The Astrological Philosophy of Eclipses
My outline of an old Manly P. Hall lecture on the philosophy of eclipses
Introduction
As most people are well aware, today (April 8th, 2024) is the date of the big solar eclipse, which will pass right through the heartland of America.
Various commentators have offered different takes on what this eclipse heralds. I’m not advanced enough in my astrological studies to feel confident weighing in to this debate to give my own take. Instead, I want to offer a more general overview of how eclipses are perceived and treated in esoteric philosophy. With this knowledge in hand, you can do your own research and come to your own conclusions about what the particular significance of this eclipse may be.
My source for this examination of the philosophy of eclipses is the one and only Manly P. Hall. Years ago, I picked up a copy of a written transcript of a lecture of his from the mid-60s on the topic of eclipses. Below, I share with you my “executive summary” outline of this lecture.
The Astrological Philosophy of Eclipses - Manly P. Hall
There are two types of eclipses: Solar and Lunar. In this article, we focus on Solar.
Also, two degrees: Partial and Total
The basics of how an eclipse impacts the world
The eclipse causes “the interruption of the flow of energy between the sun and man.” More specifically, it causes a “reaction of the solar energy on the moon before it is reflected down to the earth.”
“The eclipse actually is a natural phenomenon setting up a different kind of vibratory pattern in the magnetic field of the earth.” That’s why it’s important to calculate the Zodiac placement and house positions of the eclipse in the horoscope.
The eclipse brings “a special kind of intensity, and whether this intensity is constructive or destructive depends upon circumstances that have to be calculated.”
Eclipses are a natural part of the celestial order
“The eclipse, which is to us an eccentric or unusual circumstance, is a normal and inevitable expectancy in the construction of our solar system. It is not actually a strange or unaccountable incident, nor is it something that breaks the laws of probability patterns. Rather, it fulfills these patterns.”
“It is part of the natural integration of the solar system itself; therefore, it must have its justifications.”
The Effect of the Solar Eclipse on the Electromagnetic Field of the Planet/Person
“The effect lies in the influence which it exerts upon the magnetic field of the earth, upon which all living things must depend. The planets, in the same way, do not affect people directly; they affect the solar environment in which people live. And if this magnetic field is affected, obviously people will be affected. If this magnetic field is disturbed, people will be disturbed and social patterns will be disturbed.”
“Each person with a different personal relationship or adjustment with the magnetic field of the earth will react in a somewhat different way to this change in the magnetic vibrations of the atmosphere.”
“We also know that magnetic currents penetrate the earth, the very earth itself is a magnetic field. We walk on this earth, we live within its atmosphere, we built our houses of its materials, and therefore we are closely related to any modification in the earth’s chemistry.”
“Within man’s psychic life, both in his heart and in his mind, are miniatures of the entire solar machinery, and that these miniatures are poles, so to say, which receive into themselves various combinations of sidereal force. Man is attuned to the solar system by these miniature solar systems within himself. Consequently, whatever mutations occur in the sky, man will feel principally as emotional or mental experience in himself.”
The Role of the Eclipse in Advancing Human Evolution:
“As human character is slow to develop under fortunate conditions, adversity seems to be man’s principal stimulus to progress. Nearly everything we have ever accomplished in this world has resulted from man finally becoming desperate in the face of a condition, and resolving to change it.”
“An obstacle always originates from something within ourselves, not something arising in nature. We must bear this in mind in connection with eclipses and all other sidereal phenomena. Philosophy has never acknowledged that an arbitrary motion of planets can destroy a virtuous man. Astrology has never held the heavens automatically breed destruction, or that a motion of planetary bodies alone can cause any major change to take place in human affairs. The relationship must always be between a planetary body and some situation that exists as a result of man’s own action. He has set causes in motion, and these causes may result in critical situations. These critical situations can be released into manifestation through heavy planetary influence, but they cannot be caused by it.”
“The eclipse is not, therefore, causing the crisis, but is occurring midstream in the motion of a crisis. It is occurring when patterns have already been set up that are in some way detrimental to the advancement of mankind.”
“The eclipse merely precipitates the crisis because the person himself is vulnerable. The same is true of a nation, which may become so internally disorganized, as a result of bad government for centuries, that under an eclipse, a revolution can take place, or a leader be deposed. The eclipse therefore brings into manifestation things that are already there. It will not create new manifestations…. It will, however, bring to a crisis conditions that have already been established.”
Example: “Thus, if we see an eclipse come along and shake some great person loose from high office, we cannot say that he fell because of the eclipse. He fell because the general pattern of his way, his general relationships to the office which he occupied,” etc. “Thus, this person is merely receiving what might be termed the reward or punishment for conditions that he has set up over a long period of time.”
Lesson: “We are not actually the victims of eclipses; we are the victims, so to say, of the inevitable ignorance which man carries within his own nature.”
“The effect of the eclipse on the person must be related to his own psychic integration. If this is bad, then the eclipse will seem more hurtful.”
The Effect of an Eclipse on the Horoscope:
“An eclipse is very largely a symbol of an emergency arising in the affairs of things. Eclipses, in some way, are corrective agents, playing their part to prevent disorder rather than to cause it. Thus, while they may seemingly contribute to an extraordinary emergency, their contribution is beneficial in some way, although we may not immediately recognize this fact.”
“Eclipses are not always inevitable evidences of disaster. … (Rather,) the eclipse represents a point of emphasis.”
“Under some conditions, an eclipse brings to an end long-delayed or driving patterns. It may be a release from some situation that has become difficult or oppressive.”
“The eclipse, then, is a kind of crisis that releases the pent-up pressure of a situation. It reveals the facts, and sets patterns upon a more reasonable course.”
Time distribution of eclipse effects:
“The eclipse does usually represent a passing phenomenon, creating an immediate but not lasting emergency.”
“The ancients used them to measure cycles. They also combined them with other factors in determining large patterns of world events. If an eclipse occurs rather erratically in relation to other sidereal phenomena, it may pass with comparatively slight effect; but if it is united with many other elements of unusual pressure, then it seems to build to a crisis, and this crisis sets off a new cycle of events.”
“Very often the effects are so distributed over a period of time. … According to the ancient calculations, the effect of a solar eclipse extended as many years as its totality endured in terms of minutes.” But these modified and made complex by subsequent motions in horoscope
Who the Solar eclipse most strongly affects:
“The ancients held that solar eclipses affected empire, and particularly rulers. Thus the head of a state or government in whose chart an eclipse occurred, or whose country was within the path of the totality of an eclipse, might be expected to react more immediately and dramatically to the eclipse symbolism.”
“Thus the eclipse has something to do with estate, with elevation, with the raising up of leaders. It also has to do with the casting down of the great. … It is assumed therefore that the principal effect of an eclipse will be in terms of mundane affairs - that is, in terms of world events.”
“Eclipses of the sun … have frequently been associated with war, and there are cases where the fates of battles were decided by an eclipse alone.”
Effects on a Nation: "An eclipse in the chart of a nation very often will indicate troublous or unsettled conditions within that nation.”
This eclipse is taking place within the context of a larger death-rebirth event:
“The world is therefore having a kind of rebirth, a new incarnation, psychologically speaking, noted by a major grouping of heavenly bodies. Such cycles may extend for ten years, fifty years, or perhaps for ages.”
The new world “will arise from a renewed effort to solve problems. It will probably come as a mysterious upsurge in human psychology, for these changes will arise as the result of the pounding of the sidereal influences upon the sensitive psychic integration of man, where they are most powerful. These changes will come through man, and they will come, very largely, as the rising of groups of people to whom certain values have become increasingly important, and who will demand more consideration for these values.”
“If we go back to the previous cycles in which great revelations of religion, morality, idealism, and ethics have come to the world, we find that they were all periods of emergency.”
food for thought.