposite of what we’d expect to see. The figure on the card is standing with one foot on land, and one in water, encompassing all four elements.

Temperance is filled with compassion for the feelings and failings of others, because they recognize them first in themselves. They now actively seek to describe and solve the human condition in new ways. Delving into the shadowy realms to bring forgotten parts back to themselves. Temperance helps us cultivate trust in the deeper currents of life, and value our inner experiences.

Temperance is asking us to look at things through fresh, if not “silly” eyes. To approach life in an unexpected way. To shake up the pieces. Or said another way, it asks us to adjust or redistribute the “potion” inside the chalice, in an effort to make something new.

It is also the card of the “Alchemist”, after the dismemberment and blackening of Death (Scorpio’s card, the Nigredo stage of Alchemy) comes the creative reconstruction or the purified Self, who has turned lead into gold.

Solar eclipses are thought to signify the initiation of something new. And I say it does herald a new day. It is asking us to lift the coffin lid of the last two years, and begin to forge a new path. Reclaim our inner gnosis and stop outsourcing it to the Television, or Social Media. Only we can KNOW what is right for us.

The eclipse is inviting us to inquire…Can we be courageous enough to give our sacred yes to this one life, come what May?

Are we brave enough to see the negredo through fresh eyes?

What does it really mean to live? Is it just existing, breathing, or something more?

Can we live inside the questions, instead needing to have answers? It is this dynamic right here that causes us to abandon ourselves, and life inside of a reality someone else dictates for us. So like Rilke said “try and love the questions themselves”.

I believe we can do all of these things and more by staying embodied, and becoming the Serpentine Alchemist. Something quite new, and ancient of course.