In Western Astrology, the zodiac is tied to the Earth rather than the sky. There are four Cardinal Signs which are directly linked to the four Cardinal points, North, South, East, and West. In many places, they also mark the seasons. The entry of the Sun into one of the Cardinal Signs puts a stamp on the entire season. Cancer is the sign on the South Cardinal point. In 2020, there will be an Annual Solar Eclipse 9 hours after the Sun enters the sign of Cancer. For this reason, I will be discussing the Cancer Ingress and the Solar Eclipse of June 21, 2020, together.
2020 promised to be a tumultuous year, and it has certainly lived up to its promise so far.
For a fuller discussion of 2020, see:
2020 – An Earth-Shattering Year
Even so, there is still much more to come. Even before analyzing the Eclipse, the fact that it will occur so close to the Solstice is highly significant. This is especially the case in the Northern Hemisphere, as it is when the Sun is supposed to be at her greatest strength.
Midsummer is also ritually significant in many traditions, including Filianism, in which it is the festival of Rosa Mundi.
Current Events
In the past, as a general rule, I did not address specific current events, but only gave a general outline of the astrological weather. There were several reasons for that, but one of them is that I am writing for a worldwide audience, and I am usually only aware of the events going on around where I live in the United States. Also, it is all too easy as an astrologer to be swayed by my own politics and opinions when writing of such matters.
Yet, right now, we are in the midst of changes on a worldwide level that I believe transcend politics, even though they have become infused with politics by some. One of these events is the global pandemic. Another that has emerged in the last several weeks is the huge surge in the Black Lives Matter movement on the worldwide stage.
While astrology can give great insight into the future, it can be unclear as to exactly what will happen next. Some of this is because Free Will on an individual and collective level can influence the outcome of events. Some of this is because of the limitations of being a human being with limited imagination. For these reasons, in this year of change, it seems important to document the events that are happening on the Earth along with the movement of the planets in the sky.
In this light, I will do my best to report the events objectively, and not inject my feelings or opinions in the narrative.
Global Pandemic
As of the date of the writing of this article, there have been 8,354,322 confirmed cases of Covid-19 worldwide, and 449,121 people have died of this disease. The U.S. has by far the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths; recently, however, Brazil, Russia, and India have been hit very hard as well.
Many countries throughout the world instituted lockdowns to help stop the spread of the virus. Currently, many of these lockdowns are being lifted or partially lifted, even in the places that are being hit the hardest by this disease.
There is currently no vaccine or treatment; however, there have been some remedies that have seemed effective in the most severe cases.
Black Lives Matter Movement
The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013 in the United States to protest police brutality. This is an intersectional movement, including those who have been on the margins of other black freedom movements, including women, queer and trans folks, and those that are disabled.
On May 25, 2020, a black man was killed by the police, and that killing was caught on video. Days later, this death ignited both riots and peaceful protests in the United States. The peaceful protests continued for over two weeks and spread across the globe, and they were joined by people of all races. In the United States, the protests had the support of the police in some places, but in many others, they were met by more police brutality.
In the United States, this has led to a call for major police reform, including some calls to dismantle or defund the current system. This has also led to the taking down of Confederate statues and stopping the use of the Confederate flag in many places.
Cancer Ingress 2020
Now that I have described where we are in terms of two major global events so far this year, I will post the Cancer Ingress chart for 2020.
This chart is very similar to the chart for the Solar Eclipse which I will be posting later in this article. There are two features that are unique to this chart, however.
One of these features is that the Moon is deep into the 3rd Quarter Moon Phase, which is also known as a Balsamic Moon. Things that occur during a Balsamic Moon tend to be short-lived. In the case of an Ingress chart, one could usually say that not much would happen during the season.
In this case, however, I would say that the meaning of the Cancer Ingress will be swallowed by the meaning of the Solar Eclipse that will be taking place nine hours later.
The other major feature found in this chart that will not be in the Lunar Eclipse chart is that the Moon is in an exact square with Mars. Mars was heavily involved in the chart of the Lunar Eclipse two weeks ago.
For more information, see:
The fact that this aspect is seen in the Ingress chart but will not be a major part of the Eclipse chart could indicate that the current movement will be swallowed up by something new. On the other hand, Mercury is retrograde in Cancer. The protests began on the same day that Mercury entered Cancer.
To me, this suggests that there will not be a completely new event that will happen. Instead, there will be a new twist that will change the focus.
With that, let us move on to the Solar Eclipse of June 21, 2020.
Solar Eclipse of June 21, 2020
Eclipses do not happen alone, and each eclipse is part of a season. Every eclipse season will have at least two eclipses. Some of them will have three. Each eclipse is also part of a family of eclipses known as a Saros Series.
For more information about Eclipse Seasons and Saros Series, see:
Eclipse Seasons and Saros Cycles, The Solar Eclipse of August 11, 2018
The Saros Series of this Eclipse is Saros 137, and I will discuss that in more detail later in this article.
Eclipse Season and Visibility
In this Eclipse Season, this Solar Eclipse is the 2nd of three eclipses. The first was a Lunar Eclipse on June 5, 2020, which was much older and weaker, and the third will be another Lunar Eclipse on July 4-5, 2020.
The first Lunar Eclipse was visible in the Eastern Hemisphere and was not visible in the United States. This Solar Eclipse will be visible in most of Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa.
See visibility map below:
This Solar Eclipse will not be visible in the United States.
The last Lunar Eclipse will be visible in the United States, and July 4 is a ritual day for this country.
This visibility pattern is a bit of a puzzle when compared to recent current events. The timing of the Black Lives Matter protests coincides with the beginning of this Eclipse Season, but the visibility pattern suggests that the first and second eclipses are related to something else, outside of the U.S.
One could argue that the third eclipse that will be visible in the U.S. is the focal point, but usually, when there are three eclipses, the focal point is usually the middle eclipse. This suggests that whatever is coming will be coming from one or more of the countries that are in the path of this Solar Eclipse.
Chart of the Solar Eclipse
This chart is very similar to the chart for the Cancer Ingress. The Eclipse itself will occur at 0° 21′ of Cancer. This is the exact degree that Mercury was in when the protests in the U.S. began, and Mercury is still in Cancer.
The heavy emphasis on Cancer can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can lead to more compassion. On the other hand, it can lead to more anger and bitterness.
For more information about Cancer, see below:
As discussed earlier, Mercury is retrograde. Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn are also retrograde. The only non-Luminary Traditional planet that is going direct is Mars. The literal meaning of this is anger over the past. Mars is also at the South bending of the Nodes, indicating there is an excess of anger that needs to be released.
Mars is in Pisces pulling away from Neptune, indicating that at the moment of the eclipse the anger is diffuse and not well defined. It is moving forward though, and it will soon become clear and focused. Mars will go into Aries on June 27, 2020, and will stay in this sign until January of 2021.
Jupiter is less than a degree away from Pluto in Capricorn, and Pluto is also retrograde. The second conjunction between these planets will be exact on June 20, 2020.
This is not a good sign with respect to the pandemic. Covid-19 came on to the world stage almost to the day of the Saturn/Pluto conjunction on January 12, 2020, which was preserved in the Lunar Eclipse of January 10, 2020. The first conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto occurred on April 4, 2020, which is when the disease started to spread quickly outside of the first few countries that were impacted.
It is very likely that we will see another worldwide spike in cases of Covid-19.
Saturn is retrograde, but still in Aquarius. This planet will be returning to Capricorn on July 1. This suggests that many countries will try to reinstitute lockdowns to control the spread. On the other hand, Mars in Aries indicates the strong potential for resistance to any such lockdowns.
Solar Saros Series 137
As mentioned above, each Eclipse is also part of a larger family of eclipses known as a Saros Series. A Saros Series is a set of similar eclipses that occur approximately 18 years apart. Each series has a lifecycle of 1,226 to 1,550 years.
Solar Saros Series start at one Pole and end at the other Pole. They peak into Total Eclipses in the middle of their life cycle. They start their life cycles paired with an older Lunar Saros Series. In the middle of their life cycle, a new Lunar Eclipse Saros Series begins, and then they will be a part of a trio until the older Lunar Series dies.
Solar Saros Series 137 was born on May 25, 1389. At that time, Lunar Saros 111 was at the height of its power. This is the series that the Lunar Eclipse of June 5, 2020, belongs to.
Below is the chart for the first Eclipse in this series:
Solar Saros Series 137 was a very early bloomer and started producing Total Eclipses early on. The first Total Solar Eclipse in this series was on August 20, 1533. This was when the series was less than 200 years old. This was 2 weeks after the last Total Lunar Eclipse of Lunar Saros Series 111, which occurred on Aug. 4, 1533. So, in August of 1533, there was both a Total Lunar Eclipse and a Total Solar Eclipse. This is an extremely unusual occurrence.
Earlier that year in England, Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen consort of England. On September 7, 1533, her daughter, who later became Queen Elizabeth I, was born. The Total Lunar Eclipse was visible in England, but the Total Solar Eclipse was not.
The Total Solar Eclipse was visible in Russia, and it was under the influence of this Solar Eclipse that Ivan the Terrible’s mother was able to secure his seat on the throne.
Solar Saros Series 137 continued to produce Total Eclipses until December 6, 1695. During this time, eclipses from this series seemed to be associated with key events that started the English involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade. They also seemed to be involved in the consolidation of power of various rulers, including Emperor Susenyos in Ethiopia.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The Solar Eclipse of June 21, 2020, occurs on a day of ritual significance, and it has a history of involvement in the consolidation of power of leaders and in the Transatlantic slave trade. On the other hand, because it peaked early, it is past its prime with respect to being able to produce Total Eclipses.
It is visible in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and East Africa.
This Eclipse series does not seem to be involved in plagues or pandemics, and it is not visible in the United States. For these reasons, I do not think it will relate to either the pandemic or the Black Lives Matter protests. Instead, I think it will relate to something going on in one or more of the countries in its path of visibility.
That being said, there will be transits that indicate that the pandemic is far from over, and the general atmosphere is likely to get even more tense than it already is.
Even so, it is important to remember that many generations have faced tumultuous times and have survived. We are headed for a new era, and it is necessary for old structures to fall in order to clear the way.
Below are some recommendations for getting through this time:
- As always, if you are in the path of the Solar Eclipse, do your very best to stay out of its light. Stay inside if you can, and close your curtains or shades.
- This is a time of change. The more you are willing to let go of the old and comfortable and embrace the new and unfamiliar, the easier things will be.
- Eclipses can be a time of repentance. Look within yourself and be willing to change that which is not of the Light. You may feel guilt and shame in the process. Don’t run away from these feelings, but don’t wallow in them either. You cannot change the past, but you can make the future better.
- Coronavirus is far from over. Continue to take precautions, no matter what your federal, state, or local governments are doing or suggesting. Just because places are opening does not mean that it is safe to go to them.
- Practice gratitude for what you have. If you are reading this article, you have made it through this far. We are almost halfway through this difficult year. Things will get better when it is over.
I will leave you with a passage from The Temple of the Heart, which is the ritual sutra for Rosa Mundi:
Know well your own heart, and the thorns that grow therein; for without that knowledge shall you rarely pass through the temple, Nor shall you cultivate the flowers of the Spirit which alone make life sweet with their fragrance.
For the Spirit is One, and I am the Spirit. And you are the Spirit also, in the innermost temple of your heart.
And She who is the Spirit, My Mother, holds Her hand to you in happiness beyond all knowing and joy beyond expression of all words.
And truly, all sweetness is the far-blown scent of this Sweetness; and all Beauty is the pale and dimmed reflection of this Beauty; and all music but the faint and distant echo of this Music.
And when you think upon this Sweetness, will not your heart grow heavy in the thought of the harsh thorns that hold you from it? Will not your faults lay heavy on your soul that divide you from Perfection? And you that have frowned upon the laughter of My Mother, will that not cause you now to weep?
Let flow your tears, My children, for they are the beginning of joy.
For every tear of true repentance shall dissolve away a thorn, and it shall be as though it had not been.
But deep are the roots of thorns, and beyond your power to destroy them, for they are the roots of Death. Therefore place your trust not in the power of your own hands, and be not raised up with the pride of self-possession, But cast yourself down and give yourselves to Me in quiet humbleness. To be raised up is to be cast down, but to be cast down is to be raised up. For I was cast down into the very depths; and even as the tears of My Mother’s sorrow raised Me up from death, so shall the tears of My suffering deliver you.
Know then your heart and render it to Me; And I will lead you to the innermost temple of your heart, whose form is the form of a rose.
The Temple of the Heart, Authorised Version, verses 10-26, The Gospel of Our Mother God.
The Stars Within Their Courses 