Transformative Balance & the Libra-Aries Dragon Portal
Everything about the astrology right now is teaching us to overcome the dualism that we’ve been taught. We can access slowness even when our hearts are racing. We act with courage even when we’re afraid. We can feel strong even while we tremble. Unifying duality is one of the purposes of yoga by integrating the mind, body, and spirit. That integration doesn’t occur through meeting whichever aspect of our being feels the loudest – directing all of our mind, body, and spiritual energy to an aching back or a broken heart or feeling of hopelessness. Instead, it teaches us to meet our aches and pains with breath, with compassion, with openness. It teaches us to use our mind to provide our body the support it needs to welcome in the discomfort that it feels, and our spirit to access freedom and love even in the greatest agitation.
Eclipses disrupt the light of our luminaries exposing where our lives aren’t aligned with our spiritual essence. Every atom in our being was born in the heart of a star – the same star that birthed the Sun, our life source and consciousness; the Moon, our physical body and unconscious mind; and every single planet in our solar system.
On an astronomical level, eclipses happen when the Sun, Moon, and Earth align near the lunar nodes– the points in space where the Moon's orbital path around the Earth intersects with the Sun’s apparent path in the sky. At the lunar nodes, our earthly experience intersects with our cosmic presence. Eclipses often reveal the limits of our conscious perception and stimulate synchronistic events that point to our personal and collective growth and the ways our fates are intertwined as interdependent beings sharing a home on this magnificent planet.
In almost all astrological traditions, the lunar nodes are symbolized by a dragon. The North Node represents the dragon’s head and an increase – where our soul is leading us, where we experience insatiable hunger, and where we are collecting experience that informs the direction of our growth and transformation. The South Node represents a decrease – the cosmic experiences that feed our transformation but that are released within the process and the skills we come into this world with, that become crutches that we need to refine and shed as we outgrow them. It’s between these polarities of future and past that we access our dragon energy, our life force, and our power as creators. As we learn to find balance by anchoring in the fertility of the present, we develop the capacity to integrate the light and shadow elements of karmic knowledge and cosmic expansion, increasing access to our strengths and amplifying the wisdom gained through challenge.
This year, eclipse season occurs near the equinox when the Earth’s magnetic poles are at right angles to the flowing solar wind two times a day, increasing the solar radiation on the Earth’s magnetic field.
What’s even more intense this year is that we’re at the solar maximum which is the height of solar activity. This occurs every 11 years when the Sun’s north and south poles switch positions, flipping its magnetic field and increasing the frequency of geomagnetic storms. Geomagnetic storms result when the strongest classes of solar flares (M-class and X-class) trigger coronal mass ejections or large releases of plasma and magnetic field from the sun, disrupting the Earth’s magnetosphere, and sometimes causing blackouts, auroras, disruption of high-frequency radio transmissions, and make the operation of satellites and spacecraft more unpredictable and possibly unsafe. Because of this, those who safely view the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8th from the path of totality may see coronal mass ejections or “prominences” that appear as twisted, spiral-like structures in the Sun’s atmosphere.
View of an eruptive solar prominence obtained by the Solar Dynamics Observatory on August 31, 2012. Accessed on NASA.gov on March 28, 2024
Some doctors believe these eruptions can affect our cardiovascular and nervous systems in similar ways that the heart seems to “know” things before the brain due to a process called “precognition.” This increases the need for rest and slow time, which is naturally heightened in the last half of the lunar cycle when we move from a full moon to a new moon, and especially heightened when those lunations coincide with an eclipse.
While this is a phenomenal cosmic event that you may want to witness, it’s not the type of energy to set intentions in or do manifestation work. Whether or not you’re viewing the eclipse in its path of totality, this is a time to ground and to resource yourself, co-regulating with practices that provide a felt sense of stability and comfort amidst the discomfort that is almost inevitable during these times.
Although technology has increased our understanding of these cosmic events, the energy points to the myriad subtle influences of our cosmic entanglement beyond human cognition. Even those who aren’t aware of the science behind the eclipses or solar flares will feel the intensity, causing a collective edginess as our subtle sensory perception picks up on these changes without our mind needing to understand. By tuning into the subtle energy and the messages it carries, we start to connect with the energy of the dragon–the energy that pulls us toward our spirit’s calling, consistently expanding, refining, and transforming our skills, strengths, and beliefs in service of our greatest life; our greatest adventure in this embodiment.
Dragons symbolize the eternal cycle of samsara, of death and rebirth. We think we know ourselves and then, one day, just like that, our light is eclipsed, reminding us of the Great Mystery of creation. The dragon represents both the hero and the villain, the monster and princess–at once serpent and sovereign, elegant and brave. It brings us to the edge of our experience, where we meet situations with vengeful violence, angry and afraid while also jealous of its sublime power. The dragon is revealed to us in the battles that we can only win through some miraculous power–the power of presence. Through radical presence we experience there is no separation between us and the object that we fear. This is the dragon, the essence of unconditional love that shows us we cannot conquer without loss, that there is pain in every victory and victory in every wound. To unite with unconditional love, we must allow our hearts to break. We must allow ourselves to be transformed.
The prefix “trans” derives from the Latin root “across” meaning to go beyond or through, into another state or place. Eclipses are quite literally these turning points, occurring on the axis in space curating our orientation towards the cosmos. Eclipses are times when the possibility of transformation is heightened through the gateway of the heart and the unconditional love of our shared lineage with our cosmic mother. Paired with critical turning points of the outer planets and solar frequencies that reconfigure our nervous system in subtle ways, we’re on the precipice of irrevocable change.
Evolutionary Acceleration
In January, Pluto, the farthest planet in our solar system and the principle of power, secrets, mystery and transformation moved into Aquarius. After taking one last dip into Capricorn, come November 19th it will be in Aquarius to stay until March 8, 2043. Neptune, another slow-moving, generational planet representing our dreams, delusions, and the mythology underlying collective meaning is in its final year in Pisces, where it sits with Saturn for the first time in 500 years, representing an acceleration in our dreams (Neptune) coming into form (Saturn). During the beginning of this eclipse season, three of the seven inner planets (Mars, Saturn, and Venus) are transiting Pisces, the final sign of the Zodiac, with Neptune while two inner planets, the Sun and Mercury, transit the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, along with the North Node and the asteroid Chiron and dwarf planet Eris. By the time the Solar Eclipse occurs on April 8, Venus will have shifted into Aries, bringing the universal cosmic love of Pisces into Aries, Mar’s action-oriented domain of courage and initiation.
Pluto represents the edge of our experience, orbiting the Kuiper Belt, a doughnut-shaped realm of icy objects at the outermost limits of our solar system that is thought to have formed before the planets. In this way, Pluto and other planets on the Kuiper Belt slice through the conscious plane, bringing energy from other dimensions into our reality. Neptune is the gateway to the edge, with the Kuiper Belt forming right outside of its orbit.
What’s more, the Total Solar Eclipse Eclipse on April 8th features a very rare exact conjunction between the Sun, Moon, and Chiron at 19 degrees and 24 minutes Aries. Chiron takes approximately 50 years to move through the zodiac, so many of us will never experience astrology quite like this again. This astrology could be seen as preparing Aries for an even more rare event in 2025 when Neptune will shift into Aries, meeting up with Saturn at the cosmic point of creation for the first time in over 2,000 years.
When we access this once-in-a-hundred-lifetimes opportunity to bring to form (Saturn) our dreams (Neptune) of freedom, courage, individuation, and self-expression (Aries), let’s make sure they’re our truest, most radiant dreams. The dreams that ignite our soul and revitalize our essence.
Chart of the planets tropical location for the Aries New Moon Total Solar Eclipse April 8th.
The North Node in Aries and the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8th usher in the transformation that beckons our authority, authenticity, and creative expression not just for our own benefit, but for the benefit of all that lives. This is a time to notice what you hunger for and what gets exposed about the beliefs, thought patterns, situations, and societal constructs that block you from going after it. Aries is the archetype of personal power and boldness. It is the sign of the warrior, cultivating the courage to be unapologetically ourselves, and in doing so, stand against the oppressive forces that do everything in their power to keep us from our own.
The Sun-Moon-Chiron conjunction is also near the dwarf planet Eris, the sister of Mars (the planetary ruler of Aries, traditionally known as the God of War), which makes an exact conjunction with Mercury in retrograde on the day of the Solar Eclipse in Aries. Eris is an edge dweller, existing in the Kuiper Belt. While Mars represents our will and our courage, Eris propels us to take that action even at the risk of chaos and retaliation. Eris is less concerned with strategy and power and more concerned with passion and truth, destroying what stands in the way of our deepest empowerment and shattering paradigms of domination and the real violence that results from systems of oppression and injustice. Eris stays in a sign even longer than Pluto and has been in Aries since 1926, where it will remain there until 2048. However, this Eris-Mercury conjunction is the first since the dwarf-planet’s discovery in 2005 that occurs with the North Node in Aries and certainly the first during an Aries Total Solar Eclipse.
A Portal to Regeneration
This astrology is recalibrating the vital energy of Aries that for too long has been dominated by its shadow of rugged individualism, conquest, and relentless domination. These qualities emerge when Aries is not in its full consciousness expression, where empowerment and self-assurance allow us to engage in relationships with ourselves, each other, and the world around us without losing our sense of sovereignty and individuality. We’re living through times when all of our gifts are needed. The unique medicine you carry is needed for you to thrive as an individual and for all of us to thrive as a collective.
When we are sovereign in our unique gifts, we can respect the sovereignty of others and see the value even in our differences. The truth is, interdependence (Libra) is a fact of our survival (Aries). Signs are in their power when balanced on their axis and fully expressed not at the expense of, but in harmony with their opposite. This sense of belonging is a fundamental human need. Creating it is an art form that our culture hasn’t taught because, quite frankly, our culture is sustained by the disempowerment that arises from a constant threat of exclusion.
Core to the disempowered narrative is the myth of dualism. Cultures of domination and supremacy are constantly manufacturing an “other” to create a false sense of unity. Othering becomes internalized, anticipating rejection and learning to resist, hide, and wage war against the parts of ourselves we feel are to blame for our exclusion. In turn, we subtly wage war against these qualities in each other. All along, the narrative of domination and supremacy is that we do this for the sake of “peace”, because these qualities that are “other” are other than our “peace,” other than our “strength” and “power” and “intelligence” and therefore should be eradicated.
As I mentioned, the Aries Solar Eclipse is conjunct the asteroid Chiron. Chiron is the wounded healer, centaur and dragon-kin; the wisest being in the universe, wiser even than the gods. Chiron represents the eternal wounds that each of us carries to continuously initiate us healers, teaching us to be open to and work with the inevitable pains and challenges of aliveness. Transiting Chiron is also a single degree away from where it was when the U.S. Declaration Papers were signed, meaning we’re in the midst of the United States’ Chiron Return, where it’s grappling with its own eternal wound–its supremacy complex.
Teaching us that we don’t need to be all-powerful and painless to exist and hold value, this eclipse puts us head to head with our indoctrinated tendencies towards competition, domination, and conquest. This eclipse energizes our process of individuation and our capacity to face our shadow, reckoning with the ways we’re trained to turn away from and disbelieve in our own light. It shows us where we need to reclaim our power and the resistance that’s required when domination and supremacy culture have conditioned these very tendencies of oppression within us. This eclipse shows us how the friction of resistance and conflict can be portals to our divine right as creators. It seeds a vision for expansion, where we can experience the simultaneity of individuality and belonging, evoking awe at the reality of our interdependence.
As inspiring as it sounds, we are still far from that vision. Close to Eris, this eclipse may expose anger or righteous rage at the ways these systems of domination (like capitalism) limit your ability to share your gifts and your light. It might evoke the instinct to fight oppressive power structures that undermine our ability to simply be ourselves. Yes, internally we can always access our light. That’s been proven throughout history with the most egregious acts of oppression exposing the unwavering tenacity of the human spirit. While a beautiful and necessary place to begin, these historic and ongoing movements of resistance also highlight why it is necessary to secure the right to self-expression socially and collectively. Our light isn’t meant to only radiate when we’re alone or in the few hours we get to ourselves after working our lives away, most of us in jobs that don’t care whether we live or if we die.
Our light is a core part of the energetic balance of life on this planet. The paradigm shift that’s accelerating is about reclaiming our Aries fire consciously so we can withstand the chaos of conflict and undergo the necessary transformation to reinstate balance.
The more we can rest and spend time in nature, silence, and stillness, the greater our awareness will be around these subtle changes in our being and their meaning. Pay attention to your sensations, instincts, yearnings, and gut reactions. And be patient. The lessons may not be clear until the eclipse portal officially closes when the Sun enters Taurus on April 19th. Until then…
May you access the courage of the dragon in whatever these eclipses hold for you. May you trust in your hearts knowing and fearlessly embrace the transformation it beckons.
Lots of love,
Nico
