Musical Invocation of the Total Eclipse

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In the Shadow of the Moon, the exciting new 2017 Midyear Reading by Eric Francis, is now published. Don’t miss this essential guide to the recent eclipse and well beyond. Order all 12 signs here (recommended), or choose your individual signs.

The first astrology segment of your 2017-18 Leo Birthday Reading by Eric has been published, and the second will follow soon. Make the most of the still-fresh eclipse energy — order your birthday reading today.

Dear Friend and Listener:

Most of this week’s program is Sunday night’s invocation of the total eclipse. All of us at Planet Waves have spent months explaining the event from spiritual and psychological perspectives, in language. By the end, the only way to express things was in rhythm and tone.

The concert, which took place at The Place of the Way in Kingston, starts as a drum circle with about seven drummers and percussionists, which lasts for about 15 minutes, then turns into an electric rock show. I am playing guitar the first half, and five-string bass the second half.

I learned more about music in these two hours than I have in the past seven years of diligent musical study. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

I’ll present that uninterrupted after a brief introduction summing up my observations here on “the day after.”

Thank you to Daniel Grimsland for rehearsing with me nearly every night the week before the show, for helping with the technical details, and for recording the show. When we publish the board recording, I’ll provide a proper list of credits.

What you have here is the ambient recording, meaning I placed a Zoom H6 digital recorder on the refrigerator, took a guess at the levels, and pointed it at the stage. Please note that there are some room sounds mixed in, though as the show heats up, these tamp down.

The show brought together many musicians who might never have worked together.

I’m interested in your stories of personal revelation and transformation related to this event. I suggest you take a wide view, going back at least a month to the first Leo New Moon on July 23. Please write to me.

Thank you for making our midyear reading, focused on the eclipse, one of our bestselling astrology products in quite a while. It seems to have rung the bell for many people, and it’s still available by single sign or as all 12 signs.

These readings will be relevant for a while, and will seem even more interesting when you listen again at the end of the year, and then early next year as the planetary changes I’m describing begin to take hold.

Planet Waves FM is published by Chiron Return, the nonprofit arm of Planet Waves. We also publish The Gemstone File and when Mercury is direct, we’ll be announcing the details on Investigative Reporting from the Kitchen Table, our forthcoming class.

We are supported by your generosity and social conscience. Thank you for contributing; all donations are tax-deductible, if you file in the United States.

Thank you for participating.

With love,

Eclipses are astrology we can’t deny. If there is a conjunction between Saturn and Uranus, it’s invisible, and while many people may experience changes, only astrologers and their merry bands of readers and students know what’s shappening. Yet when the Sun vanishes, you can be sure that normal activity will come to a stop.

Our busy world will pause, and everyone, from herbicide activists nestled in the hills of Oregon to rock stars in Nashville, will stand in the silent shadow of the cosmic order with the astonishment of small children coursing in their hearts.

This doesn’t happen often, and you can imagine the awesome power of so many people embraced in a kind of simultaneous, captive meditation as everything around them momentarily ceases to be normal. Call it a reality lapse, only it’s one into which the real reality can flow very easily.

In terms of their astrological meaning, eclipses of the Sun follow this image of collective awareness and radical break of continuity. Whether you can see the eclipse does not matter; part of the miracle of astrology is it works anyway. As many of us are discovering personally, eclipses are expanded moments of often uncontrollable, unpredictable change. They also bring the civilization and its communities together, usually through important collective events and the media.

Eclipses are evolutionary gateways, which is another way of saying that when they show up, we do a lot of growing in a short time. Delays are compensated. Old accounts can be wiped clean. While each is unique, eclipses often feel like being shot through a funnel of space-time, and we emerge somewhere different than where we entered. The key to making the best use of them is to move with the energy, not cling to anything or anyone too tightly, and to stay open.

Literally, breathe, communicate, feel, love, observe and receive. Remember your intentions. The sense of panic that sometimes accompanies them yields nicely to awareness and revelation, mental conditions that are more natural than we often realize.