Spangled in Crescents

 I hope you got to see some part of yesterday’s solar eclipse, even if only on television. It was truly magical!

In our part of northern California, we were able to see 92% of the eclipse. Further north, near Mount Shasta, the eclipse was total. David and I were lucky that our neighbor, John, created a Rube Goldberg camera obscura from 2 lengths of pipe duct taped together and inserted into a cardboard box. The image was surprisingly clear, as you can see, above.

 Most delightful were the myriad silvery-gold crescents that swarmed in the shade of the trees. Apparently, the apertures among the leaves create an infinitude of camera obscurae. The image of the fiery edge of the Sun swam across the ground, wrapped in minnow-like schools around the trunks of trees and flitted across the walls of the house. We took turns having our photos taken with our bodies bathed in the Sun’s signature.

  Another amazing part of the whole experience was the quality of light and the deepening of color. The natural world took on a heightened beauty as greens and blues intensified, shadows deepened and highlights glowed with an other-worldly beauty. The sky became a deep lavender blue, with a velvety texture caused by a visible rain of photons, purple and white-gold. 

 According to an announcement from Harmony Healing House, sent to me by my astrologer friend, Marianne, the amazing Grand Pleiadian Eclipse Alignment happens only once in approximately 26,000 years. This alignment of the Sun, the Moon and the Pleiades also puts us into a direct line to Alcyone, the Central Sun of this part of the galaxy around which our little solar system rotates.

“This is highly charged solar energy and you can infuse your commitment with this solar energy, which represents the masculine. The quality is fiery and explosive and will be fueled by the winds of change. So use it well!” the announcement states. If you happened to miss the event yesterday, be assured that its powerful influence will last for months, so it’s still a good time to set new intentions and to watch for negative thoughts creeping in. You surely wouldn’t want to use this profound energy to create something icky in your life. Instead, use it as a portal to renewal, on all fronts.

 For our part, we spent in entire time in a kind of reverent joy and childlike awe, enjoying the spangling of our bodies in fiery crescents and the ever-moving image in the camera obscura. And given that such an eclipse won’t happen again for another 19 years, by some calculations, or for another 26,000, by others, it’s a good thing we enjoyed it while we could!