Your eclipse survival guide 2021

Eclipse Yourself! Out of the dark and into the light again with our handy eclipse survival guide

Who turned out the lights? Yes, that’s what happens in an eclipse. One minute things are as clear as day. Next – well, someone throws Harry Potter’s cloak over a key area in our lives and snatches away our Marauders Map.

There are two kinds of eclipses. Solar eclipses which always occur at the time of a new Moon where the Moon is between the Sun and the earth.

Of course, these are the eclipses that get the most attention as we all pile outdoors wearing funny glasses should we be in the eclipse path. Then there are the quieter, deeper lunar eclipses.

This is when the earth is between the Sun and the full Moon. So, the earth’s shadow is reflected by the Sun onto the Moon’s surface giving it that red appearance – known as a ‘blood moon’.That is what is physically happening in the sky of course. In astrological terms, it’s a bit different.

When eclipses occur, they also intersect with the lunar nodes – the North and South nodes we often talk about in astrology forecasts. These are karmic doors or triggers if you like. If these hit a sensitive part of your chart at the time of the eclipse, then you will be directly impacted by it. But obviously this will not apply at every eclipse!

Eclipse rules

Eclipse Rule #1: Eclipses always conceal something. We are ‘in the dark’ – literally. This is why astrologers tell you not to jump to conclusions nor make big decisions around the time of an eclipse. You probably don’t have all the facts to hand.

Eclipse Rule #2: Eclipses are neither good nor bad, but they are about beginnings and endings. New Moons represent the start of something. Full Moons a culmination. Think doors opening and closing. Because they are linked to fate and karma being tied to the Nodes we have the beginning and endings of cycles. But because something is hidden at the time, we may not yet see the emerging of the new, or fully realise one cycle is at an end – yet.

Eclipse Rule #3: Solar eclipses tend to impact our relationships. Lunar eclipses our emotional world. So, solar eclipses can usher in new relationships or see us seeking more from an existing one for instance. While a lunar eclipse can see us arriving at a point where we need to let go of something we have been hanging on to for far too long.

One example of this would be you may have broken up with someone some time ago but have held on to the faint hope a reconciliation is possible. This would have prevented you from finding someone new. A lunar eclipse hitting your chart could enable you to finally release the past and set you free to love again. Which is why eclipses can be powerful – but not necessarily negative.

Eclipses in 2021

Each year will hand us between three and seven eclipses. 2021 brings us a total of four eclipses.
Eclipse Rule #4: Eclipses go in cycles between two signs and each eclipse cycle lasts around 18 months. So, during this time we see certain themes emerging. The present eclipse cycle we are in is a mutable eclipse cycle between Gemini and Sagittarius. It began in mid-2020 and will end at the end of 2021.

Your dates are as follows:

• Wednesday May 29 2021: Total Lunar Eclipse 5 degrees Sagittarius
• Thursday June 10 2021: Annular Solar Eclipse 19 degrees Gemini
• Friday November 19 2021: Partial Lunar Eclipse 27 degrees Taurus
• Saturday December 4 2021: Total Solar Eclipse 12 degrees Sagittarius

How will it affect me?

Mutable signs will continue to be particularly impacted by this eclipse cycle – Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. Or anyone with planets in these signs within one degree of orb of the eclipses. If you are uncertain, one of our astrologers can guide you.

How we communicate and move around will continue to be impacted by this cycle. We can already see how this has played out during the pandemic with the rise of apps like Zoom to meet and stay in touch and travel restrictions. Expect these to shift and continue to feature until the end of this eclipse cycle.

The partial lunar eclipse in Taurus on Friday 19 November, will mark the start of the next eclipse cycle on the Taurus/Scorpio axis which takes us on into 2022.

Eclipse Rule #5: Total eclipses are a complete cover up. Annular and partial eclipses – we only have a piece of a larger puzzle.

The next eclipse cycle will be around money, sex, empowerment and what we invest in emotionally, morally, and ethically. What is ‘worth it’ and what isn’t in other words. Expect big oil and factory farming to be held to account. On a personal level, we’re going to be looking to how we are treated by others and what relationships have been worth our investment in terms of time and love.

We will individually and collectively face our fears about ‘settling’ and not having enough under the next cycle. And emerge from it stronger. Eclipses can give us that push we need to get going and take action. We may be procrastinating out of fear or simply dragging our feet.

Sometimes eclipse take control and bring things to a head anyway – slamming a door firmly shut. If so, that’s to put us back on the path we are supposed to be. It’s all about eclipsing our past to enter a better future no matter what way they eventually reveal themselves to be working.