Today, Sunday July 11, 2010 at 12:40 PM PDT, there is a major Solar Eclipse! Eclipses are always important turning points/stepping stones into a whole new level of reality, but this one brings unprecedented changes. It is truly about clear endings and exciting new beginnings.

We could have felt pretty spacey in the past few days, forgetting major appointments, having our head in a completely different place than what was required of us to keep our lives on track, we could have experienced body pains and headaches and alternatively increased and lowered energy levels... We were just already in tune with the huge shift of consciousness that is taking the planet by storm.

During the next few months (as that is as long as an eclipse lasts), our generosity toward others increases. We could be attracted to a whole new group of friends. We are more idealistic and committed to global humanitarian causes. Great fortune is likely to occur. Any endeavor related to corporate money, educational or religious institutions is beneficial. The sudden healing of an illness or an emotional situation that has been creating much grief, could unexpectedly happen as we let go of deep seated fears and old behavioral patterns that no longer serve us. An unplanned trip could help us realize long term dreams and completely transform our lives by opening us to a whole new understanding of what is truly important.

It may be interesting to remember what happened in our lives around July 11, 1991 and January 9, 2001 when there were eclipses very close to this eclipse at 19º24' Cancer. What we are now likely to experience is expanding on what happened then and during the few months that followed.

Love features prominently in this chart. We seek a relationship in which there is a strong soul connection. We could also find ourselves in emotional situations that bring to the surface very strong feelings enabling us to see our wounds and giving us the chance to heal them. We need passion and inspiration, and as we learn to balance romance and personal power, we experience the inner marriage of the feminine and the masculine within us, a joining of the Sun and the Earth inside our own being, which, in turn, makes us radiate more light and joy.

A whole new consciousness is replacing the way we used to think, making it look like we have reincarnated within this lifetime in  the same body. Events beyond our control, completely release us from the past allowing us to make completely new choices. We can finally free ourselves from old responsibilities and obligations which, all of a sudden, make no sense whatsoever. Even seemingly difficult circumstances, in the long run, make us stronger, more independent and creative in ways we couldn't have imagined had we not been pushed into the unknown.

And if, in the past few weeks, we have been feeling anxiety, a heaviness, an unrest, a sense of something vague and terrible that we about to wipe out the very foundation of our lives, let us take heart. Things look worst before they improve. The darkest hour is always before dawn. Everything that in our lives was guided by selfish motives or incomplete spiritual understanding, is now coming to the surface to be shifted and changed. This is our time of complete reinvention of everything we are so that we can express truly our divinity in our daily lives with integrity, love and passion.

To welcome this unusually powerful eclipse, it is recommended to start a fire ceremony at 12:35' PM PDT California time, a few minutes before the actual eclipse (if you are not free at this exact time, don't worry, you have 24 hrs to do your ceremony until noon PDT Monday, July 12).

If you don't have a garden or balcony, you can always take a pan, put a few scoops of epson salts, cover them with 90º rubbing alcohol and light a match. It will create a clean fire that won't last more than 5'-10' but that's enough if you are clear on what you want to release and what you want to bring into your life. Make a list for each, between now and Sunday July 11 noon PDT and find two little sticks in nature (or tooth picks).

When in front of your fire, with your first stick over your third eye, think of everything you want to release out of your life. When the emotion is really there, blow it three times into the stick before throwing it into the flames. Stay peaceful for a few moments and then (even if the previous stick hasn't fully burned yet), focus, with your 2nd stick against your third eye, on the list of what you want to bring into your life. Once the emotion of your own created future is clear, blow it three times into the stick and throw it into the fire to burn. Stay with your fire as long as you can, in peaceful meditation, focusing on light, love and abundance. Fires are always powerful amplifiers, and even more so during an eclipse. The resonance can be up to a million fold.... You will feel the power of this fire and how your intentions will forward you into manifesting the life you want.

In Loving Light.

Michelle Karén, M.A., D.F. Astrol.S.