Eclipse Season has Begun: December 12, 2019 ~ January 16th, 2020
The stage is set. The cast of characters are ready, waiting for their entrance cue. With breathless anticipation.
And since the eclipse portals have already opened, as of a few days ago, I’d say the play is likely already underway!
In a previous post, I referred to this eclipse season as the plot climax – the tipping point in the ~2 year Cancer-Capricorn nodal axis eclipse story that had its early beginnings in mid-late 2018.
We have nearly arrived at a long-awaited astrological moment in history! The conjunction of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn – or what I affectionately refer to as the “Capricorn Shit Show” (and what astrologer Adam Sommer has been calling “The Boneyard“).
Because it isn’t just Saturn and Pluto finally consummating their courtship dance of the past 2 years (a dance somewhat akin to the movement of two tectonic plates shifting deep at the earth’s core)…. it’s also the Lunar South Node, Pluto & Saturn’s planetary South Nodes, Jupiter, Ceres, the Sun and Mercury, gathering simultaneously for a strategic cosmic planning meeting of epic proportions.
Oh and hey, this mega huddle in the sky’s playing field is occurring right smack in the middle of eclipse season (~ Dec. 12, 2019 ~ Jan. 16th, 2020) – a time marked by uncertainty and instability, when the dials of fast-moving change are turned way up.
You can scroll down for more info on this Eclipse Season, or you can read your way through a personal update first…
Given this energetically heightened time, I thought I would come out of hibernation again to let you know I’m still here on Earth, in human form. And I would say I am doing really well, after a rather long period of not doing really well. Life can still be shitty, frequently (clearly I’m not alone in this experience!), but the internal baseline is way higher and it’s holding steady with a surprising buoyancy I’m still getting used to.
I’m finally seeing tangible, visible results from a few years of consistently working on improving my ability to regulate and shift my nervous system state, while also working toward increasing my ability to be fully present with distress and big emotions (which means less reliance on various numbing, coping strategies).
And this means I have much greater capacity to navigate the tough stuff in life, and greater capacity to support other people with their own challenges and life journeys now that I’m not as preoccupied with trying to manage my own previously intense triggers and emotions.
Furthermore, my relationship with shame (that deeply troublesome contagion seemingly embedded in the human condition and our societal context), has radically transformed. It’s still there of course, and likely will always be lurking for as long as I am a vulnerable human being wired for connection and belonging. But, I am no longer its prisoner.
My core observer-witnessing Self is stronger than its ever been through intentional development, and my understanding of the human psyche, human behavior, and healing processes has increased far more through my own personal work and study, than it ever did when I was formally training to be a health professional.
Honestly, I have felt like I have been spinning my wheels in sand for YEARS… since ~early 2016, feeling like I was going absolutely nowhere, and getting ZERO traction despite all the effort I was investing into pulling myself out of a really dark place. To finally see some external evidence that my extensive, yet invisible, inner work is paying off, is EXHILARATING.
To all of you who have also been investing into many weeks/months/years of intensive inner work, I see you! It can feel like such a labourious slow treacherous crawl at times, but fuck, it is so worth it – YOU ARE SO WORTH IT.
I have had my progressed moon in the 12th house for two-ish years now (a place of endings, disintegration, dissolving, quicksand, confusion, self-sabotage, invisibility, hiddenness, the subconscious, inner healing, retreat, withdrawal)… and it is nearing my Leo ascendant within a couple degrees, ready to emerge in early 2020.
In so many internal and external ways, I can feel life literally pulling me out of this cave.
YES.
FYI, for those of you experiencing this ~2.5 year transit, or supporting clients who are going through this 12th house progressed moon phase (somewhat akin to the progressed balsamic moon phase), I really appreciated Amy Herring’s chapter on this period of life, in her book “Astrology of the Moon“.
I reread it multiple times. It was very reassuring.
You can also check out astrologer Jessica Shepherd’s blog post on her experience with a progressed 12th house moon.
A personal update is not my only reason for writing a post, however. I wanted to provide some concrete dates and thematic contextualizing for you on a more individual, personal level (since a lot of 2020 forecasting is focused on the global situation).
You can find these details below…
Some of What We May Experience this Eclipse Season…
- A final ending, a major shift, a significant transition, a huge change, a pivotal decision. Intense pressure to transform.
- “No longer doing it the way we’ve always done it”… “enough is enough”… “no more sitting on the fence”… “time to commit”… “ready or not, the time is now”… “time to move on it”… “a break with tradition”… “a turning point”… “a tipping point”…
- Discerning when to yield, and when to continuing pushing and persevering.
- Grief. Allowing ourselves to meet all the unexpressed, desperate, ravenous grief within.
- Feeling the call to align with what is most important (our priorities and values) and finally taking direct, determined action.
- Learning to become responsible wise stewards of our time, money, resources, energy, power, privilege, land, homes, skills, experience, wisdom… our bodies, our health, the earth.
- Addressing health issues that can no longer be ignored… related to our bones, joints, teeth, hair, skin, breasts, chest, stomach, and compulsive/addictive behaviors.
- Addressing work addiction, the cost of overworking, the cost of chronic stress, the cost of pushing ourselves too hard. Ending dutiful imprisonment to heavy obligations and expectations… encountering our physical, emotional, spiritual and material limitations – and being forced to REST and RECOVER.
- A climatic apex moment in a longstanding struggle you may have had with regulations, contracts, policies, laws, legal systems, police, schools, universities, regulatory bodies, professional licenses, special designations & titles, insurance companies, healthcare, governmental departments, authority figures, bosses, ownership issues, business structures, religion, traditions.
- Dismantling or completely restructuring (or purging/ pruning/ purifying) possessions, projects, career dreams, businesses, relationships… particular areas of life where we have invested substantially (with our time, money, energy, sacrifices, resources) – in order to make room for new growth.
- Secrets and hidden information with deep historical, structural, or family-based roots or implications, being excavated and revealed.
- A reckoning, being held accountable, or holding someone else accountable for their actions (weighty challenges, consequences and outcomes).
- Individually stepping into our authority with well-earned wisdom gained through experience, with skill, humbleness, integrity, and ethics – trusting that we are ready. And/Or having our sense of authority and competency challenged. And/Or stepping down or releasing authority positions and supervisory roles.
- Strategically taking the time to build a thorough and solid new foundation. Putting down roots. External indications of major commitments via tangible big material investments, plans and contracts. Prepping for the LONG-GAME.
- Navigating complex boundary situations and ethical, moral dilemmas that take us outside the binary good-bad rule book, into unfamiliar territory that requires the operation of our personal internal moral compass.
- Difficult issues related to the care and support of elders, mentors, teachers, grandparents, parents, older adults… and the preservation and passing on of their wisdom and histories.
- Through the experience of hardship and difficulty, finding an inner strength, resilience and a supportive community we didn’t realize we had.
The archetypal narrative and energetic dynamic of the January 12th, 2020 conjunction of Saturn & Pluto, is not “new” per se – you’ve been likely feeling it acutely throughout all of 2019, and probably throughout 2018 as well (Saturn joined Pluto in Capricorn in December 2017).
So if you’re thinking, “but I’ve been experiencing the themes listed above for the past year…”, I’m sure you have been. But now its volume is on full blast.
“The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. In northern and central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. They argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible- and pamphlet-reading pastors and princes. The disruption triggered wars, persecutions and the so-called Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s delayed but forceful response to the Protestants.“
History.com editors
*A quick scan of news articles (Brexit and the UK situation for example, along with the environmental movement, among many others), indicates that there are similar types of global upheaval underway, that are reshaping the world we were born into.
Schedule of Key Cosmic Events Relevant to this Eclipse Season:
November 11, 2019: The beginning of another 4-month long Mercury cycle launches as Mercury rx conjoins with the Sun in an interior conjunction @ 18° Scorpio (retrograde from Oct. 31st – Nov. 20th). This is the preface to Eclipse Season themes.
December 2nd, 2019: Jupiter leaves Sagittarius for Capricorn (for ~12 months).
December ~11th – 13th, 2019: The Eclipse Portals open & relational Venus collides into a challenging Saturn-Pluto sandwich, activating the larger Saturn-Pluto story.
December 22nd, 2019: The Solstice (the Sun enters Capricorn).
December 26th, 2019: SOLAR ECLIPSE @ 4° CAPRICORN (conjunct Jupiter, South Node, trine Uranus rx in Taurus, square Chiron in Aries). Over-the-top wild or overwhelming, with serious undertones. Releasing the past.
December 27th, 30th, 2019: Jupiter is reborn via a conjunction with the Sun @ 5° Cap, & the Sun conjoins the South Node @ 8° Capricorn.
January 8th, 2020: Jupiter perfects its conjunction to the South Node @ 8°. Steady expansion & growth with hope, through release & letting go.
January 10th, 2020: Uranus Stations Direct @ 2° Taurus. The somewhat shocking planet of radical liberation & individuation, lurches forward.
January 10th, 2020: Mercury reaches the midpoint of its 4-month cycle at the heart of the Sun in an exterior conjunction @ 19° Capricorn, simultaneous with a LUNAR ECLIPSE @ 20° Cancer -> What challenges & obstacles do you need to address in order to nurture & ensure the sustained growth of the Mercurial seeds planted around Nov. 11th, 2019?
January 12th – 13th, 2020: Saturn + Pluto + Ceres + Mercury + Sun meet @ 22° Capricorn! WOWZA. Heavy. Significant. A Pivotal Moment.
January ~16th, 2020: The Eclipse Season portal begins to close, with the New Moon @ 4° Aquarius on January 24th, 2020, clicking it shut.
Am I apprehensive as we round the 2020 corner?
Somewhat, yes. It’s a massively heavy and significant eclipse season, Saturn-Pluto transit, and… upcoming year (all of 2020 is jam-packed with major cosmic shifts).
Certainly massive “endings” and “letting go” has been, and will be, a central theme throughout 2019/2020.
I mean, Saturn is often depicted as the grim reaper and Pluto is, well, Hades, lord of the underworld.
And the two of them are meeting in Capricorn, the sign that is associated with human mortality and all the limitations and challenges that come with physical incarnation into a time/space impermanent world of existence.
But just like a new moon phase, when two slow-moving outer planets like Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter, come together and unite, the previous cycle completes, while at the same time, the next one begins.
What you plant under these solemn, serious skies – if deeply aligned with your authentic nature, your values and priorities, and nurtured with integrity – will have STAYING POWER.
So plant well. Plant wisely.
What type of legacy do you want to build?
