Solar and Lunar Eclipses – Nature’s Shadow Dance

Solar and Lunar Eclipses – Nature’s Shadow Dance

by | Aug 31, 2025 | LWTM Factoids, Moon Science

Every so often, the sky stages a rare and powerful spectacle: an eclipse. For millennia, people have stood in awe of these cosmic events. Ancient cultures often saw them as omens or divine messages. Today, while we understand the astronomy behind eclipses, they still carry a sense of magic and mystery.

At Living With The Moon, we like to see eclipses not just as astronomical events but as symbolic turning points, reminders that the rhythms of the heavens also guide the rhythms of our own lives.

What Is a Solar Eclipse?

A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, casting its shadow over parts of the Earth. Depending on where you are, the Sun may be partially covered (partial eclipse), fully covered (total eclipse), or appear as a glowing ring (annular eclipse).

Solar eclipses are moments of new beginnings. Since they occur at a New Moon, they symbolise fresh starts, bold choices, and resetting our path. They can bring clarity (sometimes through sudden surprises) and shine light on areas we need to change.

What Is a Lunar Eclipse?

A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow across the Full Moon. This can turn the Moon a dramatic red or copper colour — the famous “Blood Moon.”

Lunar eclipses occur during a Full Moon, a time traditionally linked with culmination, harvest, and heightened emotions. Symbolically, a lunar eclipse is about endings, revelations, and release. It invites us to let go of what no longer serves us and to see hidden truths come to light.

Eclipses in the Rhythm of Life

Because eclipses always come in pairs (or sometimes trios) — a solar eclipse followed by a lunar eclipse two weeks later — they mark periods of change and transition. You may feel these weeks are more intense, emotionally charged, or fated. Think of them as cosmic checkpoints: moments that accelerate our growth, close old chapters, and open new doors. They remind us that life is cyclical, just like the heavens.

How to Work With Eclipse Energy

  • Slow down and reflect. Eclipses can bring unexpected shifts. Instead of pushing ahead, take time to journal, meditate, or simply observe.

  • Release what weighs you down. A lunar eclipse is perfect for letting go — old habits, clutter, or limiting beliefs.

  • Plant seeds for the future. A solar eclipse can inspire you to set intentions or embrace a new path.

  • Spend time in nature. Even if you cannot see the eclipse, tuning into the cycles of the sky connects you to the bigger picture.

A Note of Wisdom

Many traditions suggest that eclipses are times for inner work rather than outward action. Avoid rushing into big decisions on the exact eclipse day — instead, use the energy to observe, reflect, and reset. Focus and take action a few days after the event.

Final Thought

Eclipses remind us that life is full of shadows and light. Just as the Sun and Moon dance across the sky, so do we experience cycles of growth, endings, and renewal. By honouring these cosmic events, we bring ourselves closer to the natural rhythms that our ancestors once lived by.

Why not mark the next eclipse in your calendar — not as something to fear, but as an invitation to pause, realign, and embrace change?

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Winter solstice: A celebration of the returning light

Winter solstice: A celebration of the returning light

by | Oct 29, 2024 | History of the calendar, LWTM Factoids, Moon Science

stonehenge-in-the-winter

 

 

 

 

The Winter Solstice – A Celebration of the returning  Light 

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the annual sun cycle and occurs on the 21st or 22nd of December. Nowadays, this turning point in the year often passes by unnoticed. With electric lighting and heating, the length of daylight no longer shapes our lives in the way it once did. When darkness falls, we simply switch on a light. But a few thousand years ago, long before electricity, the winter solstice had a profound impact on people, their work, and their celebrations.

Archaeological sites such as Newgrange in Ireland and Stonehenge in the UK bear witness to how important the ever-changing sunrises and sunsets were to our ancestors. The winter solstice marked a moment of both great meaning and great relief—a celebration before the coldest, harshest days of winter arrived.

A Time of Feasting and Community

By mid-winter, most cattle had been slaughtered, as feeding them through the cold season was difficult. This meant the solstice period was one of the few times of the year when meat was plentiful. Barley harvested earlier would have fully fermented into beer, and the vessels needed emptying before the brew spoiled. Any remaining fruits and vegetables that hadn’t already been cooked, fermented, or preserved became part of the feasts.

During the few hours of daylight, people completed essential work. But once the sun dipped below the horizon, the festivities began. This is why many pagan celebrations took place in the early evening—the working day was done, and the darkness provided the perfect backdrop for candlelight, firelight, storytelling, and togetherness.

Christmas and the Rebirth of the Light

Christmas is one of the many winter festivals whose timing and symbolism are rooted in these ancient celebrations. In many European countries, the main Christmas celebration traditionally takes place on Christmas Eve, the 24th of December, true to the old custom of celebrating after sunset. The UK and US celebrate on the following day, the 25th, but in our house, we celebrate both!

The Christmas tree—an evergreen symbol of eternal life—looks especially magical when lit for the first time in the evening darkness. Christmas itself, the “reigniting of the little light,” echoes the ancient festival of the rebirth of the sun, when people marked the return of longer days and the promise of renewal.

The winter solstice reminds us that even in the darkest time of the year, light returns. It is a moment to pause, reflect, and celebrate the enduring cycles of nature—just as our ancestors once did.

Moon Gods and Goddesses Part 2 – The Minoan civilization

Moon Gods and Goddesses Part 2 – The Minoan civilization

by | May 30, 2024 | History of the calendar, HOLISTIC LIVING, LWTM Factoids, Moon Science

Note: If you want to read the series from the beginning follow this link. 

Part 2: The Minoan civilization

Although Çatalhöyük and the early Minoan civilization were geographically and timewise different, both cultures demonstrate a preoccupation with fertility and the sacred feminine.  Both civilizations show religious iconography, reflecting common themes and concerns of Neolithic societies. The main Minoan civilization arrived several millennia after Çatalhöyük, but the fertility symbolism is very similar. Over time the Minoans developed as an egalitarian society instead of keeping to the matriarchic model. Artifacts depicting women in prominent roles and signs of gender equality in religious rituals suggest a more balanced society where women enjoyed much higher status and freedoms than in the rest of Greece, particularly Athens. The only other Greek society which showed some female rights were the Spartans. Women were encouraged to engage in sports and be outdoors, rather than housebound and subservient, as customary in the rest of Ancient Greece.

 

Masters of the Sea

The Minoans were renowned for their advanced culture, sophisticated art, and maritime prowess. They lived on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea during the Bronze Age (circa 3000 BCE to 1100 BCE). The palaces of Knossos, Phaistos, and Malia, served as political, administrative, economic, and religious centers. These palaces were characterized by intricate architecture, including multi-story buildings, grand staircases, and colorful frescoes. Their culture was rather advanced because the Minoans were adept sailors and traders, dominating maritime trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean. They traded precious metals, ivory, and spices with their produced ceramics, art, and textiles.   Minoan art is characterized by vibrant frescoes, intricate pottery, and sculptures depicting natural scenes, religious rituals, and mythological figures. Their religion most likely included nature worship, with particular emphasis on goddesses, fertility rites, and rituals performed in sacred spaces like caves and mountaintops. Their main goddess was the Mother Goddess associated with fertility and the cycle of life. She is frequently depicted with raised arms, holding snakes, birds, or other symbols of regeneration and abundance. We don’t know if the Snake Goddess is another incarnation of the Earth Mother or a separate deity. She is one of the most iconic figures of Minoan religion. The serpents that she holds in each hand, symbolize her power over nature and fertility. She is often portrayed wearing a tiered skirt and a headdress.

The moon and the bulls

Bulls held significant symbolic importance in Minoan religion, possibly representing strength, virility, and fertility. Bull-leaping, a dangerous ritual sport depicted in Minoan art, may have had religious significance. The surviving frescos show bull leaping, a sport performed by male and female athletes and believed to be a forerunner for the later held Olympic games. The horns of consecration are other powerful symbols, showing the female side. The bull was associated with the moon and the horns represented the waxing and the waning moon.  The sacred horns were always part of any fertility rituals or religious ceremonies honoring the Mother Earth goddess. The Minoans already understood the influence the moon has on life on Earth and that the average female fertility cycle goes hand in hand with the 28-day lunar cycle. It is now presumed that the Minotaur in the Labyrinth is a reference to the Minoan bull jumping games and bull worship. The labyrinth is the palace at Knoxos itself. It contained over 2000 chambers and any foreign visitor would have got lost in its grounds.

The Minoan Calendar 

Not many calendar records exist to be certain. However, historians generally believe that the Minoans followed a lunisolar calendar,  similar to the Hellenic calendar. The year started with the first New Moon after the winter or summer solstice. Because the lunar and the solar year don’t go hand in hand, a 13th moon cycle was occasionally introduced to even out the seasons. Here is another article that explains more about this fascinating culture. The cow jumped over the moon 

Next time we travel to Mesopotamia and learn more about the Ishtar, the Goddess of Venus

 

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The law of cosmic forces

The law of cosmic forces

by | Dec 1, 2023 | History of the calendar, HOLISTIC LIVING, LWTM Factoids, Moon Science

Nature follows the law of cosmic forces. It is slow, predictable, and dependable. When you sow corn in spring, you get corn in autumn and not wheat or barley. 

Day follows night and night follows day. These cyclical patterns can be relied upon and calculated. We may not know its definite purpose, but we can trust it.

Watching the nightly sky 

The rotational path of the planets, and their relation to each other have been the same for millions and billions of years. 

We know that ancient astronomers as far back as 10,000 B.C. and most likely before observed the night sky regularly, tracking the positions and movements of celestial bodies over time. They noted the wandering motion of certain objects against the background of fixed stars. The term “planet” itself comes from the Greek word for “wanderer.”

At first, these observations were made with the naked eye. Later handheld devices called astrolabes recorded time and established the exact positions of celestial objects.

Armillary spheres are models of celestial spheres, featuring rings. First used by Chinese astronomers around 400 B.C. they demonstrated the positions and motions of celestial objects and enabled detailed calculations.

Different cultures tracked different celestial bodies

Stonehenge: The Druids mainly tracked the cycle of the sun, especially the solstices, and the cycle of the moon.  The Full Moon nights were important dates used for gatherings and celebrations.

Mayan Observatories:  like El Caracol in Chichen Itza tracked the movements of the planets, particularly important was Venus. This tradition was shared with the Minoans, if coincidental or not is not clear. 

Babylonian Astronomy: used clay tablets and recorded their findings in cuneiform scripts.   This enabled them to make detailed observations and keep records of tracked positions. These records could be used to predict their future movements. Babylonian astronomers observed the circle of the animals, now known as the twelve constellations and houses.

    Greek Astronomy: Ptolemy’s geocentric model, while later replaced by the heliocentric model, accurately predicted planetary positions using a complex system of epicycles. Meton recorded that 19-solar years equal 235 lunations, the backbone of the lunisolar calendar. 

    The Ancient Greeks were also the first to observe Retrograde Motions. As the name suggests, planets seem to go periodically backwards in the sky. ‘Mercury retrograde’ is now fashionable on instagram, but clearly not a new concept. All planets enter retrograde phases, some short (Mercury takes 21 days and the next retrograde phase is 13th December to 2nd January 2024). Other long (Pluto is 5.5 months.) In 2024 Pluto turns retrograde on the 2nd May, lasting until the 12th October.

    Chinese Astronomy: Chinese astronomers kept meticulous records of celestial events, including planetary movements, comets, and supernovae.  They also found methods for predicting planetary positions such as conjunctions and oppositions of planets, nowadays still in use in astrological charts.

    What we can learn from the law of cosmic forces

    The weather may be unpredictable, but the path of the universe is not! There is not one day on earth when the sun all of a sudden won’t shine (even when covered by clouds) or the gravitational pull is disabled and objects won’t fall to the ground.

    Humans have free will and with it have achieved a lot.  But with free will also comes unpredictability. We often try to reinvent the wheel, but let’s face it a wheel is perfect and does not need improving.

    If you look at the overriding law of nature – it is balance! The Waxing and the Waning Moon has the same length of time, as does the New and the Full Moon. The length of days varies during the year, but the northern hemisphere gets the same amount of long days as does the southern hemisphere.

    The planets and stars form patterns, creating stability and balance. Ultimately what humans really crave is balance and predicatbility. Therefore connecting to these ever-repeating cycles keeps us safe and guides us in what to expect.

    This is why I created the LWTM Lifestyle calendar, a way of predicting the months and year ahead!

    Working with these rhythms creates a sense of balance and stability and this can’t be over-emphasised in these unpredictable, erratic times.

     

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    Once in a blue moon

    Once in a blue moon

    by | Jul 31, 2023 | History of the calendar, LWTM Factoids, Moon Science

    Have you ever heard the phrase – once in a blue moon. I should think so. So I delved a little deeper to find out what it really means and where it comes from. There are actually 2 varying versions of what we mean by a ‘Blue Moon’.

     

    1. Four full moons in a season 

    The first definition refers to a fourth full moon in a season. The year has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.  Normally, each season has 3 full moons. So that brings the yearly total to 12 full moons. The same reason is why the year has 12  calendar months.

    The Ancient Roman year had 12 moon cycles and then a period of rest (roughly what we now call January and February).
    The new year started again in March.  This coincided with the start of the new military marching season, ruled by Mars, the God of war.   To keep the year in sync with the seasons, another moon cycle was occasionally added, bringing the total number of full moons to 13. This meant that one season had  4 full moons instead of 3, and the 4th full moon was called  ”a blue moon’. When Julius Caesar adopted the solar calendar model, he created 12 calendar months per year. (Calendar comes from the Latin word for register) and abolished the13th month.

    Although the sun calendar replaced the former lunar model for official duties and taxes,  many pagan rituals were still celebrated in accordance with the moon cycle. When Emperor Constantin adopted Christianity as the ‘official Roman religion’, anything pagan got a bad press. The Catholic church rallied against the ancient pagan practices, and the number 13 became the ‘number of witches’. It was hailed as the unlucky number, especially if the combination fell on a Friday (the day of worship for Friga, the pagan fertility goddess). This lore is still alive in fairy stories. Do you remember the 12 good fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty, and the 13th came to dinner and spoiled it all!

    To give you an idea of how often this happens, the last ‘Blue Moon’ according to this definition occurred on 22nd August 2021. So on average, a Blue Moon happens every 2-3 years, hence the saying ‘ once in a blue moon’, meaning an event that is very rare.

    2. Two full moons in a calendar month

    Another way of describing a ‘blue moon’ came later. Normally, a calendar month has one New Moon and one Full Moon, but occasionally 2 of each can occur in the same month. From the 19th century onwards, it became popular to call the second Full Moon in a given calendar month ‘a blue moon’. Although still rare, this event occurs more randomly than the first definition. This month, on August 31st, a Blue Moon will be visible to us. According to old tradition, make a wish and watch it come true!

     

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    Lunar and solar eclipses

    Lunar and solar eclipses

    by | Oct 31, 2022 | History of the calendar, LWTM Factoids, Moon Science

    Lunar and Solar Eclipses have been mythical events since the beginning of time. 

    Traditionally eclipses bring major changes, unpredictable situations, shocking revelations, and/or sudden endings. The advice used to be, don’t take too many risks or make too many changes during this unpredictable time. But eclipses can also be catalysts, showing up things that were hidden before which now are coming to light. For example, you become aware your partner is having an affair or a much more positive thought – for a while, your boss had you in mind for a promotion, but now it comes to light and you get the offer.

    Some Ancient rulers took the prediction of eclipses and their linked fate very seriously as they believed an eclipse signaled a bad omen. Almost 4000 years ago the Chinese king Zhong Kang beheaded 2 of his astronomers for failing to predict accurately when the next eclipse would appear. The Assyrians and later Babylonians were more accurate in their predictions.  One text mentions the solar eclipse during June 763 B.C. which was well observed and recorded.

    Another connection often made with eclipses is the appearance of natural disasters. The archaeologist Bruce Masse claimed that an eclipse happened at the time of a major meteor impact in the Indian Ocean on May 10th, 2807 B.C., and subsequent floods and tsunamis followed.

    Lunar eclipses: 

    There are total ( when the moon, sun, and earth practically align) and partial lunar eclipses  – when only part of the sun is darkened. Lunar eclipses are always linked to New Moons and only occur during this time. When you see a full lunar eclipse the moon (normally invisible at New Moon) turns dark red as illuminated not by the sun, but by the light coming from the earth’s atmosphere.

    Why don’t we see a lunar eclipse on every New Moon? 

    In fact, if the moon were to orbit in a perfect circle around the Earth, exactly this scenario would happen. But the lunar path is slightly tilted, in fact, leaning around 5 degrees, so it misses the perfect position by a bit. But occasionally the path slightly overlap (partial eclipse) and on rarer occasions perfectly align – that is then a full lunar eclipse.

    Here is a clip that shows exactly what happens during a lunar eclipse 

    Solar eclipses

    These only happen during Full Moon and we often speak of ‘eclipse cycles’. This means the planet’s parth rotate in a way that they align or overlap. On average 2-5 eclipses occur during one eclipse season,  lasting around 12-16 months. Total eclipses are very rare astronomical events that have had historically immense meanings and have always captured our imagination. So it is not surprising eclipses have been linked to important historical events. There apparently was a solar eclipse when Jesus died and another when Mohammed was born.

    In 1919 a total lunar eclipse blocked all sunlight for a full 6 minutes and 51 seconds, giving scientists time to measure the bending of the light from the stars. These findings were instrumental in the explanation of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

    Find out more about historically significant solar eclipses  

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