In the Path of Totality

I cannot adequately describe the experience of being in the path of totality. The day began bright, though a bit cloudy. As the eclipse started and I looked through the glasses, I could see a small piece missing from the lower right corner of the Sun. As it grew and grew, and the shadow of the Moon began to cover the Sun, the light stayed remarkably bright and steady until about 2% of the sun was left – just a mere sliver. 

At that point, the light took on a silvery cast, like a strange and magical Twilight. Everything in all directions was silvery white but dim. Then, at the moment of totality, the day transformed into true Twilight. 

The temperature dropped, and the cool air brushed against us in the eerie stillness. 

The world was dark. 

Streetlights came on. 

It was the kind of darkness you see an hour after sunset.

In fact, on the horizon in all directions, it looked like a sky before dawn or after sunset glowing faintly.

Overhead, the stars were out. 

And to the eclipsed sun's right was a star that I knew to be Venus. 

The change in the air was palpable as if a switch had been flipped, and it was suddenly electric. It felt like a harmony, vibration, or deep resonance. Now, we could all dare to look at the sun without glasses.

“Oh my God, oh my Goddess, ohhh…” were the only words that came to me. The dark portal of the moon surrounded by living light, the red spark of flares, and the white beads on the rim of the moon clearly visible with the naked eye.

And to see the sun’s glorious light declaring its radiance around the shadow of the moon felt as if the unseen but always present world of Shadows and the Land of the Dead was vivid and real. Not in a spooky way, but in the way that old friends meet and remember each other. 

I also woke to my other-selves – The versions of me in other dimensions of existence and reality. We were aware of each other. That is the best way I can describe it. 

Much different from an out-of-body or dream-like experience, it was profoundly and tangibly real in every cell of my body.

Looking up at totality is a life-altering experience. The awareness in every cell of this profound connection was like a rebirth. Moving us from the isolated womb of consensual reality into the deeper realities we also live in, though often ignore.

The temperature dropped at least 10 degrees, the birds became quiet, a few dogs barked, and some howled. The world went silent. Although totality only lasted about 3 minutes, the most remarkable thing was when the tiniest sliver of sun began to show as the moon slid past totality. In that instant, the darkness was gone, replaced again with the magical Silver Twilight. 

Even that only lasted a few moments. Then the potent sun reappeared with a brilliant flash, bringing with it the full light of day.

I sat on the ground, profoundly moved and unable to move. I laid back, put on my glasses, and continued to watch the moon pass across the face of the Sun. I felt deconstructed and reassembled all at once. 

Rebooted. 

Awake.

The temperature began to rise again. The birds started singing. The light now golden yellow. I stayed on the ground, grateful to be here to experience this Wonder of wonders.

When I finally struggled to my feet, I still needed to find a seat on a bench—feeling disoriented in the best of ways. I felt open, connected, and alive in a way that I had never felt before. I was, I knew, inside the Great Mystery.

Grace, I thought. It's still an inadequate word, but this is what Grace feels like. We take so much for granted, yet we participate in the wonder and power of celestial beings that grant us life and profound possibilities.

And that is the thought I am leaving you with in the wake of the eclipse – the world has opened to our connections with each other and all that exists. We can allow the grace of wonder and soul remembrance to wash us clean if we wish. 

So we can see what we need to see. 

So we can stand strong and united, even in the deepest shadows.

This article was originally posted on my Medium account. Follow me here.