ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE

DECEMBER 14th 2001.

This chart contains a stellium of five bodies in Sagittarius. The Sun and Moon are sextile Uranus, and are exactly on the Mercury Venus midpoint. Venus is conjunct Pluto inconjunct Jupiter. First thoughts on this one are of expansion and awakening. This eclipse is the 45th member of a Saros Series which had its origins on August 13th 1208, when the Saros series began with a partial eclipse. The chart for this moment can be found at the bottom of this page, needless to say it is a most remarkable chart with an emphasis on Leo. The series 'went annular' on 17th March 1569, and it will 'go Total' on 14th April 2200. The Saros cycle will end in the 25th century. The last few eclipses in this series were in Dec. 1983, Nov. 1965, Nov. 1947, Nov 1929 Oct 1911. The next ones are on Boxing day 2019 and in January 2038.

At the moment of maximum eclipse the Sun and Moon rise over Western Australia, are on the MC of North West Canada and are at lower culmination at Moscow. Uranus culminates over New York City where Saturn rises and Venus is setting, Jupiter culminates over Afghanistan, Saturn culminates over Turkey, Uranus sets over the UK. Mars sets over eastern Europe. Saturn and Pluto centre on Japan.

The Eclipse is conjunct the natal Saturn of Yasser Arafat. It is close to a conjunction of the natal Mars of Vladimir Putin.

Astronomical data from:-(http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2001Dec14A.gif)

The last solar eclipse of 2001 is an annular eclipse visible primarily from the western hemisphere . The Moon's antumbral shadow first touches down on Earth at 19:08 UT near the International Date Line some 3000 kilometres northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. Unfortunately, the path of annularity misses the island chain and passes about 500 km to its south. Still, the islands enjoy a deep partial eclipse with a magnitude exceeding 0.8.

Traveling along a southeastern track, the path begins curving northward as it reaches the Equator. Greatest eclipse occurs at 20:51:56 UT just half a degree north of the Equator. The duration of the annular phase will last for 3m53s, but the event takes place in open ocean with no landfall in sight.

As the path swings to the northeast, it finally makes its only major landfall as it quickly crosses the Central American nations of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. is a detailed map showing the path limits, centreline and curves of constant duration through these countries. Mid-annularity occurs along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica at 22:32 UT during the late afternoon. The Sun will stand 11° above the southwestern horizon during an annular phase lasting 3m19s. The corresponding eclipse magnitude and obscuration (fraction of Sun's surface) will be 0.956 and 0.915, respectively. Costa Rica's capital city of San Jose actually lies just inside the southern limit where mid-annularity occurs at 23:33 UT.

Several minutes later, the antumbral shadow leaves Earth's surface at 22:35:53 UT. Over the course of 3 hours and 28 minutes, the Moon's antumbra travels along a path approximately 12,900 kilometres long and covering 0.4% of Earth's surface area.

Partial phases of the eclipse are visible from much of North America as well as northwestern South America.

(http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2001.html)

Chart for the first eclipse in SAROS SERIES 132.

Thoughts on eclipses.

by Michael Harwood

The study of Astrology can begin with a study of eclipses. The significance of eclipses is, in my view, central to the unfolding of the divine plan. The study of the zodiac, the ecliptic reference system, is a study of the personality of God. From this viewpoint all of what we label 'fate' or 'destiny' can be considered to be determined by the circumstances of eclipses, their timing, position, relationship to other eclipses, and their geometric relationship to the rest of the solar system and to the rest of the universe.

During a Solar Eclipse events can be considered to be 'set up'. At the most central point of an eclipse of the Sun' a new 'seed message' is released within the biosphere of the Earth. (A similar but less powerful effect occurs at the moment of Mew Moon.) The meaning and substance of the new message ripples out forward and backwards in time forming shaping and influencing all events and processes at all levels. Everything that occurs at personal, national, and global realities have at their source the astrological seed message which emanated from the divine announcement of solar eclipses.

During an eclipse of the moon fate or karma can be considered to reach a crescendo and a climax. At the central point of a lunar eclipse an all encompassing point of fulfilment of fate is reached. The 'note' sounded at this time pervades all matter and energy and radiates forwards and backwards in time, shaping, unravelling and reravelling, all events and experiences at all levels and in all kingdoms, in nature. (Again a similar and less powerful effect occurs at each full Moon). The divinity of all this phenomena is the central theme in this viewpoint.

The idea that Eclipses influence events in both directions in real time, forwards and backwards, is not new but it is profound. At any time in a human lifetime and in the unfoldinding of the histories of the nations and peoples of the world, we are 'under the influence' of a number of eclipses. The eclipses immediately before us and behind us now, here, today, may have the greatest personal immediate effect. The eclipses closest in time on either side of our our own nativity, can, by employing the astrological ' day for a year' axiom of the 'secondary progression system', be understood to relate to the deeper unfolding of our own life story.

In the world we are never further than about ninety days, forwards or backwards in time, from an eclipse of some sort. Using 'a day for a year' we can conclude that most of us of average human life expectancy can also expect for our life story to be deeply effected at some point by an eclipse which occurred near our own birth.

Turning our attention now to longer time-period cycles, we are at any point in time, at some distinct phase of the astronomical eclipse cycle known as the SAROS CYCLE. If indeed eclipses are the mechanism of release and absorption of cosmic 'seed messages' and 'fulfilment of fate', then how much greater and holy are the messages associated with each Saros cycle. Each long term Saros cycle has its own long term message, a fractal of which is released and 'absorbed' at each eclipse in the series. I think that the purpose of the eclipse and the Saros 'process' may be one of the delivery of long term 'Messages from God'. The nature and meaning of each message, of each Saros Cycle, might be found in the astrological examination of the moment of maximum eclipse, at the time of, the first (and last) eclipse in each series. As in all cyclic manifestations, there is in each Saros, a point of origin, a waxing, a point of fulfilment, a waning, and quarter or 'crisis' points. Solar eclipses begin as slight and short penumbral eclipses at either the North or South Pole. After several centuries the Saros cycle 'goes partial', later on in the series it' goes annular', later on it 'goes total'. To be continued.......