Have you seen the Moon? Are you feeling it? The Full Moon will culminate on Thursday, August 18 at 5:27 AM EDT. Because this Moon is such an abundant one in the Northern Hemisphere, Native Americans named it the Full Green Corn Moon and the Sturgeon Moon.

Scientists at NASA have discovered that the Moon enters the Earth’s magnetotail three days before it is full and takes about six days to cross and exit on the other side. During this time, many people feel the “lunar effect” most intensely as the Moon gets charged up with magnetism. As above, so below, so the Moon reflects our emotional energetic nature. Full Moons are full of magnetic energy!

The transiting Sun moves into sidereal Leo on August 16 at 9:10 AM EDT, joining Venus, Mercury and the North Node of the Moon/Rahu. Rahu is in Leo from January 29, 2016 until August 17, 2017. Mercury is in Leo from July 26 to August 19, and then retrogrades back into Leo September 9 to October 3. Venus entered Leo on July 31 and will leave on August 25. The Sun will be in Leo and thus under the influence of Rahu from August 16 until September 17.

The Rahu-Sun conjunction in Leo will create the solar eclipse on September 1. The eclipse season technically begins when the Sun comes within 18 degrees of the eclipsing node (Rahu this time), which will be around the Full Moon on August 18. Normally the Sun is considered auspicious and powerful in Leo, his own sign, where his qualities are poised, regal, ambitious, independent, and energetic. However, in the eclipse axis, the Sun can reflect anxiety, worry, health problems, and a lack of confidence. Power struggles and discord can also ensue.

The late Vedic astrologer Bepin Behari described Rahu and Ketu, the Moon’s North and South Nodes, as messengers of a higher power whose primary function is to destroy the darker tendencies within us. The lunar nodes actually represent duality: light vs. dark, good vs. bad, life vs. death, angels vs. demons, etc. The devouring of the Sun and Moon by the nodes in eclipses represents the great drama being played out in our lives here in the Earthly realm of duality.

The lessons and karmas we are to experience become stirred up in eclipses, and often a new batch will be churned out for us for our next cycle. The upcoming eclipses are occurring August 18 (lunar eclipse), September 1 (solar eclipse) and September 16 (lunar eclipse). Around the eclipses, Rahu (and Ketu) have a rebirthing power as they temporarily shadow the lights. We will have access to this power throughout this transit of the Sun in Leo because of the eclipse axis occurring in Leo/Aquarius.

Now as the Sun comes into the eclipse axis, we can start to notice what is blocking us emotionally or otherwise in our lives. The Full Moon on August 18 will be eclipsed just by 2 percent as the Moon will pass through only a tiny part of the outer portion of the Earth’s shadow (penumbral eclipse), which is too dim to observe and so slight that some astronomers are not calling it a lunar eclipse at all. I feel it is still offering a little bit of an astrological lunar eclipse effect.

It is also interesting as the August 18 “almost eclipse” is ending the Saros 109 lunar eclipse cycle which began in 736 AD, the year when Frankish leader Charles Martel defeated a massive invading Muslim army, thus putting an end to Muslim bases in Gaul, and blocking any immediate ability to expand Islamic influence in Europe. Some astronomers believe that Saros 109 ended in 1998, but others say that this August 18 eclipse is the culmination. With the current mass Muslim migrant crisis in Europe, the 2016 culmination seems more likely; and as the cycle comes to a close, I wonder what this might mean in terms of a turning tide.

The lunar eclipse of August 18 occurs with a very wide ~17-degree orb conjunction to Ketu in sidereal Aquarius opposite the Sun in Leo. A stronger penumbral lunar eclipse will occur on September 16 at 0 degrees of Pisces for the Moon, while the shadow of Ketu will still be near mid-Aquarius.  A lunar eclipse, even a slight one, can point out emotionally-triggered subconscious feelings. These can start to arise in the weeks or months preceding or following a lunar eclipse so that they can be worked out, integrated, and transmuted. The Leo-Aquarius eclipse axis is broadly focused on how we act on our inspiration and share it in the world.  The traditional rulers of Leo and Aquarius are the Sun and Saturn, whose contentious mythic relationship speaks of issues of authority, power, and the psychological shadow.

The solar eclipse of September 1 occurs at the new Moon in sidereal Leo. Because the new Moon blocks the Sun’s light during a solar eclipse, some may experience a weakening of energy levels in the weeks before and after the eclipse (especially before). Solar eclipses also reveal personal issues which are depleting our life force. The months preceding and following a solar eclipse are a time for letting go of anything in our lives that impedes our energy and evolution. Should a solar eclipse conjoin a natal planet or angular point, an important new cycle is at hand in that related area.

On the world stage, the solar eclipse reflects more turmoil among certain political leaders (Leo). Secrets will be exposed, and new information revealed. At the same time, Saturn is squaring Neptune (which will perfect exactly on September 10 but is in range during the entire eclipse season), and this repeats the same theme of something(s) hidden being revealed. The September 1 solar eclipse is squaring Saturn and the fixed star Antares too, so all this just reflects more of the same imbalance, war, hatred, upheaval, violence, confusion and chaos we have already been seeing in the world.

Om Lokah Samistah Sukhino Bhavantu.Om Lokah Samistah Sukhino Bhavantu. Om Lokah Samistah Sukhino Bhavantu. 

May All Beings be Safe and at Peace. May Mother Earth Herself be protected from all harm. May peace start within me.

Om shanti shanti shanti.