This is the companion Eclipse to the recent October 25th Solar Eclipse.  It is the 2nd and final Lunar Eclipse in 2022 which is linked to and is a fruition of the May 16th Lunar Eclipse, the end of a 6 month cleansing leading to the opportunity for a profound purging and releasing of all that is preventing us from living fully in alignment with our talents, gifts and self-worth. While the archetype of Taurus is commonly described as money/income/self-sufficiency, the true potential of Taurus is the illumination of the Third Eye, of awakening, On May 16th, the Lunar Eclipse occurred on the great festival of Wesak, the festival of the enlightenment of the Buddha. It is helpful to expand our reflection to November 9th 2003 when this Eclipse last visited us – where were we in 2003, what were we doing, feeling, thinking? How far have we come, how much have we grown, who have we become since that 2003 Lunar Eclipse? The Lunar Eclipse of November 8th 1984 is the Taurus Eclipse that preceded the 2003 Eclipse is another stepping stone on he path to who we are today; also a ripe time to examine in our lives.

A Lunar Eclipse is a highlighted, super-powerful Full Moon. At each monthly full moon, the sun and the moon are in opposition to one another. Because the moon has no light of its own, it reflects the light of the sun; when the full moon is also a Lunar Eclipse it is a super-charged emotional clearing, cleansing, purging bringing our own emotions, our historical emotional patterns and the emotional reflections of the others in our lives (especially partners) to our awareness in order to heal and awaken. This deeply emotional time is one to listen to our feelings, to be in quiet reflection with our feelings/feeling patterns, to be willing to share any needed conversation or questions with the meaningful people in our lives. Oppositions remind us of the healing as well as the triggering power of partnership; the necessity of balance, harmony, the joy of both give and take in life/in relationships. This is a time to face, release ever more deeply any obstacles, resistance, fear, suspicion, anger, or wounds that prevent or limit our relationships. 

The sign of Taurus is the time of the flowering of Spring each year which was once celebrated at the festival of Beltane, the start of summer. Ceremonies centered around the fertility of the season, the promise of crops, the beauty of spring flowers, lighting bonfires, and feasting. At the Fall festival of Samhain in Scorpio the death of spring/summer yields the harvest, the beginning of winter. Beltane is traditionally May 1st or near that date while Samhain is November 1st or near that date. When eclipses fall near those dates as they did this year, it is beneficial to create a ceremony to focus our gratitude for all that we have created/received since the Spring, to bless the harvest of our last 6 months, to welcome the dark time of winter with quiet, reflective retreat – to feel the sacred flow of sowing in the spring and reaping in the fall. What have we sown, what are we reaping now in this November Lunar Eclipse? 

This year’s Total Lunar Eclipse November 8th will be visible from North and Central America, parts of South America, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The next total lunar eclipse will be March 14th 2025. The “blood moon” occurs because the only sunlight reaching the moon during the eclipse passes through the Earth’s atmosphere where dust and clouds cause the moon to appear red. Red energy is associated with action, will, and power yet this is a time for quiet inviting us to consciously examine our relationship with power, the will to power, our use of power and reaction to the use of power in others and in our world. 

November the 8th is a much anticipated, feared, projected on midterm election in which the two sides are in opposition to each other as the sun and moon will be on that day; violence, an unconscious or negative use of power, is anticipated. It is a day, an election most feel intensely is either the beginning or the end of our democracy mirroring the emotional intensity of the total eclipse on which it occurs. In this charged atmosphere it is important to be aware of our own projections, fears and judgements. Taurus which is where the moon will reside on November 8th reminds us of our most cherished values while Scorpio which is where the sun resides on the 8th invites healing and profound surrender to release all that is not in alignment with our values. When we exercise our responsibility as citizens of this country can we be what we wish to see in others.