2023’s Annular Eclipse has passed through our skies in the United States at approximately 3:45pm ET and has moved south, toward our Central and South American neighbors.
We can expect a similar eclipse around the same time next October 2024. This year’s eclipse began in Oregon at 9:13am PT. During an annular eclipse, the moon is in the farthest part of it’s orbit from earth, just far enough away from the sun that it’s never completely blocking it. This has created an effect that people have taken to calling a “Ring of Fire”, where the golden-orange glow of sun can be seen around the edges of the Moon’s shadow.
This was a gradual event, the annular eclipse being marked by partial solar eclipse phases throughout the year. This can only happen on a new moon, marking the beginning of a new lunar cycle.
While today, we know that a solar eclipse is planetary and celestial alignment brought on by natural phenomena with plenty of variables like location and orbit, it wasn’t always so simply explained. Many cultures viewed an eclipse through more traditional or spiritual views than our scientists and astronomers of today. One such example is a rather straightforward idea – Eclipses are bad omens that bring forth unnatural death and destruction to our world. While I can understand connecting a celestial event with a natural disaster in the past, today it’s nothing more than circumstance… Hopefully.
There is also a brighter side to the eclipse. Some tribal traditions include leaving out medicine, corn pollen, and other offerings to ancestors and creator during the hiding of the sun. In some cases, it is similar to a fast, in which indigenous people will not engage in physical activity, eat, sleep, and especially won’t look at the eclipse. This marks a time of power, when the moon and sun are in alignment, and denotes the end of a cycle of seasons and moon changes.
I hope to take a moment in solemn silence and observance as our moon cycle renews and rejuvenates, and I hope everyone else can take the next eclipse a bit as an opportunity to recharge their chakras as well. While a natural event, it is also more than an ideal time to practice spiritual rest.
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