We all know the myths associated with a full moon: witches, werewolves and night creatures on the prowl.

But there are few myths associated with a lunar eclipse (three, in fact)—and those few talk about the moon being “swallowed” for a time before re-emerging again.

What if we were to think of an eclipse not as an event in which one celestial body blocks another, but, rather, a point of connection in which an opportunity for expansion and syntheses is being provided?

During an eclipse, from our point of view on Earth, these celestial bodies are coming into alignment at the time at which an eclipse occurs—hence, the shadow that is seen. But, what we know of alignment in our daily life is that we sometimes work hard to try and make this happen.

In the dualistic world in which we live, an eclipse is the perfect time to instead allow balance to naturally occur as related to those qualities represented by the planets and signs; ego and spirit, mind and body.

Psychologist Carl Jung identified everything lurking in the shadow of the psyche as the surest path to connect with the divine, when revealed. After all, what better way to become close to spirit than to experience the process of making what is unconscious conscious?

If we think of the sun as our rational, logical, egoic mind, and the moon as our emotional and intuitive sensibilities, then an eclipse, like this, is an opportunity to participate in the cosmic dance and allow an alignment of our own duality to occur.

What is it that already shines in the light (consciousness)? What can we learn from revealing what’s in the darkness (unconsciousness)?

The two eclipses preceding the one that will occur during the full moon this Friday, May 24, were in Scorpio and Taurus. Ancient peoples believed that Taurus was connected to the light and Scorpio to the darkness because the Pleiades constellation rose in Taurus and set in Scorpio in the night sky. The Taurus-Scorpio axis then became associated with the process of integration of light and dark, consciousness and unconsciousness, rebirth and death.

This particular eclipse on Friday occurs within the sign of Sagittarius—in natural procession after the Scorpio-Taurus events. Ruled by Jupiter, the largest planet in the Milky Way galaxy, it’s fitting that everything related to Sagittarius happens in a big way.

After all the hard work that Scorpio and Taurus have done—revealing what wasn’t working, providing insights into why, gleaning spiritual and philosophical meanings and maybe even waxing poetic—Sagittarius will now swoop in to sweep away the pieces of what was left behind by Taurus, and expand into the newly cleared space that Scorpio has created with certitude.

Whatever changes Scorpio and Taurus have initiated, Sagittarius will happily do its best to move those changes forward without giving the past another thought.

Don’t be surprised if revelatory insights seem to come out of nowhere. The adage “out with the old, in with the new” may be an understatement now.

Insight and integration of the light and shadow can be assured—as long as we allow it to happen.

Kelly Lydick is a writer, intuitive and certified Gateway Dreaming™ Coach. She received her B.A. in Writing and Literature from Burlington College, Vermont, and her M.A. in Writing and Consciousness from the New College of California, San Francisco (now at CIIS). Her work has appeared in Java, Santa Fean, and True Blue Spirit magazines, as well as in Gently Read Literature, Switched-on Gutenberg, Mission At Tenth and Thema, among others. She is the author of the experimental work, Mastering the Dream (Second Story Books, CA), and she teaches creative writing and metaphysical workshops throughout the United States. Visit Kelly at her at website.

 

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• Asst. Ed: Amy Cushing
• Ed: Brianna Bemel