Tag Archives: Eclipse

A New Eclipse Cycle Begins

Since April 2023, we have been experiencing eclipses on the Aries–Libra axis, meaning that other than some residual eclipses in Taurus and Scorpio, the eclipses that have occurred during the past year and change have been in either Aries or Libra. 

Now, on September 17th, we have a full moon in Pisces, which will also mark the first eclipse of the next cycle, on the Virgo-Pisces axis. A lunar eclipse is like an especially intense full moon. Be prepared for big emotional releases, and especially with it being Pisces, the most watery of the water signs, we may all be feeling extra sensitive and intuitive, with moodiness, crying jags, and circumvented boundaries abounding.

This eclipse in Pisces on the 17th will then be answered by a solar eclipse two weeks later, but that one will be back in Libra, so it will represent a continuation of the Aries-Libra stories that have been playing out for the past year and a half.

During the interim between eclipses, time blurs a little bit. To borrow evocative words from one of my very favorite writers of all time, Cookie Mueller, a Pisces queen herself, it’s like “walking through clear water in a pool painted black.” 

In a semi-awake liminal dream state a couple nights ago, I had what I thought at the time was a crystalline, piercing realization: that the interim between eclipses is kind of like when Evie used to touch her fingers together and stop time in late 80s sitcom Out of this World. Do people remember that show? Another syndicated sitcom, Small Wonder, still gets some nostalgic online chatter every now and then for it’s true WTFness, as a show about a programmable robot daughter should. But Out of this World, which focused on a teenage girl who was half alien, had special powers, and who communicated with her alien father through a very 80s looking glass cube, doesn’t get remembered enough. The theme song was also a true banger. 

Anyway, time doesn’t really stop between eclipses, but it can feel a little untethered to our usual reality. It’s a time where things happen to us, instead of us making things happen. It feels a little like the liminal half-awake dream state in which one taps into some dark recess of their brain and conjures thoughts of a long forgotten sitcom about being half-alien, as if it’s an epiphany. And with eclipses as harbingers of major beginnings and endings, we often come out of eclipse time feeling like, what the hell just happened?

How impactful an individual eclipse is on your own life largely depends on where it falls in your natal chart in relation to your planetary placements. So, if you have a personal planet (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars) or angle (ascendant, descendant, midheaven, or IC), at or near 25/26 degrees of Pisces, Virgo, Gemini, or Sagittarius (the mutable signs), this week could be an especially be an eventful time for you. For those without one of the eclipses of a particular axis hitting something in their natal charts directly, the events tied to that eclipse cycle are usually slow burns.

This week you’ll start to see the seeds of the stories that will flower between now and February 2027. This will be the first eclipse in Pisces since 2017. If you think back to the period from March 2015 to March 2017 and recall the transitions and changes that occurred in your life during that time, you may get a preview of the themes to come. Read below for your rising sign to learn more about how the eclipses in Pisces & Virgo may show up for you over the next few years. 

Pisces & Virgo risings: The eclipses occurring in Pisces and Virgo are in the parts of your chart that deal with the self and partnership. It’s about the balance between “me” and “us.” You may, over the course of the next few years, experience some profound changes that inform how you think about yourself or that cause you to grow up or evolve in a major way. It could be a change in your partnership status, whether that’s beginning a relationship with someone new or ending an existing relationship. Or it could be that some major happens in your partner’s life. And it’s not just about romantic relationships either; it can also be about best friendships, creative partnerships, or any kind of committed, two-person pairing.

Aries & Libra risings: Your health, both physical and mental, could be affected during this eclipse cycle. As an example, the most recent eclipses in these parts of my chart coincided with my decision to take concrete steps (through modern medicine) to improve my mental health after some intense bouts of anxiety. These zodiacal houses also represent work and labor, pets, and solitude, so it’s possible that you’ll see new beginnings and endings with regard to one of these areas of your life. Do you adopt a dog or cat that lifts you out of a depression? Very possible!

Taurus & Scorpio risings: These eclipses will be taking place across the areas of your chart that are associated with creativity, pleasure, and children, and friendships, social groups, and community. It can represent a push and pull between self-indulgent pursuits and focus on the collective. There may be changes in your life in one of these areas that lead to adjustments or complement the other. Maybe your desire to tap into your creative yearnings lead you to join an artist’s collective. Maybe you sacrifice your more leisurely free time pursuits to take on more responsibility in a community group. Maybe you have a child and find yourself withdrawing from one social circle and participating more heavily in another, parent-focused circle. These are just a few different ways eclipses in your 5th and 11th houses could manifest. 

Gemini & Sagittarius risings: Changes in your home life, your family, or stories about your ancestry may unfold during these eclipses, counterbalanced by developments in your career or public facing life. This could mean that over the next couple years, there are needs in your family that take precedence, and your career focus shifts accordingly. Or it could be that due to a change in your career, your living situation evolves; maybe you move to pursue a job opportunity, or a new job allows you to upgrade your housing. From my own personal life, I’ve been experiencing the Aries-Libra eclipses in this part of my chart, and I’ve learned a lot about how to leverage my career to allow me the flexibility I need to spend more time with family that lives far away, and I’ve also been much more transient during this period, giving me a new way of thinking about the concept of “home.”

Cancer & Capricorn risings: This cycle will occur in your 3rd and 9th houses. Each house encompasses a few different areas of life, so there are a bunch of possibilities of how the beginnings and endings accompanying these eclipses could play out. The 3rd house signifies communication, your daily life, your neighborhood and neighbors, domestic travel, siblings, and education. The 9th is about higher ed, teaching, learning, philosophy, spirituality, religion, and long distance travel and journeys. So there’s a whole host of areas you could see evolution in during this cycle. Boiling it down simply, I think of this axis about the local and the global, so you may see endings in one area due to new beginnings or shifted focus in the other.

Leo & Aquarius risings: Financial changes could be afoot, either in the way you earn your living or the amount of income you are earning. It could also mean changes to a partner’s livelihood and/or earnings. Most of the significations of the 2nd and 8th houses have to do with finances, either our own or the way others’ finances affect us, via shared resources, debts, or inheritances. However,  the eclipses could instead coincide with new perspectives on that which you value, which could come from confronting the inherited traumas or baggage that you carry. 

These eclipse readings are based on my interpretation of the astrological significations of eclipses and the various houses of the zodiac, so as always, take them with a grain of salt. Astrology isn’t fortune telling. But it’s exciting to think about the changes that could come with this new set of eclipses. I hope the new eclipse cycle brings the best for those of you reading!

Scorpio Season

On October 23rd, the sun moved into Scorpio, joining Mercury and Mars there. The Scorpio energy is potent.

Scorpio is about death and transformation, about intensity and depth. In the Northern Hemisphere, Scorpio season marks the time of the year when autumn steadily progresses toward its colder reaches. It gets darker, the leaves fall, and we fall back into standard time.

A fixed water sign, Scorpio can be symbolized by a deep, dark lake, seemingly still with a lot going under the surface. Mars rules Scorpio, which may seem counterintuitive because Mars is the planet associated with action and drive, but whereas Aries is the outward expression of that, Scorpio is the internal. Scorpios have ambition and drive, but they aren’t impulsive like Aries folks; they are more patient and focused. They lie in wait and then strike with precision when the time is right.

That doesn’t mean that Scorpios are all dark and brooding. As water signs they can be very sensitive and emotional but not necessarily emo. They want deep connections and have an intensity of feeling that can manifest in various ways, including profound love and righteous anger.

Scorpio season coincides with a time of the year when many of us turn more inward. It brings us Halloween and the pagan holiday Samhain, when there’s a focus on the spirit realm and the veil between it and us. We decorate our homes with skeletons and ghosts (well, I do). It’s a time for being attuned to those rhythms of life and death, the underworld and otherworlds.

Lou Reed’s beautiful “Halloween Parade” is a perfect encapsulation of Scorpio season. He wrote it in the late 80s at the height of the AIDS epidemic in NYC. You go to the Halloween Parade, a jubilant event, and don’t see the people you know because they’re now dead. It’s poignant and brutal. “This Halloween is something to be sure, especially to be here without you.” RIP Lou Reed (a Pisces king).

As we move through Scorpio season, there are some notable astrological transits occurring over the next few weeks. Appropriately, it’s going to be intense.

As soon as the sun enters Scorpio on the 23rd, it’s forming a trine, or helpful aspect, with Saturn at 0 degrees of Pisces, and this is exact on the 24th. We start Scorpio season with some steadiness and seriousness, with a focus on creating structures and boundaries.

On October 28th, Mars opposes Jupiter, and there is a full moon and lunar eclipse in Taurus. This the very last lunation of the Taurus-Scorpio eclipse cycle that started in November 2021, wrapping up whatever cycle of new beginnings you’ve had in your life between then and now. The energy is heightened and expansive. There’s a push and pull between our drives/deepest desires and the need for stability.

On October 29th, Mercury meets up with Mars, making our thinking and our communication with others extra potent and possibly sharp-tongued. We may see our words sting or cut deep, even if that is not the intent. This weekend is a good time for being mindful and conscientious about what you say to others.

On November 8th, Venus moves into Libra, its domicile, where it’s able to best express its energy. Jupiter and Uranus are still in Taurus, a Venus-ruled sign, which will now be answering to Venus in Libra. The vibe is super Venusian, which is helpful, given some of the other astrology coming up. If you have a Venus-ruled chart (Libra or Taurus rising), especially, you’ll feel a little more comfortable and lit up once Venus goes into Libra.

On November 10th, Mercury moves into Sagittarius, a mutable fire sign, and squares Saturn. Mercury doesn’t love Sagittarius because Sagittarius thinking is very big-picture, broad-stroke, and Mercury wants details. Especially with the square with Saturn, there may be some frustrations around our desire to get answers and details and systems or big structures making that difficult, causing some conflict. As Mercury progresses through Sag, we’ll see amplified communication about big, lofty ideas, but for those of us who want brass tacks discussions with nitty gritty details, this may be a challenging time.

On November 11th, Mars, still in Scorpio, opposes Uranus in Taurus. Then on November 13th, there is a new moon in Scorpio, meaning the sun and moon meet in the sky, and as they do, they approach that Mars-Uranus opposition. The energy is volatile. Whatever cycle that the new moon is kicking off, Uranus, the great disruptor, is doing what it can to fuck up the best laid plans. This new moon, even though it’s not an eclipse, has an eclipse-like vibe to it. The sun then chases Mars for several days, right on its heels but unable to catch it until November 18th. That whole week is going to feel extra charged.

More to come as we approach the new moon in a couple weeks. Check back for your new moon in Scorpio horoscope, and happy Halloween to those who celebrate.

The Solar Eclipse in Libra & the Astrology of Late

This Saturday, October 14th, there’s an annular solar eclipse in Libra. Annular solar eclipses are the ones where the moon is at its farthest point from earth and it doesn’t fully block the sun, so instead of total darkness you can see the glow of the sun around the perimeter of the moon, making it look like a ring of fire. 

People generally seem to get a little nutty when the eclipses approach, even though they occur several times a year. But as human beings, we likely have some genetic instinct to freak out a little around eclipses. Can you imagine living in a time before there was an understanding of astronomy, and every so often, the sun just disappeared? It would have been terrifying! Eclipses are loaded with meaning and inspire both anxiety and wonder. 

The eclipses, astrologically, mark a time when major events unfold. However, as I’ve written before, even though we may experience some major life changes around eclipse time, much of that depends on our specific birth charts. Some eclipses will be felt more deeply by you than others. Most people don’t experience jolting, life-altering events between 4 and 7 times a year, every year of their lives. Generally, personally, we tend to see themes play out in our lives over the entirety of an eclipse cycle (the 1-2 year period when the eclipses take place in a set of opposite signs). There are milestones and changes but they are a little more fluid and gradual.

During this Aries-Libra eclipse cycle, which began in April, the same themes I wrote about during the Aries full moon are the same ones that will play out in a more protracted way between last April and March 2025. To see if this particular eclipse may strongly affect you, check your birth chart to see if you have any personal planets (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) or angles (ascendant aka your rising, descendant, midheaven, or IC) on or around 21 degrees of Libra, Aries, Cancer, or Capricorn.

In the world at large, though, eclipses are usually accompanied by some big news. And this time seems to be no exception. This week has been tumultuous and scary on a geopolitical level. However, there’s been a lot going on astrologically beyond just the coming eclipse on Saturday (and there’s a lunar eclipse in Taurus on October 29th), so I did want to call out that the intensity of this moment is not solely related to the upcoming eclipse. 

Last Sunday, Mars, the planet that represents action, drive, and aggression, formed a 90-degree angle with Pluto, the planet of life and death and transformation. The aspect the two planets were making (called a square) can be a tough one, marked by some conflict and usually a turning point. Definitely some parallels between these significations and global events.

Pluto, which had been retrograde since May, also stationed on Tuesday, at 27 degrees of Capricorn, which is exactly the same degree of Pluto in the US’s chart, and is now direct again. It’s the last gasp of the US’s Pluto return. Mars gained strength on October 12th, when it moved into Scorpio, a fixed water sign and its home base, where it can utilize its resources. Mars in Scorpio is about precision, intensity, and stealth.

On the 13th, Mars makes a helpful aspect to Saturn in Pisces. When Saturn, the planet of structure, discipline, and responsibility, is boosted by Mars and both are in water signs, this could be a time for building emotional support structures, both for ourselves personally and for the the community. This is especially important with everything that’s going on. 

Between the Mars and Pluto activity and the two eclipses, October is a wild month astrologically, and as they often are, the skies are a reflection what’s happening here on planet Earth. It makes for interesting days ahead. Hang in there.

Big Eclipse Energy

In my post about the eclipse in Aries a couple weeks ago, I noted that while eclipse cycles usually herald transformations in our lives, individual eclipses may not bring big changes immediately. And here I am eating my words because this eclipse was pretty monumental for some. The Aries eclipse had friends of mine giving birth, finding out they were pregnant, getting job offers, and getting engaged. Eclipses also often signal endings, and I said goodbye to my beloved 17-year-old cat, who let us know it was finally her time to go, after two years of being treated for small cell lymphoma. She was elderly and had been sick with a chronic illness, so her death was not a shock, but it was the end of an era.

And now we have a second eclipse looming. There will be a lunar eclipse at 14 degrees of Scorpio on Friday, May 5th. This is the final Scorpio lunar eclipse of the Taurus-Scorpio eclipse series that began in late 2021, so you may see themes that began in your life in late 2021 or early 2022 culminating now.

Scorpio, a fixed water sign, is ruled by Pluto, the planet of death, rebirth, transformation, compulsions, and hidden things. On Monday, May 1st, Pluto stationed retrograde. In its initial dip into Aquarius, it only made it as far as 0 degrees. With Pluto stationing shortly before the eclipse, it will likely intensify the changes that come about during this eclipse, and Pluto and Scorpio aren’t short on intensity to begin with. It could bring some deep emotional catharsis and uncover some deep hidden truths that we either haven’t seen or have been intentionally ignoring. The eclipse is also opposite Uranus, currently in Taurus, which adds to the potential for jolts and shocks. 

Hang in there, and get plenty of rest over the next few days!

Eclipse Time

On April 19th/20th, depending on your time zone, a solar eclipse, which is also a new moon, will occur at 29 degrees of Aries. It will be exact at 12:12 am EDT. It’s the second new moon in Aries this year, which is really rare; usually there is only one new moon in each zodiac sign annually. So themes of this new moon are going to be in keeping with the same themes of the first new moon in Aries that occurred 4 weeks ago. 

There’s a lot of talk online and in the astrology world about eclipses, and I think the way the discussion is framed can inspire a lot of anxiety. But eclipses occur between 4 and 7 times per year, meaning that you’ve already lived through many. Yes, a lot of times eclipses can be accompanied by events that seem out of left field or that may knock us off balance. But this is usually felt more in the world and in current events than personally, and each individual eclipse is one part of an ongoing story. 

This week may generally feel a little nutty. People may seem weird, your interactions may seem especially charged, and you and others may be feeling angry and irritable. This would be normal with a solar eclipse in Aries, a fire sign ruled by Mars and associated with aggression. Those feelings may be exacerbated this time because this particular eclipse is also at the last (or, in astrology speak, “anaretic”) degree of the sign, which means it’s extra, extra Aries. An example: when Mars, the planet of action, aggression, and war, was at 29 degrees of Aries in 2021, it was Jan 6th, and people were literally ramming (Aries is symbolized by the ram) the barricades of the Capitol building. That was Mars in the last degree of Aries, not the sun and moon, though, so I wouldn’t expect that again; it’s just an example of how extreme a sign’s influence can be when a planet is at the last degree of that sign.

So, with the placement of this eclipse, we and others may be feeling extra punchy. But Aries also represents forthrightness, so we may be speaking our minds with no filter, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Mars is currently in Cancer, so it’s not as warlike and ready to pounce as it could be. It’s a bit emotional. So this may be a crying-tears-of-rage-into-your-pillow kind of week. 

In the world, we may see people acting out from a place of extreme defensiveness. This eclipse is also squaring Pluto, currently at the very beginning of Aquarius. Given the nature of Pluto in Aquarius, this may be a time when people collectively band together and fight against something. I am loath to date myself and quote Twisted Sister, but it’s a very we’re-not-gonna-take-it vibe. This eclipse could herald the beginning of some major movements. 

An eclipse cycle in a specific axis (so, in this case, Aries-Libra) unfolds over a year or more, so events that occur now will likely be one piece of a puzzle. Usually, for most of us, the changes that come with eclipses aren’t totally jarring, they play out over a period of time. This is the first eclipse of this new eclipse cycle in Aries and Libra, meaning that you will probably see some changes and evolution in the realms of your life that these signs rule, but while the first seeds may be planted this week, you likely won’t know the full story until you look back later, after this eclipse cycle wraps up in the spring of 2025. 

More pronounced changes may occur for you now if you have planets in your natal chart that get activated by this eclipse. You can investigate that by using a tool to look up your birth chart (there are many) and checking to see if you have any planets around 29 degrees of Aries, Libra, Cancer, or Capricorn. (I also offer readings, so if you’re interested, hit me up!) 

Astrologers that I follow and trust recommend not manifesting or doing ritual work during an eclipse the way you may during other moon cycles, and because they know more than me, I heed that advice. Just let the events unfold.