Cue the Johnny Cash and shield your eyes, my babies.
A ring of fire annular solar eclipse is opening portals and eating the light of the sun on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Read on to learn more.
What is an eclipse?
An eclipse occurs when a planet passes through the shadow of another planet.
During a solar eclipse, the moon slips between the sun and the earth, obscuring our view of the former. A solar eclipse like the one we will experience on Saturday afternoon can only ever take place on a new moon.
An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon covers the center of the sun, allowing the outer rays to form a “ring of fire” or annulus around the moon.
Ring of fire: where and when
The eclipse will begin at 12:13 p.m. EST, and the ring of fire will be visible to folks and felt by all in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas. Those in the path of annularity will have as much as 90% of the sun blocked by the moon
While those outside the path might not get to see the rare “ring of fire,” many will be able to witness the moon partially obscure the sun. For more information on location, the path of annularity and visible percentages, visit the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Where and When page.
And if you are viewing the eclipse, NASA urges you to wear protective glasses that follow specific filtering guidelines. These lenses, for instance, are sun-tested and geek-approved.
If you’re not in the path of annularity, fear not. NASA will be live streaming the occasion, and we’ll all feel the effects of the eclipse regardless of what percentage of abstraction we witness. The eclipse will end in the U.S. at 1:03 p.m. ET.
Effects of the eclipse
When the sun goes dark, we go deep.
The Earth gets cooler, songbirds cease their singing, and our shadows ask to be seen. We will be rattled, we will be uncomfortable, and we will be all the better for it.
Remember that the dark is a gift that enhances intuition — don’t waste what it brings you.
This eclipse cycle is burning and exists on the Aries/Libra axis. In simple terms, Aries is the self and Libra is the self in relationship, conversation, communion, codependency and conflict. The cycle began forging and forming us in the spring of 2023; it will include a total solar eclipse in April 2024 and conclude in 2025.
Because Libra is the sign of partnership, the detrimental ties that bind, and the old ropes that hold us to a story that repeats but no longer rings true, will beg to be cut.
This is the first eclipse since the karmic, past-life-centric South Node shifted into Libra in July. The South Node relates to who we have been and the patterns, attractions and attachments we’ve accumulated.
Because Libra is the sign of partnership, the detrimental ties that bind — plus the old ropes that hold us to a story that repeats but no longer rings true — will beg to be cut.
Lest we forget that in the Major Arcana of the Tarot, Libra is represented by the Justice card, and that robed regent comes correct with a swift sword. In the light (or darkness) of this eclipse, we can honor the sacred act of discernment and the sure, sharpened blade of decision by choosing something true, choosing something new and cutting loose the dead or deadening, the detrimental and the unjustly dependent.
To best understand how your sign will be affected, look to the house within your birth chart ruled by Libra.
Should I be afraid?
The universe is not a malevolent force. While solar eclipses transpire only and ever on new moons, the approach we take and rituals we resort to are a bit different than the ones we employ during a normal lunar cycle.
It ain’t about intention-setting, seed-planting or menstrual blood-sipping, folks. Nay, we’re dealing with cataclysmic shifts, definitive closings and unexpected and sometimes unwelcome epiphanies.
Remember that there is freedom to be found and relief to be felt in a final ending.
This eclipse commences two days after Mars, planet of action and aggression, enters the fixed waters of Scorpio. Mars is at home there and, as such, on the sacred war path with truth as its aim, and anything short of it is destined to be collateral damage.
Eclipses dip us into the dark and therefore show us the shadow side of the sign in question. As the sign of partnership and people-pleasing, Libra plays nice at its own expense, attempting to appease everyone and in the process satisfying no one — least of all themselves.
Mars and this eclipse hit us hard with the knowledge that obligation obscures true desire, and when we fail to live in honest accordance with what we truly want, the scales of balance tip toward resentment, rage and ruin.
This eclipse season, instead of living like there is no tomorrow, live like there is one. See how that influences what you do, and why you do it.
Sarah Faith Gottesdiener
In terms of this eclipse axis, both Libra and Aries struggle with accountability and conflict resolution.
For Aries, everything is a first, and thus nothing is a fault. Libra evades accountability through self-sacrifice, as placing the emphasis on others excuses them from the burden of ownership.
The polarity of these archetypes serves to show us that conflict is the consequence of relationships and accountability the support beam of resolution.
As author, witch and tarot reader Sarah Faith Gottesdiener writes, “Western culture eschews pondering consequences and responsibility; in part, this is how we got to where we are collectively — a planet on fire, too much smoke in our eyes. True accountability feels like a lost art when we can’t seem to constructively engage in respectful conflict or discomfort. Accountability means bringing values and morals into alignment with your actions. This eclipse season, instead of living like there is no tomorrow, live like there is one. See how that influences what you do, and why you do it.”
The codependent lessons of the Libra archetype
For Libra, the pressure to be what others expect creates the catalyst to defy, an energy we see expressed in the life, times and letters of triple Libra Arthur Rimbaud, a child prodigy turned celebrated/vilified punk-rock poet and queer icon who gave up writing altogether before his 21st birthday.
How apt is it that he would write a book, “A Season In Hell,” when Libra season is synonymous with Persephone’s periodic descent into the underworld? Very.
Rimbaud writes of a similar underworld undertaking in his letter to Paul Demeny,
“The Poet makes himself a seer by a long, gigantic and rational derangement of all the senses. All forms of love, suffering, and madness. He searches himself. He exhausts all poisons in himself and keeps only their quintessences. Unspeakable torture where he needs all his faith, all his super-human strength, where he becomes among all men the great patient, the great criminal, the one accursed — and the supreme Scholar! — Because he reaches the unknown! Since he cultivated his soul, rich already, more than any man! He reaches the unknown, and when, bewildered, he ends by losing the intelligence of his visions, he has seen them. Let him die as he leaps through unheard of and unnamable things: other workers will come; they will begin from the horizons where the other collapsed!”
For Libra, the pressure to be what others expect creates the catalyst to defy.
To me, Rimbaud represents the Libra struggle with can/should and the responsibility of the individual to the individual. Did he collapse on the horizon of the unknown, or did he choose to abandon the drunken boat before it could sink him?
In either case, he decided he would be the version of himself that stood (or staggered) in direct opposition to what others wanted from him.
Libra never struggles to attract or charm, but when it ignores its own impulses, it will eventually rail, rage and revolt against the standard of likability and the image it has established.
The lesson of Libra and of this eclipse is to learn to love the sound of yourself saying, “No,” to jeopardize approval for the sake of authenticity, to risk loneliness rather suffer mediocrity.
Be brave, cut true — and don’t be afraid of the dark.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the star
- The 12 zodiac signs
- What are the astrology houses
- Here’s what each planet represents
- Sun, moon and rising signs: Get to know your Big 3
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.
