Total Solar Eclipse in Ophiuchus

A total solar eclipse occurred this morning at 11:16 EST, and was visible over Chile, Argentina, and parts of the South Pacific. This eclipse took place within the constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer…the constellation whose name has become infamous among the astrological world. Rejected by many astrologers, due to the controversy of the “13th sign” conundrum. The existence of such a sign throws a major wrench into the elegance of an equally-divided sexagesimal system, and one of the first things I ever learned about astrology was that “the signs are NOT the constellations” and that we must never conflate their meanings. Even on the popular online chart generator and platform, Astro.com, there is an ominous disclaimer if you choose to cast the chart through a sidereal lens. It reads (in red), “please select this option only if you really know what you are doing.” I always found this message odd, as shouldn’t we be able to choose for ourselves how we cast a chart without these types of threatening disclaimers? What, exactly, is so dangerous about conflating the signs with the constellations? One of my astrology teachers tried to persuade me that the stars had nothing to do with the signs…that they are simply the background, devoid of much (if any) significance. Really? Astrology has little to nothing to do with the stars? I didn’t buy it.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading, as I imagine you might have a visceral reaction when I write the word “Ophiuchus.” I used to feel this way—as conflating signs with constellations is taboo number one in a Western tropical world. Thankfully, I encountered people along the way, whose ideas challenged my own biases, and, thus, I kept searching.

Whether or not Ophiuchus is, officially, a sign is not a matter that concerns me. It is a zodiacal constellation—meaning the sun, moon, and planets pass through these stars from our vantage point on Earth. This makes it all the more relevant, astrologically, as the constellations along the ecliptic ARE the origins of the tropical and sidereal signs. Our solar system’s celestial bodies, actually, spend a greater length of time within the stars of Ophiuchus than they do within Scorpio, though their stars share zodiacal (longitudinal) degrees. For example, this eclipse aligns with the alpha star of Ophiuchus—Rasalhague—which is north of the ecliptic. The eclipse also aligns with a star in the stinger of Scorpio—Shaula—which is south of the ecliptic, though the eclipse, itself, is within the constellational boundaries of Ophiuchus. In saying this, I am describing the astronomy that demonstrates how Scorpio and Ophiuchus are octaves of one another. The scorpion is at the base of the standing figure that is the Serpent Bearer, its poison-rich stinger connects to the similarly venomous snake Ophiuchus holds. The idea of transmuting poison into medicine is potent within this constellation pair—for the poison can be the superior medicine at the right dosage.

In the classical Greek world, Ophiuchus was understood as Asclepius, their god of medicine, healing, and prophecy. His symbol is a staff with a snake coiled around it. This is still the symbol used frequently in modern medicine. The World Health Organization, for example, employs this symbol on their official seal. Asclepius was said to utilize the blood from Medusa for healing purposes, and Medusa (whose root “med” is the same root for medicine) is an essential goddess of the serpent mysteries. She was said to have extremely poisonous blood coursing through one side of her body, and extremely healing blood moving through the other…like the twin-serpent, kundalini-Shakti force moving throughout the universe. This is also analagous to our own DNA.

Asclepius was born of a C-section, abruptly cut out of his mother, Koronis’s(!) womb by his father, Apollo. He killed her in this process, and she became the constellation Corvus (the crow), which rides on the back of another serpent constellation named Hydra. Asclepius was raised by the wise centaur, Chiron, who was a master oracle and healer. Chiron taught Asclepius the healing arts, including those involving the metaphysical. Asclepius possessed the talent of resurrecting the dead, and his temple rites were a significant part of the Eleusinian Mysteries—secretive initiation rites that were practiced, uninterrupted, for over 2000 years. Participants would sleep in his temples, for the purpose of having healing, prophetic dreams. Non-venomous snakes slithered among the people, as, likely, they were thought to catalyze the healing.

The serpent has played an essential role in religions, cosmologies, and other forms of spirituality throughout the world. The serpent guarded the Tree of Knowledge in the Old Testament. Esoterically, here, the serpent is tied to wisdom and gnosis (self-knowlege). On a more basic level, the serpent is viewed as the evil devil, although it is through “the fall” that the first humans become self-aware. The devil is, thus, our collective shadow…”leading us into temptation” so that we may integrate the parts of ourselves we’d rather not face. Only through this integration can we, truly, become self-aware. This example is but one of countless other stories of the serpent within our collective experience. It is frequently feared and reviled, as most everything is that becomes sequestered to the shadow. The snake is the transformer, the healer, and attuned to the cycles of death and rebirth that reverberates throughout all of existence.

As I mentioned before, today’s eclipse was aligned to the alpha star of Ophiuchus—Rasalhague. This star’s name, literally, translates to “head of the snake charmer.” This star marks the center of mastery of the Serpent Bearer—the third-eye at his/her/their crown. Only the ones who have mastered the wisdom of the serpent can charm them into obedience. The eclipse also aligned with Shaula in Scorpio—the primary star in the scorpion’s stinger. The stinger stars, as well as those of Ophiuchus, surround what the Mayans call “The Dark Rift”—the gateway to the underworld, and the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. This is where the supermassive black hole resides, consuming all that dares to drift near its unimaginable magnetic pull. Around this gargantuan place of mystery, we (the inhabitants of the Milky Way) all turn.

Regardless of your zodiacal preferences of beliefs, this is a powerful place in the sky. And, today, we had an eclipse take place there—an eclipse, whose eclipse series (all eclipses are part of larger cycles of eclipse families called the Saros Series) was born back in 1624. This original eclipse of this series featured Jupiter and Saturn separating from their exact conjunction in 1623. And, here we are now, on the threshold of another Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, the details of which I will save for another article. This eclipse family is part of a South Node eclipse series, and the South Node (also called the “tail of the dragon”) is thought to be a point connected to the deep, karmic past. The tail of the dragon is a release point—a fiery furnace ready to incinerate that which we no longer need. Thus, there is much to be composted with this eclipse, in order for the new to be born…much like the snake shedding its skin.

There is so much written in the stars, and this is such an incredibly rich time…IF we are willing to be open to these stellar frequencies. The adversarial quality Ophiuchus currently embodies could catalyze a type of awakening, IF we are willing to look and feel and listen to their stars. Ophiuchus holds the serpent (the Serpens constellation), which wears a crown. The crown is the constellation “Corona” Borealis. This constellation contains one of the fifteen Behenian stars—stars utilized in Medieval magic, which are finding a magical resurgence today. This is the star Alphecca, whose name is also “Gnosia.” Again, the gnosis is available to us. It’s shining right down from the stars, which are, simultaneously, beacons of ourselves. Darkness and light are woven together in this dance we call the universe; the twin serpent DNA helixes move and coil and whisper and breathe the codes of our very existence.

Happy eclipsing everyone.