Astrological Rapids: The Dark Moon and the Solstice New Moon Eclipse

Upper Animas River, Silverton, CO

I have spent a fair amount of time in my life on rivers, specifically whitewater rafting.  In sections of river where the elevation change is more significant, the water flows faster, and we get "rapids".

When we are navigating rapids, everything happens faster, and the force of the current is much more powerful.  During these stretches, we must be more focused, yet still relaxed and calm, to be able to read the current as we go and make the necessary adjustments to maneuver around obstacles.  We also keep a watch on what is directly in front of us, continually checking for rocks in our path we may have missed initially, but also we keeping our eyes downriver, constantly mapping out our "line" - our path forward. 

The line is the pathway that is the fine line of working with the current, and also avoiding obstacles.  We look to harness the power of the current to gain the momentum we need to be able to maneuver the raft.  A raft that does not have forward momentum is almost impossible to move. 

​One of the first things I was ever taught about rowing was that once you have made your assessment and set up and are coming in to a rapid, the worst thing you can do is change your line and try to change your boat position.  Even if that line is better, turning at this point causes loss of momentum, which greatly increases the chances of being completely at the mercy of the current and being taken right into a rock, and danger.  Running whitewater rapids requires working actively with the current to navigate the rapid successfully.  

It is the same principle when working with energetic currents.  

Right now, we are running some astrological rapids.

We are picking up speed and there is a lot happening over a relatively short time period.

We have one eclipse behind us, and two ahead of us, accompanied by several other astrological events in the same time period.  

This week as we approach solstice on Saturday afternoon and then the new moon eclipse in Cancer just after midnight, the best place to put our conscious focus is into honoring the dark moon - the three day period that precedes every new moon.  (For a dark moon in Cancer, the moon-ruled water sign that is associated with emotions, I would suggest anything involving water during the dark moon - soaking in seaweed and salt baths, getting in the ocean, soaking in hot springs, being near any river or body of water, and drinking plenty of water all work.  For more info on working with the dark moon, click here.)

This new moon is a solstice new moon eclipse at zero degrees Cancer - that in and of itself makes it a profoundly powerful reset moment, but adding to that, this new moon eclipse is flanked two weeks prior and two weeks after by full moon eclipses.  We won't see three eclipses in a row like this again until 2029.  Eclipses are like new moons and full moons on steroids.  They are harbingers of significant and lasting change.  They act like portals or thresholds for us.  During full moons the moon, subconscious/shadow/hidden, is illuminated by the sun, light of consciousness, in opposition.  It is an illumination, a revelation, a realization.  Things come to light at full moons.  The same thing happens during full moon eclipses, but the effect is much stronger in our lives.  The solstice new moon eclipse in Cancer, occurring in between two full moon eclipses, is a recipe for 
major things being brought to light and revealed that create a massive paradigm shift which becomes the threshold that we step through into a new beginning.  

But just like river rapids, with these energetic dynamics, we cannot necessarily see the bigger picture while actively navigating.  We always have a better understanding of it looking back on it.

Which brings me back to the importance of tending to what is directly in front of us while simultaneously looking ahead and mapping out our "line".  This is about being flexible, adaptable, and able to respond as we go and course correct as needed.  This is about being in the present moment every moment.  

To read the current now, we look to the moon.  The moon is waning and now entering the dark moon phase.  The dark moon is the lowest energy point of the lunar cycle every month.  It comes i the final days before the moon is new, and after both the illumination of the full moon, and the third quarter square between sun and moon, the choice point or "crisis in consciousness." 

We have had time to assimilate and integrate what has been brought to light during this lunar cycle, and now the focus turns to releasing what no longer serves and resting in preparation to regenerate with the new moon - in this case with the solstice new moon eclipse at zero degrees Cancer, the sign of the archetypal mother - the mother of new moons.