Lunar Eclipse at 22 deg Cancer – Brisbane 5.15am Saturday 11 January, London Friday 10 January 7.21am, New York Friday 10 January 2.21pm.
Most Australian and English children will know the Bear Hunt song and its original book by Michael Rosen, describing an intrepid group of explorers that head out into the “wild” to catch a bear, only to meet obstacle after obstacle. Undeterred, they chant “We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, oh no, we’ve got to go THROUGH it”… and off they head onto the next part of their adventure.
As the almost Full Moon rises in the sky here tonight, it’s heading toward a Lunar eclipse in sensitive Cancer, the Moon’s own sign. Full Moons are often emotional, but this one turns the dial up to HIGH as deep feelings, primal urges and even weariness are drawn out of us. It also brings an intense eclipse season to a close, thankfully, and the end is almost in sight. For now anyway. And like that bear hunt, the only way to move past all the challenges we’ve faced in the last year, the pain, grief, loss, heaviness, is THROUGH that Cancer doorway, which means through our emotions.
When I was first told to “feel the feelings”, I remember screwing up my face, clenching my fists and saying hotly, “BUT I AM!” At the time I was drowning in a sea of burning emotions over a painful relationship, and it wasn’t a new experience. They filled my every waking thought and drove most of my decision making. The pain was so visceral that my body reacted as if I was in physical pain, every cell in my body screaming at me to move away from the source. But when the pain was in my heart, in my soul, where could I run to get away? Yet I tried, oh how I tried. Food, alcohol, other relationships, more; nothing worked, they only delivered a temporary numbness that soon wore off and the pain was back again. On and on it went, until…
Until one day I had a sudden insight into what “feel the feelings” actually meant. I finally saw I couldn’t go over it, or under it, or even around it. Oh no, I had to go THROUGH it! I had to hold my hand to the metaphorical hotplate and feel it all. So in that moment I FINALLY stopped. I lay down on my bed, exhausted from years of running, and just let that ocean of emotion wash over me and the tears flow forth (there may have been sobbing, howling even, I remember my body shaking like a leaf as it all welled up). After what felt like hours, I suddenly realised I wasn’t drowning at all, instead I felt lighter. And the pain stayed away for a day. The next day it came again and I tried the same thing, and it stayed away for longer. Suddenly I had hope!
I wish I could say it was a fast process, but the truth is it took a year. But in that year the pain subsided a little more each time, and the episodes in between grew longer. That year changed my life in so many ways I can barely remember what it was that drove me before. So if you are carrying hurt inside, grief, loss, or just plain exhaustion, perhaps find time to sit down in a quiet place and just feel it. Get to know, look it in the eyes and say hello. Feel the physical sensation of those emotions in your body, and just be with it. Here lies the doorway to your future, beyond this heavy place. I still feel pain, but now I’m not scared of it like before, I embrace like an old friend who I know and trust. My wish is the same for you!
Lunar eclipse tips:
– watch my recent webinar on eclipses
– salt bath (not Epsom) and allow the water to drain out while you are still in the bath
– rest, rest and more rest!
– simple, nourishing foods (think juices, soups or broths) or even fasting as our urge to purge is strong
– reflective journaling, but try the write and burn style ( you can light in a sink or toilet bowl for those in fire ban areas)
– don’t do your usual Full Moon rituals, instead I recommend Kaitlin Coppock’s excellent north node eclipse rituals