A partial solar eclipse will occur on November 25, 2011 at 2°37′ Sagittarius. This will be the last of four partial solar eclipses in 2011; the others occurred on January 4, June 1, and July 1, 2011. With the North Node of the Moon, the Head of the Dragon, moving through the middle degrees of Sagittarius, we are now reaching the culmination of a period where the Sagittarius archetype is being torn open, erupting its dark shadow contents and forcing the entire world to see them. I say this because an eclipse is essentially a rip in the fabric of time, and eclipses at the Head of the Dragon represent something new coming into our awareness that we must struggle to integrate.
The North Node represents the evolutionary path forward. The North Node is also, and more appropriately, called the Ascending Node, because it is where the path of the Moon crosses the path of the Sun (ecliptic) going upward. It is thus interpreted as “where we are going” or “what we are here for.” It represents a place where something previously below (consciousness) now rises up. Just as the Sun crosses the horizon at dawn, something now is piercing the main plane of existence (ecliptic) in an upward manner, struggling to become manifest.
Systems theory can help us make a little more sense of this. (1) As living organisms, people (and arguably nations and civilizations) are open systems: they cannot survive without continuously exchanging matter and energy with their environment. This interaction has two components: input, i.e., that which enters the system from the outside, and output, i.e., that which leaves the system for the environment. The transformation of input into output by the system is usually called throughput.
Since Sagittarius is the sign where North Node eclipses are occurring now, the Sagittarius house cusp in any chart will be an area where new energy, feelings, and ideas are trying to enter. This is the input into the system. The input of an eclipse is basically added psychic energy, which stirs the pot and makes any energetic blockages in the organism more apparent.
The throughput aspect of this process is our own personal responsibility to maintain awareness of these blockages as they come up, and to begin the internal work required to remove them. If our throughput processing is even minimally successful, the output will be an ability to let go of blockages and live with greater ease and a more healthy and enhanced expression of both houses on the Gemini-Sagittarius axis.
In his excellent article earlier this year, Austin Coppock brilliantly described the basic function of this axis in terms of the alchemical formula Solve et Coagula, that is, separate and join together. (2) The basic function of Gemini is to fracture the One in order to see its different facets. Sagittarius then re-unites these fragments just as the centaur physically unites the animal/instinctive body of the horse with the rational/logical head of the human.
When understood this way, the location of the Great Attractor in Sagittarius makes even more sense, because gravity pulls things together. (3) This also seems to re-affirm the Sibly chart for the U.S. because Sagittarius is consistent with the idea of E Pluribus Unum — out of many, One. However, given the continuous difficulty of achieving any kind of true unity in this country, the Scorpionic America chart, put forth by David Solte, also seems appropriate. (4) Rather than falling on the horizon axis (as in the Sibly chart), Gemini/Sagittarius forms the vertical axis of this chart. The Sagittarius Midheaven signifies something we aspire to, rather than something we embody. In the Solte Scorpionic America chart, this eclipse could be viewed as a wake-up call regarding the realism of those aspirations to unity.
With Sagittarius on an angle in both the Sibly and Solte charts, it is no surprise that the U.S. is receiving a wake-up call from the Occupy Wall Street movement (OWS). Contrary to mainstream media accusations that they lack a clear message, the basic message of the OWS movement has always been: We are the 99%.
You might ask: what does it mean to be the 99%? It is an established fact that income inequality in this great country has steadily increased for more than three decades. We are one of only a few developed countries where this is true. A Congressional Budget Office study in 2011 found that incomes of the top 1% increased about 275% in the period between 1979 and 2007, while all lower income levels lost their share of national income. (5) Put simply, for almost the entire life of this author, the 1% have been getting filthy rich while the 99% have been getting poorer. Unless you are a billionaire like Michael Bloomberg, or the average millionaire congressperson, I can’t see why that is anything to wave a flag about. Nor should it come as any surprise that many find this intolerable. I remember my undergrad sociology professor citing the basic sociological fact that when the gap between the rich and poor is stable, no matter how large, it is tolerated, but when the gap grows, revolutions occur. In other words, economic injustice and greed breed revolutions.
It also seems very fitting that Jupiter, the ruler of the North Node of the Moon in Sagittarius, is currently transiting Taurus, as there is such a spotlight on economic injustices. The question remains whether we can heal the division between the 99% and the 1% and bring economic unity back to this country. Perhaps the chart of the Saros Series, to which the November 25, 2011 partial solar eclipse belongs, can tell us something about that potential.
Eclipses happen in families or series, and a new member emerges about every 18 years. This is the Saros cycle, first discovered by Babylonian astronomer/astrologers more than two millennia ago. Solar eclipses with very similar characteristics repeat every 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours; these eclipses are then part of the same family, or Saros Series. Any two eclipses separated by one Saros cycle (i.e., 6,585.3 days) share very similar geometries. They occur at the same node with the Moon at nearly the same distance from earth, and at the same time of year.
The current eclipse belongs to Saros Series 123, the last two of which occurred in November 1993 and 1975. This series is made up of 70 eclipses, and the current partial solar eclipse is number 53. The birth chart for this series — dated April 9, 1074 — is an eclipse in the middle degrees of Taurus, at the cross-quarter point between the vernal equinox and summer solstice. (6) The ruler of the eclipse, Venus, is near the vernal equinox point of 0° Aries, also called the Mundane or World Axis. Since eclipses in this series have important points on the World Axis, this series will have pronounced socio-political effects.
In the 1074 chart, there is also a t-square in the early degrees of the mutable signs (i.e., Mars in Pisces, Saturn in Sag, Mercury and Neptune in Gemini). The current eclipse, at 2°37′ Sagittarius, resonates strongly with this chart. This suggests the current member of this Saros Series could be carrying a particularly potent version of the family story, which is about initiating big (cardinal) changes (mutable).
Chart for Saros 123: April 29, 1074; 3:05:35 a.m.; Constantinople
The chart for the November 25, 2011 partial eclipse echoes the birth chart of the series in a few important ways. (7) The ruler of this eclipse, Jupiter, is in Taurus, the sign of the first eclipse of this series. Also the mutable t-square in early degrees is again present, this time between the Sun and Moon, Mars, and Chiron.
Chart for solar eclipse: November 25, 2011; 1:09:58 a.m.; Washington, D.C.
Within these commonalities we can form some reasonable expectations. The Taurus theme tells us it is appropriate to focus on economic issues. Furthermore, Jupiter is part of a loose earth grand trine with Mars and Pluto. With all three planets being somewhat near their stations, we know this grand trine will be re-visited. This will happen in mid March 2012 when Mars squares the Lunar Nodes. I suspect March will be a major culmination of the energies that are beginning to gather steam now.
In the short term, this partial solar eclipse is followed in two weeks by a total lunar eclipse. Both eclipses occur during Mercury retrograde. As I suggested earlier this year the Mercury retrogrades in the fire element, along with a total lunar eclipse in air, are going to once again further invigorate the current global conflagrations. When Mercury crossed the North Node on November 15, the NYPD evicted the Occupiers. This has only served to strengthen their resolve, and now the protests are spreading onto college campuses. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens with OWS at the next two passes of Mercury over the North Node and the Great Attractor, in retrograde motion on December 2nd and in direct motion on December 26th. I have noticed a history of Mercury being active in the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) events. Stay tuned for more on that in two weeks, when I cover the coming total lunar eclipse.
References:
(1) “Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research …..In this context the word systems is used to refer specifically to self-regulating systems, i.e., that are self-correcting through feedback. Self-regulating systems are found in nature, including the physiological systems of our body, in local and global ecosystems, and in climate – and in human learning processes.”
Wikipedia
(2) Read Austin’s article here.
(3) Editor’s note: From an earlier article by Eric Francis: “Among the many strange marvels of the sign that contains the galactic center is another galactic point called the Great Attractor, located at about Sagittarius 14 degrees and two minutes.” EricFrancis.com
Also, see Gary’s blog on the Great Attractor.
(4) See Scorpionic chart.
David Solte (1949 – 2002) proposed a rectified chart for the U.S. in May 1993. He was a frequent contributor to TMA before his untimely death.David Solte Memorial
(5) Wikipedia
(6) Beginning of Saros 123: April 29, 1074; 3:05:35 a.m.; Constantinople.
(7) Solar eclipse; November 25, 2011: 1:09:58 a.m.; Washington, D.C.
Gary P. Caton is an eclectic Astrologer who embraces an organic process-oriented approach of spiritual exploration via the Living Sky. Gary has studied Spirituality for over 22 years. After exploring Shamanism and the Tarot, his life was changed in 1993 by a magnificent Dream where he was shown planetary alignments and became an Astrologer. Gary earned a degree in Counseling with honors and has developed a unique multi-disciplinary path to practicing Astrology over 18 years. Connect with Gary at DreamAstrologer.com.