This year we have the opportunity to experience a Total Solar Eclipse that will be visible all across the United States. A Solar Eclipse occurs at the time of the new moon, when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. During a Total Solar Eclipse, the path of the moon serves to completely cover the sun and its tenuous atmosphere, called the corona.
Total Eclipses are not particularly rare as they occur approximately every 18 months. However since they often occur over the vast bodies of water on our planet, they are less frequently seen and experienced from land.
What makes this eclipse so special to those of us in the United States is that the Path of Totality will fall across the entire expanse of our country, crossing 14 states. This means that at certain vantage points from the west to the east coast the sun will be totally eclipsed, while the rest of the Northern America and parts of South America, Africa and Europe will experience a partial eclipse. The last time a total solar eclipse was visible across the entire contiguous United States was on June 8, 1918, and this is the first total eclipse to be visible from anywhere on the mainland U.S. since February 1979.
From an energetic perspective, an eclipse is a potent astrological event that initiates rapid change or transformation in one’s life and circumstances. In essence, it triggers an internal transformation that ultimately results in an external transformation within our lives. We can use the impact of an eclipse as a vehicle for exponential growth.
An eclipse may foretell meaningful events, a critical turning point, or potential challenges ahead. We may experience a change of heart or mind, or we might finally find the answer to a decision we have been contemplating for months. While we may be forced to face changes that are uncomfortable, our willingness to embrace change as an opportunity for transformation leads to our maturity. We have the power to influence the nature of these changes, shift the outcome of events, and overcome challenges through the conscious application of our positive intentions.
A Solar Eclipse represents a new moon with tremendous impact as it delivers an abundance of high vibrational energy which we may use to our advantage to manifest our highest goals and aspirations. It signifies new beginnings and asks us to demand more of ourselves in pursuit of our goals. The influence of Leo during this eclipse inspires us to open our hearts to love. We are galvanized to create what we are passionate about, to literally manifest our most heartfelt desires.
In astrology, the Sun is the planet that represents the outward expression of our personality. The Sun’s influence is demonstrated through the tangible ways we interact in the world. It highlights the personal significance of our goals and desires, and fuels our most outgoing and extroverted aspects of Self. In accordance, new beginnings put into motion at the time of a solar eclipse manifest as events in our outer, material world.
In the same way that the Sun brings illumination to our planet, a Solar Eclipse works to bring the future into the present in order to to trigger new potentials. While an Eclipse offers the opportunity to seed new potentials, it does not predict a specific event.
Each hour of a Solar Eclipse is said to deliver effects that last for one year. The duration of the Total Solar Eclipse on August 21st will depend on where you are and will last for somewhere between 2 hours 35 minutes, to 3 hours 3 minutes. The effects in your life may begin to unfold before or soon after the eclipse takes place, but their full implications may not be apparent for several years thereafter.
Photo Credits: Eclipse image from NASA, Andara Spiral during the onset of the 2017 Eclipse by Susan Bird