Feeling Blue? Thank the Moon, Astrologers Say
Observers Link Event to Negativity

By Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 4, 2007

Perhaps you're having communication problems with your spouse or can't figure out your next career move. Maybe you just have an eerie sense that something ominous is on the horizon.

That eclipse you saw last night -- or didn't -- could be to blame.

A full lunar eclipse is a fraught symbol in the astrological world. One local criminal lawyer turned astrologer warned that it would trigger feelings of frustration. Another astrologer said it could foreshadow a terrorist attack in April.

A skeptic would call that hogwash, but half a dozen astrologers invited nonbelievers to review their past predictions, saying their results have been too accurate to be simply coincidence.

The first total lunar eclipse in more than two years was visible in the D.C. region between 5:54 and 6:38 last night, casting a crimson glow over the full moon. Lunar eclipses occur when the moon is obscured by the Earth's shadow.

Although partial eclipses occur about twice a year, total eclipses are rare because the moon is usually above or below the plane of Earth's orbit.

The occasional event does not hold any particular scientific value, NASA researchers said, but amateur and professional astrologers beg to differ. Any time a major celestial body is completely blocked, several astrologers said, humans are bound to feel the effects.

Christopher Warnock, a former criminal lawyer who now practices Renaissance astrology in Northwest Washington, said an eclipse is a negative symbol, though it does not personally affect all people.

"Just like the sun is the light of the day, the moon is the light of the night," Warnock said. "Any time you have one of the lights blotted out, that's not a good thing."

Warnock, who scoffs at what he considers the simplistic nature of most modern astrology, uses complicated software programs and reference books to determine the effects of celestial movements on people based on their date, time and place of birth. Most of his clients pay between $55 and $120 to ask whether they will be promoted, find their soul mate and deal with other life issues, he said. His practice attracts a cross section of Washingtonians -- although he's still waiting to work with his first member of Congress.

"I'm giving people negative news all the time, unlike modern astrologers whose whole approach is very optimistic," he said. "I look at a question and then look at a chart of the question, and the question relates to the answer because everything fits so perfectly together."

Asked whether people would receive bad news based on the lunar eclipse, Warnock said it would depend on their personal birth chart. People who have Virgo rising, he said, will be the most likely to suffer ill effects.

Randy Goldberg, who also practices astrology in Washington, predicted more concrete results for the general public.

"On a collective level, there are some ominous trends that are out there," said Goldberg, who has been performing astrology services for 20 years. "This particular eclipse is very connected with economic cycles, so there is a strong possibility of a strong economic downturn, especially with the property bubble bursting. In April there could be a terrorist thing."

Goldberg said his research indicates that a lunar eclipse often brings to the forefront problems that have been buried in one's subconscious. A person's shadow -- a concept developed by psychologist Carl Jung to describe parts of life one hopes to repress -- can make a sudden appearance around the time of an eclipse, he said.

"Things that are unseen become seen," Goldberg said. "It can be negative in terms of seeing this stuff you're trying to put off and not deal with, a part of yourself you don't accept."

Perhaps the most commonly felt effect of last night's eclipse, San Diego-based astrologer Kevin Burk said, is pent-up frustration. In astrology, an unadulterated full moon is considered a chance to discharge any feelings that have built up over the past month or so. By blocking the moon, Burk said, an eclipse allows negative energy to keep stewing until the next full moon.

A partial solar eclipse March 18 that won't be visible from the East Coast, combined with the fact that Mercury is in retrograde, means that Washingtonians will have unusually high levels of steam to blow off during the full moon April 2.

"If you're in tune with the cycles, you're conditioned to believe that there will be a drop in the energy that's been building up and you'll get a little calmness, but you won't," Burk said. "It may feel really powerful and then all blow up in our faces in the first week of April."

Evidence from the last full lunar eclipse supports the astrologers' argument that strange things can happen: On Oct. 27, 2004, the Boston Red Sox broke the most fabled curse in baseball, winning their first World Series in 86 years.