Penumbral Lunar Eclipse - May 5, 2023
The lunar eclipse always follows a solar eclipse. The first lunar eclipse of 2023 will occur on May 5 and this time, it will be visible in India. So let’s check out how tis eclipse works out for you.
Details of the eclipse
We are talking about the lunar eclipse of May 5. The eclipse begins at 8:45 pm in India and goes on till 1 am on May 6. This makes the eclipse slightly longer than 4 hours.
The eclipse will be visible in India. In fact, India, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the entirety of Asia will be under the influence of this eclipse.
A large part of Asia and Europe, alongside Australia and New Zealand, Japan will witness the eclipse. The Americas, the westernmost part of Europe, Easternost part of Russia and the western parts of Africa will not be under the eclipse as such.
Astrological details
Astrologically, a lunar eclipse happens when the nodes of the moon come in contact with the moon. This time, on the day of the full moon in Baisakh, Ketu will be close to the Moon and it will cause an eclipse. Since it is a Ketu eclipse, it will be more interested in what is hidden inside you, instead of what you have shown to the world. Now if you connect this to Pluto, which went retrograde on May 1, you will now know that your subconscious is at play here.
Pluto was working with the unconscious. Moon is the subconscious. So both these hidden sides of your personality will come out. According to me this is a geat time for you to really understand your mistakes. We all make mistakes right. We all have negative emotions. We are not perfect. So coming to understand these imperfections within us leads us to great things. That is why when I do the daily self discovery questions on Bhagyashree Holistic Lifestyle, my second channel, you get more help in understanding who you are.
This is all happening in the sign of Libra. So as a Libran, please understand where you go wrong. Please focus on the things you are adamant about. Talk, communicate and let the people you love know that you are imperfect but you are working towards improvement.
The Moon will be in Swati nakshatra, that is owned by Rahu. So please don’t let your own extreme expectations play out here. Don’t run after a mirage and learn to save and cherish what you have.
Of course, people born in Libra, specially in Swati nakshatra will be affected because of this eclipse. If you are a Cancerian, then you may feel the affects. People who are born in Moon n nakshatras- Rohini, Hasta and Shravan may be affected as well. So if you have moon in these nakshatras or any planets or ascendant in these nakshatras you may be affected. But it will not be an outward expression. It will happen inside you in a very subtle way.
A penumbral eclipse
When I say that the eclipse will be visible in India, I don’t mean that you will be able to see a clear disk of earth’s shadow over the moon. This is because May 5 lunar eclipse is a penumbral eclipse or upchaya chandra grahan. As a result of this, only a part of earth’s outer shadow falls on the moon. So you will not see a black disc of shadow over the moon.
Since this is the case, there is no need for any special religious rituals during this time. Some people in India observe sutak and some rituals during eclipses, but they will not be necessary.
The special significance of May 5 eclipse
The May 5 full moon is called the Flower Moon. In India, it will be called Baisakh Purnima or Guru Purnima. So it is an important full moon because people who have religious or spiritual inclinations or those who follow certain lifestyles, consider this a very very important day of the year.
It is also an important day for my Buddhist friends who connect the Baisakh full moon to Buddha. So it is going to be a great time for celebrations. Hindus too fast on Baisakh Purnima.
Do you know we will have some amazing meteor showers on May 6 and May 10? That is going to be quite something. I am not sure if they will be visible where I live or if I will be able to get up that early but you can check if the meteor showers are visible in your part of the world and witness them.