In the past there has been little understanding of the pre-natal solar eclipse. The most important influence that the pre-natal solar eclipse has on the individual is that it plays a tremendously significant role in the determination of the point of death of the individual. Through its association with death, it is also an indicator of life threatening situations, major illnesses and accidents, and is also indicative of deaths that will occur around the individual through the loss of family and friends.

The Cycle of Life and Death

It has been said that the moment of death cannot be predicted but this represents a contradiction in terms as far as an astrologer is concerned. There are those who lack an understanding of astrology who say that nothing in life can be predicted; however, those who have an experience of astrology will know that this is not so. When one considers that in life, death is the one certainty from which no one can escape, it defies all logic to consider that relatively minor incidents in one's life can be predicted but that such a major event as death cannot be predicted. Clearly, a lack of understanding of the nature of death, which causes it to be held in awe, has been a major contributing factor in the hindrance of the development of a methodology which would allow for the prediction of death.

It has been said of many things that they could not be done only, at a later date, to have the apparently impossible performed. The twentieth century has been full of such developments and it has demonstrated that all that has been lacking was awareness and an understanding of the subject at hand. In this particular subject of death, there has been a lack of understanding of the nature of death, accompanied by a deep seated unwillingness to put one's theories to the test. If one does not understand the roots of any subject, how can progress be made in an higher understanding of that subject which would allow for that subject to become actively integrated into everyday life?

From yet another viewpoint, there are those who say that God is the only one who determines the point of death of the individual. There is certainly a misunderstanding at this point. Certainly God knows when each and everyone of us will die. However, let us not forget that it was man who separated himself from his creator and not the other way around. It was man who chose the cycle of life and death in this physical world which is an universe of entropy, an universe which encompasses a constant process of decay as its sole source of regeneration. Animal and plant life can only survive through the death of another animal and plant life. Whatever form of life exists on the physical plane returns to the dust to enrich the soil in order to promote further life.

And as man deliberately chose the universe of entropy in preference to his home, he also determined his own path of many lives and deaths. The physical body cannot enter the universe of centropy as it belongs to the dust worlds (see, John 3:..."Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit'") However, the pure essence of man - his soul - belongs to the other universe. His soul therefore has to struggle against the imperfections of this physical world in order to reach a state of perfection where it is capable of transcending through the space-time warp into its natural home.

Of the many lifetimes that man experiences, each and everyone plays an important part in the development of the soul. The birth is the gateway into this earthly lifetime and death is the gateway into the spirit world, to a place in which we rest and prepare for the next stage of our development. Just as surely as the moment of birth is unique to the individual, the moment of death is also unique to the individual. As the birth chart unfolds the potential for the individual, it will also reveal the point at which the soul must be released.

Death is not to be feared for it is a time of release of the burdens we chose to take on at the time of birth. The moment of birth as reflected in the natal chart, represents a development of the soul that is to take place within the lifetime. The moment of death is the ultimate goal sought by the soul, as it marks a milestone of achievement in the quest for the perfection that will take the soul back to "Eden".

Why the Pre-Natal Solar Eclipse?

It has been established that between birth and death, there is little difference on a philosophical level of discussion. They both represent a gateway between lifetimes of experience. These gateways represent both the roots of our experiences and the ultimate goals and purpose in life. Through this analogy, an immediate association can be made with the Medium Coeli and the Immum Coeli. These two points also represent the Mother and Father principles; and in physical terms the mother and father act as a physical gateway through which a soul must pass to take on physical form. The mother and father principles are also represented in astrology by the Sun and the Moon, and it is the interaction of these two principles which are most important in the determination of the beginning and end of life.

The reflection of the soul finds expression in the Ascendant, which is the point due east on the horizon at the time of birth. We must remember that this point is merely a reflection of the soul which has passed through the gateway of physical life, that is, the Medium Coeli and Immum Coeli. The essence of the soul is expressed through the "opposite" point to the ascendant. This, in the metaphysical terms, is not the descendant but the Vertex point. The Vertex point is that point which is due west on the horizon at the time of birth. The Vertex, of course, is the vertex of the pyramid under which every life is born and under which every form of Iife operates. It is noted for its conditions of fate, but it is also the point to which the soul must return once it has completed its cycle here on earth. To return to this point, the soul must once again pass through the gateway of the Medium Coeli and the Immum Coeli, the Sun and the Moon. The conditions of passing through, in this instance, will be spiritual rather than physical as the soul prepares to enter the metaphysical world. The influences of the Sun and Moon and the interaction between these two bodies have a tremendous influence in determining the start and end of physical life: and the most notable interactions between these two stellar bodies are the eclipses, both solar and lunar.

It is not only in astrological terms that the Sun is considered to be the source of fife. In the terms of this physical universe the Sun is an absolute prerequisite to life as we know it. From the whirling gaseous masses that formed the Sun also came the planets. The Sun then radiated light and heat energy which provided the necessary stimulus for the beginnings of atmospheric conditions that ultimately encouraged physical life to form and develop within its system.

As cycles act within cycles, the analogy was drawn on a philosophical level that the significance of the solar influence was of the utmost importance in the functioning of the creative force. This philosophy was entrenched in astrology where the Sun represents the creative masculine principle. Following any reasonable line of logic it would then be obvious that an interruption to this creative energy flow would also represent an interruption to the flow of the life force. This is particularly so at one's most vulnerable point, whilst the developing foetus is still within its mother's womb.

It is already known in astrology that the solar eclipse, being the most potent of either type of eclipse, represents an end to a situation or finalisation of a matter. It forces one to clear away the deadwood, the rubbish which has cluttered one's life and is of no further value in the development of the individual. This, in itself, allows room for a new beginning to take place. It is quite obvious that the functions of the solar eclipse bear a remarkable association with the functioning of Pluto. This also applies to the situation around death: it is the end of one life cycle and the beginning of another.

It is already known that the Moon plays in important part in the conditions pertinent to birth. Traditionally, the Moon at birth represents the Ascendant at the time of conception, and the Ascendant at birth represents the Moon's position at the time of conception. Although there is not the space to elaborate here, it is patently clear that the pre-natal lunar eclipse is also connected with the time of birth. In making such associations between the Moon and birth (as have al- ready been established in traditional astrology), it lends further weight to the argument that the Sun is intimately connected to the time of death.

Most people have heard the old adage "Born under an eclipse, die under an eclipse". In all adages and fables there is an element of truth. WhiIst one may not die at the precise time of an eclipse, it is certain that it plays a significant role in death once the conditions have become ripe for the picking. It is shown that the solar eclipse under which the individual is born, namely the pre-natal solar eclipse, plays a tremendously significant role at the time of death and is activated when the time is right. In one sense, it is like an in-built alarm in the individual which has been pre-set to awaken the individual at a predetermined hour into a new lifetime.