TWH – Eclipse-mania is now at a fever pitch in North America, and like many Witches and Pagans across the continent, we’re participating. We rounded up some comments from Witches and Pagans on thoughts about the eclipse and any spiritual or magickal meaning they wanted to share.
But first: tomorrow is the Great North American Eclipse of 2024, which will bring about complete darkness as the moon aligns with the sun. The Moon’s shadow will race across North America for about 45 minutes in a swath that will stretch from central Mexico through the central United States and into the Canadian Maritimes. The shadow will be about 150 miles wide, and totality – that is, total darkness in the daytime – will last at each location for about four minutes.
The weather is looking a little sketchy in some places, but it would be a missed opportunity on our part not to address safety considerations before magickal thoughts.
Looking at an eclipse with the naked eye, but especially with a lens augmenting the sunlight, can be dangerous to your eyesight.
NASA underscores the point:
It is never safe to look directly at a partially or uneclipsed Sun without proper eye protection. Only during the brief moments of totality during a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the Sun, can you look directly at a solar eclipse without eye protection.
Hopefully you got some approved eclipse glasses in time!
And now for some magick…
2017 solar eclipse as seen from Weiser, Idaho [Wikimedia Commons CC-SA 4.0, author “Zombiepedia.”
Clio Ajana, columnist at The Wild Hunt
Clio Ajana
The total solar eclipse on Monday signals new beginnings. Many will travel to experience the brief window of near complete darkness – the stillness, the brief sense of community with others sharing the experience. For those who are not able to travel to the “all-American” path of totality which spans 13 states, there are plenty of opportunities to stream the experience online.
Some couples are taking advantage of the rare moment to walk down the aisle at the height of the eclipse. Couples who married during the last prominent total solar eclipse in the United States on August 21, 2017, recall the unique nature of their ceremonies as the next total solar eclipse approaches in April. One couple got engaged during the last eclipse and now will marry under another.
Why the fuss over an event that happens on a regular basis?
Perhaps because it is happening in so many backyards that are easily accessible to a large population of people. The previous total solar eclipse in Leo, also called the “Great American Eclipse”, was a cultural moment filled with a sense of urgency to fly or drive to the nearest open air site along the path of totality to revel in the full experience. One of many underlying choices was to choose empowerment of others or overpowering them. My supervisor at the time was disappointed that he could not join his partner in a remote area of Wyoming to see the full effect from a wide open field courtesy of a rancher friend. Instead, he had to be comforted by the small partial view that occurred since the day was cloudy…
Eclipses are harbingers of change. Perhaps the change is not immediate, but it is going to happen. Like so many events, we may not realize the importance of such change until we glance backwards. We are in a period of embracing conflict, truth, freedom, and the painful experience of being placed as “other.”
(Editor’s note: You can read more of Clio’s thoughts on the eclipse in yesterday’s column!)
Belladonna LaVeau, Matriarch of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, Hierophant of Demeter, and Dean Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary
Belladonna LaVeau, Matriarch of the Mother Church of the ATC
Eclipses reveal that which has been hidden from us.
This eclipse in Aries reminds us that one of the things we hide from ourselves is ourselves. Too often we give of ourselves to the point that we forget our own needs. This eclipse has the potential to lift the veil over our eyes, and allow us to see where we are not honoring the primary person in our lives: ourselves.
Are you letting other’s needs eclipse your own? This is when you’ll see it. When was the last time you told yourself “I love you”? You above all others deserve your love. Now is the opportunity to recognize and prioritize yourself.
Diotima Mantineia, author, Witch, and professional astrologer at Urania’s Well
Diotima Mantineia of Urania’s Well
Eclipses have been seen as harbingers of change for millennia, particularly changes in leadership. In our current era, leaders include not only those in government, but also business leaders, celebrities, and other influencers. The April 8th eclipse is particularly powerful, and we’ll undoubtedly see it playing out dramatically in the news over the next few weeks.
But the rest of us are not simply spectators. The planetary patterns affect us all, and this eclipse, falling in Aries, exactly conjunct Chiron, and tied in with both Mars-Saturn and Jupiter-Uranus approaching conjunctions, calls for taking action within our personal spheres of influence to help direct the changes and facilitate healing to whatever extent we can.
Aries is a sign of action and new beginnings, so consider where you’ve been procrastinating, and where in your life you’d like to clear the decks and start over. Then get to work. Don’t give into fear, or you’ll miss out on the remarkable opportunities and insights that are built into this eclipse chart. If you gather your courage and engage with whatever life brings your way with strength and determination, you can make huge strides not only in your personal and spiritual growth, but in relationships, health, and material circumstances.
The reverberations of this chart will be in play for some months to come, but the month ahead is particularly fertile ground for change. Your focused attention and intention will be key to navigating it successfully.
Here are some important things to know about eclipses from an astrological perspective.
There are at least four and sometimes up to seven eclipses every year.
Astrologers judge the effects of a total solar eclipse by several parameters:
- How close the eclipse is to the Moon’s nodes.
- How long the eclipse lasts
- The sign of the eclipse
- Lord (ruling planet) of the eclipse and its condition
- Close conjunctions with other planets
- Close conjunctions with the natal planets or points of a country or important person
- The path of totality will be more likely to be affected
Star Bustamonte, Witch at House of Black Cat Magic, Co. and Sr. Correspondent at The Wild Hunt
Star Bustamonte
On a spiritual level, the sun being completely eclipsed by the moon provides a rare opportunity to examine what normally resides in shadow. It offers being able to both become aware of and work with energies that are similar to those present during twilight, but that can be easier to perceive.
The impacts of a major eclipse can be transformative and have lasting effects. The upcoming eclipse is a perfect time for looking to see that which has been hidden or obscured and perhaps previously dismissed. Coupled with Mercury retrograde, it can be a powerful tool for self-development and re-evaluation for moving forward on one’s spiritual journey and beyond.
Placing jars of water out during the eclipse can be a great way to capture some of the energy of the eclipse to use in the days, weeks, and months following for continued spiritual work and in a variety of magical practices.
Wendy Mata Houseman, Bruja Curandera by Lineage, Initiated Shaman, and owner of Bruja Power Botanica
Wendy Mata Houseman
The moment of darkness in the upcoming Solar Eclipse allows us to release all that we no longer need to carry.
Think of it as a quantum vacuum.
Whether it is fears, traumas, unfulfilled expectations, or the old stories we have told ourselves.
What is one thing that, if you let it go, it would significantly impact your life?
On April 8th, when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, Imagine, feel, sense, and visualize that you are expelling all that you no longer need from your energy centers.
Imagine that you pull it out of your body and send it to the quantum vacuum, the darkness, to be transmuted and disintegrated from your identity.
Next, take some time to determine what should fill the space you have created.
What should be the new self?
What should be your latest story?
Give yourself permission to push the reset button and begin walking a path where you get to really shine your beautiful inner light.
Debra Burris, Witch, astrophysicist and author of Weather Magick (coincidentally available in paperback on April 8)
Dr. Debra Burris
“I would like to encourage people not to try to photograph the eclipse or video it with their phone just experience it. Just be there. Don’t look at it through a lens. Look up. Soak it up.”
Burris had much more to add. She and Wendy Mata Houseman shared a link with TWH about an eclipse class they did together. The class is available on Spotify: “Reclaiming the Bruja Power- Eclipse Magic” by Debra Burris, PhD.
Byron Ballard, teacher, folklorist, writer; senior priestess and co-founder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple and the Coalition of Earth Religions/CERES; owner of My Village Witch
Byron Ballard
The moon blots out the sun.
All of us will experience the coming eclipse, whether we are in the path of totality or not. Symbolically it is a moment where the lunar overshadows the solar—the flexible, mysterious Moon stops the harsh and permanent glare from our near star.
Magically speaking, an eclipse is an opportunity to both hide something and reveal something.
As the Moon blots out the light from the Sun, consider what secrets you choose to remain hidden. What can the darkness help you to obscure or protect?
As the Sun is revealed, what do you choose to be viewed in that piercing light? Misdeeds of the powerful? Deceit?
Manny Tejeda y Moreno, Editor-in-Chief at The Wild Hunt
Manny Tejeda y Morena
I take a different tack on eclipses. I see them as reminding us of the human potential in nature. In our past, eclipses were events that had no explanation. Our oldest ancestors saw them as incomprehensible and even terrifying events. Among them are ancient quotes suggesting the sun had been devoured.
As we began to understand mathematics and the world around us, we began to develop the tools to understand eclipses. The Indigenous peoples in North America started to unravel the mystery and began even predicting eclipses.
Eclipses have helped us understand our world. They have even helped solidify our understanding of Einstein’s theory of General Relativity.
The four minutes of totality are a reminder of how dependent we are on the light and how we can use our knowledge to overcome the darkness. They remind us that each of us is enough and how collectively we piece together the mysteries around us.
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