Description
A few days ago, there was a full solar eclipse. Here in the UK, we got to experience roughly 90% of its fullnesss. It made for a beautiful occasion, with millions of people focused on the sun and moon, and our relationship with them.
This will be followed by a partial lunar eclipse on 27/28th. A solar eclipse always takes place on a new moon, lunar always on a full moon. The eclipse energy amplifies both.
The two week gap between eclipses is a special time. A time where much can be accomplished, understood, released. During this time, energy is very fluid. When the energy of the sun is momentarily blocked by the moon moving in front of it, it allows for a reset. Not just in the places along the path of the full eclipse but right across the planet. There is a blending of the sun and moons energy at this time, so a coming together of masculine and feminine polarities. Shadow work is always highlighted at eclipse moments. Eclipses are all about shadows.
During a lunar eclipse the shadow of the earth passes over the moon, temporarily blocking it from reflecting the suns light. The moon represents the feminine, intuition, emotion. Hidden aspects of our psyche rise to the surface, giving us the opportunity to explore what we have not seen, and integrate shadow aspects we might not have been able to get in touch with.
In the “in between phase”, it could be said that we are in a liminal place. Eclipses often reveal surprising details or aspects of our behaviour, belief systems, and the unconscious. All of this is being worked with during the two week period between the eclipses. It is a huge opportunity to go deep, and allow inner alchemy and transformation to take place.
I believe in times gone by, when our minds weren’t so scientifically, intellectually organised, we would have used this time to great effect. We would have worked with ritual, meditation, inner exploration and the direct energies of sun, moon and earth, to bring about growth, healing, resolution and integration.
Far from being feared, eclipses can be welcomed as cosmic reset points that flow from our relationship with the heavens and earth. They remind us of our place in the scheme of things and the beautifully orchestrated levels of support and encouragement given to us by our cosmic benefactors.
In this gathering, we are going to work with these levels of support to create a simple alchemical practice of gathering the energies available, and consciously inviting them to work with us. We are coming back to and remembering our connectedness and the inter-relationship of all things, that we are a part of creation. Working with these energies in this way will help us make the most of them.
Since I have been considering this work of the in-between time, Merlin has been very present, showing himself stirring a large circular trough of dark water. Both the sun and the moon are reflected in that trough. Sometimes the moon has bitten a chunk out of the sun, sometimes, Merlin ripples the water to mix the energies. We are being encouraged to activate our inner alchemist/magician.
This is, perhaps an aspect of shadow in all of us. It is not just about our woundedness and the unhealed parts still calling for attention, but the aspects we were forced to bury and hide. Our power, wisdom and magic can be a part of our shadow too. It’s time to bring that to awareness.
Merlin also reminds us that there is nothing to fear within ourselves if we approach the inner work with courage, determination and perseverance. It is work that has to be done, but there is magic in the doing.
So this work is about that. Accessing the magic that lies within.
