Eclipses and Human Design

Eclipses happen a few times every year, so they aren’t rare or unusual. They are, however, powerful transformative events when we view them through our Human Design lens. The energy of an eclipse opens a portal of energy which continues to affect us for many years.

Once we go through an eclipse we can never go back to our former situation again. The universe wants us to make progress, not go back to the good old days. That option is taken away forever. The only way with an eclipse is forward.

Susan Miller, astrologer

Solar and Lunar Eclipses

An eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up and block the usual light. There are two types of eclipses: solar and lunar.

Lunar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse

Eclipse energies last for years

Ordinary Full and New Moons have an influence that lasts just a few weeks. Each eclipse is an initiatory event. Their influence can continue to play out on average for 3.5 years. It’s as if the gate acts as a portal, remaining open for the entire lifespan of the eclipse. Every time a transit touches that gate, the eclipse energies are reactivated.

How do eclipses affect your Design?

When you look at a transit chart for an eclipse, pay particular attention to the Sun, Earth, and Moon activations. Because the Moon will be lining up with either the Sun (on a New Moon – solar eclipse) or with the Earth (on a Full Moon – lunar eclipse), there will only be two gates activated.

Do you have either of these two gates active your own Design? If so, that gate (or gates) will be instrumental over the next 3.5 years of your life.

If it is a solar eclipse, the message is that there is something external you need to do. If it is a lunar eclipse, you will need to look deeply inside to see what lessons you need to learn about the gate energy.

Remember, however, that Human Design is connected. Gates don’t live in isolation. You can also consider the quality of the planet(s) in the gate(s) and the center from whence the gate(s) come(s).

How to Track the Eclipse Energy

Any transit to that gate over the next 3.5 years will activate the eclipse energy in your life. In that time, Mercury and Venus will pass over the gate at least 3 times because they do a round of all the gates every year. These transits will have only a slight effect on the eclipse energy and you probably won’t notice anything. The Sun and Earth move through all the gates each year, so they also go over the eclipse point at least 3 times, revealing hidden potential.

Mars takes about 2 years to transit through all the gates, and so will also pass over the eclipse gates once (or perhaps twice) during the life of the eclipse.  Because Mars brings action and movement, it is the most dynamic transit affecting how the eclipse plays out in your life.

The outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Chiron) are unlikely to pass over the eclipse gates during their active period. Because Saturn takes 28 years to transit through all the Human Design gates, it’s unlikely turn up in one of the eclipse gates during its 3.5 year active window. However, if it does, Saturn is the most influential of all the transiting planets and will likely cause long-term changes in life purpose.

More Resources

You can get a list of all eclipses from 1940 to 2050 on Cafe Astrology. They only give the astrological position, not the Human Design gates, but if you’re up for some exploration, you can use this Human Design Index to translate from astrology to the HD gates.