Eclipse, Fear, and Faith

by Jessica Girija Jewell

Paying Attention

In yoga, practice begins with paying attention. Astrology supports this attentiveness—it helps us notice when certain karmic patterns are likely to surface. Eclipses are especially potent in this regard. They cover the light, and what arises in us is often subconscious material. This surfacing can happen not just on the day of the eclipse but in the weeks around it.

Leading up to the September 7th lunar eclipse, I saw this in myself. The eclipse aligned with Chiron, the archetype of wounding and healing, in the part of my chart connected with mothering. Knowing this, I paid closer attention. Sure enough, a familiar shadow appeared: fear. Not overwhelming, but clearly visible.

The Fear That Surfaces

The condition of my natal Moon describes a mind that can run toward fear, toward intrusive thoughts about danger or loss. Chiron adds another layer: the longing to be a good mother and the painful discovery that no matter how “good” we are, we cannot protect our children from life. Each of us must meet life as it comes, with its challenges and dangers.

What can a mother do? We love our children—no matter what, and even if. We raise them the best we can in alignment with our values, with the hope that they grow into the best version of themselves. And then—we let them go.

For me, that has meant surrounding my children in light each time I dropped them at school or an activity, chanting mantras for them, and, in the Indian tradition, requesting pujas or fire ceremonies on their behalf. These are instinctive expressions of the archetypal mother’s impulse to protect.

Avoidance and Transformation

When uncomfortable emotions arise, it is very human to avoid them. Many of us didn’t learn how to simply sit with what comes and goes. So we reach for ways to distract or numb: food—too much or too little—excessive busyness, substances, or even over-exercising. These may soothe for a time, and fear may even vanish for a while, but because it is a samskara—a mental pattern—it will return.

Fear is pure energy in a particular form. Left untended, it paralyzes. Transformed, it becomes faith—the faith that steadies us and allows surrender.

The Path of Practice

The transformation process begins when we recognize fear is present. That awareness is already svadhyaya—self-study. From there, we can get curious and engage more deeply.

Svadhyaya includes studying enduring texts. They remind us of the nature of reality, our purpose, and how to fulfill it. When we’re in difficulty, these writings can offer direction, new ideas, even a single phrase that helps us take the next step.

We also study ourselves in relationship. In a recent conversation, a friend listened carefully as I shared the fear I carry in mothering and said: “Your children don’t belong to you. They belong to the world.”

These words echoed a truth I had long known. Even before my children were born, I often sang them Kahlil Gibran’s poem On Children, with its reminder that children are “life’s longing for itself.” But in this season of life, I am being asked not just to know this, but to embody it.

So I began repeating my friend’s phrase again and again. Compared to the fearful thoughts, it felt different in my body-mind. While fear constricted my heart, this thought created space. My heart could breathe.

This is the beginning of tapas—the effort to change. When fear consumes too much of our life force, svadhyaya shows us the truth of it, and tapas asks us to act. A wise saying comes to mind: “Faith without works is dead.” Mantra is the work.

Mantra and the Eclipse

One of the mantras I am working with now is:

Shanti, prashanti, sarve bhaya upashamani svaha“Invoking supreme peace, I offer the quality of fear to its source in the higher and formless universal mind.”

In yoga, thoughts are reshaped through repetition. Because our destructive thoughts have been repeated thousands of times, to create new grooves in the mind, we must repeat healing thoughts just as often. During an eclipse, mantra practice is said to be greatly amplified—one mantra spoken then is like a thousand. Knowing this, I committed several hours to chanting. Astrology helps in this way: it shows us when conditions are ripe for practice.

In the days since, as I’ve continued this tapas, I’ve noticed my heart is less gripped. My mind is more peaceful.

Surrender and Dharma

The step after svadhyaya and tapas is Isvara pranidhana—surrender. This means letting go of results and allowing the divine, the ancestors, or the greater good—however we relate to it—to take care of the outcome. What unfolds is both karma and dharma: the patterns that must ripen and the purpose each of us is here to fulfill.

Fear belongs to the root chakra, the Saturn center, the Muladhara. In its tamasic form, fear paralyzes. In its sattvic form, it becomes faith—the faith that steadies us and allows surrender.

Thomas Ashley Farrand, in Healing Mantras, writes:

“People who master fear strive to make the most of every moment today. What they do fear is not finding and fulfilling the purpose that brought them to this lifetime. They fear the impulse to dominate other people, or be dominated by them. They fear making appearances more important than realities. They fear seeing themselves as more important than those who depend on them. Most important, they use those fears as a source of energy for their personal spiritual evolution and transformation.”

As I’ve paid attention to fear, a simple song keeps arising, one I first heard in a grief workshop:

“All I ask of you is forever to remember me as loving you.”

Perhaps this is the essence of mothering—and of living. Beyond keeping others safe, the deepest hope is that they remember us as loving them.

Mentoring Invitation

If you are dealing with a persistent pattern and want to work with it more deeply, I have space to mentor one or two people.

In this mentoring, I can be that person committed to your growth, just as my friend has been for me. We’ll begin with your astrology chart to illuminate patterns of mind and heart. Together we explore their origins, seeking to understand them as karma and discern the dharma that wants to unfold.

Then we’ll work with practice—including mantra, svadhyaya, other limbs of yoga, and Jyotish remedies—to transform the energy of these patterns. Finally, we’ll offer the fruits of the work to the greater good, to ancestors, or to the divine.

If this resonates, reach out—I’d be glad to explore it with you.