There is so much going on in the skies, pointing us into the direction of a deeper understanding of where we are in our life, helping to gain more clarity and a higher level of consciousness.

Solar Eclipses Speak to our Soul!
With the Solar Eclipse right in front of our eyes, we do know something auspicious is going on and we might feel touched by the magnificence of the universe and its mysterious ways of working. I live on Maui and when I look up at the night sky I can actually see the stars. I love doing that! I also have a good friend who loves to travel with her husband to Solar Eclipses around the world; he actually proposed to her on one of their first trips! So what is going on with Solar Eclipses? Why is it obviously touching our soul and spirit? What is actually happening when a Solar Eclipse happens?

Total Solar Eclipse
When the Sun is covered up by the Moon we will experience total darkness! I remember watching my first Solar Eclipse as a small child and feeling pretty unsettled by the darkness in the middle of the day. I am sure Solar Eclipses have been watched with dread throughout the ages. After all the Sun was perceived as the bringer of light and life on our planet earth and was known in its significance and its impact onto our lives here.

The light of the Sun as source of our consciousness being gone would have been taken as a bad omen. But then how wonderful when the Sun reemerges, distributing the life giving force! And with it a new cycle of understanding and expansion of consciousness and life!

Today we know all about the reasons for eclipses happening and we know exactly where and when we will be able to see it. Still it has not taken away much from the mystery of it and the sense of something significant happening.

A Lunar and a Solar Eclipse in Opposing Signs this Month
Eclipses are very potent Full and New Moons! They are said to bring the shadow side of the opposing and the sign it is in to the foreground of our consciousness. With the Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn on July 7th and the Solar Eclipse in Cancer on July 21/22 we will for sure have a chance to look deeper into that shadow but into the wonderful possibilities of integration as well.

We could say that this ax of Cancer and Capricorn could expose immaturity, denial, martyrdom and self-indulgence for Cancer or dominance, control, giving away our power to authority out there and not taking on responsibility for our own life for Capricorn.

Cancer is seen as the most feminine water sign symbolizing the divine mother, live giving and life affirming. Capricorn is seen as the fatherly guiding principle of authority. We are living in a time where prejudice based on sex or skin color is loosing its dominance, and what an exciting time it is to live in!

Balancing the Male and the Female in Us
We all have a male and a feminine side in us! In astrology the Sun and Mars is symbolizing the inner man and Moon and Venus the inner woman. When we have a solar eclipse the Moon is merging with the Sun, the male with the feminine and for a moment there is oneness and balance of the two. This can inspire us to strive for that balance in our own life more consciously and successfully.

The Aquarian Age
In the bigger picture we are moving into the Aquarian Age, a 26, 000-year cycle which introduces an era of equality and collaboration instead of the ego driven old paradigm of the survival of the fittest. We are on the cusp of tremendous changes in our state of consciousness and how we perceive ourselves in the world. The year 2012 seems to be a turning point and spiritual doorway into a changed perception of unity and oneness consciousness. The Mayan calendar is ending in 2012 and with it there is the potential for a paradigm shift into something truly new.

New Moon
The New Moon always is a time of new beginnings by cleaning the plate of the old and outlived. It is a time to reorient and check in with our deepest soul intentions. We also have two New Moons in Cancer this year, one was in the beginning of Cancer, at the end of June and one is at the very end of the sign in July. Also this New Moon has a quincunx to Pluto; the agent of transformation, death and rebirth.

What Does it Really Mean for You?
Wherever the New Moon is falling into your chart that is an area in your life you want to pay attention to!

Which house is it in? For example if it is in the second house, which is representing our finances and property, the material world we live in; you might want to be aware of how you nourish yourself in a very concrete way. What are your plans for later in life when you retire? Do you spend more money then you earn? Are you dealing with your credit card debt? Are you taking charge of your financial status? Or do you blame the economical situation and the government and victimize yourself? If you blame somebody else you don’t perceive yourself as able to change anything; therefore blame is always disempowering!

How many people have thrived in times of economical downturns? Are you looking at the glass half empty or half full? Do you take responsibility for your life or not? Are you aware that wherever you are in your life is the result of the thoughts, beliefs, values, habits and actions of your past? If you truly understand and accept that, you have the key for changing your future!

Second Jupiter Conjunction with Chiron is still close to Neptune
Within twelve hours of the eclipse Jupiter is having its second close encounter with Chiron. The third and last one will be on December 7th.

I have commented on the powerful threesome before and how their energy carries great potential and explosive expansion for growth. You might want to read more

Because Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron are very slow moving celestial bodies we will have some time to integrate these principles and make it work for us. Between March 2009 and February 2010 these three planets will remain within 10 degrees of each other.

Venus Squaring Saturn
Six hours before the Solar Eclipse Venus will have an exact square with Saturn. As the second feminine archetype in action, Venus is encouraging new ways to relate between the sexes for the men from Mars and the women from Venus. Saturn stirs us up when in contact with personal planets and as a result of that brings light into old rigid structures, therefore laying the ground for change.

Resume
This is a good time we are living in! All the inner desires of humankind for survival, safety, equality, freedom and love are culminating in the potentiality of the present time. Astrology as a tool to interpret time quality versus time quantity is of great help to recognize the quality of the seed of every given moment and what might evolve out of it.

If we know this specific seed is creating a tomato plant, we will treat it as such with just the right amount of water, nutrients, shade and sun to help it grow. The same applies to the potential of any given moment and starting point of anything new. If we know the time quality described by astrology we will be able to help it along into its highest expression.

And your personal expansion into a higher level of consciousness is influencing everybody around you and is contributing to the collective consciousness. But it is also helping you tremendously in your personal alignment with the universal forces, which deepens your sense of balance and joy in the moment! Your conscious alignment with the universal forces in that present moment is all you can do. Remember life is a process and a mystery to be lived and not a problem to be solved!

If you enjoyed my ramblings about life and astrology, you can visit me at my Astrological Signs Weather Report & Healing Gems Blog where I discuss the actual universal, astrological forces and inspire you to use them wisely for a successful and joyful life. Healing gemstones are suggested as tools to balance and come into alignment with the cosmic flow and of course can be used to create custom designed soul jewelry as well.

Aloha and many blessings, Shakti.

Shakti Carola Navran: astrologer, jeweler and author