A Pair of 2012 Eclipses: Solar & Lunar

How did you experience the May 2012 annular solar eclipse? Or the June 2012 partial lunar eclipse?

My family and I joined The Ojai Mythological Roundtable seventh session: The Labyrinth the evneing of the solar eclipse. Guest speaker Kayleen Asbo, a cultural historian and professor at Sonoma State University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, shared the historical, mythological, and psychological aspects of this phenomenon tracking its influence from Greece to Medieval France, and sharing slides to illustrate her points.

We also walked the labryinth at the Ojai Foundation during the eclipse, and we watched it progress thanks to a simple device someone shared. Before we went back in to learn more about labyrinths, I took this shot with my iPhone. I used no special filters but was able to catch the shape of the eclipsed sun thanks to the leaves.

Eclipses always come in pairs. The second in this pair of 2012 eclipses starts around 2am on Monday June 4.

On Saturday, June 3, we backpacked to spend the night on North Dome in Yosemite and to take advantage of the lunar light. We set up our tent under two gnarled firs on the edge of the dome, cooked our dinner, made hot cocoa, and watched the nearly full moon rise over Half Dome. The granite surrounding us sparkled in the night. I had quite a few dreams, too. In one of them, I dug into the carpet of my house and struck sweet crude oil.

It’s nice to be home and clean after nine days of camping (a fuller report to follow!) but every night of our trip we enjoyed clear skies. I wish we were there on North Dome tonight so we could watch the moon eclipse over Yosemite Valley!

It’s too foggy to see it here, but if your skies are clear and you’re awake and on the Pacific coast, you will notice a change in the moon’s color at 145am, and you will see the shadow begin to eat the moon at 3am and continuing until 5am. And If you’re up when the sun rises, check out the 6am moonset for some cool color!

According to Astrology.com, during this lunar eclipse,  “The Sagittarius Moon opposes the Gemini Sun. You’ll get a big reminder that, as important as the cerebral focus of last month’s Solar Eclipse was, you’d better not forget to tend to your emotional state as well! Adding fuel to the flames, Mars will directly oppose this eclipse, possibly resulting in some rather heated discussions. Fortunately, if you can channel your energies toward accomplishing important tasks, most of those argumentative energies will dissipate. Also on the 4th, Mercury and Saturn will work together to ensure that practical matters go off without a hitch and that serious conversations produce useful results.”