With Queen Elizabeth just passing, the research I started on UK eclipses feels even more significant. This might be the beginning of many eclipse series analyses of nations or empires, depending on what I discover.

The two Saros (eclipse) Series that seem particularly important to the United Kingdom are 117 and 143, also called 2 Old North and 16 North.

The beginning of the S.S. 117, or 2 Old North, began June 24, 792. This heralded the formation of the British Monarchy. S.S 117 will technically end on August 3, 2054.

The solar eclipse that immediately followed the Act of Union of 1707 was the 6^th eclipse of S.S. 143 that began in 1617. Saros Series 143 (16 North) began on March 7, 1617 and will end April 23, 2897.

There was an S.S. 117 total lunar eclipse on April 17, 1707, which was at 26 degrees Libra. This was about 2 weeks prior to the establishment of the Act of Union, so the south node is at the same degree of Libra in the 1707 natal chart.

Because the 117 S.S. marks the beginning of the British Monarchy, this 1707 lunar eclipse seems significant in uniting the kingdoms of England and Scotland under one King or Queen. The two series intercept one another in 1707.

King James I had attempted unification in 1603 and many more times throughout his reign but was unsuccessful. There were some malefic alignments in this eclipse from S.S.143 (in 1617) that were not present in either the solar or lunar eclipses of 1707.

In 1617, James I had been the King of England for 14 years. He founded the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1607. The first colonial settlers that came to North America from England did so by King James I’s orders, not of their own volition.

The colonists were sent by English investors who wanted them to produce farmed crops like corn to bring back to the UK. Many of the colonists died from disease and famine. Eventually, they started growing tobacco, which was a cash crop.

The man who spearheaded growing tobacco in Virginia was John Rolfe, who eventually married the legendary Powhatan woman named Pocahontas.

After spending months in England, Rolfe and his wife Rebecca (the Christian name given to Pocahontas) were on route to Virginia via the Thames when she became seriously ill. This was early March of 1617, when S.S. 143 began with the eclipse on March 7th. She died of respiratory failure soon after.

This eclipse was at 16 degrees Pisces. The sun traveling through the watery sensitivity of Pisces can encourage illness, like we witnessed in February and March of 2020; however, there is something else that happened astrologically in 1617 that is far more significant and was the hallmark of 2020. There was a Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Taurus.

Saturn-Pluto conjunctions have historically brought pandemics or plagues. If you’ve read my posts from 2020, Saturn-Pluto conjunctions occurred during the Polio outbreak of the late 1940s, the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s and The Spanish Flu in the late 1910s, as well as many other examples.

The Saturn-Pluto conjunction of 1616-1619 brought the leptospirosis epidemic that wiped out a large percentage of the North American Indigenous peoples. Smallpox didn’t happen until the 1630s. Leptospirosis is what likely killed Pocahontas.

Saturn-Pluto conjunctions aren’t just about pandemics. They are also about major structural shifts in politics.

Since the end of the 143 Saros Series won’t happen for another 875 years, unfortunately no ephemeris exists yet for 2897.

The 1617 eclipse highlighted themes of colonization and disease, as well as perhaps the failure of the monarchy. King James I did seem a bit out of his depth. He believed in Absolute Monarchy, which managed to elude him during his reign of 23 years. His attempts to thwart Parliament created more problems than the few he had managed to solve.

This 143 Saros Series beginning is characterized by three major aspects: the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Taurus, the transiting south node at 29 degrees Leo and Mars retrograde at 23 degrees Leo.

I’ve mentioned in other posts that Mars or any malefic planet conjunct the south node is typically more auspicious than a malefic (Mars, Saturn or Pluto) conjunct the north node. It doesn’t mean that nothing dramatic will happen. Something dramatic or even awful usually does happen, but often for the purpose of evolution.

Malefics on the north node seem far more inauspicious, as they highlight the future. I’m discovering this more and more in my research, which was discovered in the 9^th century by ancient astrologer Abu Ma’shar.

Doing more research on these particular Saros Series inevitably brought me to NASA’s website, which is of course very thorough. Astrologer Bernadette Brady (whom I quoted in my recent post about eclipses) writes that 2 Old North, otherwise known as S.S. 117, will end in 2036.

Technically, August 3^rd, 2054 will be the last penumbral eclipse to finish S.S. 117. Since a penumbral eclipse will hardly be visible, should that not count as the end of the series? Looking at the eclipse on July 23, 2036 helps to answer that question.

July 23, 2036 will be a partial solar eclipse at 1 degree of Leo. Mercury will be at 20 degrees of Leo, Mars at 23 degrees Leo, Saturn will be a 19 degrees Leo, Pluto will be at 20 degrees of Aquarius and the north node will be at 17 degrees Leo.

This activates the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Leo in the UK chart from 1707. All three malefics will be making a conjunction and an opposition to Jupiter-Pluto at 20-21 degrees Leo in the UK chart. Mars and Saturn will conjunct the transiting north node, Pluto will conjunct the south node, and Mercury will join the group to at least communicate to the world what is happening.

Brady was right. This looks like the end of British Monarchy to me.

The final penumbral eclipse of S.S. 117 in 2054 will take place at 10 degrees Leo on August 3^rd. Saturn will have made its final conjunction with Pluto in Pisces in February of 2054.

Mars will be close to Algol at 24 degrees Taurus opposing Jupiter at 26 degrees Scorpio. Both will square the nodal axis at 28 degrees Leo/Aquarius. Lilith will conjunct the south node in Aquarius at 24 degrees. This seems jarring, though not as extreme as the eclipse in 2036.