lunar eclipse

That Was Intense – Day 750

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Tornado Warning Clouds – Photo: L. Weikel

That Was Intense

I don’t know about you, but my experience of this morning’s full moon awakened me out of a sound sleep. In fact, it woke both Karl and me up precisely 15 minutes before it reached its exact moment of fullness (4:30 a.m. ET). While neither of us are light sleepers, I rarely wake up at that hour – probably because I rarely turn my light off before 2:00 a.m. So I have no qualms declaring of last night’s full moon and penumbral eclipse: that was intense.

As far as literally viewing the darkening of the moon as it approached full immersion in Earth’s shadow at 4:42 a.m., I have to admit I was surprised by how brilliantly I felt the moon was shining when I stood at the window taking her in. I was disappointed that I couldn’t discern any evidence of our planet’s shadow falling upon her face.

Granted, clouds were scuttling across the sky at a fevered clip, but there were enough gaps between them to get a clear view of the moon. What I found odd was that I was actually awake to check it out. I honestly had no intention of trying to see the phenomenon, figuring I’d be comfortably enjoying REM sleep at that time.

When Karl realized I, too, was wide awake, he asked me why I thought we were both suddenly bright eyed and bushy-tailed. He had no idea what I’d written my post about. So we were both surprised when I checked the time and exclaimed that we were witnessing the moment of the full moon and darkest part of the eclipse.

The Heavens Opened

Once I paid homage to the celestial event that demanded our wakeful attention, I fell back to sleep immediately. But the next thing I knew, I was half dreaming, half imagining a waterfall cascading somewhere behind my head – only to realize it was rain pouring so hard and fast from the sky that the gutter above the window closest to my head was overflowing in a literal cascade.

Thus began a day of eerie silence, broken only by the pounding of rain at our windows and the rushing, roiling madness of the chocolate milk colored water racing along the creek bed beside our road.

Very few birds and no squirrels ventured outside. Karl and I both jumped when a Tornado Warning blared out of our cell phones advising us to take cover either in our cellar or a safe room in the center of the house, preferably with no windows. The sky turned a deeply unsettling hue of yellow-brown. Thunder rumbled ominously.

I tried to capture the sense of imminent potential danger posed by this front, but I have to say, I didn’t succeed. My biggest disappointment in the photo above is the fact that posting it in the blog robs you of the ability to press your finger to it to activate the ‘live’ feature. Because that is the weirdest part of all: when I press my finger to it, lightning seems to emanate from the trees in the photo. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It is not lightning from ‘outside.’ For the life of me, it looks like the trees are creating the lightning.

Yeah…today was a weird day. And just think – it was only the first day of ‘eclipse season’ 2020.

Full Moon (before bed) 30 Nov 2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-361)

Race to the End – Day 749

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Nearly Full – 28 Nov 2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Race to the End

Here we are, approaching the eve of the final month of this seemingly relentless year. In an undeniable display of the paradoxical nature of time and our perception of it, few would disagree that this has been one of the longest years in recorded history. And yet in some ways, it feels like we’re in a race to the end.

Is the election really over? Has that major quadrennial event in our country’s life cycle taken place? When did that happen? Did I miss it? I feel like was aware of it, yet it also feels like it has yet to take place – it will, but in the future. Not because of some sad in ability of some people to face the truth of the election but because the election that did take place feels like it happened about three years ago or so.

Thinking back to January of 2020 feels like a snapshot into, oh, I don’t know…2017? And here we are, one more interminable month to go.

Every day enough happens in the news to merit a month’s worth of back stories and investigative reporting.

The worst part is that, deep down, most of us – if we’ve been paying attention – know that all of December and the first 20 days of January hold the potential for some seriously calculated mayhem. What could possibly add to the maelstrom of self-inflicted harm at the highest levels of our government?

How ‘bout Those Eclipses?

The moon, our closest and most intimate luminary, reaches her fullness at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning. Thus, some of you earliest of risers (or those of you who stay up even later than I do!) may find yourselves not only witnessing the fullest expression of the moon but also looking at the darkest phase of the penumbral lunar eclipse occurring at that very same time.

Because it’s a penumbral eclipse and not a total eclipse (an easy scientific explanation is here), the moon will not appear that deep, blood red color of a full-on total eclipse. It will, however, appear darker. (The moon will enter the penumbra – shadow – of the Earth at 2:29 a.m. ET and finally exit that shadow at 6:56 a.m. ET. The moment when the moon is in the greatest amount of the Earth’s shadow (and will thus appear darkest) at 4:42 a.m. ET.

So if you’re an early morning riser – willingly or unwillingly – you might as well check out the astronomical phenomenon that’s ‘kicking off’ the final eclipse season of our most beloved year of 2020. This lunar eclipse occurs in the sign of Gemini (because the moon, being full, is opposite the sun, which is in the sign of Sagittarius).

And as I’ve mentioned before, eclipses happen in pairs. So the fact that tomorrow morning’s eclipse is a lunar one means that two weeks from now (on December 14th, as a matter of fact) we will experience a total solar eclipse.

Is it me, or do you think this celestial phenomenon may have an impact on the final casting of electoral votes that’s supposed to take place on December 14th?

Time will tell, I guess.

In the meantime, here is one astrologer’s, Chani Nicholas’s, discussion of the next two weeks’ worth of planetary aspects and how we might interpret them in our lives.

We Can Do This

The long and short of this post is that we’re not out of the woods yet. This year still has some tricks up its sleeve and these final four weeks hold some seriously profound influences that would challenge us in the best of times.

I dare say, these are not the best of times.

But knowledge is power. And solidarity is too. The more we can pay attention and try to understand what’s going on (not only in the minutiae of the workings of our government – for those of us here in the States – but also the much greater, more comprehensive view of the evolution of our country, our species, and our planet), the better able we’ll be to navigate whatever we’re asked to adapt to as we encounter unforeseen and possibly totally unexpected circumstances.

It’s a lot. But we were born for these times. A huge key is sticking together. Communicating. Sharing our fears (so they are halved), but even more importantly, sharing our vision, our hope, and our compassion. We have each other’s backs.

We can do this.

Photo: L. Weikel

(T-362)

Clean Out – Day 573

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Frog Close Up – Photo: L. Weikel

Clean Out

We met this lovely creature on our walk yesterday. It seemed like the perfect messenger for the day of the full moon and a lunar eclipse, for Frog’s message is almost always, in some way, shape, or form, “Clean out!”

It only makes sense, when we just take a look around us. We’re doing our best to clean out our belief systems – regarding racial inequities, justice, policing, transparency, solidarity, just to name a few. We’re realizing that the old ways of thinking and living with each other in a so-called civil society need to be overhauled if we’re going to survive another 200 years. Or maybe even just another two.

Seems to me that the lore surrounding a lunar eclipse – that it forces us to look at what’s been hidden from view, perhaps ideas or emotions or beliefs that we’ve even hidden from ourselves – is impacting everyone on the planet right now, but especially us here in the U.S.

Such beautiful markings – Photo: L. Weikel

Decision Time

It seems to me, then, that when we look, when we dare to uncover the stuff that maybe we feel a bit of shame over or discomfort, or possibly even guilt for feeling or thinking or believing, we need to take it one step further. We need to make a decision.

We need to decide: do these beliefs truly serve me? Does believing them make my life better? Do I honestly feel happier or proud of myself for holding on to these beliefs?

And if our answer is no to any of these questions, we need to clean out.

Which way are we going? – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-538)

Full Moon – Day 572

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Approaching Storm – Photo: L. Weikel

Full Moon

Today at 3:12 p.m. EDT, the moon was full. The Old Farmer’s Almanac refers to a full moon in June as the Full Strawberry Moon. With strawberries ripening and becoming abundantly available at farm stands and grocery stores, we can safely guess where this moon got its name.

Today also marked a partial lunar eclipse. The significance of this eclipse will remain to be revealed. (Ha ha – that’s sort of a play on the fact that eclipses tend to be revelatory in the sense that things that have been hidden for a long time, often even from ourselves, tend to be revealed by an eclipse.) But seriously, we can certainly see this playing out on a macro level – throughout our country – and on a micro level, if we’re honest with ourselves and really look at the state of our marriages, lives, other relationships, and careers.

What is being revealed to us now?

Last Eclipse

The last such lunar eclipse this year occurred at the beginning of January. It also occurred on a Friday – January 10th, 2020, to be exact.

You might want to go back to your journals and check out what was going on for you back then. Was anything hidden, unexpected, or of import revealed to you on or around that date? I have to say, that eclipse was one of the most stunning ones I’ve experienced, when it came to revelations about people’s natures that totally blindsided me. Profound trust was startlingly dashed.

And on a global level, here’s an article that can, in hindsight, give us all pause.

Entering Eclipse ‘Season’

As significant as the revelations were that came on and around the lunar eclipse in January of this year, I have to uneasily wonder what’s in store for all of us over the next month. That’s because, not only did we experience another lunar eclipse today (if partial – and not visible in North America), we have a solar eclipse to look forward to that will occur on the same day as the summer solstice (June 21st), promising an even greater impact, and then yet another lunar eclipse on July 5th.

Bing, bang, boom.

I’m not suggesting that we pay attention to eclipse season – and in particular this eclipse season – in order to generate fear. Rather, my intention is the opposite. I’m simply offering some information that, if we pay attention to it, will perhaps in some small way, prepare us for the unexpected.

Let’s face it, world wide, we’ve been getting curve balls hurled at us. But here in the United States, in particular, we’re dodging a virtual onslaught of major life, values, and reality upheavals.

Expect the Unexpected

It’s really tough to expect the unexpected. But there is good reason for all of us not to assume that ‘the worst is over,’ or ‘things are getting back to normal.’ Actually, there are many good reasons not to make such assumptions, beyond the adage pertaining to assumptions in general.

If there was ever a time in our lives to keep a journal, I’d say this is it.

I’m encouraging you, then, to beef up your discipline and dedication to writing about what’s going on in your life at this time. Be as specific and thorough as possible. If nothing else, it could end up being a fascinating reflection on how – or even if – you can see a correlation between events in your personal life, events on a local or national or global scale, and our experience of the three eclipses of June/July 2020.

(T-539)

Eclipse of the Wolf Moon – Day 425

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Eclipse of the Wolf Moon

What an extraordinary evening of beauty and mystery.

As the full Wolf Moon rose above the treetops, her appearance almost felt like a surprise given the bank of clouds that initially partially obscured her ascent.

The owls were silent yet again this evening, mesmerized, perhaps, by the exquisite majesty of the beacon climbing the sky and illuminating their nests. The air was still. There were barely any cars on the road at first, none the final mile.

Full Wolf Moonrise – Photo: L. Weikel

An unnaturally warm front arrived late this afternoon, making our walk far easier than last night’s, especially on Sheila. She didn’t drag her dainty little puppy feet quite as much as she does when it’s freezing out and we’re just getting started. She’s frequently reluctant to get her old bones moving, even more so when it’s frigid out, but she always – always! – rallies to the cause and motors through either the two or the four mile trek with ease.

Tonight, even the pups seemed entranced by the moon. What was it about this particular full moon? I wish I could say.

She was particularly photogenic; I’ll give her that.

Unlike last night, she shone with crystal clarity; no gauzy obscurity tonight.

This last photo looks, to me, like either a bear or a dog – probably a Golden Retriever – holding the full moon in its mouth. Or if you think it looks like a Golden, that’s almost certainly a glowing, cosmic tennis ball being proffered for play.

Bear Swallows Full Wolf Moon – Photo: L. Weikel

I know I’ve been relentlessly urging a walk outside with eyes lifted to the heavens. I’m not going to stop bugging you now. There’s something powerful about knowing that no matter where we are on Mother Earth, we’re all looking up at the same moon. Perhaps at different times, but she’s always there for all of us – and she’s always a unifying force.

What do we discover when we allow the moonlight to pick the locks of our deepest secrets?

(T-686)