Grounding and Empowering Rituals for the Solar Eclipse
by Jaime Hutkin
Solar eclipses are powerful energetic times that can bring up big feelings. They occur when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow that fully or partially blocks the Sun’s light in some areas. This can make them a catalyst for major change, offering a great opportunity to step away from the day-to-day look within yourself.
As the center of our solar system, the Sun is the giver of life, warmth, and light. It is the embodiment of our conscious mind and the material reality of our physical bodies, souls, and spirits…any workings that deal with power, success, and wealth fall under the domain of the Sun, as do workings surrounding identity, confidence, positivity, and joy.
With this in mind, we’ve gathered a handful of mystical offerings for the solar eclipse that will help you strengthen and deepen your spiritual practice and activate renewal, positivity, and transformation. It all starts with some stillness. From fiery breathwork to self-reflective oracle card spreads, you can harness the energy of solar eclipses with any of these offerings.
It’s no surprise that overstimulation is the norm in our modern world. It’s so easy to bring music, video, messaging, and conversations with us just about anywhere we go, on top of everything and everyone around us vying for our attention. Screens pop up in front of us in stores, on buildings, and in public and private transportation, making it hard to experience a moment of sensory rest. The perpetual state of hyperarousal that we find ourselves in sets us up for body and mind exhaustion.
Signs of hyperarousal include being easily startled, difficulty falling asleep, anger and difficulty controlling your temper, anxiety, or panic attacks, inability to focus, and self-sabotaging behaviors. And while it’s not always feasible to plug your ears and cover your eyes to get a break, you can be mindful about balancing overstimulation in your home and work environments. Keep screens out of the places where you restore and replenish, like your bedroom and bathroom; lower lights in the evening as the sun sets to mimic natural rhythms; give your brain just one thing to focus on at a time instead of, say, scrolling the internet while you watch TV or answering email while you’re on a conference call. It takes practice, but bringing our bodies and minds out of hyperarousal immediately makes life a more restful place to be.
Manipura is your chakra of power, Your solar plexus rests right beneath the rib cage, at your upper core. Take a moment and find that space, that arch at the top center, beneath your ribs. Tighten it and massage it. It feels like a literal circle, like a firm disc of energy. You need this energy, this power, to do something with all the creativity you’ve made space for.
Gather a crystal that interacts well with your solar plexus chakra, like tigereye, pyrite, yellow jasper or mookaite. Sit comfortably, but in a way that engages your core slightly and keeps your spine straight—a cross-legged seat will work, or you might consider hero pose. Hold your crystal in your left hand and close your fist around it. Bring your left fist to rest right on your solar plexus chakra, and cover your fist with your right hand.
This pranayama, or breath practice, is called Kapalabhati, also known as skull shining breath or breath of fire. It can take a bit of getting used to, as it asks you to breathe in a very different way. Ordinarily, we put some energy into the inhale, but the exhale kind of happens on its own, passively. It’s not like we have to push the air out. In Kapalabhati, that is reversed: we forcefully push the air out, and the inhale remains passive.
Keeping your fists in place, take a deep inhale through your nose. Push the air out in small bursts, also through your nose, using the muscles beneath your fists to exhale. You’ll make a sound like a piston, pumping up and down. Find a rhythm that works for you, and allow the inhale to come when you need it. If you lose your rhythm, just come back to it.
Eventually, your core will start to burn, and you’ll want to stop. When that happens, continue for just a bit longer. When you stop, open your hands, and take a deep inhale. On your exhale, chant RAM, “ruuuuuummmmmmmmmm.”
Uncover Truths with an Oracle Spread
It’s always worthwhile to engage in self-reflection with a tarot or oracle deck during an eclipse. We especially love the Desire Spread from Queer Animal Oracle: An Inclusive Deck & Guidebook by Ash & Chess.
Desire Spread
This two-card spread is a simple yet deeply insightful way to uncover truths and what is keeping them hidden, whether from you or the world around you. The first card represents your truest desire, something you ache for, and the second card represents your roadblock, the thing that is keeping you from living out your dreams. This spread comes in handy even in the tiniest of situations. It’s not only a discovery spread, but also a spread that encourages reflection on the things we want and why we desire them so badly.
USES: facing a roadblock, feeling unproductive, next steps for reaching a goal, coming to terms with loss.
CARD #1: Your Desires CARD #2: What’s Keeping You From What You Want
The first card is laid vertically, while the second is laid horizontally on top of the first car as a physical representation of whatever is blocking you from your desires.
Here’s a collective reading for this spread. As always, take what resonates, and leave what doesn’t.
CARD #1: YOUR DESIRES
The Cardinal Distinctive, Territorial, Loud
The Cardinal is recognizable not only for its beautiful red plumage and black mask but also for its distinctive song, which wakes us up every spring to remind us warmth is coming. Both male and female cardinals have a crest upon their head; male cardinals show off bright colors, and females are typically a light tan or brown. Male cardinals are not afraid to display their flamboyance and take up space with their loud call, and they are typically aggressively territorial. Cardinals are known to even attack their own reflection if they think it’s invading their space. The Cardinal reminds us to love ourselves and to not put ourselves down. We should be bringing ourselves up!
Be the Cardinal: The Cardinal’s whistle is a beacon of hope as the sun rises each morning. Communication is always key in any situation, whether it be with yourself, with someone else, or with multiple people. Use your whistle to call for what you need. Do you need a mate or friend? Do you need to tell someone it’s time to start fresh or that you need alone time? Take a step back—are you being so overly critical at times that you are putting yourself down?
CARD #2: WHAT’S KEEPING YOU FROM WHAT YOU WANT
The Clownfish Ever-Changing, Transitional, Supportive
The Clownfish is a perfect example of adaptability for the greater good. They are all born male, but as time goes on, they transition to female. Typically, this transition takes place as they form small schools around a dominant breeding pair. When the dominant female dies, the dominant male turns female to take her spot, and a new male takes his. They simply adapt to fit the needs of their community! Their fluidity in their roles and identity within their own ecosystem make it so they can all thrive together.
Be the Clownfish: Sometimes you are assigned a role in life, but as time goes on, you find it doesn’t suit you anymore. Perhaps a hole opens that needs to be filled, or perhaps you have done some deep thinking and realize that you don’t fit where you used to. Invite in fluidity and adaptability, because sometimes you aren’t even aware of your own capabilities until you test them.
For me, the Cardinal represents my desire for radical self-acceptance and romantic love. The Clownfish represents how I’ve adapted my identity to try to fit a certain role that no longer suits me. As a late bloomer queer, before I discovered my queerness, I used to “mask” my identity to be palatable to others, hoping to find a mate while also not being my authentic self. This made me accept myself even less, and made romantic relationships inauthentic. As I’ve gotten closer to myself, learning my values and what’s important to me, I don’t fit where I used to, and that’s okay—in fact, it’s what’s meant for me. By allowing myself to be fluid in my roles and identity, giving myself grace rather than trying to uphold conventional standards of beauty and success, I can work towards radical self-acceptance and find my ideal romantic partner along the way.
A Manifesting Meditation
Now that we know what we desire, it’s time to make it a reality. Since workings with prosperity are traditionally associated with the sun, a solar eclipse can be a great time for manifestation. For this, we turn to a meditation exercise from The Guide(s) Book: Mapping Out Life’s Journey with Spirit by Your Side by Maryann DiMarco.
Manifesting Meditation
For this meditation, you’ll need a pen and paper.
First, cleanse and ground yourself.
Then focus on something you’ve been thinking about lately. It could be an upcoming vacation, a job change, a friendship—anything really! Just choose something that has been on your mind.
Write down what you want, or what you think you want if you’re unclear. What do you want to have happen? Who might be involved? Where might this take place? Feel free to write as many things as feel true to you, and don’t worry about whether they seem possible in this moment or even if they contradict each other. Just let your pen flow.
Next close your notebook and put your pen down. Make yourself comfortable to meditate.
Take a few deep breaths and close your eyes. Then focus on a place where you like to meet your Guides. You may have found such a place before; it may be a spot in nature, like a forest clearing or a beach. It may be a temple or other structure you have conjured in the past when connecting with your guides. Call a Guide or several Guides to join you.
When you feel them arrive, ask for their input. What do they see for you? What will be best for you? You may be surprised to notice the similarities and differences from what you wrote down.
Thank them and close your meditation however works for you. (You may choose to back away slowly in your mind’s eye, bow yourself down to the floor, etc.)
Open your eyes and pick up your pen again. Write what your Guides showed or told you. Then compare it to what you wrote before the meditation and see if there’s a difference. Don’t worry about making sense of what you’ll do right now—that will come. For now, just notice how you and your guides are co-creating together.
Over the next few days, you will receive breadcrumbs on the path toward the vision you and your Guides developed. It is imperative that you recognize and go where they lead, even if they don’t make sense. Practice this and you will see that when you follow the signs and opportunities that present themselves, you are taking the path your Guides have laid for you.
Take a few sprigs of mint and put them in a teapot. Boil water for tea and pour over the mint in the teapot. Chant this charm:
By my hand with this healthful balm, Blessed mint, most bounteous herb, Bring me health and heart and calm, Abundance I shall see By every deed and verb. And so it is.
Breathe in the scented steam from the teapot and fill your lungs with the smell of prosperity. Repeat the spell once more; then leave the pot on your altar for twenty-four hours, a full sun and moon period. You will begin to see signs of your wealth increasing within one week.
