There was excited awe during the visible eclipse of April 8th and the visibility did present a moment of unity for humanity. It is always nice to witness moments which remind us that we are part of a bigger whole and nature will often serve as that reminder.

As discussed in the last blog post Mercury was retrograding during the eclipse in the sign of Aries. He is now located in the sign of Pisces conjunct Rahu and extending the energetics of the eclipse. Mercury, the planet of neutrality and objective thinking, is debilitated in the sign of Pisces. Mercury’s conjunction to the magical but sometimes irrational Rahu can lead to stress, impatience, and quick forgetfulness of the feelings of wonder experienced during the actual eclipse.

We can’t control the world but we can control our reactions to the temporary nature of having Mercury conjunct Rahu – a Rahu that is still strong from the recent eclipse. On 4/13, the Sun moved into Aries, which can lessen the fiery impatience of the Rahu/Mercury conjunction and Mars is quickly moving beyond the tight conjunction with Saturn. These shifts will present a better playing field for individual action.

Mercury will move forward on 4/25 and back into Aries on 5/6. The work of keeping our nervous system and perceptions strong is still necessary. Rahu, at his best, represents new vision and break-through understanding of our emotional pain. Pisces is a sign that is always pushing towards compassionate humanity. In addition to keeping our nervous systems strong and our thoughts balanced simple gratitude and compassion is a positive response to the lingering energy of the eclipse.

Rahu and Ketu are considered “shadows” because they have no physical body. This feature gives the signs they occupy greater importance. The placements for this cycle are Pisces (Rahu) and Virgo (Ketu). Pisces is more powerful right now because there are more planets occupying this space. Virgo acts as a “score keeper” while Ketu is, among other things, a keeper of the past. Ketu can be acting as a force pulling us back into the memories of our losses and disappointments.

An important aspect of the much touted “free will” is the freedom of reaction. None of us get a pass on suffering and this moment of eclipse energy is encouraging us to expand and grow. The month of May is quickly approaching and will bring a new sign for Jupiter (Taurus) along with the end of the eclipse energy. It is our choice as to how much emotional baggage we choose to bring with us.