Partial Solar Eclipse. April 30, 2022

Tolkeyes

Taurus Solar Eclipse (Super New Moon) & Black Moon, exact today at 4:28 pm Est.

Ever hear of a Black Moon? Though it's not an official astronomy term, a Black Moon is when there's a second new moon in a calendar month — you can consider it the companion to a Blue Moon, which is a second full moon in a calendar month.

I sat down to write one eclipse transmission that over the course of the last few days, turned into something else entirely. I think you’ll like how it turned out. 

The energies are so potent right now. Every so often, when there is so much activity in our solar system, it can be difficult to discern which planet or alignment is having what influence. Instead in order to make heads or tails of what we are experiencing (eclipse pun) we have to channel the energy into our metaphorical chalice, and taste the blend to get an idea of its flavor. That’s what I have attempted to do with this eclipse report.

As an astrologer, my favorite thing to do is track cycles. (probably common for a lot of us). Cycles are the stuff of evolution. Working in a spiral pattern, they allow us to measure our progress, when we come back around to a certain point on the hologram. Eclipses are of particular interest to us because they have such a massive impact on what is transpiring in the 3-D realm. 

Eclipses occur every six months or so with some variation. They happen along the nodal axis of the moon. And change signs roughly every 18 months. (I’m not desiring to get super technical here, because sometimes that dilutes the message. Click here for astronomy) So within each sign (dimension of reality) we will have roughly 3 sets of eclipses before the nodes change signs. (Give or take allowing for that variation)

Eclipses are story nodes, dragon holes. Where, because of the alignment of the sun and moon, a portal opens to allow different energies to shower down on the planet. They bring an immense amount of focus to one precise spot. And that focus, actually, temporarily, pulls everything else out of balance. 

Because Eclipses take place along the North and South Node, they are karmic, and have everything to do with our incarnation, and the path a life travels during its time in this realm. Eclipses demarcate a place in our personal narrative where the universe comes in and makes its edits to our storyline. However, the shifts can feel quite universal because they are being filtered through the sign they take place in. So the edits happen in a similar dimension of reality for all of us. Therefore, they are felt collectively. (all of astrology works this way)

During the pandemic, the nodes moved from Capricorn/Cancer in May 2020, into Gemini/Sagittarius.  The story changed from one of government, hierarchy, home and safety, to Information/communication, logistics and the philosophical approach used to solve a massive problem. 

In January 2022, the nodes shifted signs again. This time into the axis of Taurus/Pluto. I wrote a full transmission here, if you’d like to know more about these energies. 

Taurus is ruled by Venus, and Scorpio is ruled traditionally by Mars, and in modern astrology by Pluto. There has been some debate about giving the outer planets rulership over signs, especially because we don’t have centuries of data on how they behave in each sign yet. However, speaking as someone who has her Sun, MC, Uranus, and Venus all in Scorpio, I have  a strong affinity to the Plutonic energies. So for the purposes of how I interpret astrology, I do use Pluto as the co-ruler of Scorpio. 

The planets that rule the signs that the nodes are in are of particular interest to us. This means that we went from Mercury and Jupiter as rulers of Gemini and Saggitarius being big players before the nodes shifted, to Venus, Mars, and Pluto as main characters on the stage now that they are in Taurus and Scorpio. So when eclipses happen, we definitely want to check out what is going on with these planets. 

I’m going to begin with Pluto. He’s of particular interest right now because he was in the sign of Capricorn when our current story (pandemic) began. He’s also been in a square to Eris, planet of chaos and discord. He’s having his USA return at the moment, and has after about a week or so of stand still, just stationed retrograde. 

Needless to say, he’s been an intense constellation of energies that we’ve all had to contend with over the last few years, and he will continue in this vein for people in the USA for the next several years as we live through our first Pluto return.

Let’s explore what my favorite Mythologist/Astrologer, Jessica Davidson, says about Pluto.

“Pluto represents how you relate to the cycles of life and death and the process of transformation. It’s associated with the primordial instincts and the elemental forces of nature and power. Whether you’re ready or not, Pluto confronts you with the necessity for regeneration and the evolution of your soul.

As the higher octave of Mars, Pluto represents the life force operating on the subconscious level in the psyche. Mars shows how you use your energy in the world, while Pluto is how your energy is used in the underworld, or the emotional depths of the soul.

Pluto is usually seen as masculine because of its link with the god Hades, but the realm it represents was originally associated with the feminine power of the goddess. Ancient Mother goddesses were often depicted as a dragon or serpent representing the transformative power of nature through cycles of death and renewal. The earliest of these goddesses contained both life and death within them and were only later split into separate domains.

These ancient self-fertilizing goddesses were later remembered as figures who governed fate and natural law. There are many examples in different cultures but they’re often depicted in triple form to represent the three lunar phases and the cycles of life and death.” - Jessica Davidson

When the solar cults gained control of Greece, the myths transferred many of the things that made the feminine powerful, onto the Male God’s, as is outlined in Jack Holland in his book “A Brief History of Misogyny”. Including the rights of birth, and the power of Nature. 

So for the Purposes of my work with Pluto, I never forget the thread of the Dark, Primordial Goddess that runs through his transformative energy. She is the one who eats pain. She has the ability to swallow our demons whole, while birthing new worlds into existence. 

Now Venus on the other hand sounds entirely different. Here’s how Jessica Davidson explains her action in the Universe. “The Venus archetype represents our capacity to relate to others. It shows what we value and desire, and how we attract people or things into our lives. Venus shows how you love and allow yourself to be loved”

Which is accurate when she occupies one of the signs she rules, either, Taurus, or Libra. But as an astrologer, I need to look at where the planet actually is in the chart. 

Jennifer Hawkyard

In this case, she is in Pisces, the sign of her exaltation, a place in which she is exceptionally powerful, which then lends a slight variation to how she functions. At the time of the Eclipse she is at 27 degrees Pisces, conjunct Jupiter. Which means she’s actually making a connection (sextile) to Pluto, who is at 28 Capricorn on the day of the Eclipse. Making these two planets even more powerful still. 

Consider this, “Pisces is the Primordial Lake of infinite potentiality. Home of Tiamat, The Dragon Lair of The Great No-Thing. Where pure, chaotic, meaninglessness, reigns supreme. It is the realm of dissolution, the place paradox melts back into the void. It is older than our most ancient concept. Where birth and extinction are in endless, simultaneous, rapture. Distinction dies here, distinction is born here. It’s all one liminal upside down co-arising, co-negating space. Darkness. Groundlessness. All enveloping Abyss. Deeper and wider than one could imagine. No end, no beginning, no horizon, no ceiling. It’s the Holy Now, the Holy Then, the Holy Wow, the Holy When.

In most astrology circles, Venus is the function of attraction, whereas Mars is the function of will or force. They have two entirely different energetic styles.

I have long likened Venus’ true Power, Her true Size, to that of a Black Hole. With the ability to pull in that which she feels an attraction too.

It is from this place, this Vacuum, we can connect, to download and channel wisdom. This is Venus' highest function. To help us cultivate gnosis and then put that gnosis to work FOR us.

In Pisces, that function feels largely unobstructed. With its clear, wide open space, and connection to the infinite dimension.

Venus’s Cycle is the template of creation, death, and rebirth. And Pisces is the void from which all form comes into being, and the forms we are attached to dissolve back into nothing.

THIS, is why, from my perspective, she is exalted in Pisces”

If this is how she behaves in Pisces, as a metaphorical connector, able to bring information from the other world, and Pluto is the Ruler of one of those worlds, this means our power to connect to the infinite realm is heightened. When you add that to the fact that an Eclipse opens up a portal that connects us to the dimension of Karma, the potential to activate change for us personally and collectively is immense. Especially when these changes are in service to death. 

H.V. Anderson

These planets are coming in with the evolutionary message that to love in its highest form, to cultivate wisdom in its purest essence, we have got to let go of our attachments, our greed, our desire for safety, and security, our future, our goals, and anything else that is keeping us locked out of our deepest truth. And they’ve appointed the Goddess of Love, and The Queen of Death as guides on this journey.

Given the astrology, I don’t think there will be many conscious people who don’t spend this next year focused on where they apply their life force. How they invest their time, energy, money, love, and care. It’s all up for review. We will look at the things we formerly felt were taboo, and readjust our attitudes. Our relationship to death itself is on deck for transformation. We will let go of a lot of the excess baggage we’ve been carrying. The unnecessary places we take on extra work, out of guilt or conditioning. This is all on the alchemical menu. Because, to truly evolve, which is what the axis of Taurus Scorpio asks for, we ,must allow things to move, and not let stagnation take root. Energetically this axis is governed by the action of the Torus. To go up, we must have first gone down. We can only ascend to the point in which we have first descended. 

However, we have a few other influences on the scene. The Eclipse, at 10 degrees Taurus is conjunct Uranus at 14 degrees Taurus. If we remember above, Pluto has been significant because he is in the sign that one of the nodes was in when the pandemic started. Meaning planets that occupy the signs the nodes are in, are also an important part of the story. 

On a mundane level, Taurus governs our ability to resource ourselves fully. That’s anything that provides a firm foundation for a life to flourish. Money, food, our values, our ability to care for ourselves. 

Uranus is the Promethean Impulse towards individuation. From an energetic standpoint, he moves like lightning, or an earthquake. Shocking eruptions, that cause massive outcomes, and the need for instant adaptations. Imagine this force hitting a toroidal field. Causing the need for huge, structural, top down transformation. He can act as a disruptor to transformation already in process. Almost anything he touches promotes progress and evolution. 

For most of 2021 he was in a square with Saturn in Aquarius. Causing a clash of energies between the impulse to move ahead, (Uranus) and the impulse to conserve (Saturn). Which, for example, played out politically between people who wanted to end pandemic restrictions, and people who wanted to keep them in place for safety. When we internalize the action the two planets create, it can feel like a rush energy meeting a metaphorical dam. As the square has begun to separate in 2022, we can feel the dam giving way, and the energy having an outlet to express itself.  

In addition to Venus, Pluto, and Uranus. We also have the large conjunction of energies up in Pisces. On April 12th Jupiter made its once in every 156 years conjunction to Neptune at 23 degrees. And now Venus is there as well. This is one of the most beautiful energies the zodiac can produce. Loving, spiritual, dreamy, creative, intuitive, and creates a feeling of oneness with all things. And while the gorgeous feelings flow, on the shadow side, it can have the propensity to lead us into untrue things. Neptune has an affinity for illusion. Causing a fog to fall over what should be clear. So be especially mindful of the changes you make while under this influence. Were they true before? 

However, if you do identify changes that absolutely must be made, because they are in fact true, this is a lovely, smooth energy to dissolve things that do not work. Instead of the sometimes violent feeling we get around endings, this energy helps things gently fall away. We spoke at length about this transit at our Venusian Sisterhood Gathering. You can find that recording here.  And I’ve written about Venus in Pisces at length here.

The one thing that all these energies have in common is their power to bring about major, life altering transformation. And, if you want to take advantage of them, take advantage of how supported you’d be to “just let go” of untrue things while being guided by the energies of the Primordial Goddess, something honest and true has the opportunity to be born through you. All you have to do is take a sip of the Serpent Chalice.