The year's most powerful eclipse, perhaps the most powerful in decades, occurred with the Aries New Moon Friday, April 8. We drift into altered consciousness during Eclipses, making them the best times for meditation, prayers, visualizations and spiritual practices of all sorts. Because we're unable to be attentive in the usual ways, it's also a risky time for ordinary tasks like driving. Business is not as usual. Take the day off and absorb the transcendent wisdom. Mercury Retrograde, by messing with our critical minds, actually is a great help, compromising attempts to define an experience that is indefinable. This hybrid solar eclipse is a rarity in that it's neither completely total nor completely annular. It is called a hybrid annular-total eclipse because the Moon is farther away at the beginning and the end of the eclipse than at mid-eclipse.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are on a single line with the New Moon in the middle. Seen from the Earth, the Moon is in front of the Sun and thus part or all of the light of the Sun is eclipsed by the Moon. Thus it may seem that a piece has been taken out of the Sun, or that it has suddenly disappeared. When the Moon is close enough to Earth, the Moon completely covers over the Sun, resulting in a total solar eclipse. When the Moon is too far away, the Moon doesn't totally cover over the Sun's disk, leaving a thin annulus, or ring, of sunshine surrounding the new Moon, an annular solar eclipse.

The hybrid solar eclipse on April 8 is a rarity in that it's neither completely total nor completely annular. It is called a hybrid annular-total eclipse, the Moon is farther away at the beginning and the end of the eclipse than at mid-eclipse. The total eclipse will be visible from the South Pacific. Panama, Colombia and Venezuela will be treated with an annular eclipse, while much of the rest of the Americas will experience a partial eclipse.

Solar eclipses don't often pass over populated areas, but when they do, they appear to have significant disruptive effects on the people and nations concerned (e.g., economic or political crises, civil unrest). Solar eclipses, especially total solar eclipses, also seem to either trigger, or amplify, natural events in the regions they affect (e.g., severe weather, earthquakes). The next total eclipse of the Sun will be on March 29, 2006.

This eclipse occurs in conjunction with Venus, which is good for enjoyment of pleasures, entertainment and romance, but do not go overboard with food, drink or sexual encounters, or unpleasant consequences are likely. The eclipse opposes a retrograde Jupiter, suggesting that intellectual efforts or projects will be blocked by circumstances, or resentment. Situations and people under this influence may be pompous, all show and no substance, especially in the political arena. There is no productive way to expand your mental horizons or increase your personal status in this atmosphere. It is an unfavorable time for publishing, religious or political activities, advertising, long-distance travel, and court decisions. The most constructive thing to do is to stay put in your own sphere of influence and attend to routine business.

April 24, 2005, Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, 4 Scorpio
5:56, 10:06 am EDT, Duration, 4 h 10 min

Science

Lunar Eclipses for Beginners
Lunar Eclipse, Wikipedia

Astrology

This penumbral lunar eclipse follows the April 8 solar eclipse by the shortest possible period between a solar and a lunar eclipse. If we could put a great big movie screen at the Moon's distance from Earth, the Earth's shadow would appear like a big target in the sky, with the dark inner shadow (the umbra) looking like the bull's-eye, and the outer, fainter shadow (the penumbra) making up the outer portion of this celestial target. During a penumbral eclipse, the Moon passes through the outer, fainter penumbral shadow but totally misses the bull's-eye, or the umbra.

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse & Full Moon 4 Scorpio
5:56, 10:06 am EDT, Duration, 4 h 10 min

During the exact time ...

Benedict XVI was installed as Pope BBC

On the first day of

Passover, The Festival of Lights