Eclipses happen quite rarely. There are maximum 2-3 solar eclipses and maybe 3-4 lunar eclipses in a year. Most of them are partial eclipses and total eclipses are rarer. The actual occultation of the solar/ lunar disc lasts just for a few hours, and even if we also consider a ‘vedh’ period before and after the actual occultation, this ‘vedh’ too lasts for a few hours. So the total eclipse energies last for a maximum of one day.

So you will get a very rare client who has actually been born during an eclipse.

This is a very intense conjunction of Rahu/ Ketu with the Sun/ Moon, on a Full moon/ No moon day. The energies of the full / no moon are quite intense in the first place and then you have Rahu /Ketu added to this potent mix. The energies of the eclipse event generally affect the horoscope adversely. This is a life-time of imbalance as the energies of the Sun/ Moon, the two luminaries of the horoscope are conjoint the energies of desire and dissociation, at birth! The flow of the life experience is very intensely linked to the mind/ individual soul for the entire life-time.

In an eclipse event, primarily two houses of the chart are affected, one in which Rahu is placed and the other 180deg way where Ketu is be placed. Check which houses are being affected, eg if the houses are the 1^st – 7^th or the 4^th – 10^th, then the foundation of the personality itself is intensely affected. In whichever pair of houses the eclipse occurs, these both houses suffer. The two signs placed in these two houses also naturally suffer the imbalance. If there are more planets in addition to the Sun/ Moon, conjunct the Rahu/ Ketu, then the results are even more severe as these planet’s energies are also drawn into the vortex of Rahu/ Ketu. Check if there are more planets in the 15 deg zone before and after the Rahu/ Ketu. The keywords of these planets too will be affected. If it were Rahu then there might be short-lived gains from these planets, and if it is Ketu involved then it will give misfortunes linked to these other planet’s keywords.

There are dramatic upheavals and downturns in the matters associated with these houses, signs and planets. This can rarely give sudden fortunes and but more commonly gives sudden misfortunes throughout the life time of the individual as the birth itself was during an eclipse.

Lunar eclipses occur on full moon nights. The shadow of the Earth falls on the lunar disc. Lunar eclipses are more frequent and also last longer than solar eclipses as the shadow of the Earth is much bigger than the Moon’s disc. Here one of the nodes will be with the Sun and the other with the Moon, 180deg apart. In this situation the house occupied by the Moon suffers more deeply than the Sun’s house. There may be indications of unregulated occult abilities, sensitivity to the other dimensions, emotional imbalances, etc. This can go to the extremes of paranoia, hallucinations and insanity. Or in the other extreme can grant spiritual and occult understanding. These individuals will be, in any case, different and not very able to function normally in regular society. There will be problems in relationships with the mother, father and the spiritual Guru. Such people may be orphans, adopted, raised by relatives/ institutions/ orphanages etc.

Solar eclipses occur on no moon days – Amavasya. The orb of the Moon occults the solar disc. The solar eclipses are relatively less frequent than the lunar eclipses and are shorter in duration, the Moon’s shadow is apparently the exact size of the Sun’s disc. Here both Sun and the Moon will be with one of the nodes in one house and the other node will be 180deg away.

Here are some keywords you can build your analysis,

• Moon with Rahu – psychic, occult, has a strong mind, headstrong, unending desire to experience, emotional disturbances, irrational fears and phobias, disturbed mental state. No control over emotions and actions that one performs in the other realms. If channelised properly can be a very high level tantrik, occultist spiritual aspirant. If not then the mind may crack with the endless desire to experience more and more.
• Moon with Ketu – occult, psychic, there will problems created by ghosts, hauntings, fear, there is inherent cruelty in the nature. If these energies are not given a safe channel, this person can get actually dangerous for himself and also for others.
• Sun with Rahu – self centered behaviour, focus on the self, selfish, arrogant, fascinated by the bizarre, likes foreign stuff, materialistic, outspoken, revolutionary. If channelised properly can actually lead rebellions against established customs, regimes and thought processes. Else a liability to the society.
• Sun with Ketu – This can grant high spiritual growth as is a combination of detachment and self-awareness, ego and ego-less-ness, selfish and selflessness. This is a combination of opposites coupled with the energy and desire to act, yet to not be attached to the fruits of the action! Else there are the darker aspects of lack of self-confidence, confused intelligence and lack of will to express and act.

Another way of looking at eclipses, is to see which node was involved in the actual occultation event.

• Lunar eclipse – Sun and Moon are 180 deg ie opposite each other
  • Rahu occulting the Moon will give Rahu-Moon effect more than the Sun-Ketu effect
  • If it was Ketu with the Moon, then Ketu-Moon will have more power than the Sun-Rahu effect.
  • The effect on the Moon will be more drastic than the effect on the Sun
• Solar eclipse – Sun and Moon are exactly together with either Rahu or Ketu
  • If Rahu has occulted Sun+Moon then the eclipse will show the dominance of Rahu on both the Sun and the Moon.
  • Similarly if it was Ketu occulting the Sun+Moon, then Ketu will affect both the Sun and the Moon
  • Solar eclipses are more dangerous than lunar eclipses, as both the Sun/ Moon, mind, body and individual soul, are heavily affected.

These are extreme results as the birth is during an eclipse. Again you will get very few clients of this sort.

I have seen that people who were born around a Total eclipse event are also likely to be different. Or if someone was born when a series of eclipses were occurring back-to-back. You might get some clients of this sort. Let’s see why they can be different.

A bit of math. Rahu/ Ketu are not physical objects in the sky but mathematically calculated points where the orbit of the Moon cuts the ecliptic. Imagine two circles of same size, but tilted to each other, cutting each other. They will intersect at two points, these two points are called Rahu/ Ascending node/ North node and Ketu/ descending node/ South node. The Rahu/ Ketu points also move, their normal movement is backwards/ retrograde. This movement is averaged out to give you an averaged out position of the nodes and this is called a ‘Mean Node’. The Rahu/ Ketu in your software will give this averaged out calculated value. The normal direction for the movement of the nodes is retrograde, the averaged out ‘mean node’ value is always retrograde.

Now if you do not average out their movement, you check their actual position, this is now called the ’True node’. And sometimes this ‘true node’ reverses direction, it moves in the forward direction. This happens around major total eclipses and when there are a series of eclipses back-to-back. (Check their position from 11th July to 10th Aug 2019, the true nodes are in forward motion, there was a total solar eclipse and also a solar and lunar eclipse event back to back). This makes the person born during this period very different. So if your software shows an option of ‘True nodes’, check what was their motion at your birth time. If it was retrograde at your birth time, it was the usual normal. But if the true nodes were moving forward at the time of birth, then you are different, you process your life experiences differently.

Then the second way of analysing eclipses is when they occur from time to time. If there is a eclipse coming up you can try this,

Open your birth horoscope. Now draw the positions of the currently transiting planets over it. Use a different colored pen so that you do not get confused. (If you have understood the Ashtakvarga method of analysing their results, do this also.) Check the sign occupied by the Sun/ Moon and Rahu/ Ketu at the time of the ongoing eclipse. Check which houses these two sign occupy in your birth chart.

• Suppose this current eclipse occurs in your 1^st – 7^th house pair, it will affect your person environment and relationships. If in the 4^th – 10^th houses then your home and office will be targeted. These 4 houses are the foundations of your life so we give them more importance. These are the Kendra houses. So the houses and the signs in the eclipse axis are affected.
• If there are other planets in this axis, in your birth chart then they too will be affected by the eclipse energies.
• Now if there is some planet currently transiting within the 15 deg zone ahead and behind Rahu/ Ketu they too also be affected and their results in transit will be modified.

Now for how long will the effect last? Check the time the eclipse was visible in your city. (If it was not visible then you needn’t worry, it will have negligible effect.)

• The general rule is that for solar eclipses, the number of hours it lasted equals the number of years. So if the solar disc was occulted for 30 mins, ie the interval between the first touch to the complete release of the solar disc, visible in your city, was 30mins, the effect will last for 6 months.
• For lunar eclipses, the first touch of the earth’s shadow to the complete release of the lunar disc, is the time of occultation, one hour of eclipse gives its effect for one month. eg if it was for 2 hours for your city, the effect on you will last for 2 months.

(E.g. the 2nd July 2019 total Solar eclipse had Rahu with Moon, Sun and Venus in Gemini, in addition Mars and Mercury were in Cancer within 15deg ahead of Rahu. And on the other side, Ketu, Saturn in Sagittarius. Only Jupiter was left out of this mix. This eclipse was visible in South America, especially Argentina and Chile. The political situation here is quite evident from the news. It must have affected a significant chunk of the population, on various levels here. And its added influence in Antarctica has dramatically increased the ice-melt rates. The eclipse’s effect on South America in general will wear out in less than 1year. But its effect on the Pacific sea, its ecosystem, the ice on the seas next to Antarctica can last upto 5 yrs. The eclipse was caused by Rahu in Gemini, this is the available options plus how we choose to think and act, too many options and over-reaching desire to act to grasp. Sagittarius with Ketu so detachment from the higher philosophy, humanity, lawful foundations and hope! This was a very complex eclipse which affected almost all the planets and the entire zodiac in all possible ways.)

So what to do during an eclipse?

If you were born in an eclipse, the period following the eclipse (in months or years) will be karmically heavy duty for you. Every eclipse in the year has the potential to create violent, sudden ups and downs in life for you. Then during the brief period of the actual eclipse, you will feel your perceptions open very wide, you will feel ‘normal’! So use this time very wisely. Prepare for this in advance, eat light food in advance and fast during the eclipse. Do mantra-jaap of Rahu/ Ketu or Sun/ Moon compulsorily. Then if you can do some spiritual practice, ie Dhyan. If you can do this near a flowing waterbody, river or sea it will be best, stand or sit with your feet dipped in it.

Or you have your True Nodes in your birth chart in the forward direct motion. During the eclipses so the same activity as above. Plus look out for the period when the transit true nodes will be in forward direct motion. This period will vary from 10 – 30 days around the total or back-to-back eclipses. You will feel a sudden shift in the energies around you, the mind will be clearer, the experiences around you will be ‘brighter’. Use this period for doing intensive mantra-jaap and spiritual practice, you will gain so very much.

Eclipses are power packets of tremendous energies. Use every single drop of these for your spiritual progress!