Parallel Eclipses and How They Influence your Life

Parallel Eclipses show patterns that influence your life-- a look at the metonic and saros cycles.

Eclipses have repetitive patterns, if you know where to look. Understanding these patterns and how they parallel one another can be useful in figuring out what’s going on in your life and where to put your attention now.

Eclipses are like windows opening and closing. They represent phases and completions and new beginnings. Of course, we’re always shifting in and out of different phases of growth, so this is no surprise. But you can get an idea of which phase is shutting down (and preparing to open up in a different way) by looking at previous eclipses. For example, I just looked at an eclipse that happened in 2004 and what was going on in my life during that time—I was sitting in an attorney’s office, shaking all over and signing papers to start divorce proceedings…an extremely difficult event for me but one that opened up a very serene new life. I next looked back at the parallel eclipse back in 1985 and tried to think hard about what was going on in my life at that exact time. Oh, yeah. My boyfriend proposed then. Hmmm, guess what that cycle was all about for me—marriage!

Lunar eclipses move in different cycles, Saros and Metonic. My wording isn’t precise, so bear with me as I try parallel eclipses to explain in terms that can be understood by other non-astronomers.

A Saros cycle is 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours long. The 16 August 2008 eclipse is part of a longer set of 83 eclipses, Saros series #138, spanning 1478.4 years from 1503 to 2982. This eclipse is the 29th in the series.

A Metonic cycle is a short set of parallel eclipses that are nearly identical—and this is where looking at previous ones in your life is useful. They repeat about every 19 years, or, to be more specific, one Saros cycle (above) plus one lunar year (354 days). This eclipse is the 4th in a Metonic set of five:

8/17/1951

8/17/1970

8/17/1989

8/16/2008

8/17/2027

For the August 2009 eclipse, think back to what was happening in your life in August 1989 and the six months that followed. If you’re old enough, think back to the same time frame in 1970 and 1951. What was just beginning for you then? What new doors were opening? What windows were closing? What significant events or life-changing occurrences took place then?

In another article on parallel eclipses, I’ll explain how I connect the 1989 eclipse and the August 2009 eclipse, with a glimpse at my astrological chart’s major impacts. You’ll want to look for the influences in your own chart, so join me and watch how this plays out in real life.

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