Revelation is of the Full Moon’s nature. Many a poem and pagan ritual have celebrated the symbolic and physical powers of this lunation to bring to light hidden truths about ourselves and the world around us. But this Full Moon on May 16th – or rather this Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio – is going to be a transit of mixed messages instead of insight.

One reason for this ambiguity has to do with the nature of eclipses themselves. Such transits occur when the Earth and its Luminaries (Sun/Moon) do a passive aggressive dance with each other. During a solar eclipse (like the one two weeks ago in Taurus), the Moon cuts in front of the Sun, blocking its light from us. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth intercedes between Sun and Full Moon (FM), casting shade upon its luminescence. Think about a ballroom scene from Pride and Prejudice—with all its sublime tensions—and you’re not far from the eclipses and their teasing intrigue.

Given all that, it’s not hard to see why such manoeuvres between Sun and Moon can cause conflict for us. Consider the Moon, our emotional centre. An eclipse of it will tend to disrupt or block how we feel about partners, work, romance, or family, depending on its placement in our chart. Usually we might garner some sense of accomplishment around a FM in, say, our Career zone, but a lunar eclipse in this area might instead cause increased ambivalence about work, a job, or career trajectory.

Eclipses can be total or partial–and the more total they are, the more impactful and baleful. This upcoming lunar eclipse is total, meaning that it will be very tightly conjunct the South Node. To understand the nodes, the Ancient Astrologers productively and helpfully viewed the Earth as surrounded by a kind of cosmic dragon whose mouth (North Node) and tail (South Node) would swallow the Sun or Moon during an eclipse. We have tended to gentrify the nodes in our modern, more milquetoast astrological readings, but the Ancients were decidedly foreboding about them, viewing each as malefic cosmic pressure points.

The Dragon’s Tail, in particular, was said to have poison in its tip, meaning that solar and lunar eclipses in the South Node carried a venomous threat. Scorpio, too, the sign in which this eclipse occurs, is known for its own venom. There is a kind of double poison to this cosmic toxicology report. But that’s not all. There are two other difficult aspects involved here, as well.

Mars, the ruling planet of Scorpio, is currently flailing about in watery Pisces. Mars likes to be direct. It is the planet of action. Pisces does not like to be direct at all. This placement in Pisces is thereby weakening Mars (drive, resolve, energy). The Ancients in their wisdom called Mars the Knife for its cutting nature. But all chefs know that water is the enemy of knives and Pisces–the most watery of the water signs–is blunting Planet War’s sharp blade. Mars doesn’t quite know what to do at the moment. It can’t propel us forward.

What’s more: Mercury (communication) is squaring Mars, making it harder for us to say what we mean–to ourselves and to others. Saying and doing make up human experience. But both of these provinces are afflicted at the moment. Mercury is also going retrograde alongside this eclipse–and that doubles the difficulty level of our ability to communicate, as retrogrades are always transits that debilitate a planet’s power.

So, as this complex lunation approaches, expect to feel unmotivated (Mars-in-Pices) and to encounter challenges communicating to self/others (Mars square Mercury retro). Expect, too, a need to hang onto sleights and the past–this is both the nature of Scorpio as a fixed water sign (emotional+obsession) and the nature of the South Node (which is associated with the karmic past). We could also feel physically queasy around this transit due the double poison nature of Scorpio+Dragon’s Tail.

Overall this is not a time to make bold moves or be impulsive. Rather this is a time to wait on life decisions, especially around the 16th. Don’t say “yes,” say instead “maybe.” Letting questions around romance, work, and family linger might not be the worst idea.

A few thoughts of a practical nature to make this erratic eclipse more manageable:

• Routine will be your friend: eat, sleep, workout at the same time to stabilise your day.
• Physical detox to neutralise the venom-drip nature of the transit.
• Emotional detox: cut down on socialising with those specific friends (bless their hearts) that come with too much baggage (they are not for this transit).
• Activity to get you in flow of time. Removing yourself from South Node fixations on the past will benefit you (reading, record shopping, researching new topics–fixate on the new, not the old).

It goes without saying if you are a Scorpio or Taurus (the sign opposite the Big Sting)you will feel this transit the most–especially if you were born in the last 5 days of each of these signs. The other two fixed signs (Aquarius and Leo) will also be feeling this lunation sharply –-as the Sun and the Moon will be making a hard aspect to them. But it would behoove all of us to take it easy during this lunation of heavy energies and dubious intel.

Photo by Brian McMahon on Unsplash