TRUE SOMA:

THE TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE OF JANUARY 20, 2019

by Neeshee Pandit
The Total Lunar Eclipse begins on January 20 at 8:36pm CST, with the maximum eclipse happening
at 11:12pm CST. This eclipse will be visible from the United States and is also the only total lunar
eclipse that we will experience until May 26, 2021!

North Node Eclipses, South Node Eclipses, and The Breath Cycle
This lunar eclipse is a north node (Rahu) eclipse, while the recent solar eclipse of January 5 was a
south node (Ketu) eclipse. Ketu eclipses allow what is repressed and unconscious in us to rise to the
surface of awareness. Rahu eclipses require us to integrate with the unconscious and to thus become
more balanced. In this way, Rahu and Ketu mirror the cycle of the breath--Ketu is about release
(exhalation) while Rahu is about reception (inhalation). When the breath-cycle is balanced, then the
life-force is balanced, the pranic fire burns evenly, and we readily release what is not useful while
openly assimilating nourishment.

If we can see how the imbalances of Rahu-Ketu are reflected in our own breathing cycle, then we
have found the essential "remedial measure" for eclipses. The primary remedial measure to engage
during eclipses is pranayama, or the conscious regulation of the breath cycle. Pranayama is not a
remedial measure in the sense of needing to escape or resolve something, but a means of
participation in the flow of life-energy. Other breath and energy-based practices are also useful to
engage during eclipses, especially hatha yoga. Hatha is often translated as "Sun-Moon", because ha
means "Sun" and the aspirated tha means "Moon". Hatha yoga balances the two halves of the
nervous system and the solar and lunar currents of life-energy. During eclipses, one "half" can feel
overstimulated, so if we are able to balance this tendency, then the polarity of life-energy instead
becomes a single resonance.

Solar vs. Lunar Eclipses

Both solar and lunar eclipses have an internalizing and psychological influence, but there is still a
difference between them. Solar eclipses require us to re-evaluate the vital and creative foundation of
our life--our relationship to externals. Solar eclipses are therefore more purifying. Lunar eclipses
require us to re-evaluate the emotional balance of our life--our relationship to internals. Lunar
eclipses are therefore more of a process of re-balancing, or re-calibration. If we use the eclipse cycle
well and allow the purification and re-balancing, then we are regenerated by the force of life,
emerging from the chaos with a deeper sense of balance, wholeness, and integrity.

The Heart of the Priest

The total lunar eclipse will be focused on Rahu's placement in Cancer, the sign of the heart. This can
be a time of emotional confrontation and opening. The heart is the physical organ which sustains
the beat of life and circulates its essence (blood). The heart is thus a somatic symbol of nourishment
and life. The heart is also the center of the whole body, the median between the extremes of the
navel and the head, the body and the mind, the lower and the higher. The heart is where the true
agni resides, and this is why Realizers such as Avatar Adi Da and Ramana Maharshi have described
the heart as the seat of Consciousness. As the Moon's sign, Cancer is about soma, or that which
nourishes us, the food of life. Soma is the archetype of substance, or food at every level. Soma is the
Moon, foods that are nourishing, plants that are rejuvenating, and the internal secretions of the
endocrine system.

During the eclipse, Rahu and the Moon are in Pushya nakshatra, the asterism which Lord Indra
presides over. We should note that in the Rig Veda, soma is said to be Lord Indra's favorite drink.
The Taittiriya Brahmana says of Pushya nakshatra:
 bṛhaspatestiṣyaḥ juhvataḥ parastādyajamānā avastāt

The auspiciousness of Brihaspati (The Lord of Devotion) is worshipping from above and
the worshippers from below.

Brihaspati is the priest of the gods, the "Lord of devotion". Brihaspati is associated with Lord Indra
and the planet Jupiter. Indra is the archetype of Jupiter, the Transcendental spark of life that resides
in the ether of the heart. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer because the heart is the true seat of
Consciousness, Joy, and Bliss. Indra symbolizes the connection between Heaven and Earth, the
etheric wind that flows above and below. As a god, he is perpetually intoxicated with soma, the
nectarous substance produced by the meeting of Heaven and Earth. Like Indra, we must also
discover and drink the soma of an awakened heart in the midst of life, breathing and assimilating the
nourishment which enables us to grow.

Rahu in Cancer shows us that this eclipse is about developing emotionally, or releasing limitations
on love. Rahu and Moon in Pushya shows us that this eclipse is about becoming a priest, an
intoxicated lover of God whose every action fulfills the auspiciousness of true worship.

Relationship Crises
I have noticed that eclipses tend to stimulate crises in relationships, whether or not they are crossing
the 7th house in a person's chart. This is because Rahu and Ketu are the archetype of polarity, always
standing in opposition to each other. Due to their opposing placements, Rahu and Ketu are always 7
signs away from each other. We require a reflection in order to see ourselves clearly, and
relationships can be one of the more potent forms of this reflection. We should remember that the
eclipse itself is an apex, not a beginning, so these crises can be triggered even a couple of months
before or after an eclipse.
Eclipse Cycles with Cards of Truth

TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE OF JANUARY 20

The birth card for this eclipse is a 7 of . In the birth spread of the 7 of , the Mars card is a 9 of
, the card of the solar eclipse of January 5. We will always see that the solar and lunar eclipses of a
single season are connected in some way. The eclipse "season" is really an eclipse cycle comprised of
solar and lunar halves. Spades and Diamonds are also a polarity--Spades are the first suit, Diamonds
the last; Spades are the beginning, Diamonds are the resolution; Spades are the fire of life,
Diamonds are the essence of life; Spades is initiation, Diamonds is Realization. This illustrates that
what started with the partial solar eclipse (9 of ) is being resolved in the total lunar eclipse (7 of ).
The Diamonds suit in particular is about nourishment (or essence) and values (or discrimination).
The eclipse is calling us to get in touch with our deeper values and discriminate what is truly
nourishing and what is no longer nourishing (or toxic). This discrimination is a purification which
restores the process of reception-release / assimilation-elimination, that we may be rejuvenated
again in the movements of life.

The birth card for this eclipse, 7 of , corresponds to Death in the Major Arcana, an archetype of
sacrifice, dissolution, and resolution. In the spread, the Moon card is a Jack of  with Rahu and the
Midheaven placed in it. In my essay about the partial solar eclipse of January 5, I mention the three
fixed cards: Jack of , 8 of , and King of . The King of  had a lot of significance for the solar
eclipse, and here we are seeing that the : Jack of  has significance for the lunar eclipse. We already
explored the connection between the Moon, Cancer, and the heart, and here the Moon card is a
Jack of . The Hearts suit is also ruled by the water element, just as Cancer is a water sign. The
Jack of  pattern further extends the themes of emotional and energetic nourishment.
The birth spread of this lunar eclipse also has three cards in common with the birth spread of the
partial solar eclipse: King of , King of , 2 of , and 2 of . In the spread of the partial solar
eclipse, 2 of  is the Sun card, King of  the Moon card, King of  the Mars card, 2 of  the
Venus card. In the spread of the lunar eclipse, 2 of  is the Jupiter card, King of  the Venus card,
King of  the Saturn card, and 2 of  the ecliptic card. Not only are these cards "shared" between
both eclipse spreads, but they are also pairs: two Kings and two 2s, two Diamonds and two Hearts.
2 is the number for the Moon, because it is the second planet, or the substance which connects two
things.

This shows the strong resonance that exists between the eclipses of a single cycle. In some sense, the
eclipse cycle is a single event that is unfolding through a larger span of time. If we can see how
eclipses relate, then we can understand them more holistically and thus more completely.

Lastly, I want to point out the significance of the 2 of  as the Jupiter card in the lunar eclipse
spread. As we already noted, 2 is the number of the Moon, and Jupiter is exalted in the Moon's sign,
so having a 2 of  as the Jupiter card is quite auspicious.

The True Soma

The true soma is not a lunar deity or magical plant or any kind of external substance. Soma is the
nourishing aspect of universal life-energy. Soma is the body's own "juice", the internal secretions of
the endocrine glands when the body is resonant with the vibrancy of life. From the perspective of
medical astrology, the Moon rules the circulation of fluids in the body while Jupiter rules the
endocrine system. The Moon governs the flow of soma, but Jupiter is its awakened source and
exalted delight. There is plenty of soma flowing during this lunar eclipse, the only question is if we
will choose to drink in the alchemy of life, where we may discover again the spark of evolution and
the source of true celebration.

"The true soma is not taken into the body from outside; it is not a magic mushroom or
medicinal elixir. It is the 'Water of Life,' the higher chemistry and higher Bio-Energetic
harmony that is native to the body-mind."
--Avatar Adi Da Samraj