“I’m living in a powder keg and giving off sparks….” — “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
This year’s Winter Solstice promises to be an extra powerful one for setting your intentions for 2011, especially with the boost not only of a Full Moon but a Full Lunar Eclipse occurring 21 December 2010. This one will be visible in North America, too, the night before the Winter Solstice. Let’s take a look at a few details and then I’ll recommend for you my favorite Winter Solstice ritual, the Burning Bowl Ritual.
Good eclipse or bad eclipse?
Er…let’s say “powerful.” The last time we had an eclipse-Winter Solstice conjunction was 456 years ago, in 1554. The results can be good but this one’s going to bring in some big emotional shift for some people, particularly in the area of relationships. It’s time to look at what we’ve built or committed to that’s no longer working and shift with the rockiness that’s coming whether we like it or not–and this is a good time to use the Winter Solstice’s first degree of Capricorn to set our intentions for how this powerful eclipse will manifest in this next year. More on that below, but I find myself humming Jim Steinman’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
Time:
For the Eclipse, 21 December 2010 at 2:13 AM Central (here in NW Florida)
For the Solstice, 21 December 2010 at 5:38 PM Central
Eclipse Degree: 29 Gemini — The 29th degree is about culmination (just like that full moon). It’s a time where we tend to see a lot of heroes…and martyrs.
Hardest hit: Gemini and Sagittarius will be the hardest-hit signs, particularly those born at 25 Gemini to 5 Cancer, since this Eclipse is on the last degree. If you have a planet (or ascendant) near the 29 Gemini or 29 Sagittarius, you’ll feel it the strongest in the area that planet represents (Venus = romance, finances, creativity). Watch the first three days after the Eclipse closely–that’s often when big news or events take place and leave you shaken. Not hard this year, right before Christmas. Maybe that’s why some are referring to this as “The Christmas Eclipse.”
Recommended ritual: Rather than reiterating, I’ll just send you over to a previous article I wrote on the Burning Bowl ritual, “Better than New’ Year’s Resolutions–A Ritual that Really Works.” As you read it, keep in mind what you’d like to bring in for the next year and if you’ve been stuck or suffering for this past year(s) or feeling trapped, take the willing step to say goodbye to it…so that you’re flowing with this Winter Solstice’s Eclipse energy rather than against it.
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