We are about to experience a very, very exact—and improbable—alignment. What are you going to do with it? As Dr. Eleanor Arroway's father said to her as a child, in the film Contact, "Small moves, Ellie. Small moves."
The Venturi Effect
In physics, there's something called the Venturi effect, which is one of my favorite metaphors for eclipses. The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section (or choke) of a pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746–1822), an Italian physicist.
Said another way, when you run a fluid through a pipe that constricts, it rapidly turns to a gas. This is how a carburetor works—that thing that used to be in cars, which turned liquid gasoline to a vapor usable as fuel. Part of what happens is an acceleration effect, and a reduction of density, and an increase in volatility. Those are all metaphors for eclipses.
We're about to experience an extraordinarily potent increase in the velocity of events. That will come with a sensation of chaos, and of events running out of control. Remember that this is also about you; there may be a point where you just have to surrender to events.
The Grand Fire Trine
One last metaphor, directly from the chart. The famous Leo eclipse of 1999 was part of a grand cross aspect—planets aligned in a rather exact square, with the Moon and Sun at one corner.
The eclipse of August 21 is part of a grand trine, which covers the fire signs Aries (the Uranus-Eris conjunction), Leo (the Moon and Sun), and Sagittarius (the Galactic Core/black hole/cosmic portal at the center of the Milky Way), plus centaur planet Pholus (rapid reactions, out of control reactions, catalysts, small cause/big effect), and Quaoar (personal creation myth, cosmic identity, family patterns). At the Sagittarius end, Saturn is not far from the action, and will soon become a much more prominent figure in the astrology.
So, what does this tell us? Grand trines have a distinctive property: momentum. Once things get going in a certain direction, it's not so easy to shift. That's why it's essential to work the "fulcrum" quality as early in the process as possible. All these fire planets point to a kind of cycle of fire, which can be destructive if not managed carefully.
With a grand trine, you can look to certain points in the chart for what might serve as an exit from the cycle, or put the brakes on it. We have two possibilities: Jupiter in Libra, which would be justice; or the South Node in Aquarius, which would be the power of reasoning. Both of these factors describe things in exceedingly short supply right now. You will need to supply yourself.