Full Moon & Total Lunar Eclipse in Aries / Bharani

‘The Portal of Life & Death’
November 8th, 2022

by Alexis Cox (radhahomeyoga)

Whew! Things have certainly been intense in this two week window since our partial solar eclipse! This is because while the Sun was being eclipsed at that time, it was still pretty far from the South node doing the eclipsing. It has been moving ever closer to Ketu, and passing right over it this past weekend, with its serpentine tail stabbing right into the heart of our power. This can look like power shortages, or resets, phones, computers and other electronics shorting, powerful entities and establishments being eclipsed, and certainly we are each being given very old lessons on how we hold our own innate sense of power, particularly in the context of relationships with others. This can also feel a lot like being powerless, which can actually be a beautiful surrender if we allow it to be.

The Moon will be directly across from our Sun at 3:02 am PST but the eclipse itself will last from 12:02 am-3:56 am Nov 8th PST.   It is called a Blood Moon because of the red color it takes on at the height of the eclipse.  How fitting that this Moon is in Bharani, the star that is ruled by the god of death, Yama, who brings souls out of this life, and symbolized by the yoni, the portal through which life passes into this world. It can get bloody indeed!  This star requires the utmost control as here we must bear the consequences of anything we create. This is problematic, as Rahu the North Node doing the eclipsing has an airy and dispersive quality that sprays our energy out into many different directions. Since the Moon is our mind and emotions, and therefore the creator of our very reality, we can imagine how this might look! Pranayama, breath control practices can be helpful here, as well as safe outlets for creativity like art, dance and music.

While Ketu is finding exactly the malfunctioning source of our power in Libra, Rahu is obsessing over our emotions in Aries. The South node implodes where we have not been looking, the North node explodes the place we have been fixating on. The magnification can cause quite a lot of delusion, particularly if you haven’t been doing the work to really see what are the ways in which you compromise with others. Some of us over-compromise and have trouble getting our own needs met. Some of us do whatever we want to and have trouble seeing how it affects others. If you are prone to selfish or self-centered behavior, then this entire eclipse portal is a wake up call that others are not going to take it anymore. If you give in too much and sacrifice your true feelings and needs to be liked, well, you may recognize that this is not the answer either as your needs continue to not get met.

Full Moons take us on a swing of the pendulum in any given New Moon cycle, shining light on the opposite of what we have been doing in that cycle. In this case, with the nodes involved, we have activated an area of life that we were actively trying to avoid since March 2022.  The Full Moon is highlighting where we have been choosing to put our energy instead this whole time. The close proximity to Rahu is going to cause us to see things very different from how they actually are. The nodes are illusory, Chaya Graha (shadow planets) that can be very powerful messengers from the past and future if we maintain a clear state of consciousness but regardless, they are never completely at home in this reality. Be mindful of your emotions and allowing them to carry you to conclusions. The focus on Self here can really undermine your relationships with others.

We have Mercury in almost exact degrees with the Sun right now, so we may be experiencing communication difficulties; feeling unheard, lapses in communication and forms of technology malfunctioning. It is also near Ketu, so if we focus on the heart of what we are trying to communicate it can be quite precise, even if we do not feel that those in positions of power over us are hearing us. Venus is also here, in her own sign and helping our debilitated Sun use friendliness and grace to naviagate our feelings of powerlessness, instead of getting triggered. We really have an opportunity to bring an internal drishti (gaze) to our patterns and habits around how we use communication in relationships, especially in regards to our perceived lack of power. Saturn is giving his one way dristhi to this stellium in Libra, also in close degrees, particularly to Venus and he is also in his own sign, so we are being reminded to stay the course in our relationships, be committed, humble and willing to do the hard work. We are also being reminded of the ways in which our relationships help us with our status and recognition and holding appropriate fear that our harsh words or disgust with others can cause real damage in our lives. This is important, because otherwise, we may get so obsessed with our own feelings that we burn bridges we may still need to cross.

With Mars Retrograde still barely in Gemini until Nov 13th, and joined the Moon exactly on November 11th, we need to be careful that past anger doesn’t agitate our mental state too much. Between Ketu on Mercury, and the Sun and this Mars, there is a lot of past resentment and disgust that can surface in our communication if we are not mindful. It is important to take deep breaths before you speak…and learn to take ownership and apologize if you lose control and go too far. Singing is one of the best ways to bridge the heart and the throat chakras and may be the best remedy for this particular alignment. Prayer and mantra too. This can be a great learning moment for us all, if we allow it to be.

May peace be with you and around you and especially within you!