Spiritual Significance of the Solar Eclipse

A Solar Eclipse occurs across the entire US for the first time since 1918. I've received many inquiries about the Eclipse asking about its spiritual or esoteric significance. This eclipse is getting lots of publicity.  Each person reading this newsletter can Google the eclipse and come up with their own conclusions.  For those who really want to understand what's happening on deeper levels read on.  What I've written is based on my reflections of why this is such a major event and why we not only need to prepare for it, but determine how each will personally participate in it. 

PLANETARY INFLUENCES

As a background, ancient civilizations used Cosmology, Astronomy and Astrology to teach how planets affect life on earth.  All life including humans evolved from the soup of gases and molecules of the stars.  Hindu teachings say the orbits of stars and planets act as a 'cosmic clock' timing events that affect human life. History records many events affected by comets and eclipses.  That's why we pay attention to those occurring within our field of view, like this Eclipse.

PATH OF THE ECLIPSE - TOTALITY

The moon will pass between the earth and the sun on August 21, 2017. The TOTAL Eclipse will be seen at 9 am in Oregon. It ends in South Carolina at 4 pm.  It will be visible in SW Florida as a PARTIAL eclipse (74% of it visible) starting at 1:18 pm with MAX viewing at 2:50 pm. It ends at 4 pm.  DO NOT LOOK AT THE ECLIPSE WITHOUT GLASSES.

CONSIDER - The path of the Eclipse - light and darkness - starts in the liberal state of Oregon and ends in the conservative state of South Carolina.  Both locations begin with sunlight, then pause for 2 minutes and 40 seconds of darkness, before the sun's light returns.  I believe we are not immune to planetary cycles and are in fact reflective of them.  Eclipses don't happen in a vacuum but build up in energy to the actual event.  My symbolic interpretation relative to the Eclipse is that the recent events in Charlottesville brought hatred and darkness clearly onto the national stage even as others held a vigil of light  against it.

NUMEROLOGY OF THE ECLIPSE

Albert Einstein developed the Theory of Relativity, but in order to prove it, he needed an Eclipse.  The 1919 Eclipse proved his point that "Space and time are interwoven into a single continuum."  Most numerologists would take the number  1919 and total it to 20 which is the number for Duality. It would be more accurate, but I "saw" a different number.  I took 19 by itself and "saw" the 1 as the beginning and 9 as the end.  Then seeing it occur twice doubled the numerological message of alpha and omega - beginning and end.  It impressed that "two sides" must come together as one or it will be the end.

This Eclipse occurs in 2017 - another 1 year or new beginning.  The date is 08/21. Added together it's an 11 year.  11 has spiritual significance.  It is the number of Revelation & Inspiration from a Higher Plane.  It is "Brotherly Love" on a grander stage.  11 is the Spiritual Messenger.  So my interpretation is this Eclipse has great magnetism associated with it.

SOLAR - LUNAR ENERGIES

The Sun and Moon radiate different energies.  The Sun affects the Masculine Right side and is extroverted or outgoing.  The Moon affects the Feminine Left side and is
Introverted and receptive.  These energies will interact suddenly, starting and stopping in a shortened period of time.  Because of that, noticeable changes will be felt.  The influx of Solar masculine energy will be halted as the Lunar feminine energy holds sway.  Silence and stillness will result for those few minutes like a holding of the breath.  This will be like Cosmic Pranayama.

This section is the most esoteric of the teachings on the Eclipse.  12th Century Mystic Ibn Arabi said "the Moon is under the governance of Venus - the planetary symbol of Love." He said "The moon is a vehicle for spiritual revelation and it relates to the transformation of Primordial Sound.  The 28 sacred sounds that begin with HU control the Lunar Cycles."  This is a study by itself.  Retreaters should dig out their books on HU to understand its deeper meaning.  But there's an inherent message that the Moon is under the governance of Venus, the planet of Love.

As a Solar Eclipse pulls consciousness inward our personal spiritual practices are magnified.  It's an auspicious time to reflect on changes we wish to bring into our work and make a commitment to them.  There's an enhanced awareness of alternate dimensions of time and space.  Suffice to say, preparation for the darkness requires planning.  Will it be a time of reflection or simply "watching the eclipse."  What happens when the sun goes dark?  How will you respond?  As the sun goes dark, there will never be a more powerful opportunity to "seed an intention."  That intention will return even greater benefit as the sun's light accepts it.  

As Ibn Irabi said about sound and the lunar cycle, you might consider chants.  Sound will change atmosphere and environment.  So consider a meditation like the Medicine Buddha.  If the weather is overcast and you're unable to be outside, the effects are still upon you.  You can also do your work while NASA streams it live.

OUR ROLES

We are not scheduling any beach or ceremonial event associated with this Eclipse. Instead, we're doing our own spiritual practices in a silent Retreat.  In silence, in the dark Moon, within the containment of sound, great things can be seeded and will unfold. We look forward to hearing about yours.

THE BLUE RAY

The Blue Ray

I first learned about the Medicine Buddha when a Buddhist friend from California did a prayer meditation for my mother who was very ill. She said the Medicine Buddha is an enlightened
being known as the healer of physical and mental illness. He is depicted seated, wearing the three robes of a Buddhist monk, holding a blue-colored jar of medicine nectar in his left hand with the right hand resting on his right knee. He holds the stem of the Myrobalan plant which is considered an exceptional universal healing plant. A lapis lazuli blue aura surrounds him.

In the years that followed, my knowledge of the Medicine Buddha remained subtle and uninformed. But apparently that prayer she invoked for my mother was destined to sow seeds that would begin to emerge a few years later when my brother-in-law went to Nepal and brought me a beautiful Life of Buddha Thangka. It had all the aspects of Buddha, including the Medicine Buddha, painted on it. Soon after the painting was hung over our altar the Medicine Buddha began to make its presence known.

One morning in meditation two figures appeared on either side of the Medicine Buddha. The one on the left identified herself as the Bodhisattva Chandra, Goddess of the Moon. The one on the right identified herself as the Bodhisattva Surya, Goddess of the Sun. Both of them appeared in a sea of blue color. In the scene were shades of the most extraordinary clear blues with streams and pure rays of blue everywhere. I wrote down the meditation with plans to share it with our local women's circle, which I did in 2014.


Fast forward two years later. The local Buddhist Center invited the community to a Medicine Buddha Empowerment. An empowerment is like an initiation. It's a ceremonial ritual handed down in an unbroken lineage for thousands of years. It consists of prayers, blessings, a guided meditation, and an initiation into practices associated with a specific aspect of the Buddha.

Walking into the center my eyes fixed on a poster of the Medicine Buddha. Normally the Medicine Buddha, portrayed in blue, sits serenely alone. But this one was different. What caught my attention were the two deities on either side of the Buddha - the Goddess of the Moon and the Goddess of the Sun. I recalled the meditation from several years earlier as the bell rang for the ceremony.

An empowerment is a very singular and purposeful experience. No two are alike. After a series of teachings and chants the meditation guiding the empowerment began. In the stillness, the visuals that were called in took over my being. I became immersed inside a Blue Ray of light. Blue filled every cell in my body. I had no consciousness of anything but The Blue Ray. I felt blue, saw blue, and experienced blue. There was a notable collapsing of the physical entity into this absorption by The Blue Ray. It was like experiencing blocks slowly falling away until nothing but a Blue Ray remained. In that state, I was submerged into a vast healing space that was timelessly held by the being known as the Medicine Buddha. I had become the Blue Ray.

Since the empowerment the effects of the Blue Ray continue. When needed for healing, it's
summoned as though it never left. A cold, accompanied by 2 weeks of coughing, caused the muscles around my ribs to become painfully inflamed so I decided to visit my local physician. On a scale of 1-10, the pain was a 10. Before going to the doctor I summoned the Medicine Buddha in meditation. An hour after meditation I went to the doctor. When asked the level of pain, I said a 6. The doctor prescribed muscle relaxants and an anti-inflammatory medication. By the time I got home the pain was a 2. I filled NO prescriptions. Over the course of 6 hours, a severe pain in the ribs that had been with me for two weeks, disappeared completely in the Blue Ray of healing.

Lama Tashi Namgyal said, "If one meditates on the Medicine Buddha, one will eventually attain enlightenment, but in the meantime one will experience an increase in healing powers both for oneself and others and a decrease in physical and mental illness and suffering." That is the force of the Medicine Buddha and the power of The Blue Ray!

                                                                                                 Jo Mooy - June 2016