The solar eclipse and the nodal station

July 2, 2006

Hello list members, In the past astrologers have attached much attention to solar eclipses. Through the ages many astrologers have considered this phenomenon significant, including Babylonian and Greek astrologers. To this day there are astrologers who attach importance to it bordering on being awe inspired. See e.g. “Astrology of Death” by the late Richard Houck. The solar eclipse is

defined as the temporary passing in front of the Sun by the Moon, while the two are aligned in geocentric orbit (as seen from the Earth). The result is that the Moon blocks out the rays of the Sun and the bright daylight is replaced by varying degrees of darkness. There are four broad types of solar eclipses: A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The intensely bright disk of the Sun is replaced by the dark outline of the Moon, and the much fainter corona is visible (see

image above). During any one eclipse, totality is visible only from at most a narrow track on the surface of the Earth. A total eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 months. A total eclipse, however, does not occur but rarely in the same location and such events may be hundreds of years apart for any given location. The length of each total eclipse rarely exceeds 7 minutes, although the event lasts longer as there is a partial dimming phase before and after the total eclipse. An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the

Moon. A hybrid eclipse is intermediate between a total and annular eclipse. At some points on the surface of the Earth it is visible as a total eclipse, whereas at others it is annular. Hybrid eclipses are rather rare. A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line, and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of

the track of an annular or total eclipse. However, some eclipses can only be seen as a partial eclipse, because the umbra never intersects the Earth's surface. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse Another phenomenon is the Lunar eclipse, which is when the earth passes exactly in in between the Sun and the full Moon, casting a shadow on the otherwise bright Moon. This eclipse may occur three times within a calendar year. Information about eclipse cycles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saros http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inex In the System’s Approach the eclipses are not considered an important phenomenon for predictive purposes. However, in SA there is another related phenomenon which is considered to have a special significance and this is the regular stationary movement of

the Moon´s nodes. The degree where the station of the nodes has been shown to have special impact in a chart. The few days when the Sun (and other fast moving planets Mercury and Venus) cross the stationary nodes is also shown to be a time of increased stress. This is well documnented. To explain these two phenomenon and why they are related let us consider first the time it takes for the Moon to return to a node, the draconic month (27.32 days). This is less than the time it takes for the Moon to return to the Sun: the synodic month (29.53 days). The main reason is that during the time that the Moon has completed an orbit around the Earth, the Earth (and Moon) have completed about 1/13th of their orbit around the Sun: the Moon has to make up for this in order to come again in conjunction or opposition with the Sun. Secondly, the orbital nodes of the Moon precess with respect to the ecliptic, making a full circle in a little more than 18 years, so a draconic month is shorter than a sidereal month. In all, the difference in period between synodic and draconic month is nearly 2 1/3 days. Likewise, the Sun passes both nodes as it moves over the ecliptic. The period to return to a node is called the eclipse year, and is about 1/20th year shorter than a sidereal year. So if a solar eclipse occurs at one New Moon, so close to a node, then at the next Full Moon the Moon is already over a day past its opposite node, and may or may not miss the Earth's shadow. By the next New Moon it is even further ahead of the node, and it is more unlikely that there will be a solar eclipse somewhere at Earth. By the next month, there will certainly be no event. However, about 5 or 6 lunations later the New Moon will fall close to the opposite node. In that time (half an eclipse year) the Sun has moved to the opposite node too. Now the circumstances are suitable again for one or more

eclipses. So eclipses can occur in a one- or two-month period twice a year, around the time when the Sun is near the nodes of the Moon's orbit. As for the reason why the Sun’s conjunction with the nodes occurs around the time of the stationary movement of the Moon´s nodes is linked to the Moon’s (geocentric) orbit around the earth being elliptical. At the narrow end of the ellipse the movement slows down. For some planets in the elliptic orbit the movement may

actually appear to move backwards, and they are termed to be in retrograde motion. The nodes, however, are for the most part in stationary motion (no forward motion) at such times. The orbit of the Moon lies in a plane that is tilted with respect to the plane of the ecliptic: it has an inclination of about five degrees. The line of intersection of these planes defines two points on the celestial sphere: the ascending and descending nodes. The plane of the Moon's orbit precesses over a full circle in about 18.6 years, so the nodes move backwards over the ecliptic with the same period. Hence the time it takes the Moon to return to the same node is again shorter than a sidereal month: this is called the darconitic month (27.21 days). It is important to know that eclipses (both Solar and Lunar) take place when the Sun, Earth and Moon are on a line. Now (as seen from the Earth) the Sun moves along the ecliptic, while the Moon moves along its own orbit that is inclined on the ecliptic. The three bodies are only on a line when the Moon is on the ecliptic, i. e. when it is at one of the nodes. At this time a solar or lunar eclipse is possible. The draconic month refers to the mythological dragon that lives in the nodes and regularly eats the Sun or Moon during an eclipse. In other words, what is important at such times is the nodal station and not the occurrence of the solar eclipse itself, which can be exact or not and visible or not.

However, when the Sun moves across the stationary nodes the impact can be quite significant. Interestingly, the actual occurrence of the eclipse may be many days before or after that conjunction takes place. For more information about these cycles: http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/calendar/eclipsecycles.htm For those interested to see the timing of the eclipse with respect to the conjunction of the Sun with the stationary nodes, I attach a graph, with a black dot indicating the following eclipses. The Sun becomes conjunct the nodal axis on the following days: 7 March 2007, 31 August 2007 and 17 February 2008. By comparison the solar eclipses occur on 19 March 2007 (a partial or 87,5% eclipse of the Sun at 4° Pisces), 11 September 2007 (a partial or 75% eclipse of the Sun at 24° Leo) and 7 February 2008 (an annular eclipse of the Sun at 24° Capricorn). These solar eclipses occur from 10° to 18° away from the actual stationary point and the eclipses also occur about 10-12 days before or after the conjunction of the Sun with the stationary nodal axis. The important point to make is the following. In SA, it is the nodal station - and the conjunctions it makes, that is the key to predicting the likely impact in a given natal chart, and not the eclipse. The graph is also visible on the SAMVA Photo files

section, under SA Theory sub-directory. Best regards, C

July 2, 2006

Hello list, I have attached a new graph (in a .gif file), which shows the eclipse point more clearly in relation to the conjunction of the Sun with the (stationary) nodal axis. Please note that the degrees shown are for Rahu on 360° scale. The Sun and the solar eclipse are shown in this scale too, but in every other case they are 180° away - conjunct (or near to) Ketu. This solution is adopted to show the phenomenon as clearly as possible. The important point is to link the Sun conjunctions and the Solar eclipses to the nodal axis. Best regards, CCosmologer <cosmologer wrote: Hello list

members, In the past astrologers have attached much attention to solar eclipses. Through the ages many astrologers have considered this phenomenon significant, including Babylonian and Greek astrologers. To this day there are astrologers who attach importance to it bordering on being awe inspired. See e.g. “Astrology of Death” by the late Richard Houck. The solar eclipse is defined as the temporary passing in front of the Sun by the Moon, while the two are aligned in

geocentric orbit (as seen from the Earth). The result is that the Moon blocks out the rays of the Sun and the bright daylight is replaced by varying degrees of darkness. There are four broad types of solar eclipses: A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The intensely bright disk of the Sun is replaced by the dark outline of the Moon, and the much fainter corona is visible (see image above). During any one eclipse, totality is visible only from at most a narrow track on

the surface of the Earth. A total eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 months. A total eclipse, however, does not occur but rarely in the same location and such events may be hundreds of years apart for any given location. The length of each total eclipse rarely exceeds 7 minutes, although the event lasts longer as there is a partial dimming phase before and after the total eclipse. An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon. A hybrid eclipse is intermediate between a total and annular eclipse. At some points on the surface of the Earth it is visible as a total eclipse, whereas at others it is annular. Hybrid eclipses are rather rare. A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line, and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of the track of an annular or total eclipse. However, some eclipses can only be seen as a

partial eclipse, because the umbra never intersects the Earth's surface. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse Another phenomenon is the Lunar eclipse, which is when the earth passes exactly in in between the Sun and the full Moon, casting a shadow on the otherwise bright Moon. This eclipse may occur three times within a calendar year. Information about eclipse cycles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saros http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inex In the System’s Approach the eclipses are not considered an important phenomenon for predictive purposes. However, in SA there is another related phenomenon which is considered to have a special significance and this is the regular stationary movement of the Moon´s nodes. The degree where the station of the nodes has been shown to have special impact in a chart.

The few days when the Sun (and other fast moving planets Mercury and Venus) cross the stationary nodes is also shown to be a time of increased stress. This is well documnented. To explain these two phenomenon and why they are related let us consider first the time it takes for the Moon to return to a node, the draconic month (27.32 days). This is less than the time it takes for the Moon to return to the Sun: the synodic month (29.53 days). The main reason

is that during the time that the Moon has completed an orbit around the Earth, the Earth (and Moon) have completed about 1/13th of their orbit around the Sun: the Moon has to make up for this in order to come again in conjunction or opposition with the Sun. Secondly, the orbital nodes of the Moon precess with respect to the ecliptic, making a full circle in a little more than 18 years, so a draconic month is shorter than a sidereal month. In all, the difference in period between synodic and draconic month is nearly 2 1/3 days. Likewise, the Sun passes both nodes as it moves over the ecliptic. The period to return to a node is called the eclipse year, and is about 1/20th year shorter than a sidereal year. So if a solar eclipse occurs at

one New Moon, so close to a node, then at the next Full Moon the Moon is already over a day past its opposite node, and may or may not miss the Earth's shadow. By the next New Moon it is even further ahead of the node, and it is more unlikely that there will be a solar eclipse somewhere at Earth. By the next month, there will certainly be no event. However, about 5 or 6 lunations later the New Moon will fall close to the opposite node. In that time (half an eclipse year) the Sun has moved to the opposite node too. Now the circumstances are suitable again for one or more eclipses. So eclipses can occur in a one- or two-month period twice a year, around the time when the Sun is near the nodes of the Moon's orbit. As for the reason why the Sun’s conjunction with the nodes occurs around the time of the stationary movement of the Moon´s nodes is linked to the Moon’s (geocentric) orbit around the earth being elliptical. At the narrow end of the ellipse the movement slows down. For some planets in the elliptic orbit the movement may actually appear to move backwards, and they are termed to be in retrograde motion. The nodes, however, are for the most part in stationary motion (no forward motion) at

such times. The orbit of the Moon lies in a plane that is tilted with respect to the plane of the ecliptic: it has an inclination of about five degrees. The line of intersection of these planes defines two points on the celestial sphere: the ascending and descending nodes. The plane of the Moon's orbit precesses over a full circle in about 18.6 years, so the nodes move backwards over the ecliptic with the same period. Hence the time it takes the Moon to return to the same node is again shorter than a sidereal month: this is called the darconitic month (27.21 days). It is important to know that eclipses (both Solar and Lunar) take place when the Sun, Earth and Moon are on a

line. Now (as seen from the Earth) the Sun moves along the ecliptic, while the Moon moves along its own orbit that is inclined on the ecliptic. The three bodies are only on a line when the Moon is on the ecliptic, i. e. when it is at one of the nodes. At this time a solar or lunar eclipse is possible. The draconic month refers to the mythological dragon that lives in the nodes and regularly eats the Sun or Moon during an eclipse. In other words, what is important at such times is the nodal station and not the occurrence of the solar eclipse itself, which can be exact or not and visible or not. However, when the Sun moves across the stationary nodes the impact can be quite significant. Interestingly, the actual occurrence of the eclipse may be many days before

or after that conjunction takes place. For more information about these cycles: http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/calendar/eclipsecycles.htm For those interested to see the timing of the eclipse with respect to the conjunction of the Sun with the stationary nodes, I attach a graph,

with a black dot indicating the following eclipses. The Sun becomes conjunct the nodal axis on the following days: 7 March 2007, 31 August 2007 and 17 February 2008. By comparison the solar eclipses occur on 19 March 2007 (a partial or 87,5% eclipse of the Sun at 4° Pisces), 11 September 2007 (a partial or 75% eclipse of the Sun at 24° Leo) and 7 February 2008 (an annular eclipse of the Sun at 24° Capricorn). These solar eclipses occur from 10° to 18° away from

the actual stationary point and the eclipses also occur about 10-12 days before or after the conjunction of the Sun with the stationary nodal axis. The important point to make is the following. In SA, it is the nodal station - and the conjunctions it makes, that is the key to predicting the likely impact in a given natal chart, and not the eclipse. The graph is also visible on the SAMVA Photo files section, under SA Theory sub-directory. Best regards, C

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July 3, 2006

Dear Cosmologer, I want to thank you for providing this information and clarification on eclipses and the nodes. I will study it closely. Since beginning to study astrology in 2004, I had always read about the significance of eclipses but could not find out exactly why. Thanks to 's Systems Approach Astrology, the answers are becoming clear. I am sincerely grateful to the Professor, David Hawthorne, Jorge Angelino and to all of the other learned members of this group and the Satva group for providing this information to all who are interested. It is as Narenda said, fantastic. I hope everyone has a great day- Sheri Powers Cosmologer <cosmologer wrote: Hello list, I have attached a new graph (in a .gif file), which shows the eclipse point more clearly in relation to the conjunction of the Sun with the (stationary) nodal axis. Please note that the degrees shown are for Rahu on 360° scale. The Sun and the solar eclipse are shown in this scale too, but in every other case they are 180° away - conjunct (or near to) Ketu. This solution is adopted to show the phenomenon as clearly as possible. The important point is to link the Sun conjunctions and the Solar eclipses to the nodal axis. Best regards, CCosmologer

<cosmologer wrote: Hello list members, In the past astrologers have attached much attention to solar eclipses. Through the ages many astrologers have considered this phenomenon significant, including Babylonian and Greek astrologers. To this day there are astrologers who attach importance to it bordering on being awe inspired. See e.g. “Astrology of Death” by the late Richard Houck. The solar eclipse is defined as the temporary passing in front of the Sun by the Moon, while the two are aligned in geocentric orbit (as seen

from the Earth). The result is that the Moon blocks out the rays of the Sun and the bright daylight is replaced by varying degrees of darkness. There are four broad types of solar eclipses: A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The intensely bright disk of the Sun is replaced by the dark outline of the Moon, and the much fainter corona is visible (see image above). During any one eclipse, totality is visible only from at most a narrow track on the surface of the Earth. A total eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 months. A total eclipse, however, does not occur but rarely in the same location and such events may be

hundreds of years apart for any given location. The length of each total eclipse rarely exceeds 7 minutes, although the event lasts longer as there is a partial dimming phase before and after the total eclipse. An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon. A hybrid eclipse is intermediate between a total and annular eclipse. At some points on the surface of the Earth it is visible as a total eclipse, whereas at others it is annular. Hybrid eclipses are rather

rare. A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line, and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of the track of an annular or total eclipse. However, some eclipses can only be seen as a partial eclipse, because the umbra never intersects the Earth's surface. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse Another phenomenon is the Lunar eclipse, which is when the earth passes exactly in in between the Sun and the full Moon,

casting a shadow on the otherwise bright Moon. This eclipse may occur three times within a calendar year. Information about eclipse cycles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saros http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inex In the System’s Approach the eclipses are not considered an important phenomenon for predictive purposes. However, in SA there is another related phenomenon which is considered to have a special significance and this is the regular

stationary movement of the Moon´s nodes. The degree where the station of the nodes has been shown to have special impact in a chart. The few days when the Sun (and other fast moving planets Mercury and Venus) cross the stationary nodes is also shown to be a time of increased stress. This is well documnented. To explain these two phenomenon and why they are related let us consider first the time it takes for the Moon to return to a node, the draconic month (27.32 days). This is less than the time it takes for the Moon to return to the Sun: the synodic month (29.53 days). The main reason is that during the time that the Moon has completed an orbit around the

Earth, the Earth (and Moon) have completed about 1/13th of their orbit around the Sun: the Moon has to make up for this in order to come again in conjunction or opposition with the Sun. Secondly, the orbital nodes of the Moon precess with respect to the ecliptic, making a full circle in a little more than 18 years, so a draconic month is shorter than a sidereal month. In all, the difference in period between synodic and draconic month is nearly 2 1/3 days. Likewise, the Sun passes both nodes as it moves over the ecliptic. The period to return to a node is called the eclipse year, and is about 1/20th year shorter than a sidereal year. So if a solar eclipse occurs at one New Moon, so close to a node, then at the next Full Moon the Moon is already over a day past its opposite node, and may or may not miss the

Earth's shadow. By the next New Moon it is even further ahead of the node, and it is more unlikely that there will be a solar eclipse somewhere at Earth. By the next month, there will certainly be no event. However, about 5 or 6 lunations later the New Moon will fall close to the opposite node. In that time (half an eclipse year) the Sun has moved to the opposite node too. Now the circumstances are suitable again for one or more eclipses. So eclipses can occur in a one- or two-month period twice a year, around the time when the Sun is near the nodes of the Moon's orbit. As for the reason why the Sun’s conjunction with the nodes occurs around the time of the stationary movement of the Moon´s nodes is linked to the Moon’s (geocentric) orbit around the earth being elliptical. At the narrow end of the ellipse the movement slows down. For some planets in the elliptic orbit the movement may actually appear to move backwards, and they are termed to be in retrograde motion. The nodes, however, are for the most part in stationary motion (no forward motion) at such times. The orbit of the Moon lies in a plane that is tilted with respect to the plane of the ecliptic: it has an inclination of about five degrees. The line of intersection of these planes defines two points on the celestial sphere: the

ascending and descending nodes. The plane of the Moon's orbit precesses over a full circle in about 18.6 years, so the nodes move backwards over the ecliptic with the same period. Hence the time it takes the Moon to return to the same node is again shorter than a sidereal month: this is called the darconitic month (27.21 days). It is important to know that eclipses (both Solar and Lunar) take place when the Sun, Earth and Moon are on a line. Now (as seen from the Earth) the Sun moves along the ecliptic, while the Moon moves along its own orbit that is inclined on the ecliptic. The three bodies are only on a line when the Moon is on the ecliptic, i. e. when it is at one of the nodes. At this time a solar or lunar eclipse is possible. The draconic month refers to the mythological dragon that lives in the nodes and regularly eats the Sun or Moon during an eclipse. In other words, what is important at such times is the nodal station and not the occurrence of the solar eclipse itself, which can be exact or not and visible or not. However, when the Sun moves across the stationary nodes the impact can be quite significant. Interestingly, the actual occurrence of the eclipse may be many days before or after that conjunction takes place. For more information about these cycles: http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/calendar/eclipsecycles.htm For those interested to see the timing of the eclipse with respect to the conjunction of the Sun with the stationary nodes, I attach a graph, with a black dot indicating the following eclipses. The Sun becomes conjunct the nodal axis on the following days: 7 March 2007, 31 August 2007 and 17 February 2008. By comparison the solar eclipses occur on 19 March 2007 (a partial or 87,5% eclipse of the Sun at 4° Pisces), 11 September 2007 (a partial or 75% eclipse of the Sun at 24° Leo) and 7 February 2008 (an annular eclipse of the Sun at 24° Capricorn). These solar eclipses occur from 10° to 18° away from the actual stationary point and the eclipses also

occur about 10-12 days before or after the conjunction of the Sun with the stationary nodal axis. The important point to make is the following. In SA, it is the nodal station - and the conjunctions it makes, that is the key to predicting the likely impact in a given natal chart, and not the eclipse. The graph is also visible on the SAMVA Photo files section, under SA Theory sub-directory. Best regards, C Want to be your own boss? Learn how on Small Business.

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