The second eclipse of this year will be visible in Africa, Asia, Australia, and parts of Europe and will last four-and-a-half hours in the sign of Scorpio.
Friday, May 5, 2023
10:33 a.m. pacific time
14°58′ Scorpio
All conditioned things are impermanent,
when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.
— Buddha, Dhammapada, verse 277
Astrologers have studied eclipses and their effects since the Babylonian era and have found that they often coincide with earth changes, political upheavals, and modern stock market fluctuations. With the advent of external events, eclipses can become powerful indicators of needed change in our personal lives.
Full Moon Eclipses can also encourage emotional transformation as they shine a probing light deep into the recesses of your psyche. This is especially true with this eclipse because it’s aspected by Uranus and retrograding Mercury, which can bring intense moments of Uranian clarity and Mercury–retro confusion simultaneously. A Lunar Eclipse’s influence will be felt for as long as it takes to sort through and resolve any dormant emotional dynamics that are exposed.
This Scorpio Full Moon Eclipse is considered spiritually auspicious as people all over the world celebrate Buddha’s enlightenment. It was while the Moon was in her full phase in Scorpio that Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree over 2,500 years ago and obtained Nirvana.1 The sign of the Scorpion encourages us to go deep within and embrace the mysteries of death and rebirth — impermanence — that will awaken us to the wisdom of enlightenment.
Change is the natural byproduct of impermanence and can be invigorating and restorative. Change can be both positive and negative: even when restorative, it can involve loss. Grief arises when we’ve loved and placed great value in something or someone. Therefore, impermanence and loss provide an opportunity to recognize and appreciate how deeply we are able to love.
The energies of an eclipse can be felt a few days before and after an occurrence and the ancient sages believed eclipses were a time for meditation and learning; a special time to honor the spiritual aspects of your life. Try to keep your schedule light, remain internally focused, eat only pure foods, and do not consume alcohol. The veil between Earth and the heavens is thinner during an eclipse, allowing you to more easily connect to the eternal universal wisdom that is your divine essence.
Themes to watch for under a Scorpio Eclipse: power dynamics, super intense experiences, security, possessions, other people’s money, passion, sexuality, and deep internal transformations.
Note:
1. In the practice of Buddhism, Nivana is the transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the individual is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth.
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© 2023 by Linda Kaye
