This evening as the eclipse hit, I was walking home from the bus stop. I asked the spirits if I should take advantage of the rare full lunar eclipse and do any magic. Their reply was a very loud “No”. When I asked them why, they simply said “Bad energy”.
Whether that holds for this eclipse or all of them will remain to be seen; they’re being a bit tight-lipped about it. However, I’m glad they told me to stay indoors. Not long after I got home, I heard a bunch of shouting and noise on the next street over, followed shortly thereafter by sirens. Normally this is a nice, quiet neighborhood, but the full moon brings out the crazies…and perhaps people took advantage of the darkness of the eclipse to do something nefarious? Though it got nowhere near as dark as in a blackout.
Meh. I’ll bother the spirits about it later when they’re more prone to talking. Tomorrow is the beginning of my final month of my first six months, so I’ll have plenty to keep me occupied in the meantime.
Therioshamanism 
Mythologically, eclipses are often Scary Bad Things. Something is devouring the moon-deity, or the sun-deity; or Set is plucking out Horus’ eye; or the moon is wounded and that’s why it’s darkened and red… etc.
Nowadays we aren’t scared of eclipses because we know it’s just the moon crossing in front of the sun or the earth coming between the sun and moon. Eclipses are nifty, rare occurrences. Special.
But do the spirits feel the same way, or is it still symbolically/mythologically similar to older times/perceptions?
These Virgo/Pisces eclipses really kicked my ass in 2007. I don’t know about “bad” energy, but I know that for folks with sun or moon or planets within 5 degrees either side of 2 degrees of Virgo, Pisces, Gemini, or Sagittarius this last of the series (next they move to Libra/Aries, I believe) could bring about major life changes and revelations about their nearest and dearest.
I love the forecasts at http://www.astrologyzone.com – she’s been spot-on for me with these eclipses.
Let’s just say that 2007 was NOT a banner year for Sravana…
Makhsihed–I’m still trying to figure out whether it was specific to this eclipse (and perhaps the people outside) or eclipses in general.
Sravana–Here’s to a better 2008!
I’d be curious about the specificity of the bad energy, too.
There is a FASCINATING astrology book by Bernadette Brady called “Predictive Astrology”, where she goes into the Saros series of the various eclipse families. What she does is consider the “birthchart” of the particular Saros series that an eclipse belongs to, and considers *that* to help indicate how the eclipse will manifest. Lemme dig out that book, and see what she says:
Okay, it’s series 10 North (fwiw), which she says it characterized by “a v. strong emphasis on communication and frustrating or inhibiting events may come into a person’s life via news, paperwork, or a young person (!) – person ay feel tired and drained – therefore a good time to take things quietly and work through difficulties one at a time” (not verbatim, but close enough)
IMO, it doesn’t sound like a “bad” eclipse, as far as eclipses go. So I’m betting that the spirits will say “eclipses in general” rather than this one in particular. Of course, this one was conjunct Saturn, so perhaps that’s where they’re going.
Yes, a better 2008! It’s already going much better (though I don’t like the haircut I got yesterday – NEW RULE: don’t get a haircut on an eclipse day!