The Basics
There was a (dramatic music): Total Eclipse of the Sun!
(Moon this time, but who’s counting when we could sing musical numbers)
Of the many celestial events we experience, our solar and lunar eclipses garner the most attention, and for good reason! A solar eclipse can block out the light of the brightest day, and a lunar eclipse often glows low and red in the sky. The eclipses felt magical and unpredictable to the layperson, but they are actually one of the earliest astronomical phenomena that sky gazers figured out.
The Sun, Earth, and Moon move in their orbits in particular ways that we can map out and predict. When they align in one way, the Earth falls directly between the Sun and Moon, blocking out the light of a full moon. When they align in the other way, the Moon passes in front of the Sun, momentarily blocking us from its light. These two events happen twice a year in pairs*, precisely two weeks apart.
Astronomers and astrologers have been studying this for so long that we know the two points in the sky – where, at any exact moment in time, the Sun and Moon would have to sit to create a perfect (total) eclipse. We call these points the lunar nodes.
The lunar nodes move much like the planets, but they are different in that they move in retrograde motion (backward through the signs of the horoscope). Each set of nodes spends about 1.5 years in a given set of opposing signs.
Remember: our lunar events are created by an opposition or conjunction between the Sun and the Moon. We have a new moon when the Sun and Moon share the same degree. We have a full moon when the Sun and Moon share the same degree in opposing signs.
In January, our lunar nodes changed positions from the axis of Aries-Libra to Pisces-Virgo. This changes the signs our eclipses will fall into, as eclipses always occur in conjunction with either the North or South Node.
This will be our first eclipse season where the solar and lunar eclipses will both fall on the Pisces-Virgo axis; we will experience a partial solar eclipse in Virgo and a total lunar eclipse in Pisces. Although we had an eclipse cycle earlier in the year, one of the two eclipses still fell on the “old” axis of Aries-Libra due to the recent nodal switch.
*Very occasionally threes, but I digress.
The Nitty Gritty
Eclipses are often maligned by superstition and sometimes firsthand experience; there is no denying that. Even with all the modern technology and understanding of how lucky (!!!!) we are to experience this celestial phenomenon, they still can feel liminal at best or downright terrifying if you aren’t prepared for them.
Superstition and fear are handy elements for the magician, right? Yet many people caution against the backfire effect of casting magic during and around eclipses.
I won’t tell you what to do; I’m not your Mom, and I don’t care that much. If you are the type who needs to be in complete control, DNI. And the other half of that caveat, if you like to fuck around and find out, eclipses are the day to do it.
Since astrology has been in bed with magic since the Middle Ages, you can see astrological transits as opening and closing windows and doors that increase or decrease your success rates with certain types of magic. One door makes you larger (with Jupiter in it), and another makes you small…
Eclipses do something else. They open the windows AND the doors.
Some people claim they open the RIGHT windows and doors and close others, and that you should pay attention because you can learn a lot about your life and who should be in it during eclipse season, and I have found this advice to be sound in my own life, so I will pass it along.
Eclipses are wildcard energy and turn everything up to 11. It can go really, really well or exceptionally poorly. Maybe both, one right after another. Perhaps both at precisely the right time.
Whenever I see an astrologer who has decided that they can predict a particular eclipse season, I smile a little bit.
You can’t see what’s on the other side of a door that hasn’t been opened yet. You can guess, and maybe even make an educated guess.
But that door is still closed.
That door opens on 9/7 at 2:09 PM (EDT/UTC-4:00).
May the fates be in your favor, or whatever.
Not all people notice all eclipses – some people are not sensitive to whatever is going on around them for whatever reason (I sure wish I had that superpower), and the closer the eclipse season overlaps with your natal birth chart, the more you will likely be affected. However, eclipses don’t just occur in our personal lives – they also impact the energy of the entire world.
Overall, eclipse energy is considered highly liminal, existing outside of time. We can say that this energy begins on 9/7 with our total lunar eclipse at 15° Pisces and ends on 9/21 with our solar eclipse at 29° Virgo. That puts the degrees between 15°-29° of Virgo and Pisces in particular, but also the other mutable signs (Gemini and Sagittarius) and earth and water signs in the hot seat. You can examine your natal birth chart to see how this eclipse may impact your life by considering any planets it aspects and where it falls in your chart, taking into account its house placement.
When we consider the natural opposition between Virgo and Pisces, we might look at it as an opposition of service. Virgo efficiently serves humanity, as our mutable earth sign, Virgo, undertakes much of the mechanical and technical work necessary to improve things. On the other hand, Pisces spiritually serves humanity, as the last sign of the horoscope; it is the sign of the ascended human, the mystic. Virgo understands that we must all work together to create a better world; Pisces understands that we must all recognize our shared experience and oneness to create a better world. These two are the access points, part of the turning of the wheel between the seasons from Summer (Virgo) into Fall (Libra) and Winter (Pisces) into Spring (Aries).
This is especially important as our solar eclipse will fall at 29° Virgo – one of the most critical degrees of the year! 29° Pisces is the last degree of the horoscope, and many of our planets have crossed over it and into 00° Aries, the first degree, this year. The Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Neptune have all done so! I’ve written about this in detail here, so I won’t repeat myself.
What’s worth noting about this is that on 9/1, Saturn moved in retrograde from Aries back into 29° Pisces, where it will be sitting during this eclipse, in exact opposition to our Sun and Moon. This places extra emphasis on the solar eclipse and the end of our eclipse cycles, as well as on Saturn sitting in the last degree of the horoscope. Both are signs of “endings” with an emphasis on the liminality that occurs after the ending and before the beginning that inevitably follows.
Those who struggle with uncertainty will likely be highly sensitive to this lunar cycle. Those who revel in the in-between may find it especially powerful. We can see eclipse season as a boulder rolling down hill: it can take a bit to get started, but once it’s in full motion, you are either going to get hit with it, or, if you’re lucky and it’s not about you, you might be able to step out of the way. You can ride the energy and let it take you, but there’s very little chance you’ll be able to direct or control its trajectory. Some people like it that way.
During this eclipse season, the Sun, Mercury, and Venus will all be passing through Virgo, which means that they each will conjunct the South Node at 18° Virgo and oppose retrograde Saturn in Pisces. Each of these aspects would be notable on its own and is heavily enhanced by the eclipse window. If you need to get rid of something or shed some extra metaphorical weight, use the dates that activate the South Node, but avoid working with the oppositions to Saturn unless you have a strong understanding of Saturnian magic.
This is an opportunity for some cosmic rearranging and alignment, but not the kind you can force into your own preconceived notion of what the future should look like. The secret to eclipse season, like many other astrological transits, is to work with the energy rather than fighting against it.
The Details
9/7 – Lunar eclipse 15° Pisces
9/10 – Sun conjunct South Node 18° Virgo
9/11 – Mercury conjunct South Node 18° Virgo
9/12 – Sun in Virgo sextile Jupiter in Cancer, Mercury in Virgo sextile Jupiter in Cancer
9/13 – Sun conjunct Mercury 20° Virgo
9/15 – Venus in Leo sextile Mars in Libra
9/16 – Mars in Libra opposed Chiron in Aries, Venus in Leo trine Chiron in Aries
9/17 – Mercury in Virgo opposed retrograde Saturn in Pisces
9/18 – Mercury enters Libra
9/19 – Venus enters Virgo, Mercury in Libra trine retrograde Uranus in Gemini, Mercury in Libra trine retrograde Pluto in Aquarius (air grand trine)
9/20 – Venus in Virgo square retrograde Uranus in Gemini
9/21 – Solar Eclipse 29° Virgo, Sun in Virgo opposed retrograde Saturn in Pisces