Solar Eclipse in Leo: Icarus's Fall

Actually, the agendas forming the basis of this radical change, which we ourselves had been madly desiring deep down for quite some time, had become visible after the first eclipse in February. However, back then, due to the water density in the skies, we couldn't see our way clearly. We would say, “Are my feelings showing me the truth, or am I deceiving myself?” and couldn't be sure. Then the sky changed, and courage and enthusiasm to birth the change we desired were loaded. Even if some said, 'you're too comfortable', we knew, deep down, that we were in the final moments of a situation that no longer nourished us.

Although the picture revealed by the Solar Eclipse in Aquarius was extremely clear, accepting it was not easy at all. Under every branch we wanted to cut off, the excuse of 'I put so much effort into this' would sprout, and fears of loss, guilt, and potential regrets would swarm our minds. The more we couldn't accept it, the more we continued to play dead. We tried to preserve and maintain the system as it was. However, the past Aquarius Full Moon hit so hard that we found ourselves directly in a whirlpool. A deafeningly loud voice was clearly heard:

“This cannot go on like this anymore. Your identity, or rather, what you thought was your identity and clung to, what you resisted to maintain, what you wore yourself out trying to protect, now needs to burn to ashes, to metamorphose, to transform.”

Burning to ashes has a distinct flavor. If you're someone with a Pluto influence like me, hundreds of burnings, turning to ash, and a myriad of necessary metamorphoses come and go without a fuss, and can even excite you. However, now the issue is not whether you want to transform or not, or whether you are pleased with it or not. Now the issue is which direction you will be swept into during this transformation, which has become an inevitable agenda. Because, yes, we now want to fly freely; like a migratory bird transitioning from one air current to another with a single flap of its wing, we too want to land somewhere else from where we are and perhaps take on the shape of this new place. What we have had to accept and are slowly getting used to, one way or another, is the boiling point of this water we have been in for a long time. But where, how, and in what form will we evolve? That is the real question.

When I form a new identity, form, or existence while preserving the habits and quirks of the previous one, will what I have be 'something new'?

Am I really going where my heart leads me, or am I sailing on a different ship with the same captain, on similar routes?

The neighbor's grass may look greener, but when I'm there instead of here, will I truly experience something new, or will I be exhausted in the navy blue of the same thing?

As I flap my wings to free myself, will I again fall leagues away from my center, and again burn in others' sun, losing all my meanings, colors, and originality? Like Icarus…

Let's remember that unforgettable story from Greek mythology...

Daedalus and his son Icarus are imprisoned in a tower in Crete, whereupon Daedalus makes a pair of wings for his son Icarus by combining bird feathers with wax, so he can escape. But first, he warns Icarus: “If you fly too low, the sea will wet your wings; but if you get too close to the sun, your wax will melt, your wings will burn, and you will fall. Do not keep yourself too low, nor too high…”

However, Icarus, almost intoxicated by the freedom and excitement of flying, quickly forgets this advice. He gets caught up in enthusiasm, approaches the Sun, the wax melts, the feathers scatter, and he crashes into the sea.

Now we too are under a sky reminiscent of Icarus's fall. At the moment of the eclipse, we see Pisces rising; fantasies of crossing boundaries and flying beyond them, a desire for limitless expansion that believes it can do anything, knowing no bounds, and a potential inability to see reality are possible.

Jupiter, the ruler of the ascendant, is in Leo in conjunction with Mercury, exuding exaggerated self-confidence: the mind, perhaps far beyond its true capacity, attempts to break through its own walls by bending reality with a complex of grandiosity, through creativity, art, love, and dreams. This is actually a very beautiful, very great potential, but in a groundless sky everything is flying around, desires, aspirations, 'I've arrived' states suddenly grow, but our feet are absolutely not on the ground.

The real truth you need to see is the giant illusion of the mirrors reflecting your image, pushing you into the trap of escaping from one place only to fall into the same one. This eclipse offers a two-way promise, the choice is yours:

1. To scoff at what you have now and here, to exceed your capacity with a will for limitlessness, and to experience a hard fall with the first wall of reality you hit.

2. To act with patience and moderation, with self-confidence but aware of your limits, to build a new game or to recognize and overcome personal whims that prevent you from playing the existing game by the book, and to move forward. This does not mean compromising your principles, and a tremendous opportunity for restructuring with Saturn's support awaits those who choose this.

If you do not operate the reality test correctly and attempt to fly too high with even greater pride, believing you have conquered your ego, you will not only burn like Icarus but may also experience a breaking of arrogance. This, of course, must also be experienced if necessary…

However, especially in relationships, you must correctly determine which direction you are flying. With the T-square formed by Mars, Venus, and Neptune, the sky, opening the door to disillusionment and 'what I hoped for vs. what I found', will soon introduce those flying too high to the cold frost of reality.

If you ask what is good in all of this…

If I remember correctly, it was a Zen master who said this:

“A terrible day for your ego is magnificent for your evolution.”

The Sabian symbol of the eclipse also perfectly aligns with what the chart describes: “Drunken chickens clumsily flapping their wings and trying to fly.” This symbol points to a loss of reality. It depicts attempts made with exaggerated goals, grand dreams, and misplaced self-confidence, succumbing to an illusion, or not yet being mature enough. Now, our desire to try new things by pushing our capacity might be strong, but taking big steps without being ready and without correctly determining our limits can lead to disappointment later. On the other hand, the fixed star Algenubi accompanying the eclipse emphasizes a similar quality. This star, with the theme of having power through inspiring leadership, refers to the shadow aspects of Leo: the time for bold ventures may have come, but do not let your fuel be anger, jealousy, arrogance, and obsession with control. A change driven by destructive feelings will not make anyone happy.

Now, an unavoidable crossroads stands before us. Eclipses exist for this; the tangled knot we have been struggling with for a long time is now unraveling. Still, of course, as always, we have a choice. Will we be a blind Icarus, a drunken chicken pushing the impossible, or a human being who controls the ego mind and aligns desires with reality from now on?

Perhaps the first step is to be honest with ourselves about who we are and what we want. What is it that fuels this desire for change, transformation, and 'another life' within me? Is it the insatiable appetite of the ego, ambition, competition, the search for approval and applause, what is it that sweeps me from one place to another? What is it that defeats me today and for which I seek the opposite?

After that, boundaries are drawn, a new route is determined, wings are attached, and we fly to our heart's content.

Don't worry too much about that, that part is easy…