There’s a Total Lunar Eclipse overnight Thursday to Friday this week, visible throughout North America. According to the Storyteller’s Night Sky, the best way to prepare for such an event is to find a place to catch moonrise and sunset the evening before it happens, and then, to do a bit of ceremony.
The Moon will rise about 20 minutes before sunset on Thursday evening, March 13th, then darkness begins to fall. The Moon, nearly Full, will appear between the stars Regulus and Spica, which is like standing between love and abundance. Then, an hour after midnight, the Moon will move into the outer edge of Earth’s shadow. This is called partial eclipse, and it will last for just over an hour, before the Moon comes exactly Full and is exactly lined up with the deepest part of Earth’s shadow.
The total phase of the eclipse also lasts about an hour, and during this time, it’s not that the Moon disappears in the shadow, but it starts to appear reddish or rust colored. At such a moment, the Moon, which is like a mighty celestial observatory that reflects to us all the light in the cosmos, reflects to us our own shadow ~ and this is worth preparing for, the shadow work.
So here’s what to do: just after moonrise Thursday night, in the 20 minutes before the sun sets, recite poetry, share a meal, sing a song, tell a story of love ~ fill the space with the light of lived experience, and if being spooky and scary is your thing, do that! Be creative. Build a foundation of love that you can stand on and experience in yourself when the shadow falls. And it’s ideal to do this with others.
You don’t’ have to stay up all night for the eclipse, but taking up this kind of creative activity after moonrise and before sunset is like messaging your intentions ahead, so that you can find your way in the dark.
In Goethe’s fairy tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily, there’s a moment, at the hour of evening, when the giant approaches the river softly, and if you place yourself upon his shadow, he will carry you over. This is what we’re doing Thursday evening, preparing to ride the shadow over the river, so we don’t get lost in the dark that can sometimes feel like it’s all around us.
~Mary
Hear this episode of The Storyteller’s Night Sky on podcast wherever you listen, and share! Cover image is a beautiful composite of the Total Lunar Eclipse from April, 2014 by R Jay GaBany.