A full lunar eclipse on January 31st falls in the 12th degree of Leo. Times and places for observing the eclipse can be found here.

As a full Moon, the high point of this lunation shows us how we are acting out our most worldly aspirations on the stage of the world. We may not however be aware of the extent to which we are doing this, so care is cautioned, especially in dealing with others. In the midst of drama, when the tension and energy is high, all too often the unconscious can and will intervene unexpectedly, but, there are of course many ways in which this can happen.

Seeded in the last decan of Capricorn, while this lunation brings the worldly presence we have to a dramatic point of self expression, there is a twist. Being a total eclipse we are encountering a long term effect, one in which ‘the mask’ falls and the reality of the shadow, or ‘hidden persona’, behind it is revealed.

This is literally like a power cut to the narrative, and we live in a time of conflicting narratives, so this is also a power game, a game of opportunism. Concrete reality suddenly intervenes in a ‘play’ just as it reaches its dramatic high point – the lights go out. This will be a test of both mettle and preparedness.

When the lights do ‘come back on’, not only is the ruse exposed but, in that moment, life and art become cathartically interactive. In a big way.

When encountered in personal life this hiatus can come from untenable situations reaching the point where they have to resolve themselves; their inherent paradox transcended – the tension between two opposites flips, ‘the two’ produce an unexpected ‘third’, so to speak.

The result is a new narrative, perhaps not unexpected, but one which was hitherto unable to manifest. Having been felt but not seen, it now becomes visible, a powerful catalyst to action.

A collision of fact and fiction which reveals some otherwise undeclared relationship between them, the main casualty from this impactful event is going to primarily be in the realm of lies that have been dressed up as truths. We know the world is littered with them. But, check out your own ‘business’ first and start there.

This is the time to make a personal vow ~ to stop fooling oneself, or trying to fool others, and to live in integrity. This does not require us to give up our role playing, but, rather to allow it to become an extension of our soul, fully.

If you are going to play the fool, make sure it is your part to do it. This is a position of true power, and this element, in the guise of the wise trickster and ‘upsetter’, speaking profane truths with impunity, is going to be very much at large in the world. It will hurt, some, not all, but only where there has been denial and deception. Have some compassion.

On the world stage, this is the moment when the ‘green curtain’ is pulled back and the deceptions which have been plaguing society with greatest bearing in our lifetimes come pouring out into the open.

The strongest direct planetary aspect to this Moon comes via Neptune, inconjunct the eclipsed full Moon, so watch out especially for propaganda and media whitewashing of what otherwise might be very real events, events of significance. This is a rear guard action, a defense of the ‘false realm’. Deals will be struck, no doubt, and necks will be saved, almost certainly, but some won’t…..and this is where it could get ‘interesting’.

We know the scenario described above is in fact playing out in the world at the moment, and this will be especially evident where the tension between extremes of political ideology is currently being constellated. But, it reaches beyond this into the social realm as well.

With Mercury in the final minute of the final degree of Capricorn at the exact full Moon, at eclipse height, expect incendiary information to come out around this time and the weeks following, to change the landscape. This information, and the actions it impels, is going to change the face of our social connections, our financial transactions and our ideologies, within the bigger picture.

With Venus in close proximity to the Sun in mid Aquarius the financial basis of these revelations could reveal their darker side, the slavery and degradation which blights the world. The other side of this aspect is that of identity, how this has been and is being stolen, not least of all as this affects the legitimacy of indigenous status.

Legal battles are going to be at the center of many of the actions brought to a head here. Social justice itself is in the spotlight.

However, with all the planets direct but the connections between them and the Sun/Moon and nodes mostly being tenuous at this full Moon, it is the place and role we individually take up following this eclipse that are of the utmost importance. The news, if allowed to get out, will shock, but, it is what is within our grasp to change that matters most. This is where we put that vow of integrity into action.

When we look to the Sabian symbols for the Moon and Sun’s degrees we find this picture helpfully filled out.

12° Leo emphasises the manner in which social status has become a superficial role playing game, barely reflecting the inherent value of each individual soul taking part. This is a product of ‘power’ being the measure of ‘position’ rather than ‘inherent value’. This matters greatly in our present time, for many reasons, but matters even more to our future. Its opposite degree reveals the ‘shadow’ which this superficiality conceals.

12° Aquarius radiates ‘inherent worth’, but, requires the social value of the individual be formally recognised for that energy and its qualities to be consummated, a social responsibility. Here the natural condition of ‘hierarchy’ is expressed, rather than being contrived, as it has become in 12 Leo. This is instinctively hard wired into the human psyche, a legacy of our deepest connections with nature, and such hierarchy is expressed most naturally via the unconscious, no less through dreams and psychic realities. But, this is an instinct that has all but lost its true sociological value, being all too often over-riden by ‘privilege’ and material wealth in the social hierarchies of the industrial age.

This solar/lunar dynamic is almost certainly reflecting a watershed for social values, the eclipse sustaining a clear need to revise how we live according to those values, and this is to describe an atmosphere which will affect much of the mundane world over the coming months. Imposed values will be questioned, as they are being currently in relation to gender identity, and this relates directly into freedom of speech and how it is being both undermined through censorship and directed down ideological pathways. If the 20th century was the century of propaganda, the 21st century is all about the battle for control of the narrative. Narratives are constantly being updated, being relentlessly engineered, through overt if not rampant political correctness, for example. Legislation has already begun ramming it down our throats. But, this is the false face of a much more sinister post-modern shadow. Here too the mask must fall.

The moral here is to not simply take things at face value. Be careful to listen beyond people’s words. In fact, listen to your own, the narrative you are upholding and look beyond it, drop it for a moment and ask ‘what do I really want’ and does my life match up to it, my ‘real’ life. The desire to create impressions, to spin a yarn for the effect, must end – at the same time, it is content that is emphasised here. While appearances can be deceptive and it is best not to judge a book, or a person, by their ‘cover’, as Sam Keen observed, “the authentic life has frequently been pictured under the metaphor of the fool.” Why is this important; because the fool is the risk taker, the arbiter of creative energy and it is creative energy that this eclipse and full Moon is focusing on.

We almost certainly won’t see the full extent of the changes being initiated under this eclipsed full Moon until later in the year, but, do take the opportunity to act in accordance with the times. Many people are frightened to speak their truth in the current climate, but the integral life has great power.