This Wednesday 23rd March there will be a partial lunar eclipse in the sign of Libra.
Libra in the natural zodiac is the ruler of the seventh house, the house of serious relationships and partnerships. All serious one to one relationships, whether romantic, platonic or professional, come within the realm of this house. The sign of Libra governs relationships, interrelating, harmony and balance, the importance of us - versus me. Meanwhile Libra's opposing sign Aries is the ruler of the first house of the natural zodiac. Aries is representative of 'me/I' and governs individuation, autonomy, independence and leadership.
Eclipses follow a pattern of sorts in that they occur in 'sets' of a pair of opposing zodiac signs, almost six months apart and usually over a two year period. As above, so below, and over the course of the set the themes of consciousness of the traits and life areas governed by the eclipse zodiac signs plays out in both our lives and the lives of those around us.
Eclipses are very much entwined with destiny as the signs starring in the eclipses are (for the most part) the same signs in which the moon's nodes find themselves transiting in. The south node represents the past (previous lifetimes) and our karma and the north node represents this lifetime, the future and our destiny. It is as though eclipses and the moon's nodes provide cosmic windows of opportunity that allow us the opportunity for healing, breakthroughs and new starts that can help us move forward from and release our past karma in order to create and fulfill the destiny that is meant for us.
Whilst solar eclipses (such as the solar eclipse in Pisces earlier in March) are usually positive times of sudden change and opportunity, lunar eclipses tend to be more intense - imagine the intensity of a full moon amplified several times. Sometimes they can prove to be powerful in a good way - a time of crystallization and culmination with things bubbling to a celebratory boil. However, they can also be extremely emotional times with issues imploding both in individual lives and for the world at large. This is why some astrologers warn of global conflict and natural disasters occurring around the time of lunar eclipses.
It is undeniable that the moon has a gravitational pull on the earth which results in her cycles being responsible for the rising and falling of the oceans tides. As human beings approximately 60% of our bodies are made up of water, so it goes without saying that we both individually and collectively are impacted by the moon cycles and even more so at the times of eclipses which are either potent new moons (solar eclipses) or full moons (lunar eclipses).
This month's Libra lunar eclipse is likely to be particularly significant (and intense) as it wraps up over two years of karma in the area of relationships and the ongoing fine balance to be managed between the needs of the individual, balanced with the needs of the relationship, which has been triggered every six months or so by a one act of the set of eclipses.
It is likely that the signs of Aries/Libra fall in a different 'house' of each person's birth chart, showing which additional areas of life have been highlighted by this axis of eclipses for each reader. Nonetheless, given that the natural zodiac is considered to apply to all of us, we have all been impacted in some way by the 'me versus we' relationship themes since the first of the eclipses in the Aries/Libra axis in October 2013.
This will have played out in many different ways - from power struggles, break ups/divorces (professional and personal, romantic and platonic) and separations to reconciliations or commitments. Now, with this final eclipse in Libra we are being given an opportunity to finally wrap up this karma so that destiny can be fulfilled in all of our relationships.
And in perfect cosmic timing too as later this year in September, Jupiter - the planet of good fortune, expansion and spirituality enters Libra for the first time in twelve years, meaning all of our relationships can benefit from this infusion of Jupiterian energies of bountiful expansion, higher consciousness and plain good luck.
So this March, with the lunar eclipse in Libra, the final act in an axis of eclipses which we will not experience again for another nine years, we all have a great opportunity to heal and cleanse outstanding issues - not just in our love lives, but in all our relationships.
Through meditation, ritual or simple consciousness we can use this eclipse to help us to find the balance between our needs and the greater good allowing for harmonious one to one relationships.
By mindfully working with this cosmic window (which as with all astrology is simply a theme and window of consciousness), we can release that which does not serve us, leave behind baggage that may be weighing us down in any relationships (including of course the arguably most important relationship - with ourselves) and prepare for the arrival of benefic Jupiter in Libra later this year bringing more love, harmony and all genres of happy and mutually fulfilling relationships into all of our lives.