Lunar Eclipse…
Luna Eclipse V Solar Eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs at full moon if the moon and sun are each within ten degrees of the opposite node point and it occurs when the Earth stands between the Moon and the Sun, cutting off the light of the Sun from the moon. A lunar eclipse is always a full moon.
A solar eclipse occurs at a new moon if the moon and sun are within ten degrees of the same node point. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon stands between the Sun and Earth, cutting off the light of the Sun. Humans are made up of around 60 percent water, so it’s easy to understand why the moon has long been thought to influence us—particularly through its different phases. As the moon moves through its cycle, it invites us to notice the natural rhythms and flows that we’re part of, rather than constantly moving against them.
It’s a biological reality that women’s hormones fluctuate throughout the month, and yet somehow we often take that reality less seriously than the modern expectation to work from 9 to 5. We are cyclical beings, influenced by rhythms of light, sleep, hormones, seasons and for many, the moon. There is something powerful about simply paying attention to that. Working with the moon doesn’t mean becoming some meme-ified version of a spiritual person. An awareness of the moon is ancient, instinctive and deeply human. It doesn’t have to involve any modern way “rituals”, or knowing exactly which astrological sign the moon is in unless those things genuinely interests you.
Beginning to work with the moon can be incredibly simple.
Just look up at the sky more often.
Notice what phase the moon is in. Notice how it looks. Notice how you feel.
That’s it.
That’s where we begin. Whenever I look at the moon I feel a deep connection. I’m not sure why that is but I just feel peaceful and hopeful when looking at it. I could watch it for hours.
Eclipses are like can-can dances ~ the Sun, Moon and Earth all line up in a row and dance together, kicking up their heels. They also kick up our emotions, feelings and cause us to dance with either joy, fear or the sense of change. Eclipses seem to make things happen they are juicier energetic events. Things hanging on by a thread break, snap or release. Hidden things come to light. Boils are lanced. Fights erupt. Most answers that we seek for do not require endless amounts of research, the answer is usually quite simply right in front you, just like the moon. It is up to us whether we accept the reality. In the West African community they use the lunar eclipse as a fierce fight between the sun and the moon. To help them make peace, the natives use the eclipse as a time to resolve their own earthly arguments, putting grudges to rest so cosmic harmony can return.
Khusuf or Kusuf?
In Islamic terminology, Kusuf refers to a solar eclipse (when the sun is obscured), while Khusuf refers to a lunar eclipse (when the moon is obscured). On 27th-28th August we will have a lunar eclipse and it is viewed not as a superstitious omen, but rather as a profound cosmic sign (aya) and a theatrical reminder of the transient nature of creation, the veiling of the heart’s light and the ultimate return to the Divine. The moon also represents the human heart (qalb), your mother, or the receptive soul, which possesses no light of its own but shines entirely by reflecting the solar rays of the Divine Essence (al-Shams).
The Earth (symbolising worldly attachment, material gravity, and the dense ego/nafs) positions itself between the Sun and the Moon, it blocks the divine illumination. The eclipse mirrors the state of the gnostic whose inner vision is temporarily clouded by worldly distraction or spiritual heedlessness.
In Surat Al Waaqia, the 56th Chapter of the Qu’ran, it links the placement of the Ayat of the Quran to the positioning of the stars (Najm), and describes how we can make the correlation that if the stars were improperly positioned, there would be massive destruction due to the un-synchronised rotation of them, similarly, how if a single Aya from the Quran would have been in an improper position, there would be massive destruction. Representing the absolute collapse of illusion (maya), the death of the ego and the soul’s ultimate awakening to divine reality. Thus eclipses shatter the illusion of autonomous worldly power, reminding humanity of ultimate dependence on the Divine.
Lunar Mansions
Ibn Arabi (1165–1240) was a famous Arab-Andalusian Sufi mystic, philosopher, and poet, it was him that discovered the 28 lunar mansions (manāzil al-qamar). When Ibn Arabi speaks of astrology, his main interest is not in astrology as it is practiced, he shares as how astrology can be understood in respect to the Real, that is God. If you read his work you will not learn anything about astrology in the sense of transmitted knowledge.
In Arabic, these lodging stations are called manzil (plural: manāzil).The root of the word is the verb n-z-l, meaning “to descend or to lodge.” It was called Manāzil al-Qamar because the word manzil describes the resting place where a camel caravan would stop during the midday heat in the desert. Just as a traveller lodges at a different inn each night, the Moon, too, “rests” at a different mansion each night.
These are not simply astronomical locations but a symbolic spiritual tool, it shows how the the moon moves through 28 stations, and those stations can represent different ways divine qualities become manifested in the world and in the human being.
A useful caveat: Ibn ʿArabi’s treatment is mystical and symbolic as opposed to a simple “28-step horoscope!”
The basic idea is...
Think of the Moon as a mirror receiving light from the Sun. As it passes through 28 different stations, it appears differently to us.
For Ibn Arabi, it symbolises as :
God's one Reality = the Sun/light
the Moon = the receptive human/worldly realm
the 28 mansions = different places or modes through which that divine light becomes visible the changing lunar phases = changing manifestations of existence… 28 because we have a 28-day lunar month linking the number to natural rhythms, cycles and biological transitions.
The number 28 is also especially important because Arabic has 28 letters. Ibn Arabi connects the lunar mansions with the letters of the Arabic alphabet and with the way the Divine Word becomes articulated into creation. The language itself has a deep historical and practical connection to the moon.
The traditional Arabic names are given followed by a very simplified way of understanding their symbolism. These are interpretive summaries, not literal one-word definitions supplied by Ibn ʿArabi.
28 letters = words = meanings
and
28 lunar mansions = cosmic manifestations = meanings
The Moon therefore becomes a beautiful symbol for receptivity. It doesn't produce its own light; it receives and reflects light. Likewise, creation doesn't exist independently of the Divine Reality—it receives and displays different aspects of that Reality.
Ibn Arabi's lunar cycle can be imagined like this:
Something begins, it develops, we perceive it, we act on it, we become attached to it we are challenged , something is hidden , we reach the heart , something must be sacrificed , transformation occurs , what was hidden is revealed ,we empty ourselves ,the cycle begins again. So the 28 mansions aren't really saying “this mansion means X and therefore X will happen to you.” They're more like 28 windows through which you can contemplate the relationship between the changing world and the One Reality behind it.
Jung and Ibn Arabi, are similar in their exploration of an autonomous inner reality, the role of symbolic and imaginal realms, and the pursuit of wholeness. Jung though, doesn't address very much in the importance of being 'plugged into' a circle of spiritual friends, who are genuine friends that have 'been there' themselves and remind us that this is a process, no matter how stuck we may think we are. A sense of humour and irony at times about our own foibles and misadventures is another very underrated ingredient to help us through. The goal isn’t to act good. It’s to get real enough to meet God within all of it even the mess. It’s about facing the pain honestly, sitting with it, and letting it transform in the presence of God.
Jung might phrase something similar psychologically: you cannot become whole by identifying only with the parts of yourself that your ego considers acceptable. You have to encounter the shadow. Ibn Arabi, on the other hand, takes that movement further by demonstrating that you encounter God not only in what you approve of, but in the inexhaustible manifestations of Reality.
Ibn Arabi isn't saying that cruelty or selfishness become good simply because God is present in existence. Rather, God can be disclosed through every situation without every human response to that situation being spiritually sound. In his vocabulary, you could connect it to truthfulness (ṣidq), realisation (taḥqiq) and becoming a genuine locus of divine disclosure.
To summarise, Jung and Ibn had similar thought processes as they would both say “stop fleeing from what is actually there.”
What is the point again?
So the 28 mansions provide a kind of cosmic grammar for multiplicity and this connects to the human being. The human being can likewise manifest different Divine qualities.
For example, one moment, just like the moon in a whole week you may experience, strength, patience, anger, generosity, love, hate etc. These aren't necessarily evidence that you've become different individuals. They are different possibilities of manifestation.
This is where the earlier point about "meeting God within all of it" becomes relevant.
The spiritual realisation isn't:
"I should only manifest the nice qualities."
The lunar mansions wants you to acknowledge:
“Can I recognise what is being disclosed through each state without becoming imprisoned by any single state?”
Master the chaos
When an eclipse occurs, Muslims are encouraged to offer the Kusoof (solar) or Khusoof (lunar) prayers as an act of worship and remembrance of God. All lunations are important as we are guided most profoundly by the two lights in our sky. However, eclipse lunations which just went on 12th August 2026 were particularly important and chose not to write about because I am still learning. The cosmic lights were aligned with earth and our beings came into harmony or profound energetic transmissions with our purpose. It was a cosmic wrap so to speak.
The point of the eclipses is not to "punish" you or take away something. The point is to help you get clear on what you need to include or delete in the next chapter of your life. Eclipses clear out stuff, quite literally the best time to do a deep clean, eclipses change things that need to change. Ultimately, there cannot be order if there is no chaos, order exists because it is a way to harness chaos and we understand and appreciate it because we have chaos to compare it to. In the real world, not everything is perfectly ordered, bound, etc because that's not the natural way of things. Nature itself can be seen as "chaotic" because it is unrestrained and wild. It doesn't make it good or bad, it just means that it's unregulated. While chaos CAN be bad, it can also be good, or neutral, and I think learning to "ride" or "harness" chaos can actually be a very powerful too. A lunar eclipse is only seen as chaotic because the moon and sun energy is overlapping each other giving way to your shadow self.
Imagine that a puzzle piece fell out of the sky into your hands. This new piece of information, when added to the overall picture of your puzzle, will change your understanding of it and bring you a flash of insight. You may say to yourself, "For the first time, I understand!" Now you have a full picture of the situation and can make a fuller, more realistic appraisal of what that it means to you, and what you must do next. You will gain maturity and seasoning.
Trust your own cycle
The English word "month" and the Latin root for menstruation both share an etymological origin tied to the moon. The moon has long been associated with women and femininity across cultures, often symbolising cycles, intuition, nurturing energy, and the divine feminine. Many ancient cultures believed the moon influenced the reproductive rhythms of women, symbolising the sacred bond between the cosmos and life itself. There was a recent scientific paper that came out suggesting that women's menstrual cycles used to be more closely tied to lunar cycles before the advent of artificial lighting and widespread light pollution which can be read here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw4096 . S
The moon’s gentle, reflective light mirrors the feminine archetype of quiet power and introspection. In contrast to the sun’s active, 'masculine energy', the moon embodies receptive, flowing, and introspective energy often tied to women. Thus, the moon and menstrual cycles are roughly the same length (28 day) which is why the moon is considered culturally significant in relation to women and their intuition. Both men and women have intuition but women have an upper hand with sixth sense because it’s more emotionally based.
Relax
At its core, wellness is about balance and the moon’s consistent cycle of waxing and waning symbolises the ebb and flow of life’s energy. In the waxing phase (from new moon to full moon), energy builds, making it a great time for growth, new projects & setting intentions. In the waning phase (from full moon to new moon), energy winds down, promoting rest, reflection & renewal (the perfect time for restorative spa practices).
By aligning your spa treatments and beauty rituals with these phases, you can enhance the benefits of each experience. Ofcourse, do not rely on it, but imagine indulging in a deeply restorative massage during the waning moon or choosing a rejuvenating facial during the waxing phase when your body is primed for renewal.
During the eclipses, practical steps such as giving food or clothes helps wash away negative planetary or karmic influences and counteracts the temporary shadow cast over the moon. Seeking forgiveness, praying two units (rak'ahs), by having two standings and two bowings (ruku') in each unit will help because the alignment of sun and moon creates intense spiritual power. I have not yet done this but it is recommended and one would reap a lot of benefits!
Ibn Arabi says that the Divine manifestation is actually continuous. The eclipse doesn't mean God suddenly “shows up” or “goes away.” Rather, extraordinary events wake human beings up to something that is always happening. The eclipse is therefore not really about something happening to God. Eclipse seasons come in pairs like cosmic bookends— they work together and also set up the next cycle. One eclipse season opens the conversation. The next one reveals where the conversation has taken us.
It's about something happening to our perception.
The Sun hasn't changed.
Our access to the light has been obstructed.