pisces New moon / solar eclipse:
becoming spiritual warriors

by Juliana McCarthy

Raymond Pettibon

Raymond Pettibon

February 25, 2017 — Sunday's Pisces New Moon Solar Eclipse is spurring powerful endings and radical new beginnings. We are wrapping up a year-and-a-half-long journey of releasing unhealthy patterns and attachments so we can better take care of ourselves—learning to slow down in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. After all, we are experiencing some deeply frenetic energies, with Uranus and Jupiter are opposing each other, jolting us out of complacency since October. As Mars lines up with Uranus, we could feel our drive and courage ignited, along with a sense of authenticity and purpose. At the same time, we are learning to establish gentle discipline and better boundaries so we don’t burn out from the electric blasts of Uranus.

How can we become healthier—physically and mentally—as we face an unpredictable future? Meditation, exercise, creating healthy boundaries, slowing down, and integrating our minds, hearts, and bodies are all vital actions right now that will help us to become more available to revelatory epiphanies and inspiration that are possible now. We do not have to feel overtaken or beaten down. We can choose to hold our backs upright and relax into our dignity, stay seated as volatile waves knock us into into the next stage of our being, both as individuals and as a collective.

With four planets in Aries, sign of independence and leadership, part of our lesson now is self-reliance—the recognition that liberation begins with ourselves. As Buddhist teacher Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche said recently, we can become self-contained eco-systems, processing our emotions without projecting them onto others—in other words, helping ourselves rather than waiting for a savior. From here, we can expand outward, considering how to help others and society with compassion that blooms from the roots of self-sufficiency. We may begin to ask ourselves: How can we step into our purpose, bringing our gifts to the world for the benefit of all? How can we reorient our lives away from selfish pursuits into goals aligned with the understanding of the Piscean wisdom that we are all connected?

Aries and Pisces are nudging us into spiritual warriorship, teaching us to protect ourselves while holding all beings in unconditional love. We are letting go of shame and forgiving ourselves, then sharing that understanding with others. When we react with anger, or when the people around us project their pain onto us, how can we embrace ourselves and each other, rather than bristling with fear? How can we keep our hearts open without tensing our bodies in anticipation of pain?

May we all strive to embody spiritual warriorship, concerning ourselves with how we can love each other and stay open, embracing all beings, rather than judging and dividing. The energies swirling around us are intense, but they hold all of the keys to spiritual awakening that we need. We only have to relax in our stillness and open further and further to the immensity of love—our true Piscean nature.

Happy Solar Eclipse!

To book a reading with Juliana, write: juliana@etherealculture.com.