Lunar Eclipse on Winter Solstice: Cosmic Meaning, Moon Myths

Dec. 21, 2010— -- Amateur astronomers weren't the only ones paying attention to last night's lunar eclipse. For those who make meaning out of cosmic conditions, it was more than a scientific phenomenon, it was a symbolically-charged celestial event.

That's because it wasn't just the only lunar eclipse of 2010, it was the first total lunar eclipse to fall on a winter solstice in 372 years. The last time a lunar eclipse corresponded with a winter solstice, or the annual day when the Earth's axis is tilted farthest from the sun, was Dec. 21, 1638.

Astrologers and others who believe in the power of astronomical activity believe solar and lunar eclipses are always significant moments, but those that coincide with solstices make for even more intensified terrestrial events.

"It just underscores or highlights that the time that we're living in right now is extremely powerful -- it's a pivotal time," said New York astrologer Shelley Ackerman. "The collective is tremendously impacted by what's going on now. This is a huge turning point for the world at large -- not just in terms of world events, but [in terms of] consciousness."

Births of international figures and world events may coincide with solstice eclipses, she said. For example, Prince William was born June 21, 1982, which was a summer solstice and a solar eclipse. ABC News' own Diane Sawyer, whom Ackerman said has global impact, was born on Dec. 22, 1945, the day after a winter solstice and three days after a lunar eclipse.

John Marchesella, another New York-based astrologer, said that eclipses are "one of the most used and reliable of predictive techniques in traditional astrology."

This year's devastating Haiti earthquake, for example, took place just days before a major solar eclipse, and Princess Diana died on a solar eclipse. Marchesella emphasized that while eclipses are neither positive nor negative, they are always dramatic and noteworthy.

"In our personal lives, individuals get very over-reactive during an eclipse period because we are, well, eclipsed, in the dark, not in the know, and the ego doesn't like that," he said. "So we tend to overcompensate with feelings and impulses that are blown out of proportion. I always tell people during these times, relax, chill out and don't worry about anything because you can't take rational action until information comes to light."

Solstices will intensify and heighten the power of an eclipse because it's actually two cycles working at one time, he said.