CANCER/LEO SOLAR FESTIVALS 2009
THE THREE ECLIPSES
7 JUL, 22 JUL, 6 AUG 2009
by Malvin Artley
Hi Everyone!
How does one climb to the top of a mountain? The obvious and annoying
answer is ‘one step at a time’. However, there are many answers to the
question and procedures for the same. The Vajrayanist would say,
‘Envision yourself at the mountain top, act as if and you will achieve
all’ (It’s one of my personal favorites and never fails to get a roll
of the eyes and a groan from the listener.) The Zen Buddhist would say
‘Become the mountain. By doing nothing, all is achieved.’ The American
would say, ‘Hire a helicopter and let that puppy plant you
there!’ (Another favorite, but not always affordable or practical.)
Most people would say ‘Why bother? Let’s watch it on the tellie
to night, love.’ A true mountain trekker would hire all the gear, go
into training for a month or so and meet the mountain head-on at the
appointed time, reveling in the challenge and the beauty of it all. A
person in the third world who lived in the area would simply shrug
their shoulders, smile at all the silly westerners and be like the
Nike ad and ‘just do it’. If a horse was available they would be
sensible and ride up. Common sense is a marvel to the mind of fantasy.
I recently partook in a climb up a mountain. I was with a tour group
and the question was asked, “How far up is this place we are going?”
“Oh, it’s just a short little walk”, we were told. 3 ½ hours later I
arrived, but the trek up was the interesting part. If you have ever
tried to do anything the least bit physically challenging at high
altitude one soon finds that a thing as simple as breathing can be a
bit daunting, especially if you are climbing and you look forward on
the path, only to see a seemingly endless track in front of you. That
helicopter starts to sound mighty appealing at about that point. What
you find after a while, though, is that you have to slow right down,
take measured and even steps and find a rhythm that works for you
without passing out from lack of oxygen. Our group soon resembled a
bunch of winos on a long march in the way we were walking, some
co mplaining the whole way up, others resolute, while still others were
chatting away (which is one thing you are not supposed to do in those
instances), happy as Larry, as we say here. The latter are the ones
everyone loves to hate on treks like that.
I found that I had to set a rhythm between my heart, my legs and my
breathing and I recited endless mantras in my head while I did it. It
helped me to keep the rhythm and I felt that it sort of cleared a
mental path for me. Maybe that was just the altitude, but anything
that works – well, hey. I wasn’t going to argue the point with myself.
I made real headway. Then after a while I had the realization come
over me that the same procedure could and should be used for any sort
of trying situation – physical or otherwise. One of my teacher’s words
came to mind: Make certain you own needs are met first, otherwise you
have nothing to give to anyone else. Nothing like a bit of stress or
adversity to drive the point home. I thought back to other stressful
situations and thought of how my little task could have been useful in
those times. Basically, what is needed in times of stress is to pull
one’s head in, cut back on any extraneous activity (such as
ceaselessly talking about how good this mountain-climbing was for us,
how this was supposed to be hard and how purification is good for the
soul) and chiseling away at the task at hand until the goal is reached
or the stress factor has passed. As is often stated in occultism,
“Plodding is ever-desirable.” And plod we did. We eventually got
there, though. It was worth the trek at day’s end, although that
helicopter option might not be such a bad idea in the future.
The preceding is part of the reason I did not send out a Cancer
Festival letter this year. I was overseas on ‘family business’ – an
obvious Cancerian theme – except that I simply didn’t bother to fill
in the gaps for people about which ‘family’ the business involved. I
needed to be in a private head-space, although when I got back to
‘civilization’ I found out the reason for my trip away was common
knowledge. It matters little. I had the chance to go and I needed to
take it, even though times are a bit lean with the economic situation.
I had some things I needed to research, and my expectations were met
beyond my fondest dreams. My research will be coming out in my
writings over the next few years, but for now I need to fill in a few
gaps about Cancer and Leo and the three eclipses we are experiencing
at the moment, two of which have already passed.
The themes pertinent to Cancer this year as I see them relate
precisely to ‘family business’ – one’s inner or spiritual family. This
inner group (or ashram as it is sometimes called)=2 0can be either small
or quite extended in some cases, and there are few of us who realize
the full extent of it. What is important to realize here is that there
are relationships on the inner side of life that are often more
meaningful to us that our outer contacts. Cancer is a curious sign.
Most people associate it with family, nurturing, women in general and
motherhood. However, it is the sign that rules mass consciousness –
instinctual consciousness, if you will – and as such, it conveys an
energy that tends to bring disparate factors or people together into
union. It is the first ‘group’ sign that we encounter in our journey
around the horoscope wheel. It was the sign under which the first
human beings of Earth took incarnation many millions of years ago.
Cancer conveys the ‘Light Within the Form’, which is said to be the
dark light of matter, awaiting the stimulation of the Soul. This ‘dark
light of matter’ does not pertain to the ‘dark matter’ of current
science. Rather, it is the light which all material substance gives
off (latent energy or latent heat), and this becomes especially
magnified when matter is brought together into groups or aggregates of
form. Cancer is the sign that governs gestation and eventual birth and
thus has a rulership over the binding together of the aggregates or
bodies of a person (the bodies of the lower self: physical, astral/
emotion al and mental). It governed infant humanity when the aggregates
or bodies as we now know them were integrated under the impress of the
higher nature – Soul, higher Self, what have you. Cancer is a sign
that governs integration of a kind, leading to the ability to function
as an individual in the world. That is one of the primary purposes of
family life, to enable the child to be integrated into society at
large. The family is where we first learn to relate to others. Carried
on to a higher turn of the spiral, as esotericists are fond of saying,
the same could be said of the disciple in the ashram. The ashram is
the training ground that enables and empowers the disciple to function
eventually in full spiritual capacity and community. The family and
the ashram both provide stability, care, nurturing and training in the
larger responsibilities of life, mundane and spiritual. Thus, in the
past I have termed the Cancer Festival the ‘Festival of the Ashram’.
This year the Cancer Festival took place at an eclipse. At this
juncture we will consider the two eclipses that took place in the sign
Cancer and then move on to the discussion of the next solar festival,
the Festival of Sirius (Leo). This is an unusual period in that we
will have a total of three eclipses, whereas normally we have two at a
time, twice a year for a total of four a year. The first eclipse took
place at 7:38 PM AEST (9:38 AM UT) on the 7th of July 2009. This
eclipse was a North Node lunar appulse eclipse. Appulse means that the
moon is not actually eclipsed by the earth, but it does pass through
the Earth’s penumbra, meaning its light will be slightly dimmed. It is
still classed as an eclipse, though, even though we will not see the
Earth’s shadow on the Moon. The eclipse of 6th of August this year is
also a lunar appulse eclipse, and also conjunct the North Node.
The second eclipse took place at 12:35 PM AEST (2:35 AM UT) on the
22nd of July 2009. This one was a total solar eclipse with a South
Node emphasis, thus highlighting finalizations, leading to a new cycle
of life in some area, depending on what it contacts in one’s chart,
whereas the two lunar eclipses are indicative of emotional expansion
and new relationships. The third eclipse takes place at 10:39 AM AEST
(00:39 UT) on the 6th of August 2009. As stated, it is an appulse
lunar eclipse with a North Node emphasis and it marks the full moon of
the Leo Solar Festival, which I call the ‘Festival of the Disciple’.
That solar festival has also been called the Festival of Sirius.
This trio of eclipses are all of the 11 South modified Saros series
(no. 136 of the standard Saros). They are about sudden change,
sometimes violent or tragic. The inaugural eclipse for that series
took place on an Aries point (0 Cancer) in 1360 and it ushered in a
period of instability in Asia, starting with the collapse of the Blue
Horde (one of the Mongol empires) in 1361, resulting in a period of
civil war in what is now east-central Russia. Its activation also
instigated one of the largest naval battles in history (almost one
million men) in China in the last years of the Yuan Dynasty on Lake
Poyang in 1363. In fact, the 22 July eclipse passed over Lake Poyang.
It was said to be the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st Century,
not to be surpassed again until June 2132. The period of the eclipse
that began the series in the early 1360s also saw another instance of
the Black Plague in Europe and the French invasion of southern
England. There was not much in the way of good news in the world at
that time.
In recent times the 11 South series of eclipses has brought similar
sorts of energies. With the 11 South eclipse in 1901 the NYSE had its
first crash, there were racial tensions in the US South with the Mars
activation, as well as the coal strike of 1902, the end of the Boer
War, the establishment of the High Court in Australia, and the
beginning of work on the Panama Canal, so there were some good changes
to be had along with tensions with that eclipse. The eclipse of 1919
in this series was different, though. The first activation saw the
eruption of Volcano Kelut in Java, which killed 16, 000, but also saw
the confirmation of Einstein’s theory of general r elativity, which
revolutionized the science of the day. The next activation was the
Wall Street Bombing of 1920, killing 38. Subsequent activations saw
violent riots in Cairo and Alexandria, a major geomagnetic storm, the
arresting of Mohandas Gandhi for sedition, the independence of Egypt
from England, the founding of the Turkish council by Ataturk, the
sinking of British submarine L-34 and the first purges by Stalin. The
June 11 South eclipse of 1937 was violent, too, seeing the bombing of
Alicante, Spain, The Czech mobilization against Germany, the
recognition of Franco’s government, a night club fire in Mississippi,
the invasion of France, the Battle of Tobruk, the first rumors of the
coming attack on Pearl Harbor and the fall of the Bataan Peninsula and
the ensuing death march.
There was not much in the 1955 11 South eclipse, even with the Saturn
activation of 1958. Hence, such eclipses do not always bring bad news.
With the 11 South eclipse of 1973 we saw the beginning of impeachment
proceedings against Nixon, the death of Juan Peron (Saturn
activation), the murder of Martin Luther King’s mother in church, the
Weather Underground bombing of the US State Department, the Haicheng
quake in China, killing 2,041, the control of the Khmer Rouge over
Cambodia, the Tiananmen Incident in China, and an explosion in an
ammunition factory in Finland. With the 1991 11 South eclipse we saw
the founding of the European Union and the de-targe ting of the US by
Russian nuclear warheads, but those were the good points. There was a
long transit if Neptune, followed by Uranus over that eclipse from
February through the first half of the year, which was the crisis in
the Balkans that led to the Bosnian Conflict. There were also large
explosions and earthquakes, violence in Bombay, but also the removal
of trade barriers in Europe. All through with this series of eclipses
there have been wars and disasters, but there have also been reforms
and new orders instituted.
So, in all, what do we have for the Cancer eclipses of this group this
year? Eclipses at full moons are always lunar eclipses, whereas solar
eclipses take place at new moons. For general information and for the
more esoteric meaning of eclipses, an eclipse is either a conjunction
or opposition of the Sun and Moon at the Moon’s nodes. Thus, we have
three factors at play: the Sun, representing the life force, the
psyche and the ‘present problem’ (what is being worked out this life);
the Moon, representing the past, inherited abilities and liabilities,
what is being moved beyond, one’s emotional needs and; the Nodes,
representing one’s instinctual nature and drives. Eclipses, then
indicate changes of direction (Nodes) the highlighting of specific
emotional needs and the calling forth or waning of certain inherited
traits (Moon), and the integration of greater faculty into one’s
psyche, often a s the result of an event that will bring change and/or
crisis, often both (Sun). Eclipses will affect us if the eclipse point
is on or opposite a planet or angle in the chart, and activations take
place when planets transits over or opposite those points. Eclipse
points generally stay active for several years, thus they can be
activated many times. An ‘activation’ results in the precipitation of
an event. Eclipses bring about change and life-changing events, often
in a way that ordinary planetary transits or progressions will not.
Eclipses often indicate major turning points in one’s life. An
indication of what is to come can often be sensed at the time of the
eclipse, but the actual events presaged by them are not realized until
the activation by planetary transit occurs.
The first eclipse at 16 Capricorn will be activated by Mars at the two
weeks at mid-September this year. The next Mars activation after that
is not until the end of 2010. It had the following Sabian symbols
associated with it:
“A man studying a mandala in front of him, with the help of a very
ancient book.” Sun, 16 Cancer
“School grounds filled with boys and girls in gym suits.” Moon, 16
Capricorn
In terms of the solar festival, the degree of the Sun holds sway.
However, for the effect of the eclipse, the degree of the Moon is the
one of import. The meaning for the solar festival is clear. A mandala is not the easiest thing in the world to define. Without taking too
much space to do so, a mandala is the representation of the Pure Land
of a Buddha, or fully realized being. Some sources call mandalas a
representation of the cosmos or universe, but that is not wholly true.
A mandala is the environment of a deity (Yidam) with all the features
and beings being found therein. What this symbol actually refers to, I
would venture to say, is a Vajrayana practitioner in the early stages
(generation stage) of practice learning to visualize what will
eventually become his or her eventual spiritual ‘home’ or Pure Land,
which he or she will create over many years, perhaps centuries, of
time. In the end, the mandala of one’s practice ceases to be an
ideation. It literally becomes one’s abode and environment after one
achieves full enlightenment. The ‘man studying’ could be said to be
the disciple in training in the ashram, the mandala his or her
eventual ‘mountain top’ of realized consciousness, and the ancient
book is the ‘user’s manual’, if you will – the scriptural instructions
for attainment. Visualize the mountain top, then act ‘as if’.
The degree for the eclipse holds the key to the method of attaining
the solar degree, metaphorically speaking. ‘School grounds filled with
boys and girls in gym suits’ can be seen as a simile of disciples
involv ed in common spiritual practice. We would normally see such a
united sort of practice in a monastic setting, but it does not
necessarily have to be so. The emphasis here is on organized play,
physical training and exertion and common goals. Without the effort,
there is no attainment. Without group effort, progress is much slower
and we lack the training that ‘social interaction’ can bring. There is
no gender bias in the symbol, either. All are equal under the Sun. One
symbol emphasizes study, whereas the other emphasizes application and
play. The two must go hand-in-hand for any sort of real or lasting
attainment in life.
In the eclipse/full moon figure we find the full moon axis as an ‘easy
opposition’ with Saturn trine the Moon. This will be a good eclipse
for bringing things into being and establishing new relationships.
Venus was still conjunct Mars, though departing, which adds to the
relationship emphasis, although Mars was square to the Jupiter/Neptune/
Chiron conjunction, giving an air of caution about getting too excited
about the possibilities presented. The square by Mars also warns
against jumping the gun and not considering consequences before
acting. It is a ‘gambler’s aspect’ and carries a high enthusiasm with
it, but that can work for good or ill. It is simply a signal that in
anything new one should proceed with caution and consider all aspects
before committing to anything that arises with the eclipse activation
in September or the ones thereafter over the next few years.
The second eclipse (the solar eclipse on the 22nd) was felt quite
strongly at the time and in the days that followed. This is the one to
watch in terms of world events, and it will receive its first
activation by Mars in mid-October this year, so we do not have long to
wait. I was in China at the time of the eclipse and was very fortunate
to have been able to see it. The days that followed confirmed my
suspicions of things to come. I was able to see the effects. It was a
destabilizing eclipse and brought about some sudden events. We had a
bus crash (minor – no one was hurt) and a thwarted would-be thief (a
local, not one of ours) later on that day. We were witness to
arguments and the like and the general mood was quite tense at times.
The new moon had the following Sabian symbol associated with it (since
the Sun and Moon were conjunct):
“A daughter of the American revolution.” 30 Cancer
In this distinctly American symbol we see a glorification of the past,
which is also quite a Cancerian trait. Dane Rudhyar put his
interpretation of the symbol quite fittingly: “Here we have…..the
ancestor who was perhaps a violent revolutionist or rabble-rouser – or
even a fugitive of justice – acquiring a halo of respectability. The
tradition that was once born of revolution now extols E2law and
order’.” This eclipse will bring those original tendencies to the
surface and perhaps (even hopefully) end the glorification of certain
aspects of our past. Patriotic sentiment can be a dangerous thing and
this is one eclipse that will tend to bring an end to or challenge
misguided sentiment or falsehood of any sort.
In the eclipse figure the Sun and Moon were linked to Pluto by
quincunx (making it very powerful and obsessive) and trine Uranus,
marking it as one very transformative eclipse. The four entities just
mentioned formed a mystic triangle (in itself a very transformative
configuration), with Uranus square to Pluto. In addition, Venus was in
a very tight square to Saturn, indicating strained emotions, feelings
of a lack of care, miscommunications, money woes and strained
relations between men and women. If this eclipse fell on planets or
angles in your chart, mid-October is the time to watch, as the first
activation of it will take place at that time by Mars. Being a South
Node eclipse, it will tend to bring schisms and endings, depending
upon the nature of the planet or angle involved.
The July 22nd eclipse will affect a few countries directly – the US
(Pluto), Afghanistan (Mercury), Cuba (Saturn – they may lose a
leader), North Korea (Venus – there is likely to be little love lost
on them if they continue to carry on), Palestine (Moon – I would watch
them and th e US in particular) and Britain (Jupiter – probable legal
matters). Eclipses to Pluto can be particularly troublesome in a
national chart because there is usually something lying under the
surface waiting to come out. In a country’s chart activation of an
eclipse on Pluto can indicate subterfuge and plots, as well as
financial instability. October is a month particularly loathed in the
US financial sector due to dips and crashes in the market in the past.
Saturn will activate the Sept 06 eclipse at 29 Virgo at the same time,
which brought a lot of violence with it in its own right. It will
affect the North Node of the NYSE and Iran’s Mercury. The Mars
activation of that eclipse in Aug 08 brought a fair amount of calamity
with it (a week on either side of 21 Aug 08), although the opposition
of Mars to that point in Apr 09 was of little note. We’ll see what
October this year brings, but I can tell you now it will likely be an
unsettling month.
Now, before moving on to the third eclipse, we need to have a brief
look at Leo for this year and see what stands out. In the scheme of
the zodiac one could say that what Cancer binds together, Leo brings
to a point of focus and utilizes. Leo, as most people who know
anything about astrology are aware, marks the apex of development for
the human ego. One needs a healthy sense of ego to be able to do any
sort of real work in the world, a s well as a developed sense of self-
discipline, which is also one of the hallmarks of the sign. A Leo type
true to their own nature is always one with a clearly defined sense of
purpose and their own self-worth and with a determination to make
their imprint on the world or environment around them. Leo is said to
be the most vital of all the signs and its nature thus is movement.
The Leo type must move or make progress in some direction. For the Leo
to do otherwise is to cut off themselves off from their very essence.
Leo thus moves outward into manifestation and produces great works
(there is nothing small about Leo) and all who come within their
influence will tend to be caught up in the wave of enthusiasm that is
so naturally Leonine.
I had a chance to observe this first-hand while I was away. Leo rules
the higher nature of Italy and half of our tour group was Italian.
(Leo also rules the higher nature of Rumania, too, as well as the
personas of France and Russia). The Italians in our group were always
the first up the hills, the first into the sites, the most expressive
of what was great about their culture (and it is a great culture) and
they had the best equipment. I say all this with a big smile and a
sense of humor, but it was interesting to watch. They were lovely
people, as was everyone in our group (and we Yanks and Australians
weren’t any too shabby, either. Had to throw that in, you know?), but
the urge to move outward, the urge to make an impression, to get
things done and to do things very well were all there in our Italian
friends as a cultural sort of emphasis. It is Leo in the Soul of the
Italian race that has given the world their great art, larger-than-
life civilization (Roman Empire), their giving nature and their huge
diaspora throughout the world. The Leo type is a natural disciple and
ruler. Leo must somehow manifest its gift. With that, let us have a
look at the Thursday eclipse.
The third eclipse has the following Sabian symbols associated with it:
“A human soul seeking opportunities for outward manifestation.” Sun,
14 Leo
“A train entering a tunnel.” Moon, 14 Aquarius
In the solar symbol we see exactly the themes of Leo just outlined.
This eclipse, being of the North Node, will tend toward opportunities
for manifestation. Its first activation will occur in mid-November
this year by Mars. It will be active in the charts of the NYSE
(Uranus), China (Mars and Pluto), Cuba (Jupiter), Egypt (Neptune),
France (Pluto), Iran (Asc), Iraq (Asc), Israel (Saturn), North Korea
(Pluto), Russia (Asc), Britain (Venus) and The Vatican (Mars). In all,
the period between now and the end of the year will be an active time
in world affairs.
The eclipse figure shows Jupiter as lord of the eclipse, marking it as
being expansive and beneficial. It is in a wide conjun ction with the
Moon in Aquarius. The full moon axis is in an easy opposition with
Mars, adding to the sense of enthusiasm and energy. Mars is in an
applying square to Saturn though, which will tend to frustrate things,
so we have a sort of push-pull effect in this figure – enthusiastic on
the one hand and frustrating on the other. It is a classic sort of
‘two steps forward, one step back’ sort of scenario. Much good can
come from the opportunities presented, but we have to be willing to
accept that there will be certain obstacles to overcome in the
process. Those obstacles are indicated in the lunar symbol of the
train entering the tunnel. We need to keep in mind that the tunnel
leads through the obstacle, and though it may be dark in the tunnel,
we will eventually come through on the other side. Again, what we are
being shown here is to exercise caution in what comes up for us, but
the opportunities are there and real and worth pursuing.
Travel has a way of changing a person. I certainly feel differently
about things since I have been back. I feel like an alien in a strange
world, as one of my tour companions put it – in the world but not so
much of it any more. That will change as the demands of life assert
themselves once again, but the memories of the trip will stay with me.
Besides, I have many hundreds of pictures which will stir memories,
imaginations and spark insights =E 2 and with which I can endlessly
‘entertain’ my friends! You will see some of those pictures in my
books and on my (eventual) web page. I’ll have to get that done one of
these days. Eventually, though, something needs to manifest from
within me around this trip. I can feel it brewing in there somewhere.
We’ll see what the eclipse activations bring. I’ll see what life
brings me and calls me to do in the months to come. For now, though,
it is back to work, to my friends and to life here in Oz.
May the eclipses and the energies of these two solar festivals bring
blessings and opportunities to you. We live in a very potent time,
spiritually considered. If you feel like life is like climbing a
mountain in high altitude, maybe smaller steps are the order of the
day. Perhaps a kindly porter will be sent with a horse. Maybe – just
maybe – some mad American will drop by with a helicopter (I’ll have to
try that some day.) I am not making light of things here, actually. We
don’t know what is going to happen, but I do know that we will not
likely have conditions for inner growth like these next few years
again for some time to come and we need to make the most of them. Yes,
the world makes demands and we have to fulfill our obligations, but
after that, what has real meaning to us? That is what we have to
answer for ourselves. What will we achieve? What will be our legacy?
What will we be remembered for as the ancestors to our future
generations? That is what is before us if we could but see it. The
tunnel on our path in life may seem dark, or it may not, but the
important thing to know is that we will come out on the other side,
still on track. The journey is ever-present and unfolds around us. The
destination is always assured. Our attitude about the trip is what is
important, not the little bumps along the way. I always liked journeys
by train.
Safe travels, my friends. May all blessings go before you.
Malvin.
3 Aug 2009
These letters are sent out as a gift and a service. If you feel so
inspired feel free to pass them on, but please do without charge or
alteration.