A Solar Eclipse in Leo — People Not Pedestals

Hey everyone. This is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology [https://nightlightastrology.com/].

Today we have a solar eclipse in the sign of Leo. This is our first solar eclipse taking place since the nodes have changed signs, and so we're getting a taste for what this Leo medicine is all about. I like to think of eclipses like medicine because, in my experience, they frequently bring up some of the deepest personal and spiritual work each year.

When it's eclipse season, I know it's time to grow, it's time to change, it's time to evolve. So my intention today is to give you some of what I feel might be the most central spiritual growth themes for a South Node Leo eclipse. Now we've spent a lot of time visiting this eclipse over the past few weeks and even couple of months on the channel.

So if you're looking for a slightly different take, look back over the past couple of weeks. You're going to notice that there are several videos exploring the Leo Aquarius axis, the nodes of the moon changing signs. So if you follow the channel regularly, you know that I cover these things from a variety of different perspectives.

Anyway, before we get into it today, as always, remember to like and subscribe. It helps us grow and sustain what we do. We really appreciate your support. You can find transcripts of any of my daily talks on the website. That's nightlightastrology.com. I'm really excited that the enrollment is open for our annual retreat, which is taking place next August here in the Twin Cities at an absolutely beautiful nature-based retreat center in just south of the Twin Cities.

This was like a pilgrimage this year when we went to Mexico. I know that this retreat is going to be the same. We also did our best to make this retreat significantly more affordable, so that more people can join. Hopefully, we do have there's on-site options that involve roommates and rooming together with people you're going to meet, which a lot of people really loved on the Mexico retreat.

But if you're more of a person who wants your own private space, there we took another price option that you can stay right nearby at a local hotel and have your own room, and that cost number is going. That cost is going to be slightly or significantly less than staying at the retreat because we included a budget for you to basically stay at a nearby hotel, and we have some listed there for you.

So there's lots of options, is the point, and you're going to be at the retreat center pretty much from the start of the day to the end of the day anyway with community. So I wouldn't worry about staying separately if that's a concern. You're not going to miss out on anything when it's bedtime. Everyone just crashes anyway. So anyway, you can check out everything there is to know about the retreat here on the Oracle within page under the events, go to Annual Retreat or Courses Annual Retreat.

It's a certification, so it's it's our way of training our students to make that personal connection with the Oracle, which to us at Nightlight is the foundation of our philosophy that this is a living oracular intelligence. Having a relationship with it is as important, if not more important, than technical mastery. So we focus on that this week of of pilgrimage together.

Anyway, check it out on the shop page. Go to my books. My book, The Oracle Speaks, is out. You can check that out. Audible coming very soon. So stay tuned for an announcement when the Audible version drops. That'll be coming soon. But you can order it on Amazon or I think it's on Barnes and Noble, and you can get it right from our website as well.

Finally, I have under the events page I have a webinar I'm teaching this month on the 20th on Jupiter, so you can check out that talk under the webinars page under events. Register there, you get the recording if you can't attend live, so hope to see you there for a really deep dive into the planetary philosophy behind Jupiter. What is Jupiter all about? It's not just abundance and expansion.

There's a lot more to Jupiter, and played a really deep role in ancient philosophy and mysticism. So we're going to take a look at that. All right, let's put Nicapso up on the screen. Of course, if you want a nice affiliate discount for Nichepso, the discount code is in the comments or the description of the video.

All right, well here we are, Wednesday, August 12, the big solar eclipse in Leo. Now I like to remind people that it's it's not all all that common for the day of an eclipse to be this dramatic event, an eclipse is like a new moon, a solar eclipse. It is a new moon, but it's like a new moon that is greatly amplified. So it represents the seeding point of a new cycle.

That new cycle corresponds to the temple of the zodiac that it's located in, and the whole sign house of your birth chart. We're going to do some horoscopes today to remind you of where that might land in your birth chart. But before we do that, I want to talk about the the the kind of things, the kind of spiritual lessons that I would watch for before we do the the horoscopes for.

All of us right now. One is courage. This is a sun-centric solar eclipse in the sign of Leo, Sun in its own rulership, a new moon in Leo. What does that mean? I like to think about those periods of time in our life when we know we're ready to grow, but we have to take a really big step. That step might look to some people like stepping across a puddle, but to us inside, it may feel like trying to step across an ocean.

It requires courage, is the point. When we're ready to change and we're ready to embody the next best version of ourselves, and by that I mean the most loving, knowing somewhere in our hearts that we are on a spiritual journey back home to the source, or we are on a spiritual journey of enlightenment. If you believe that kind of thing, then a solar eclipse like this is about knowing in your heart you're ready to take the next step in that path, and that path may involve the courage to let something go, or the courage to start something, the courage to say something, the courage to not say something, but it requires courage, and the word courage comes from the the prefix cor, as in the heart, cor de leon, the heart of the lion.

So we have the we have the energy right now, sort of in the environment that we're in, behind us, supporting us to say, "You can do it. This is a very affirmative, encouraging solar eclipse. In so far as you're rewarded spiritually, psychically, psychologically for taking that next big step in the hero's journey of your spiritual growth by doing the courageous thing.

Now, to me, the courageous thing with the South Node in Leo is probably not a grandstand act. It's not a big performance. It's not drawing too much attention to itself. Those would be some of the shadows to be aware of. To be aware of in this act of courage, don't don't try to look like the big courageous person, and be careful of aggrandizement because sometimes aggrandizement convinces us that it's courage, but it's not.

You have to discern all of that. I have to discern all of that. None of none of it is easy, and there's lots of grace if we need to learn as we go. You know, sometimes we grandstand and we don't realize it, and then we we get a little humbled, and I think that's all normal. But courage. What is the courageous next step? Number two would be people, not pedestals.

I titled this talk today because there's a lot with the South Node in Leo, Jupiter in Leo, a solar eclipse in Leo that is not just about taking people off of off from pedestals if we have put them upon one, which means sometimes we feel disappointed. We can feel disappointed by teachers, leaders, figures, father, solar figures, fathers, anyone that has a central role of leadership or influence, and it may have to happen.

I've been in recovery groups in my adult life in various settings, and a lot of the times when people are grieving the alcoholism, let's say of a family member, there's something that happens where we have to separate the person from the parent. It's very common when people are dealing with addiction in one of their parents that they have to say, "I can't keep them on the pedestal of being my parent anymore because they're not capable of fulfilling that role, so I have to, and it's really painful because nobody should have to do that.

Ideally, we'd all have parents that would fulfill that role of a loving parent our whole lives, you know. But there comes a time when we age, whether they're an addict or not, you know. For forget that example, just real life where you have to take parents off from pedestals, and you just go, oh, like this is this is normal. They're a person. Teachers have to be taken off from pedestals. Oh, this is they make mistakes. They're just a person.

Um. And so part of it is the disappointment and the pain when someone really disappoints you, and that's legitimate. And then there's also learning and growing and maturing to recognize that it's the tendency toward hero worship, toward the monotheism of the hero cult, toward celebrity worship, toward fame, and and I like inflated ideas of power and grandiosity in our own psyches that we have to reconcile with, and let go of, and recognize that very very few people on planet Earth are like like dazzling exceptional.

Spiritual examples. I think, for example, of Thich Nhat Hanh, who is to me like a pretty exceptional example of a human being. Who, so I know they exist, and we should all know that they do exist. We don't want to become cynical and guard or harden our hearts to think there are no shining examples of humanity of someone that stands for something bigger that we can truly revere.

Think of all the people when the Buddhist monks who were walking that went out into the streets and just fell on their knees. We do have glowing examples, but they're exceptional. Most of us are deeply flawed, and I, you know, I reflect on this as a podcaster. You know, people throughout the year will I'll get images or images I'll get messages of people having some image of me as like their guru, and they'll tell me this, and I'm like, ooh, don't do that.

You know, I'm just a I'm just a podcaster, and I'm an astrologer, and I have a spiritual practice, but I'm fucking up and figuring everything out, just like you guys are. You know, you know, and so, and I've done that in my life too. You put people up on pedestals, and then you think the only way to get them off is to turn them into a villain. But sometimes the underlying issue is that, you know, people are human. People are flawed, and at least part of the problem is our tendency to put people on pedestals in the first place.

So two things can be true. The reason I say this is not only because we may be dealing with this externally, but also internally. Have you ever noticed that you have an unreasonably high sense of what you ought to be, or who you ought to please, or what you ought to be capable of, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't strive to do our best. I'm not talking about just falling back into the beanbag with two bags of Doritos in each arm and going like, "Fuck it, you know.

I'm not talking about that. Sometimes you talk about this, and people just get really permissive. They're like, "Yeah, I hold myself to too high of a standard past the ice cream, you know. And I like to make food jokes because that's like me. I'm only making food jokes because like that is what I go to. So if you're like me, maybe you know what I'm talking about, but anyway. But we we also have the issue of thinking that we should be on. We're too hard on ourselves, you know, and we're too hard on others.

Grace and forgiveness is part of what Leo embodies, because life is given to us unconditionally, the sun shines upon both the good and the bad. The sun shines life, in other words, doesn't discriminate in in the ways that we think it does. Not eternally. Um, I can't wrap my head around that. I'm not the source of that light, but I know it's there. I know it's what sustains me when I'm at my best or my worst.

I know it's the life in my blood and my breath, and I have to stay connected to that because I think that's the seat of grace. That's the throne of grace, if there is some such thing. Using a like a Leo image. Anyway, so if you need to take yourself off from a pedestal or someone else, do it with grace, do it with mercy, with good humor, with an eye for our own hypocrisy, creative joy.

Well, there's, I think, an eclipse like this can ask us the question like, "Are you happy? Are you doing things that are creatively fulfilling? If not, get to it. Let's go. Just simple. What lights you up? Why aren't you doing it? Number four, and I know it's not always that easy, but you know sometimes it's easier than we think it is. Or the next step toward creative fulfillment is just waiting for us.

Like I think about how frequently when I'm excited to write something, I just procrastinate the actual sitting down and writing. It's the weirdest thing, but it's like, well, that's the first step, isn't it, sir? Just sit the fuck down and do your creative thing. So sometimes we get in our own way. Anyway, legacy. What are you living for? What is bigger than your life? What is bigger than you? That is like a north star. This is the sun. Is after all a star.

And then eternity. I know, I know, I know. Everyone wants to defend being alive and being in the world, and not bypassing, and not burying your head in the sand, and not trying to be above it all somehow. And I don't know one. Spiritual tradition on planet Earth that doesn't tell us that eternity is the primary perspective we are supposed to keep in mind.

Not to say that that means that you discard, dismiss, degrade, diminish the importance of a material existence in a temporary form and lifetime and the planet Earth and all of the things. But I'm amazed at how many people defend the existence of the temporary life while not doing things every single day that are meant to embody and deepen the connection to the eternal being that we are.

We are luminous spiritual beings that have no beginning and end, and all of Buddhism, yoga, Christianity, Sufism, all of the mystical schools that have really meant a lot to me in my life at this point, really say that the easier thing is to forget your true nature than it is to somehow bypass material life. Like bypassing material life is actually a lot harder than it seems. Oh, anyway, okay. I'm I'm cracking myself up.

So the point is, let the point is my daughters. I've got to fix that. My daughters keep saying you always say the point is, it's one of those like phrase crutches that I'm like, and it's funny like over the years that there's like certain phrases that I'll use, and then they just they just disappear because I get sick enough of them, and I can hear, and that's starting to get to that point for me. So, don't worry, you won't be suffering much longer.

Eternity means how is your life actively seeking to commune with the source of the light itself? We have a physical light, and we have physical life, but what is the animating force of that? It's mysterious, and the light is symbolic. It represents it, which is why we say God is light, or divinity is light, or your consciousness is moving toward a light body. But it's a metaphor.

What is that eternal source, that eternal life, and what are we doing every day to embody it, to practice it, to raise our awareness and communion with it? I say that like it's something everyone ought to be doing, but it's something I ought to be doing. Which, by the way, if you ever want to come meditate with us, we have meditation seven days a week at Nightlight, you can come and join us for free.

It's under the events tab. Just click Community Quiet. It's totally free, and we meditate every day. And you can touch the light a little bit. It's good to do in community. All right. Well, anyway, this has been kind of a jaunt. Let's let's go over. Let's do some horoscopes. Oh, whoops! Don't need that. We need this. All right. So what I'm going to do is rotate this eclipse through the wheel, one sign at a time, and we're going to talk about where courage is needed, where creative joy is needed, and I'm going to do this for each whole sign house based on your rising sign.

You listen to this for your sun sign as well. If you're an Aries, I want you to consider that the joy you are searching for that the legacy you're living for, that the courage you need is creative. It is the creative participation of your life. What are you making? Are you making love? Are you making art? Are you making children? Are you making things that bring you joy and that feel like they're really coming from your core. Go in that direction.

If you're a Taurus, I want you to think about joy in the internal and private sphere, where nobody else sees. It's less performative. It's less public. It's less social or professional. It's in the privacy of your own heart, in your own home. Or you might ask about the courage to take a step when it comes to where you live or what your home life looks like, or addressing karma within your family, what does joy look like with respect to the private, internal, familial, the home base? Take a big step in this area of your life.

All right, Gemini. So we're looking at the third house. Solar eclipse here to me says what is on your mind, what are you ready to communicate or convey through your intelligence, through ideas, through communication? There's a creative form of expression that's intellectual or that requires you to showcase a skill or an ability. Now it's always possible that there needs to be a change to mind, body, or environment.

That something needs to shift so that more joy and heart-centeredness can come through. Maybe even something with siblings or peers that you're looking at. How do I feel good about myself, and as I exist in relationship with people who are very much my peers, but either way, I think what's on your mind that needs to be creatively expressed or communicated, or learned, a change of perception, a change of mind might be at hand.

For cancers, the question is about resources. It's about money. It's about what supports you, what enlivens and creates a sense of material security and joyful creative prosperity. So, what kind of courage do you need, or what kind of legacy are you living for? What kind of creative joy are you seeking to embody when it comes to how you earn money or earn a living, or what you produce or make, or what sustains or supports you? It's a big step you're taking right now.

For Leos, it is so personal because we're talking about the creative step being yourself. What change do you need to make to your health, your body, your identity, your sense of character and calling? Who are you, and who do you need to become? There is a high likelihood that with a solar eclipse in your first house, the old version of you is just not working anymore. But there is an exciting new version just waiting. All you have to do is take a big, courageous next step.

All right, Virgo, you have the 12th house solar eclipse in Leo. What are you afraid of? What are you afraid to look at? Where is there a lack of self-esteem or confidence? This is a blind spot for all of us, the 12th house. But when you look in that blind spot, you may find your most radiant, courageous, confident self just waiting to be pulled out of obscurity and into the light.

You may also have to look very deeply at what inspires you, what makes you feel strong and confident, and what makes you feel disconnected from yourself. What influences are positive when it comes to your joy, your happiness, your creativity, your heart-centeredness, and what are distractions or detractive people or influences? For Libras, we're looking at the 11th house solar eclipse. Who are the right people? What are the right aspirations or ambitions?

What are the right social or professional circles or long-term goals or dreams? Who are the right collaborators or colleagues? What kinds of groups feel like home and feel joyful? What kind of creative, courageous next step do you need to take when it comes to your ambitions and the people they connect you with in the world, maybe specifically around things like religion or profession or cultural or social groups. Taking that next step is going to require some courage, right?

We go to Scorpio next, and Scorpio has the solar eclipse in your 10th house, the place of career, the place of vocation, public standing, and reputation. How is your career changing? What kind of significant change of direction, leadership, responsibility are you needing to take right now? I wonder if there is a more joyful version of you in the world or you in your career.

Is there a change of leadership structure or environment with respect to the workplace? But thinking broadly, what is the courageous next step you need to take relative to your public social standing, career, vocation in the world? For Sagittarius, we're looking at the ninth house, the place of belief and philosophy. A solar eclipse here suggests that. A paradigm is ready to change or shift.

Maybe new teachers or teachings, new philosophies, new moral, ethical, political, ideological frameworks are being changed out one for another, solidified, deepened, refined. If you yourself are a teacher? Are you considering a different curriculum or approach? Who are the luminaries or people inspiring you? How is your understanding of higher reality changing or opening? And what is the courageous next step you need to take to more deeply embody what you believe?

For Capricorn, we're looking at the eighth house. We're talking about a place of exchange. Now there can be devil's bargains in the eighth house, where we are using one another, or benefiting in uneven exchanges, or others taking advantage of us, or there is a kind of reciprocity, a sacred exchange of value worth, an exploration of healthy versus unhealthy attachments, and an exploration of debts, the accumulation and paying off of debts of any kind.

So a solar eclipse here asks, what debts are you paying off? What attachments are being relinquished. In what way are you evaluating the sacred exchanges of money or time or energy or emotion? And what better, healthier version of exchange is possible right now? And what freedom can be found through relinquishing unhealthy attachments? For Aquarius rising, we're looking at the seventh house, the place of love and relationships, intimacy, partnerships. It's also the place of the setting sun, a place of endings.

So, what brave new beginnings come because you are right now ready to accept the setting of the sun? This is a solar eclipse in the place of the setting sun. What deep endings, resolutions, or letting go is happening right now that can lead you to a different version of yourself, a different version of relationships with other people? You may be exploring some pretty powerful endings.

On the other hand, anything involving intimacy and partnerships could be changing dramatically right now. Relationships could be experiencing revision, refinement, and healing. Partners could be going through significant changes. Intimacy might be changing its nature, its needs, its shape. You could also be looking very deeply at the need for more heart-centeredness in relationships, more heart vulnerability. What's the next big courageous step you can take with respect to intimacy or relationships?

Finally, for Pisces, we have the solar eclipse in the sixth house, a place of work, sacrifice, service, duty, responsibility, obligation-a place where we have to persevere. We have to chop wood and carry water. We got to put some elbow grease into it. Is that the phrase? A solar eclipse here to me says: Is there a great work, a great burden, a great effort or sacrifice that has been made that no longer needs to be made.

Is there a sense of finding a new way to work? We often have to respond to adversity in this house, sickness, for example, chores, daily work, the daily grind-it's not the most rewarding feeling, but explorations of what kinds of service and sacrifice, work and labor, what kind of upkeep is right and healthy and good and productive, and which is not. Those distinctions will come up during an eclipse like this, and have you thinking about what do I want to be spending my time working toward or on, what feels good, what feels joyful, or what is the great sacrifice I need to make, and what's the courageous next step that I need to take so that I can make that sacrifice?

Because there's a new sense of what's inspiring me or motivating me that I need to put all of my heart's effort into. Okay, well here we are, the day of solar eclipse. I hope that this has been a useful exploration today. Remember that eclipses take up six months to a year to play out because they come in in sets and cycles like waves. We're gonna see what this is all about.

If you got good stories to share, put them in the comments section. Can't wait to hear from you. And yeah, we'll be back again tomorrow with more astrology to talk about. All right. Hope you're having a good day. Bye.