The eclipse of an attention-seeking Full Moon in Leo can lead to an uncomfortable deflation of ego. The presence of a Grand Water Trine of Chiron, Ceres and the North Node serves to remind us that self-absorption is no way to create the feeling of home. Uranus and Pallas Athene appear in stressful square to the Moon, bringing electric agitation and making it even harder to settle down and relax. What is the solution? Ditch the devices, unplug completely and just hang with your homies.
Details About This Eclipse
Date: January 20, 2019
Time of eclipse: 9:16 PM Pacific Time
Type: total (strong in intensity) and also a Supermoon (at perigee and therefore as close to Earth as it gets, and appearing larger)
Visible in: North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, most of Africa and northeastern Asia.
At: 0º Leo
Nodal Orientation: the eclipsed Moon conjunct North Node creates an Initiating (not Releasing) nodal orientation
Shadow Agents: Mercury in Capricorn, Ceres in Scorpio, Chiron in Pisces, Uranus in Aries, Pallas Athene in Libra
Does It Affect You Personally?
If your birthday is on any of the following dates (in any year at all), you’re most likely to experience this eclipse:
July 18 to 28
October 19 to 29
January 15 to 25
April 15 to 25
Remember, not every eclipse touches everyone, but when it does, it’s usually noticeable. A lunar eclipse is likely to bring up strong emotions and to be experienced as a subjective event (unlike a solar eclipse, which is likely to be marked by an external, real-world event). You may notice events happening anytime within the week surrounding the eclipse (up to a few days before or after). The following script is just one possible way it could go.
You are at home, relaxing with a magazine in your living room, when suddenly there is a knock at the door. You hesitate to get up for a moment, until you realize that it’s already 4 PM, and you had posted a Craigslist ad for a new roommate. One person who responded looked like a potential candidate, though you did find it interesting that they listed “Instagram Influencer” as their occupation. You open the door, and in walks the Moon in Leo, dressed in the height of fashion while taking selfies with her phone, and the zaftig North Node in Cancer, who radiates warmth and is wearing a kitchen apron. The Moon in Leo pushes herself into your home ahead of the North Node.
“Nice place you got here!” says the Moon in Leo. “I’m the one who responded to your Craigslist post. Nice to meet you—do you want to take a selfie with me? I have 500,000 followers who are waiting to hear about how my housing search is going.” You shrug your shoulders as the Moon pulls you to her side, outstretches her arm and directs you to ‘look up.’ You are pretty distracted by the Moon and you can’t help peering over her shoulder to see if the selfie really caught your best angle, because 500,000 (did she REALLY say 500,000?!) people are about to see it. Amidst this distraction, the North Node in Cancer lets in two other friends who form a watery Grand Trine with her: Ceres in Scorpio and Chiron in Pisces.
The Leo Moon patters on. “Now you see, let’s add a filter to your image to make it more flattering before I upload it. Say, this place is really perfect! I always say that ‘My home is my castle’ and now your home is my castle too. So first I think we need to work on the lighting in your living room, because I like to take lots of photos for social media that show my private life. Let’s go with stage lighting. If there’s not enough room for furniture after we hook up 10,000 watts of floor lamps, it doesn’t matter, because we really only need one wall in here as a backdrop for postable images. We’re gonna need to install a green screen.”
“You can’t remove all the comfy couches in the living room to add your ‘stage,’ Leo Moon!” exclaims the North Node in Cancer. “A home is somewhere you’re supposed to feel comfortable, and where you have room for family and friends.” Ceres and Chiron nod in agreement with the North Node.
Chiron turns to you and says, “Don’t let the Moon turn your home into a photoshoot destination. This is where you go when you need a break from the outside world. It’s harsh out there, and everyone needs a quiet place to lick their wounds sometimes.” The Moon in Leo still has one arm around your shoulder and she steers you away from Chiron and Ceres. Meanwhile, in her other hand is her smartphone and she continues changing filters on the selfie she just took. She stares down the hall into your narrow, little kitchen, wrinkles her nose until her face suddenly illuminates as if a great idea has just occurred to her. “That space would make an excellent runway! I’ve got some college friends who are coming over soon, and my bestie Pallas Athene in Libra really enjoys doing fashion shoots. And who needs a kitchen, really?”
Ceres turns several shades paler, crying, “You can’t get rid of the kitchen! You can’t just live on take-out alone!” She glances over to Chiron and the North Node, who all look overwhelmed with the Leo Moon. Deciding as one that they can’t deal with the Moon right now, the Watery clique (Chiron, Ceres and the North Node) quietly flow out the kitchen door to your front yard. Together they begin decorating in hopes that adding some relaxing touches to your home may help the Leo Moon to settle down. They start building a fountain in your front yard to drown out the neighborhood noise with the soothing burble of water.
When the Moon in Leo finally finds a filter which flatters you both (but honestly, her moreso) she hits the command to upload the photo to her 500,000 followers.
As the photo is uploading, the Sun in Aquarius walks in the front door and strolls down the hall and out the kitchen door to the backyard, where everyone else is gathere. The Sun is carrying several different devices, which are all dinging at once in an atonal chorus of likes as the Moon’s many online friends respond to her recent upload. The Leo Moon jerks her thumb at the Sun, saying, “If my friends don’t like the post, I’m pretty much dead in the water.”
Behind the Sun in Aquarius is Mercury in Capricorn. Mercury is wearing a professional suit and a skeptical look. He is taking in the whole scene. “This is a good house,” comments Mercury, “in an up-and-coming neighborhood, so it should appreciate nicely. This home should not only be a platform for your goals, Leo, but should also give you security. One day you may need to go into retirement.” The Moon shudders at the thought, saying, “But who would I be without my audience?”
“A home isn’t just about goals and material security!” exclaims the North Node in Cancer, turning away from her building project to put in her two cents. “It needs to be filled with softness and heart. It should be a place to get closer to your friends and family.” The Leo Moon ignores her as before and continues fiddling on her smartphone.
Two other figures appear in your busy entranceway—the Leo Moon’s college friends have finally arrived. She rushes to greet them.
“Pallas Athene in Libra! Uranus in Aries! I’m so glad you two finally got here,” shouts the Moon. Then, lowering her voice just a little, “all these Water types are real downers. Come check out this place! Pallas, go down the hall into that room and tell me if your catwalk can fit in there.”
“This place is way nicer than our old frat house, Moon! I think I can even get up on the roof!” Uranus in Aries exclaims, dashing up the stairs like a lightening bolt. Pallas Athene strategically examines the kitchen. “It’s tight in here, so I think we should blow out the back wall into the yard for some seating, and we can put mirrors on either side to give the illusion of depth,” she muses. Just then, everyone is startled by a loud BANG! coming from the roof.
“What’s that?” shivers Chiron, looking more traumatized than usual.
“Stop that horrible racket! I can’t relax!” the North Node in Cancer complains in shrill tones.
“I’m starving,” Ceres adds.
“In short,” Mercury comments, “Moon, you are so busy fulfilling your need to be noticed that there are other needs you’re neglecting.”
But the Moon doesn’t hear, because she is running outside to find the source of the bang. Everyone gathers outside by the fountain to see Uranus in Aries throwing fireworks from the roof. The Moon gets some good shots of the display on her phone, but then Mercury in Capricorn nudges the Moon to remind her that all this noise may get them in trouble with the neighbors. “Hey Pallas,” the Moon turns to her. “Uranus needs some reining in. Do you mind?” Pallas Athene sighs and goes upstairs to confront Uranus. Soon loud voices are heard, bickering.
“Oh my God! They are making even more noise than the fireworks!” cries the North Node in Cancer. “I can’t stand this racket anymore! That’s it—it’s eclipse time!”
She waves both arms in a large, sweeping gesture and a long, dark shadow casts itself over your entire yard, into your doorway, into the foyer and down the hallway. A hush falls over the house along with the encroaching shadow; Uranus and Pallas stop fighting once they are covered in darkness. The darkness quickly becomes so complete that no one can see where they are, resulting in both Sun and Moon bumping into each other, tripping and dropping all their devices into the water. The dinging and beeping then fizzles out as the shadow of the eclipse obscures everything. The Leo Moon attempts to pull her phone out of the water but it’s no use—it’s quite dead. In horror, the Moon cries, “all my followers, where did they go?”
The Leo Moon sinks down to the floor, her posture crumpling. “I feel so lonely and insignificant without social media to validate my importance.”
The North Node comments, “It’s only possible to deflate this much when you’ve gotten overinflated in the first place. I may be in a Water sign, but I don’t have a lot of sympathy for you.” She turns her back on the Moon, who is sobbing in the darkness.
Chiron comes around to the Moon’s side to offer some counseling, while Ceres runs to the kitchen to bake some scones and whip up some other comfort foods. Persuaded by her Watery companions that compassion is appropriate, the North Node in Cancer relents and also gently approaches the Leo Moon.
“Don’t you understand that you’re not alone, Moon?” asks the North Node. “You’ve got to start some new habits, because your tendency to look outside yourself for validation means that you can never get enough. Inside is where you must look.”
Uranus in Aries lights a fire in the living room fireplace and they all huddle there together. Under the calm, dark blanket of the eclipse, the only thing they can hear is the water fountain continuing to gurgle in the yard.
They all sit in dark silence for several minutes. Eventually all their nervous systems calm down, and even the normally agitated Uranus stops twitching—possibly because Pallas Athene stops poking him. The Cancer North Node puts her arm around Leo Moon’s shoulder. The Leo Moon leans in and relaxes. Together everyone watches the fire dance, all devices, likes and social media channels forgotten. After a few minutes Mercury begins telling a story which begins serious but turns out funny and everyone laughs by the fire. Ceres whips up a stew in the kitchen which is delicious, healthful, and so much more satisfying than take-out. Chiron sticks near the Leo Moon, maintaining a comforting presence. After a few hours of this companionable scene, the despair and emptiness the Leo Moon felt about being cut off from social media is replaced by a warm, relaxed glow.
Looking around the fireplace at those who are here with her, the Moon has an epiphany. “Hey everybody, I’ve just realized something!”
“What is it?” they all chime in. The North Node thinks she knows.
“I just figured out that all the people who are dearest to me are not out there at a distance, accessible only through a network. It’s you! And you are already here. And more than that—you love me enough to stick around, even when I’m difficult to be with.”
Hearing this, the North Node waves her hand and the light begins to return. “I’m really glad to hear that, Moon,” she says kindly. “It was important for you to understand that home is not just a place to be on stage. It’s a place where you gather to be really present with those you love and who love you. She waves her hand again and the scene brightens once more.
“There’s another thing,” whispers the Leo Moon after a minute.
“What’s that?”
“I just realized that I don’t ever feel real. Not really REAL. And that there’s no amount of other people reflecting the surface of my personality that will ever give me that feeling of realness. I can only find it when I sit in silence with myself. And sitting in silence with myself, all alone, is about the hardest thing I can imagine doing.”
Chiron responds to this, saying, “Isolation and loneliness are not the same as solitude.”
“Oh,” says the Moon, as if this is a big idea. A few more tears fall, then, “Do you think my smartphone will ever work again?” sniffs the Leo Moon.
“I’m afraid it probably will,” chuckles the North Node as she wipes away the Moon’s tears and the light fully returns.
