Photo by Mike Bosch on Unsplash
As we gear up for a third and final eclipse, I think it’s safe to say that this eclipse season has triggered many people’s deepest wounds--individually and collectively. As eclipse season comes to an end this weekend, I believe we will see many of the structures that caused that pain to come down. A lot of people may be seeking the destruction of external structures, but that doesn’t matter unless the internal structures that also perpetuate your own pain and limit your potential fall with them.
This eclipse season has seen the removal of Columbus statues around the U.S., but the question is: to what extent have the monuments to your own internal colonizer been removed along with them? It’s easy to remove and shun the “bad guy” when it’s some other person over there, but it’s often much more difficult to remove the inner colonizer living inside of you, the Columbus statues in your mind. Colonialism is the most effective mode of oppression in the history of humanity because it is as much (if not more) a deeply embedded mode of consciousness into which most people in the world have been indoctrinated to a certain extent as it is a set of external structures. To remove the Columbus statues that remain in your mind is what it really means to “emancipate yourself from mental slavery,” as Bob Marley sang famously.
Universal emancipation and consciousness requires that every individual move through their own very personal and unique journey of decolonization so that they might manifest the unique self they came to be in this life. This is the real meaning of “unity in diversity”. E. PLURIBUS UNUM! “Out of many, one.” And yet, modes of consciousness are not solely individual. They are also collective, and the collective consciousness is under an immense purge right now—especially in the United States, where this eclipse will be visible on its birthday. Happy Birthday to us! The last time we moved through this particular eclipse was a couple of months before 9/11/2001!
Eclipses and eclipse seasons represent times during which something that’s usually present is hidden in order to make something that’s usually hidden visible. This is a similar action to retrogrades – especially when several planets are retrograde simultaneously, as is the case currently. What has been wildly apparent to you over the past month and a half? What has been missing? What do you need and want more of right now? What are you willing to do to create as much as you can, given current restrictions?
Photo by Nick Owuor (astro.nic.visuals) on Unsplash
Among those planets are Jupiter and Pluto, who are also in their second conjunction of the year in Capricorn. Their first conjunction was just following the Spring Equinox, and it may have brought up feelings or brought about events that were surprising, transformative, and/or disruptive. You may feel yourself returning to those feelings or events at. this time, but allowing yourself to settle into them a bit more (even if it’s uncomfortable). This year is a lot of jerking back and forth to shake us free of the things that prevent us from loving ourselves and one another and being FREE! The chaos is quite apparent, don’t you think? Self-control and consistent commitment (aka discipline) facilitate liberation!
Capricorn has been getting hit hard this past week, and you may have felt it in the area of your life that Capricorn represents in your chart. This last lunar eclipse in Capricorn (for now) corresponds with the South Node of the Moon’s placement in Capricorn up until a couple of months ago. In your chart, the Nodes of the Moon are among the most important that correspond with who you were when you entered this life and who you’re meant to become. This is why the events surrounding eclipses can seem fated—because they correspond with points of destiny. An eclipse in Capricorn, especially, is about fate, destiny, and karma. Have you done what you’re supposed to be doing? This is a week when you’re likely to find out.
Capricorn is the sign of hierarchies. Hierarchies are often demonized, but they’re simply systems of organization. The problem is that they’ve been used (rather effectively) to perpetuate arbitrary divisions and maintain that those assigned arbitrarily to these different groups hold different levels of worth. That is the kind of colonial bullshit that I’ve dedicated my life to eradicating since I started realizing what was going on at a pretty young age …
But there’s also a piece that is sometimes demonized, and I feel wrongly. Hierarchies represent levels, and Capricorn represents karma. Capricorn might represent the Patriarchy, but when ruled by healthy Saturnian energy, it deals in karma, fairness, places that are deserved based on one’s commitment and the work they’ve put into their lives and practices. I love this. This is the dude sitting on a corner in an undershirt drinking a bottle of Rum who is actually a Santero who’s undergone many initiations. This is the immigrant custodian who’s actually a doctor in the country from which they’ve come. This is the bartender who’s an 8th level blackbelt in To-Shin-Do and can move matter with his mind. In society, hierarchical energy has been abused so that these situations are possible. But Universally, Saturn is the one who gets to determine who will be first and last based on whether they’ve put in the work. It’s like a video game – you have to pass one level to be able to make it into the next level. This lunation and the next 6 months will question whether or not you’re going to make it to the next level.
Photo by Cláudio Luiz Castro on Unsplash
Capricorn can have a harshness to it. But as the saying goes, “Karma’s only a bitch if you are.”
There’s another saying that corresponds with Saturn, which is: “If you do the crime, you gotta do the time.” But it’s equally true that, with Saturn and Capricorn, if you put in the time, you’ll make the dime. Jupiter is retrograde in Capricorn and the South Node of the Moon is in Sagittarius—Jupiter’s sign, so there’s very little luck right now. Anything beneficent that you’re offered or that you receive right now is being given to you almost solely because you have earned it. Jupiter’s gifts are fortunate, Venus’ gifts are beautiful, but Saturn’s gifts can only be revoked by Saturn--and it’s unlikely unless you do something really stupid.
Do not do anything really stupid right now. Saturn is the planet of Karma. You know your own brand of stupidity (we all have one - TRUST!). Whatever that is for you – don’t do it!
The remainder of this year could feel like falling into further disarray. There will likely be fewer rules and more confusion. Nothing will be more important than having and following your intuition. If you try to live your life based on how you think things should be based on the past, things aren’t going to go well for you. With the North Node in Gemini, use hard data to make intuitive decisions—which is what the very best scientists and interrogators do. More science, less dogma (of all kinds!).
Things will get worse before they get better because we’re only at the beginning of this mass awakening. Nonetheless, there are opportunities here for those who have done their work and are a little further along. It might sound unfair to some to say that some are further along, but it’s just reality. And most likely, those people have been getting the unfair end of the stick. So trust that justice will prevail. When you do the work, you get entry into higher levels. That’s just how it is.
Use what’s available to you to move forward with integrity, but be aware that plenty of people who lack integrity will also be preying on people during this moment of lawless opportunity. Don’t get stuck. When in doubt, say NO! When in doubt, lean towards more boundaries rather than fewer. Be clear about how you will deter yourself from these tricks. Be equally clear about how you will demonstrate that you’re not practicing them. But don’t be afraid to keep a couple in your pocket - just in case.
Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash
In order to survive this time, you will need to be dynamic. You will need to be willing and able to make decisions quickly—which is why remaining tuned into your intuition is so important. And yet, this is not a time to be wishy washy. You will need to have very different types of negotiation skills and it’s important to know how to navigate these negotiations well. Converse with people so that you feel clear and have all the facts. Nonetheless, once the negotiations are completed, you will need to make hard and fast decisions. This is a be all in or get all out kind of time. All yes or all no – not maybe, kind of, lemme think about it. You either want something (or someone) and you’re willing to pay the price of admission or you’re unwilling to pay the price of admission and you must move on/out fully and completely from a situation or relationship.
The Sun is in Cancer, so we want to be comfortable and nourished, but Capricorn is the General. He does not do feelings and he does not do comfortable. Again – this means that you have to do the best you can with what’s available (Capricorn and Cancer are both resourceful energies) to create comfort in your personal life and your inner life. But don’t confuse comfort with delusion. Capricorn’s constitution is the toughest in the Zodiac. It’s built for endurance. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket and don’t frontload your energy output. Be sturdy, steady, but light, and you will make it to the finish line!!!
Go get ‘em, tigers!!!
<3, Hilary’s VERY STRONG Capricorn Ascendant, Mercury, Lilith, Pallas Athena, & Ceres