Blood and Fire: Solar Eclipse in Aries and our Wounded Hero, Mars

Lizanne Hanks Author

For many, the upcoming solar eclipse in Aries will signal a powerful new beginning around themes of identity and wounding. But it won't be an easy.

New Beginnings:

Birth is often a brutal and bloody process, as any mother or midwife will tell you. For many, the upcoming solar eclipse in Aries signals a powerful new beginning around themes of identity and wounding. But it won't be an easy birth.

Healing:

Hard on the heels of a Chiron-North-Node conjunction, the Aries eclipse - also conjunct Chiron - may trigger insecurities, fears and self doubt. Chiron in Aries often represents historical wounds around identity: when it didn't feel safe to be oneself; when we were disrespected, dismissed or denigrated for being different; when we were shamed for being "selfish"; or, when an uncomfortable or inappropriate role or identity was foisted upon us (ie, parenting the parent).

This eclipse offers hope that the torn and tender places within us can be healed and transfigured, that a new, more authentic sense of self may emerge; but the delivery may be slow and painful.

The ruler of this eclipse is a weary Mars in Pisces. Mars represents the warrior, but also the hero. Warrior Mars can be rash, aggressive and destructive. He can burn bridges, start fires and inflame tensions.

But Mars-the-hero can also represent courage, passion and valor. Remember, fire purifies; it burns away toxins and pathogens. It cauterizes - sealing and searing wounded flesh to stop bleeding and prevent infection. And it transforms: raw metal into tools, raw ingredients into food and fuel into heat and energy.

Mars and Saturn:

In the final leg of his journey home to Aries, Mars has transformed into a spiritual warrior - battle-worn and wise. He's learned many lessons in his journey through the zodiac. In Pisces, we meet a fully matured Mars, softened by humility and strengthened with compassion. At the time of the eclipse, our Hero Mars is facing one final contest - a confrontation with Saturn.

Saturn is a gatekeeper. He stands at the portal between realms, guarding the secrets and mysteries of otherworldly experience. In Pisces, this is especially true. Saturn often presents us with obstacles and delays. He tests our endurance and commitment.

The biannual conjunction of these two malefic planets often signals the beginning of a challenging new cycle globally (lockdown in 2019, war in 2021 - for example). This time round, our collective challenges are likely to involve fire, water and faith. And because it's tied in with an eclipse, it's likely to signal something momentous.

On a personal level, Mars and Saturn together create a tremendous feeling of pressure. Like the travails of childbirth, we are squeezed and scorched, locked in a life or death struggle we cannot avoid. Once it's started, we have no choice but to see it through.

The old Self must die so the new Self can be born. False identities formed out of fear, trauma and neglect must be burned and transformed so that new life and new identities can emerge.

Birth and Death:

Two images come to mind for this eclipse: first, the floating funeral pyre; second, the birthing bed.

The first represent's a hero's passing, a solemn but sacred act that honours the dead and memorializes a holy rite of passage. The burning corpse launched to sea is a poignant metaphor for the soul's final passage from this life to the next. Beautiful and absolute in its finality.

The second image, the birthing bed, is equally powerful. It involves sickening waves of constriction and release, relentless pressure, and the searing pain of being stretched and torn.

It’s ironic and a little paradoxical that the first image - of death -is accompanied by feelings of peace and tranquillity, while, the second - the image of birth - is emblematic of struggle. We often imagine the reverse, that beginnings are easy and endings difficult. And so it is with this eclipse in Aries. It represents both a beginning and an ending. It represents the old false wounded identity, which must be relinquished and laid to rest as well as the fresh, untarnished, new identity that we must labour to bring forth.

Blessings for a gentle release and a fresh new start.

Peace my friends,

Lizanne

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Categories: : Beginnings and Endings, Aries eclipse, Eclipse Meaning, Blood and Fire, Chiron the Healer, Greek Myth and Astrology, Wounds of Identity, Birth and Death, Spiritual Warrior, Mars the Hero, Warrior Mars, Painful Labour