It was well said, A te & a scientia.
William Lilly
*the following information is partially drawn from Bernadette Brady’s book, Predictive Astrology.
Eclipses are not stand-alone events, they are part of a family of eclipses that carries a thread of meaning through time. The timeframe of an eclipse cycle is around one thousand years. Bernadette Brady notes that if the events surrounding the occurrence of an eclipse appear random, disjunct, unrelated to the events of the eclipse that happens closest to it, we ought to take a step back and look at the bigger picture . The cycle of eclipses, called Saros series, are centuries long, and our lives occupy only several deca-moments within this series, so we look to the astrological system to indicate the existence and location of the thread of meaning.
The families of eclipses were first discovered by the Babylonians, and by the 4th century B.C., the Babylonians recognized that the eclipses occurred as part of a series. The series was named Saros (meaning repetition, or to be repeated) by the Greek lexicographer Suidas in the 10th century A.D.
Each Saros series has a birth chart. Like a birth chart belonging to a person, each series has a set of characteristics associated with it, as described in configurations in the chart. Saros series eclipses happen in intervals of 18 years, transiting the chart and producing effects that are linked within a family of eclipses happening over a period of centuries.
The upcoming solar eclipse is happening at 29 degrees Pisces. This is the last degree of Pisces, which is the last sign of the zodiac. The next day is the first day of spring, as we calculate and celebrate it in the tropical zodiac. Four days prior, on March 16 2015, we have the final square between Uranus and Pluto in the cardinal signs of Aries and Capricorn. This is the last square in a series of 7, spanning from 2012 -2015, but providing the pulsing background bassline to our lives for a couple of years before 2012, and for some years after 2015, as we process all that has come to pass, acclimate ourselves, and decide what we will make of our new environment.
That such a fantastic number of important celestial events is happening in such condensed time frame is spectacular. This astrologer looks at these events twice and three times, in reverence at such a sophisticated system and in attempt to discern meaning. As a corollary thought, the word “respect” etymologically means “to look again”. What I am actively doing is imagining myself in Babylonian garb, looking at great pieces of paper spread across grand marble worktables, sunshine splaying brightly across the papers, the same sunshine that will soon be eclipsed in a few days time, linking meaning, figuring out what is happening. Comparing the charts of kingdoms with the charts of kings, seeing story lines and communicating them responsibly. This is thrilling work.
‘to tell which of the gods come into line with another at their conjunctions, and which in opposition…and at what periods of time they are severally hidden from our view and again appearing send panic fears and omens of the future to the men who are unable to calculate.
Plato‘Men who are unable to calculate’… the term mathematicii was to be come synonymous with ‘astrologers’. The direct experience of celestial omens in ‘panic fears’ becomes transformed into the ordered vision of the heavens in mathematical and geometrical models.
Geoffrey Cornelius, The Moment of Astrology
The description Bernadette Brady offers on the family of eclipses the March 20 eclipse belongs to, based on the birth chart of that series, is the following.
Saros Series 17 South:
Sudden success in group projects or personal relationship matters. Happiness in love, thinking of love matters, good news concerning relationship or creative expression within a group
Take note if you or those close to you have planets at 29 degrees of mutable signs. Planets at 29 degrees of Pisces and Virgo will be receiving direct and potent aspects by conjunction and opposition respectively, from the eclipse. Luminaries, the Sun or Moon, at these points should be closely watched. If you are receiving this eclipse by conjunction, opposition, or even square, it’s worth paying close attention.
If this eclipse aspects your natal points I would appreciate if you would contact me in the coming weeks, with any effects you experience which you believe are associated with the eclipse. You can reach me here.
Remember that solar eclipses tend to produce more external effects than lunar eclipses, which are more internal and emotional. A solar eclipse is more likely to bring an unexpected event from outside a person, while a lunar eclipse would effect contemplation and reflection, which might lead a person to initiate outer events.
Take good care out there, keep your wits about you, and get excited, because these are truly exciting times. What we do and how we are is of great consequence, even though it may be that we are droplets in the cosmic ocean.
Much Love,
Ichrak
