The Evolving Astrologer, by OPA

The 2019-2020 Eclipses and the British Monarchs

by Maurice Fernandez

Royal family"Kings and queens are born and die during eclipses" – the ancient saying says.

An eclipse consists of a Sun/Moon/Nodes conjunction or opposition (New or Full Moon on the Nodes). Since the Lunar Nodes themselves are the intersection point between the Solar and Lunar orbit as seen from the earth, an eclipse occurs when they indeed align exactly on those points.

NodesThe Sun and Moon can only be eclipsed because from our earth perspective they appear to be exactly the same size. This phenomenon occurs because of the synchronous fact that the Moon is 400 times closer to us than the Sun, but the Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon!

As the South or North Node represent this perfect alignment between the Sun and Moon, I interpret them as portals through which very powerful activations can occur, on personal and global levels. A planet aligning with the Nodes gains tremendous prominence as a “gate keeper” or “standing at the portal;” a VIP Very important planet at the very important portal!

Thus, is it surprising that Kings and Queens are born or die when the Sun and the Moon align with their own portal? The gates of heaven open, and quite often this does signify a change of guard on a leadership level.

The Solar and Lunar British Monarchs

WilliamThe young British monarchs – Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge do illustrate this phenomenon very literally. The male prince is born on a Solar Eclipse on the Cancer Solstice point (29 Gemini – Saros #117) and his wife Kate Middleton on a Lunar Eclipse (19 Capricorn/Cancer – Saros #124).

CatherineNot every monarch will be born during an eclipse in such a graphic way, but are quite often born during eclipse seasons (when the Sun is in proximity to either Node) or when the Moon is on the Nodes (as it is with Prince Charles and Prince Harry – both born with a Taurus Moon on the North Node--and with William and Kate’s younger children, Charlotte and Louis both born with Moon on the North Node).

Elisabeth IIQueen Elizabeth II was born with the same Cancer/Capricorn Nodes tightly conjunct her Ascendant – while South Node ruler Saturn is right on her MC dominating her whole chart. Newborn little prince Archie (Son of Harry and Meghan) is born with the exact Nodes as the Queen mother, at 19 Capricorn/Cancer, with Saturn tightly on it.

Current Eclipses

Today, we are just a few days ahead of an eclipse season in Cancer/Capricorn that will immediately activate the British monarchs.

July 2, 2019 – Solar Eclipse at 10 Cancer (Nodes at 17 Ca/Cp). Saros #127

July 16, 2019 – Lunar Eclipse at 24 Capricorn/Cancer. Saros #139

December 26, 2019 – Total Solar Eclipse at 4 Capricorn (Nodes at 8 Cap). Saros #132

January 10, 2020 – Lunar Eclipse at 20 Cancer/Capricorn. Saros #144

June 21, 2020 – Solar Eclipse at 0 Cancer. Saros #137

Metonic and Saros Cycles of Eclipses

Eclipses are not isolated events, but part of larger patterns of eclipses – the Metonic and Saros cycles.

The Metonic cycle is an exact recurrence of the same eclipse at the same degree every 19 years - for 4 to 5 consecutive times.

The Saros Cycle is a series of eclipses which reoccur every 18 years and 11 days and 8 hours. There are 204 Saros series, and each can contain 69 to 86 eclipses.

Eclipses from the same Saros cycle do not occur at the same place in the chart. A cycle begins with an eclipse near one of the pole, and completes in the opposite pole.

The Birtish Monarch are reaching their Saros and Metonic Eclipse cycles

Since Prince William, Catherine, and Queen Elizabeth are all born with Nodes in Cancer Capricorn, and two of them on the actual eclipse day, they now reach their 18th and 19th year cycle where the Saros and Metonic cycles return.

We can expect dramatic changes as this seems to affect the whole family who have planets (if not Nodes) in these regions of the chart.

  • Queen Elizabeth will have the July 2 eclipse on her Pluto, and the July 16 eclipse on her Nodes/Ascendant.
  • Prince William will have the July 2 eclipse on his North Node. He is set for a metonic return at age 38 on the June 21, 2020 Eclipse.
  • Catherine Duchess of Cambridge will have the July 16 Lunar eclipse reverse to her natal one, and a Metonic return on January 10, 2020 at age 38.
  • Prince George of Cambridge (Son of William and Kate) is born on a close to exact Full Moon at 29 Cancer/Capricorn, and the July 2 Eclipse will take place on his natal Mars/Pluto opposition.
  • Prince Louis of Cambridge (second son of William and Kate) is born with a natal Mars/Pluto at 19-21 Capricorn, with the July and January eclipses conjuncting that (on his mother’s own Lunar eclipse).
  • Prince Andrew (son of Elizabeth II) has his natal Saturn at 14 Capricorn, highly activated by all this year’s eclipses.

While eclipses can surely go unnoticed at times, these eminent alignments seem too dramatic to be mere tabloid drama and business as usual. Can we expect important family developments, or even a change of guard, triggered by events taking place between now and July 2020?

The first thoughts about a possible change may direct us to the elders in the dynasty. It seems that while the Taurus Sun queen comfortably holds on to her material incarnation, even her blue blood cannot grant her immortality. Otherwise, her husband Prince Philip’s health is declining.

And yet, as much as we astrologers can identify patterns, eclipses remain wild cards with truly unexpected outcomes. They can promote and demote, bring significant others to our lives or completely alter the course of our lives. One thing seems certain, they are powerful activators.

Image sources:
Royals: Carfax2 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
Nodes: Gemini Brett and ScopiAna
Charts provided by the author

Published in: The Career Astrologer, June 2019.

Author:
Maurice FernandezMaruice Fernandez, born in Africa and having subsequently lived in Israel and the US, has studied Evolutionary Astrology with Jeffrey Greene in the 1990s with now more than 25 years of experience in practicing astrology, with a passion for interpreting planetary cycles as a way to help others live fulfilling and healthy lives. He is serving as the current president of OPA (the Organization for Professional Astrology) and is also a speaker and author who resides in Sedona, Arizona.

© 2019 - Maurice Fernandez - The Career Astrologer

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7-Aug-2023, 13:39 UT/GMT
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