On Meaningful Sacrifice
South Node Lunar Eclipse in Virgo
What’s here:
Thoughts on the eclipses
Invitation to free webinar
Readings & Elections re-opening in April
On Meaningful Sacrifice: South Node Eclipse in Virgo
For many of us this eclipse season, the meaning of sacrifice is changing. As the Moon turned blood-red in Virgo, a sign of service and sacred order, we may have begun to see sacrifice in a different light.
A sacrifice without intention and purpose is just an emptying, a void. What may you have been a-voiding? Eclipses disrupt. Worn out habits can be broken as old emotional flows are interrupted. Old paradigms and practices offer themselves up to the purging fire.
Sacrifices, made intentionally, express love. We give something up for a purpose. Lined with wise offerings, the altar hums its divine music. Light rejoices. Intention sings.
This lunar eclipse is guided by Mercury as it stations retrograde in Aries. The motion-reversal of the eclipse ruler suggests Virgoan values being called into question, re-balanced on the scales:
Are you still devoted to the people, places, and things you once were?
Are you still devoted to yourself?
What/whom can you fix, and what/whom can you not fix?
What sacrifices have you been making that aren’t working anymore?
What sacrifices might you need to make for yourself?
Where do you need to reestablish intentionality in your life?
As this is a South Node eclipse, we can accept the invitation to let go of old ways of being, doing, and even loving.
Enter Venus. Mercury, ruler of the eclipse, is conjoining Venus retrograde. The messenger planet helps us think and talk about the themes of the other planets it touches. With Venus retrograde together with Mercury in Aries, we can anticipate intense conversations or perhaps silent ruminations on the sphere of values, agreements, and relationships. With it being in Aries, we may be asking ourselves the question, "What’s in it for me?”
Selflessness and love are not the same thing.
Aries is an impulsive sign. Research on the psychology of sacrifice suggests that impulsive people are actually more inclined to make sacrifices for their partners, when compared with more self-controlled types (read more). With the inner planets retrograding in Aries, impulses are paused for more careful consideration. If sacrifices have been feeling aimless, this is a chance to redefine their purpose—or to shift the expectations around them.
The word sacrifice takes root in the Latin sacrificium, which also gives us “sacred.” Sacrifices are sacred. They declare sacredness, ward evil, cleanse. But these warding and cleansing powers are rooted in intentional connection with a divinity and its purifying light. If you feel drained by a sacrifice you keep making, take a deeper look. You may be tangling with demons.
It is easy to lose track of the intentionality in our sacrifice. If we remember our intention, we empower our choices. Simple.
Sacrifices are always relational, but they don’t have to be interpersonal. They can be personal, or collective. For instance, we can choose greater reciprocity with the earth by altering our habits, or meditating with her and giving thanks and making commitments. We can choose to make different financial choices — not eating out or buying coffee or using credit cards, for instance. Sacrifices are practical tools for manifesting the future we want and deserve. They declare that we do have the power, and we are worthy. But if we’re unwilling to give something up, can we truly claim to be committed to change?
Changes in our sacrifices express changes in our values. Sometimes our values change first, but the sacrifices need to catch up. An eclipse is a quickening that follows from an interruption. What is this eclipse cycle interrupting? What channels are ready to course with new flows? What are you putting on the altar of your life?
Myth, Math, and Magic in Ancient Astrology
Next Sunday, I’m giving a free talk for the Nightlight Astrology speaker series.
I will be talking about Ancient Greek religious ideas and how they inform the structure of Hellenistic astrology. In particular, I’ll be exploring Orphic mythology and Pythagorean number mysticism as they manifest through the Planetary Joy Scheme, as well as the Exaltations and Thema Mundi.
This talk is free but you have to register! Here is the link to do that: REGISTER
Readings Re-Opening
After a very busy hiatus for teaching and research, my books are re-opening to new clients again in April.
The next few months are a major astrological threshold, with several outer planets introducing new energies and questions in our lives. If you have been considering a reading, now is a rich time to gain perspective. Attunement Sessions
For now,
Drew
Exactly the words I needed this eclipse cycle. Thanks Drew!