On July 5 2020, at 5.44 am London time, there is an appulse eclipse of the Moon, when the Moon at 13 38 Capricorn will be exactly opposite the Sun at 13 38 Cancer. The time of maximum obscuration is 5.30 am. This eclipse could be a big deal for the United States.
In order to make sense of this eclipse, we have to understand the nineteen year Metonic cycle, where Full Moons repeat.
If we go back through the cycle, there was a partial eclipse on July 5 2001 at 13 39 Capricorn, a total eclipse on July 5 1982 at 13 degrees 55 Capricorn, and a partial eclipse on July 6 1963 at 14 6 Capricorn. There was also an eclipse on July 6 1944.
The reason these eclipses are important for the US because they take place close to America’s birthday, on July 4, and therefore coincide with the nation’s solar return. The position of the Sun on July 4 1776 was around 13 19 Cancer.
The partial eclipse on July 5 2001 has special poignancy for the US, because George Bush Junior, the president at the time, had July 6 as his birthday – so the eclipse hit both the US and its President. So that explains why the year starting in early July 2001 was so traumatic, with the 911 attacks happening just over two months later.
I would not have said that in 1982 anything partiuclarly dramatic happened, but the 1963 eclipse was forewarning of Kennedy’s assassination on November 22 of that year. The 1944 eclipse could probably be linked with the death of Roosevelt on April 12 1945.
We now have the eclipse on July 5 2020. It may be a damp squib, like the July 5 1982 eclipse. However, we do know that the US is at grave risk. The economy is shot to pieces as a result of COVID-19, and many say that the country is coming out of lockdown far too early. And it may be that Independence Day, the day before the eclipse, is a day when many Americans become infected.
Indeed, the country is experiencing a psychological disconnect. A highly contagious disease has hit the country, yet much of the country is in denial about its true nature. There have been lockdowns, but they haven’t been for long enough. And people are coming out of the lockdowns not because the disease has been conquered, but because they need to get back to work. It is as if there is some popular perception that the strength of the economic need will make the problem go away.
But maybe America just needs to get its priorities right. The main thing is that Trump gets elected, and this means getting the economy and the stock market sorted out. A few people might die, but that’s a small price to pay.
Dulce et decorum est pro Donaldo mori.