Events where the shadow falls can become very important as the eclipse approaches. A significant astrological fact about eclipses is that their effects can be observed long before, and long after, the event itself, even up to six months or more on either side. So it takes a real degree of awareness, timing and sensitivity to their energies to understand what's happening. Since science has no basis for objectively determining that there's any possible effect that can be created in human affairs by an eclipse, we usually ignore them and don't make the connections. So while we've all lived through many eclipses, and have witnessed many extraordinary events with them, most of us have not done so consciously.
Eclipses say live like it matters.
Do what is truly important. Be who you really are. Eclipses are often associated with events that bring the culture together in some way, representing a collective gateway. Remember, though, that traditional astrology considers most planetary events negative, indeed, it seems obsessed with negativity, which I feel is a throwback to a world in which there were fewer choices, and in which the hand of fate seemed to rule reality. And the ancient astrologers never mentioned that people grow and learn from events affecting the mass population.