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September Article 2000: Eclipses 2

(Read Part One Here)

In this article we are resuming our look at eclipses. From the comments and reactions we received in response to last month’s article, we are aware that this is not a favourite topic.

Eclipses are still making many people very uneasy and this would seem as good a reason as any for pressing on with our study! Fears and superstitions, like those that surround eclipses, create no-go areas in the mind. A spirituality which ducks round these no-go areas and will not look at them will not get anyone very far, given the amount of fear that is in the minds of most of us. Spirituality is about transformation not about things going right and feeling good. Our best opportunities will be lost if our spiritual framework cracks under the impact of adversity

Through astrology we have the means to provide a context for eclipses and better understand their function and how to cooperate with them. We have likened the development of human consciousness to a journey up the down staircase provided by nature. If there were no down staircase, if there were no darkness, there would be no story.

The timing of eclipses.


1. Eclipses do not depart from the norm for lunations in that their effect will be experienced during the course of that lunar month.

  • If it is a solar eclipse then there will be a noticeable impact at the full moon, whether the full moon is another eclipse or not.
  • If it is a lunar eclipse, then its impact will be felt around the three days of the full moon.

These occasions, however, will not exhaust the full potency of an eclipse which, as shown below, will be released at other times.

2. Owing to the impact of eclipses on the astral plane, the planet, Mars, which rules the human astral body, has a very marked effect upon the timing of eclipses. Mars will trigger an eclipse when it transits the degree of the eclipse. (This includes making all the major aspects to that degree.) It will also trigger an eclipse before it has actually formed if, during the course of that lunar month, it transits the degree on which the eclipse will occur. This is because it is of the nature of Mars to be, as it were, in advance of itself.

3. The climax of an eclipse may occur outside the lunar month, sometimes many months after the formation of the eclipse. This has to be calculated as follows:

  • ascertain from an ephemeris the exact time of the eclipse (removing daylight savings but using true local times rather than standard time). Convert this into local sidereal time (LST) and establish in which quadrant of the heavens the eclipse falls (remembering that when looking at the heavens from earth, the four points are reversed).

South/local meridian
|
|
|
|
East/local horizon ------O---------------------- West
|
|
|
|
North

  • establish the rising time of the luminary which was the last to clear the local horizon. This is satisfactorily achieved by referring to the table of houses for the locality and finding out the local sidereal time when the degree held by that planet is on the ascendant. If the later rising luminary is the moon then take into account the speed at which the moon moves (aprox. 30 arc minutes per hour).
  • establish the amount of time separating the rising of the later luminary from the exact time of the eclipse and convert this into weeks and months by making 24 hours equal one year.

Time Equivalents in Astrology:

  • 24 hours = 1 year
  • 2 hours = 1 month
  • 30 minutes = 1 week
  • 4 minutes = 1 day


N.B. true local time expresses the longitudinal distance from 0 degrees 00 minutes and makes no concession to any kind of standardisation procedure (which includes local meantime). It is arrived at by multiplying the longitude of a given place by 4 to find the time difference in minutes and seconds.

e.g. New York 73 degrees West 57 minutes:
EST puts New York 5 hours behind 0 degrees 00 minutes.
True local time = 73 degrees 57 minutes x 4
= 295 mins 48 secs
= 4 hrs 55 mins 48 secs
= 4 hrs 56 mins
The difference between true local time and EST = 4 mins.



Example

A. Solar Eclipse: Leo 8 degrees / 31st July 2000 02:25 GMT

Establish the timing of the climax in:

1. London (51 degrees 32 north / 0 degrees 00)

  1. The eclipse occurs in the NE quadrant at 02: 25 which in LST is 23 hr 02 mins.
  2. The last luminary to rise was sun in Leo 7 degrees on 30th July 2000
  3. When Leo 7 degree is on the local horizon (ascendant) at 51 degrees 32 minutes the LST is 1hr 0 minutes.
  4. Therefore, the time elapsed between the last rising and the eclipse is 22 hr 02 minutes (23 hr 02 mins -1 hr 00 mins).
  5. Convert the time elapsed into minutes, and then divided by 4 to convert into the day equivalent.

23 x 60 + 2 =
1322
/ 4
=330 days
= 25th June 2001



2. New York (40 degrees N 43 minutes / 73 degrees W 57 minutes)

  1. Local timing of eclipse: 30th July 2000 21: 25 EST
  2. true local time = 21: 29 or LST 18 hr 03 minutes ( NW quadrant)
  3. Last luminary to rise = sun in Leo 7 degrees when LST = 1 hr 32 mins.
  4. Time elapsed between last rising and eclipse = 16 hr 31 mins (18 hr 03 mins - 1 hr 32 mins).
  5. Convert to minutes and divide by 4.

16 x 60 + 31=
961
/ 4
= 240 days
= 26th March 2001


3. Perth (31 degrees South 57 minutes / 115 East 51 minutes)

  1. Local timing of eclipse: 31st July 2000 10: 25 local standard time
  2. true local time = 10 : 08 or LST 6 hr 44 mins ( SE quadrant)
  3. Last luminary to rise = sun, with Leo 8 degrees when LST= 3 hr 28 mins
  4. Time elapsed between last rising and eclipse = 3 hr 16 mins (6 hr 44 mins - 3hr 16 mins)
  5. Convert to minutes and divide by 4.

3 x 60 + 16 =
196
/ 4
= 49 days
= 18th September 2000

Example

B. Lunar Eclipse: Capricorn 25 degrees 16.7.00 at 13:55 GMT

1. London ( 51 degrees North 32 minutes / 0 degrees 00 minutes)

  1. Eclipse occurs with the moon in SW quadrant ( sun therefore is NE) when LST = 9 hrs 34 mins.
  2. Last luminary to rise is the sun, with Cancer 24 degrees when LST = 23 hrs 49 mins
  3. Time elapsed betwen last rising and eclipse = 9 hrs 24 mins ( 33 hrs 34 mins - 23 hrs 49 mins).
  4. Convert to minutes and divide by 4.

9 x 60 + 24 =
564
/ 4
= 141 days
= 8th December 2000


2. New York (40 degrees North 43 minutes / 73 degrees West 57 minutes)

  1. Local timing of eclipse 16th July 2000 08: 55 EST
  2. true local time = 08:59 or LST 4 hrs 38 mins (moon in SW quadrant, sun in NE)
  3. Last rising luminary is sun, with 24 degrees of Cancer when LST = 0 hrs 28 mins
  4. Time elapsed between last rising and eclipse = 4 hrs 10 mins ( 4 hrs 38 mins - 0 hrs 28 mins).
  5. Convert into minutes and divide by 4.

4 x 60 + 10 =
250
/ 4
= 63 days
= 16th September 2000


3. Perth (31 degrees South 57 minutes / 115 East 51 minutes)

  1. Local timing of eclipse 16th July 2000 21:55 local standard time
  2. true local time is 21:38 or LST: 17 hrs 16 mins ( moon NE quadrant; sun in SW)
  3. Last rising luminary is the moon, with 22 degrees Capricorn* when the LST = 12 hrs 40 mins.
  4. Time elapsed between last rising and the eclipse = 4 hrs 36 mins.
  5. Convert into minutes and divide by 4.

4 x 60 + 36 =
276
/ 4
= 69 days
= 23rd September 2000

Endnotes

* if this calculation is done by simple proportional arithmetic then it will lack total precision because the degree on the ascendant and the moon itself are both moving points. This method, however, will enable the calculation to give a final result which is accurate within 24 hours, which serves the purposes of this exercise.



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