At the Sacred Well: Gemini-Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse 2012

Like all lunar eclipses, the last one of 2012 is a cosmic “reveal,” coming to show us something big–something enormous, in fact. Where it lies is just beneath our awareness. What it can change is everything.

The last major cosmic event before the fabled Winter Solstic of 2012–a gateway to the deep, world-creating level of mythoscomes packed with power.  The Moon and Jupiter will create a rare energetic pattern known as a yod, which brings both extraordinary potential and the challenges required to activate it.

Like all full moons, this one will bring closure and endings.  And like every eclipse, it will almost certainly catalyze events that have a “larger than life” quality to them.

The lunar eclipse, which occurs at 7:14 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday, November 28, will not be total as the solar eclipse two weeks ago was—yet it will be packed with lunar power. Two and a half hours following the eclipse, at 9:46 a.m., the Moon will reach perfect fullness.  And so we get a double dose of already potent lunar energy.   

Compounding the lunar qualities is the  retrograde vibration that charges the eclipse sky.  Mercury, the eclipse ruler, is less than 48 hours from the end of his retrograde vision quest.  Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius, the Sun’s sign at the eclipse, is retrograde still. Like lunar events, retrograde energies emphasize the intuitive, feeling, dreaming, watery ways of knowing–especially when they belong to the eclipse’s two rulers.  These are our best way to tap into the extraordinary powers of this energy.

Ancient measuring well, Aswan, Egypt

The Secret at the Sacred Well 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While this eclipse occurs in the air sign Gemini and the fire sign Sagittarius, what it brings us is water.  Dream, feelings, intuition, fantasies, memories, and daydreams will be tucked into odd moments throughout the coming days.  Many, if not most, will be rich with gift.

The eclipse degree is one that is symbolized by “a well with a bucket and a rope, under the shade of majestic trees.” Over and over, the energies of this eclipse sky point to the wisdom, emotional depth, and access to the realms of spirit that these ancient symbols of well, bucket, rope, and  majestic trees still represent in our Deep Memory. 

Indeed, half the energy in this eclipse sky is in water signs.  The Universe is calling us, wtih all its voices, to release the thoughts about reality– and the feelings that accompany them–that have grown too small for the life that wants to grow within us.  Once we’ve done this, we can drink deeply of the sacred waters, with our whole being, our whole heart, and our whole brain. 

As we do, we can begin to shift our perception away from the false beliefs that keep a distorted, too-small reality pinned firmly in place.  Until and unless we can do this, we will not be able to bring the new world into being.

Shedding the False Beliefs

What are these “false beliefs”?  Mostly they are rooted in what we think is possible and what we think isn’t, but they’re also entwined in our notions of what we think we “have to” have, do, or be.  Many are the selfsame obstacles to freedom that sages and seers have been pointing to for millennia. Some are disguised  as skepticism, cynicism, or “common sense.”  Almost all of them are byproducts of a thousands-of-years-old subjugatation and distortion of lunar, right-brain, feminine reality. 

A good way to begin to find these false beliefs and to release them is to ask yourself a simple question: What thoughts about reality are too small for me and the life I want? What feelings about myself and others are too tight and cramped? Write down what comes to you. Then burn the list.

Some of the most astonishing cosmic events of 2012 have occurred in Gemini.  Among them events were Venus’ retrograde vision quest, her disappearance from the Western sky and her shamanic descent before crossing across the face of the Sun and being reborn again as morning stars.  The fact that they occurred in Gemini underscores the lesson of this eclipse: the potential of a new reality is wasted on minds that can only see the past. 

The Liberating Yod:  A Dive to the Depths, To Hear the Angels–and Drink from the Sacred Well

At the heart of this eclipse’s cosmic medicine is the magical yod formed by the Moon and Jupiter, along with two pairs of planets whose challenges must be met. Those challengers are Venus and Saturn on the one hand, and Mars and Pluto on the other.  

The potential of the Moon-Jupiter conjunction is pure magic.  It’s nothing less than the ability to think and act in a big, bold, daring way. It’s the ability to believe in a far more generous version of ourselves and our world than we’ve become accustomed to–and to act on it.  

If Venus and Saturn, closely conjunct in Scorpio, can escape their deep fear of letting go, they can make the glorious dream of Luna and Jupiter come  true.  Unshakeable commitment and deep pragmatism is what Venus and Saturn bring to the table–once they decide they’re all in. 

Meanwhile, Mars and Pluto, conjunct in the same degree of Capricorn, can be resentful, angry, and bitter. If only they can overcome the temptation to choose power instead of love, their single-minded intensity can make breakthrough all but assured.

The energy carried into the eclipse by the degrees of the skies that these ancient powers inhabit is profound. If we can let ourselves hear their message, we may find our way to believe in something we have not yet seen–and thus, make it real in our lives.  

The Moon’s great promise of renewal is magnified by the energy carried by her eclipse partner Jupiter: “liberation from the ghosts of the past.” 

Saturn’s spot in the heavens is symbolized by “deep-sea divers,” who can plunge to the depths in search of lost or hidden treasure.  Beside him, Venus carries the inspiration of “a calm lake bathed in moonlight.”  Finally, Mars and Pluto inhabit the degree of Capricorn from which Pluto made his opening, world-changing square to Uranus in June 2012:  “an angel carrying a harp” is its symbol.

Chiron the Cosmic Bridge: Voice of the Future

In a sky rich with contacts between the planets, it is Chiron the Cosmic Bridge who makes contact with over half the solar system.  An anomalous planet who rotated into our solar system and was only discovered in 1977, Chiron is the great bridge between the energetic realities of our small solar system and the vaster mysteries of the multiverse beyond. 

Chiron is the healer who has come to help us mend our great separation from the cosmic matrix that is our true and ultimate home. He is the networker and the diplomat of this eclipse, in touch with nearly other planet in the sky.

At this eclipse the message he is delivering is stirring and clear:   If we can truly believe in something greater than our fear, we can be the fearless and bold deep-sea divers who liberate ourselves from the ghosts of the past. We can drink from the well. We can not only hear the angels, but listen to their song, which tells us that, at this very moment, nothing is nearer than heaven.  The next steps are up to us.