Thoughts on the Solar Eclipse
Image: detail of Ascent of the Blessed, Hieronymus Bosch, ca. 1510
There are many interpretations of what the eclipses mean for us on a deeper level. Filtering some of both the ancient and contemporary significance, the questions that arise for me are: What is being eclipsed within us? And what is being eclipsed within the collective? Surely it’s no accident that a swath of America, stretching from coast to coast, is about to be plunged into darkness. The path of this great eclipse will literally bisect this country, an almost too-obvious metaphor for the intense opposition in the American psyche—the diametrically opposed sides of consciousness.
And yet on the other side of this dark edge is the tremendous potential for change.
In the 1970s, physicist Ilya Prigogine developed the Theory of Dissipative Structures. The idea? "If enough of the key components of a system are shifted into a new energy state, then this critical mass can catapult the whole structure into a new energetic equilibrium." According to this theory, we only need to transform a percentage of the whole in order to affect a dynamic shift of the entire system.
What the bleep do we really know? You know? Sometimes we're bathed in light, other times we're plunged in darkness, eclipsed by whatever it is that haunts us most. But this I do know: I can choose to show up to whatever is with an open heart. To meet my own inner darkness with acceptance, instead of indifference, avoidance, or confusion. To choose love instead of fear. This is no small thing, especially when you consider the potential: One open heart creates a field where others can open, too. A ripple becomes a wave. A seed becomes a whole crop of new possibility. So, my friends, as the solar eclipse nears and all intentions--conscious or unconscious—are magnified, the choice to keep your heart open plays out on a grand scale. As the eclipse portal closes, it is more important than ever to choose love on all levels: personal, interpersonal, collective, and Earth.
In these times, Prigogine's revolutionary idea has taken on a new urgency. His axiom gives us hope that, despite all the madness swirling around us, choosing heart over ego and love over wounding can move those key components and shift the whole system. There’s no turning back. If these last few days have felt like dark, karmic rollercoaster, that’s OK. I’ll see you all on the other side.