The night of a lunar eclipse carries iron and incense. The bloodied Moon becomes a chalice filled with mystery. When the Earth rises against the full orb, the silver vessel of memory turns crimson, and the heavens reveals the hidden law.
The eclipse at fifteen degrees of Pisces rests upon the head of the Dragon, Caput Draconis, the very mouth of incarnation. Pisces belongs to Jupiter, and Jupiter himself now resides in Cancer, so water answers water in a circuit of mutual rulership. Yet this is pierced by Mars exiled in Libra, who hurls his square across the sky.
The result is a rift between Chesed and Geburah, the two pillars of the ethical plane in the Tree of Life, joined together by the path of Teth, the Serpent. In the Tarot, this is the Major Arcanum Strength or Lust in Crowley’s system; a crowned woman holds the jaws of the beast, a lion-serpent that mirrors the Demiurge. The card is a map for this eclipse, showing how the Dragon may open his mouth without devouring the Queen of Night.
I. The Path of Teth
Between Chesed and Geburah runs the nineteenth path of the Tree. Its letter is Teth, meaning Serpent. In the Tarot it is the card of Strength, where the lion roars and the coils encircle, but the woman above is enthroned and radiant.
She guides the beast, she transforms its hunger into celebration. This is the paradox of the Demiurge unveiled. He builds and binds, but he may be ridden. This very eclipse awakens this paradox by binding the Moon to Jupiter and wounding Jupiter with Mars. The head of the Dragon opens and the path of Teth blazes.
Crowley’s Gnostic Mass placed the vision in ritual words: “O Lion and O Serpent that destroyeth the destroyer, be mighty among us.” The lion is sovereignty, the serpent is binding; together they represent the engine of the world. To destroy the destroyer is to ride and to tame it. The crowned woman of the Tarot demonstrates the gesture; mastery without annihilation, conversion without fear. The eclipse reveals the Demiurge and shows the way of command.
II. The Woman and the Beast
In legend, Saint Martha came to the land of Provence where the Tarasque, a monstrous dragon, tormented the people. She did not kill it with iron; she subdued it with hymns, with water, with the cross. Bound in her cords, the dragon was led among men like cattle, humbled without slaughter. The Church saw in her victory the gentleness of the Virgin, but beneath it lies the older mystery of the feminine enthroned over the beast.
The eclipse in Pisces renews this vision. The Moon is the Marian vessel, clothed in scarlet, passing through the mouth of the Dragon. The Apocalypse unveils the figure of the Whore of Babylon, seated upon the beast with seven heads and ten horns, clothed in scarlet, holding a golden cup full of abominations and the blood of saints.
The lunar eclipse mirrors her pageant; the Dragon opens his mouth, and she rides forth crowned, drinking shadow as wine. The beast becomes her steed, carrying her through the night as she exalts in the chalice. Saint Martha subdues the dragon with cords and yet the Whore of Babylon mounts it in triumph. Both figures reveal that command surpasses annihilation. The scarlet woman transforms venom into intoxication; her sovereignty is the excess of song over the fury of the beast.
III. The Eclipse as Gate
Eclipses occur upon the nodal axis, the two gates of incarnation known as Caput Draconis and Cauda Draconis. They are the hinges of the cycle of birth and death, the very jaws of the Demiurge. The eclipse in Pisces reveals the northern gate under blood. The Moon, guardian of memory, becomes the mirror of embodiment itself. Jupiter rules the gate, yet is himself under the wound of Mars. Mercy and severity clash across the firmament, and the woman of Lust rides that clash with a crown of infinity.
The meaning is clear: the Demiurge cannot be ignored, as we inhabit his machine. But his power may be reversed. The lion-serpent is fierce, yet he may be bridled; his coils may become the path of ascent. The crowned woman of the Tarot, the Saint who tames the dragon all reveal the same truth. The eclipse of Pisces is the moment when the jaws of the Dragon open and the faithful see that the Queen is never consumed. The Demiurge is present but he is ridden; his fire becomes a hymn and the chains turn into a crown.