It’s a new moon 

And a solar eclipse

A gateway into where you decide you want to go

A moment to reflect on where you’ve been

A shadow shack to take refuge in

Sometimes hiding from the light is a remedy

For the tender heart 

The cosmic mind is fractalizing 

Infinite colors bathing in that space between 

Obscuring and re-entering the world

The moon comes between sun and self

Earth exhales 

Marveling in the magic

Of disappearing light

She says yes to this visit of concealment 

No to the demonizing of this celestial song

Yes to decolonizing bodies and breath

No to the patriarchal, racist view of darkness

Yes to softness that comes through rays of darkness embraced

The last new moon was in Aries, and this one is in Aries again. We usually have one new moon a year in each sign. The second new moon is called a “black moon.”

Aries, as we explored last month, is an initiator. It’s the astrological sign of rebirth, of new beginnings. And so here we are, at another opportunity to start fresh. A bell ringing saying we have another chance to press restart. 

Another chance is an opportunity to initiate with more care, with thoughtfulness, with expanded awareness of the impact that our actions and words have. The tendency of Aries isn’t necessarily to learn from the past, to do things slowly, or to think about the implications of language and deeds. It’s the first sign in the astrological wheel, and so it represents the blank slate. But when it happens a second time in a row, it invites us to recheck, reconsider, and possibly redirect the currents set forth last month. 

It’s another new beginning, and this time, with an eclipse, so there’s blindness to this restart button.

But when there’s blindness, there’s an inner seeing – an eye that looks into the universe, a vision that sees the unconscious, a vista overlooking the abyss – the end and the beginning both. Blindness in mythology is often a representation of seeing what’s beyond, what’s within, what’s present in the unseen realms. 

Listen, I’m not an astrologer, and I don’t come into this exploration from a faith based place. I show up to the archetypes, to the seasons, to the stories, to the invitation into the realm of imagination, and to the wild witchery of whimsical play with cosmos and creativity, with symbols, metaphors, and the possibilities that pulse in us individually and collectively when we allow ourselves to be in this space. 

The stories, the beliefs, the common conversation about eclipses are not flattering. Eclipses are usually seen as omens, bad signs, a dangerous time. But come on! That’s because in ancient times people had no idea what an eclipse was, and when the sun or the moon disappeared behind a shadow without an explanation, humans invented some stories, and not surprisingly they were on the scary side. Rulers and religious leaders realized they could control the people through fear, so eclipses were used to frighten and force. 

Eclipses were to be blamed for anything humans didn’t like. Humans don’t particularly like to take responsibility for things, so why not blame the moon? And if you can’t blame the moon, it must be your mother. Moon and women are closely related, and both moon and woman were demonized by the patriarchy. 

(You can read more about eclipses in The Moon Book by Sarah Faith Gottesdiener. She also talks about it in some episodes on her podcast Moonbeaming).

Maybe an eclipse does have a chaotic energy. I don’t know. Who knows?! None of us really knows! It comes down to our willingness to explore, to question, to doubt, to play, to open up our minds, to challenge the status quo, to challenge our own beliefs, to not get stuck in ideas just because we were told something. 

A lot of astrologers and witches recommend not doing a ritual during an eclipse, because, they say, the energy is too volatile. Is it though? Today more than last weekend? Isn’t it always chaotic? 

How are YOU feeling today? Check in with yourself. What do you need? What is needed of you? Where are you in relationship to your community, the collective, the overculture, the planet? 

The eclipse happens at 9:12pm (PT). For much of the world it’s gonna be April 20th already. It will be visible in Australia and Indonesia. It is a hybrid eclipse – partially partial, annular, and total.

The hybrid part of this event invites us to remember the mutability of life, of thoughts, of feelings, of reality. It reminds us that the stories we tell ourselves can change, that reality is not one dimensional, but a multilayered, plural, ever reshaping itself process. We get to reform ourselves through choice and chance, through the stability that we bring to a volatile reality, through decisions that we make with our free will, and the chaos that we must learn to receive, to live with, to work with, and to ground ourselves within. 

Maybe we can repattern ourselves during this eclipse season. Maybe we can agitate the edges of the reality we live in, tell new stories, redefine old ones, compost some of the limiting beliefs we have, and break down the structures that hold us back from being who we dream to be. 

Aries is the archetype of breakthrough. And so gently, in the fire that it sparks, with the soft darkness of the moon’s shadow passing over the sun, we can melt the hard edges of the constructs that keep us locked, blocked, and stuck, burn down patterns of harm, and usher in a reformulation of ourselves. 

(Amanda Yates Garcia has a beautiful ritual for this eclipse in her Substack newsletter. Go check it out)

We can move through this new moon, dark moon, solar eclipse with patience. 

Not all issues are gonna be resolved. The world doesn’t add up. We are imperfect. The universe is unfinished. So let’s breathe together. We are work in progress. We are art in the making. We are stardust re-becoming. We are quick moments in this infinite ride of time and space, so let’s breathe.

If you wanna breathe together, join me for Beltane Somatic Ceremony for a deep dive into myth, metaphor, mid-Spring, and embodied ritual. All the details are here. Don’t miss out on this powerful, transformative invitation to cultivate receptivity, generate self love, lust for life, and a respark of the passion that you need for your projects, relationships, and self.

Please share this piece with the people in your life who might be into this kind of magic.

So much love,

Hagar