Lunations: Eclipses - Lunar Eclipses and Solar Eclipses 2010

Lunations: Eclipses - Lunar Eclipses and Solar Eclipses 2010

Lunation (or New Moon and Full Moon) charts have been used by Mundane Astrologers for many centuries. In later times, people began to compare them to their natal charts.

The New Moon, or Conjunction, is used when you want to start something new or try to break some old patterns. That is the time of the month when you would attempt to start or do these kinds of things. The New Moon is the time of internalizing and looking within yourself.

The Full Moon, or Opposition, is the time when you would try to accomplish the things that were started on a New Moon. The Full Moon is when you look to external events or things get beyond your control.

Things to look at when comparing the Lunation charts to your own:

• Houses that the Sun and Moon are transiting in your natal chart.
• What aspects do the Sun and Moon make to your natal planets? Are the majority of those aspects easy or hard?
• Astrologers also look at the transits to the Lunation charts, particularly to the Moon.

Eclipses

An eclipse is a far more potent lunation. Look to the house the eclipse falls in your natal chart. The affairs of that house will be activated. Does the eclipse fall on a planet in your natal chart? That planet will also be activated. The sign of the eclipse plays a role in the likely events that the eclipse will trigger.

Many people tend to fear eclipses, simply because they often bring about a crisis of sorts that leads to a significant event or change. However, this event or change can be very positive.

Eclipses are tied to changing circumstances. However, we are usually the ones to precipitate or to attract changes because our "inner guides" know that we need it. Human beings are progressive by nature, and although we might stay in situations that are making us miserable for longer than we should, deep down inside we know that change is necessary for growth.

Lunation (or New Moon and Full Moon) charts have been used by Mundane Astrologers for many centuries. In later times, people began to compare them to their natal charts.

The New Moon, or Conjunction, is used when you want to start something new or try to break some old patterns. That is the time of the month when you would attempt to start or do these kinds of things. The New Moon is the time of internalizing and looking within yourself.

The Full Moon, or Opposition, is the time when you would try to accomplish the things that were started on a New Moon. The Full Moon is when you look to external events or things get beyond your control.

Article Source: Lunations: Eclipses - Lunar Eclipses and Solar Eclipses 2010

This Week in Astrology

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse Wednesday, June 15, 2011, at 4:14 PM EDT.

On Wednesday afternoon, a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse occurs. Lunar Eclipses are about relationships and polarities. With the Gemini-Sagittarius axis involved, this Lunar Eclipse presses us to look more closely at our needs, lacks, and wants in our lives concerning the balance between Gemini-ruled and Sagittarius ruled areas of life. The Gemini-Sagittarius polarity is a mental axis, where Gemini represents the "lower mind" and Sagittarius represents the "higher mind". The Gemini Sun encourages us to think logically, while the Sagittarius Moon persuades us to intuit, and to think in a broader manner. Sagittarius symbolizes the quest for meaning and ideas that expand upon the "here and now". Gemini is quite comfortable in his or her immediate environment or neighborhood, while Sagittarius stimulates us to venture beyond it. Neglecting either end of the axis will surely backfire on us. Ideally, a balance should be found between the two energies, and this is what the Lunar Eclipse invites us to do. This eclipse is about communication, attitude, and our sense of adventure. Something has been building inside of us, and now is the time when the energy of the cosmos fairly demands that we let it out. Over the coming weeks, we will discover what this means for us. For now, we can't sit on our feelings. We need to express them.

Some sort of crisis (which can be a crisis of consciousness) or sudden awareness of a lack in our lives provides us with a golden opportunity to explore our emotional needs within the context of the house polarity where the eclipse occurs in our natal charts. Relationships may be challenged, broken, or strengthened dramatically at this time. Our discovery is emotionally charged and dramatic. Epiphanies are likely at this time as we become acutely aware of our lack. This understanding can propel us into positive action, although there can be some level of chaos initially.

Read more about the Lunar Eclipse on June 15, 2011.

Showtime for Lunar Eclipse 2010

Watch the lunar eclipse from the internet!

More on Tonight's Lunar Eclipse:

Don't miss 2010's Solstice Lunar Eclipse tonight!

Find out when the eclipse will be viewable in your time zone:
Total Lunar Eclipse on December 20 or 21 depending on time zone

Tonight's Full Moon w/ Lunar Eclipse Falls on Winter Solstice Dec 21, 2010

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse falls on Winter Solstice
December 21st, 2010


Tonight's full moon brings in the Winter Solstice and also bestows upon us the beauty and grace of a lunar eclipse. On this eve of Winter, a total lunar eclipse will be viewable over all of America.

To me, the Full Moon is a mirror of inner beauty, it's reflection shows us our true brilliant nature.

It is a reminder of divine feminine power, the magic of true, natural inner beauty which we all possess.

It is a loving reminder from the Universe that we are all beautiful and we are all united in Love.

The Winter Solstice has long been a celebrated seasonal holiday throughout many cultures for thousands of years. Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year....the beginning of the end of the dark days (in the Northern Hemisphere). Early civilizations held sacred ceremonies and rituals to mark the Winter Solstice. They celebrated the changing season with rituals and festivities to call upon the return of the Sun. The Winter was a frightening time in primitive cultures. People thought the Gods deserted them in the Winter and left them to survive the harsh winter on their own. Winter Solstice was a celebration of the return of the light. It was a celebration of renewed hope, a time of prayer and worship. People danced and prayed in honor of the Sun, they made sacrifices to show their love and devotion to the Sun God and sought his return.

Natives of the earliest civilizations known to man observed the moon as a heavenly body and held special rituals of worship to honor the Full moon. In fact, some of the holidays observed today are deliberately pre-arranged on the modern day calendar in accordance with the Full Moon. (For example, Easter)

In ancient customs, a full moon on the night of the Winter Solstice would have been a special treat. Throw a lunar eclipse in there and you have a very rare and extra special holy blessing from the heavens, a significant moment to be appreciated, respected and worshipped.

We can only imagine how our ancestors would have viewed tonight's celestial event. I presume they would find it extraordinarily special and hold special ceremonies in honor and observation of this marvelous celestial occasion.




Eclipses bring changes, and their influence is considered about 10 times that of a normal full or new moon. Tonight, use this especially powerful opportunity to tap into the universal love and inner beauty that the moon symbolizes. Take a moment to admire the soft elegance of the Full moon's luster and bathe in the radiant beams of glimmering moonlight. Most of us get uneasy with change, even if it's positive. Eclipses can bring challenges and sometimes people experience hardships and strife during an eclipse. Tonight, let go and open up to embrace change and receive the benefits that it brings. If life did not bring changes we would not have the opportunity to grow emotionally and spiritually.

Read more about the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse

Biggest and Brightest Full Moon of 2010 Tonight

Tonight's full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon.
This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights. Each month brings another full moon name.

But why will this moon be bigger than others? Here's how the moon works:

The moon is, on average, 238,855 miles (384,400 km) from Earth. The moon's orbit around Earth – which causes it to go through all its phases once every 29.5 days – is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse. One side of the orbit is 31,070 miles (50,000 km) closer than the other.

So in each orbit, the moon reaches this closest point to us, called perigee. Once or twice a year, perigee coincides with a full moon, as it will tonight, making the moon bigger and brighter than any other full moons during the year.

Tonight it will be about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than lesser full Moons of the year, according to Spaceweather.com.

As a bonus, Mars will be just to the left of the moon tonight. Look for the reddish, star-like object.

More

Kicking Off 2010 With A Rare Blue Moon

By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer Alicia Chang, Ap Science Writer – Tue Dec 29, 7:03 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue — the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.

A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the full moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.

A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.

Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"`Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a `hunter's moon' or a `harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.

The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on. For purists, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a blue moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.

In a tongue-in-cheek essay posted on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm out celebrating, I'll take a peek at that brilliant orb as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."

___

On the Net:

http://www.miamisci.org/www/eventsplan.html