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 among 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.
*Very occasionally threes, but I digress.
The Nitty Gritty
Eclipses are often maligned by superstition and, at times, 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 2/17 at 7:01 AM (EST/UTC-5:00).
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 2/17 with our solar eclipse at 28° Aquarius and ends on 3/3 with our lunar on 3/3 at 12° Virgo. This puts the degrees between 28° Aquarius/Leo and 12° Pisces/Virgo in the hot seat. This is a mixed eclipse cycle that crosses the boundary between signs. This is a sign of a transition – the eclipses are determined by the placement of our lunar nodes, and our lunar nodes will change signs later this year.
For this reason, this eclipse season carries energies of both what is about to happen (the first solar eclipse on the Aquarius/Leo axis) and what is ending (the last lunar eclipse on the Pisces/Virgo axis). We should note that we are moving forward and then back, as indicated by the order of these two eclipses. This may have a thickening and coagulating effect on this eclipse season; there is an opening towards the future, but our past may fill it in like a wound.
It’s worth remembering that the lunar nodes move retrograde to the rest of the planets in our skies; where we all move forward, the dragons of fate move backward. This may account for much of the dis-ease associated with eclipse season; it often seems to knock us off kilter, creating much-needed disruption to the status quo. As the rest of our movable planets are travelling from Aquarius into Pisces (as they always do at this time of year), the North Node is planning to move from Pisces into Aquarius.
In this way, the eclipse window is time out of time. I have jokingly taken to saying eclipse seasons are a bit like Vegas: what happens in the eclipses, stays in the eclipses. This also means that our repeating eclipses on the same astrological axis (the lunar nodes stay in the same signs for about two years) are often repeating lessons or experiences around the same theme. You can often get a sense of that theme by looking at the signs in question.
We’ve been in a Pisces-Virgo cycle for a while now. 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.
Of course, that only pertains to our lunar eclipse on 3/3; our solar eclipse will occur at 28° Aquarius – the second to last degrees of our fixed air sign. This is a hint into our future; the North Node will enter Aquarius during the Summer, bringing us into the dichotomy between Aquarius and Leo. Aquarius and Leo are both service signs, but in a very different way than Virgo and Pisces; they function more like governmental structures. If Leo is the sign of the monarch, Aquarius is the sign of the socialist. Those may be loaded terms, and it’s worth noting that individual Leos are not monarchs nor are individual Aquarians necessarily socialists. The dichotomies between our Sun sign pairs are designed to show differences in perspective, not individual preferences.
Said a different way, Leo (as a sign) is more focused on the “me” of things (ruled by the Sun), whereas Aqaurius is more focused on the “we” of things (ruled by Saturn). It’s worth remembering that, to be functional, regulated adult human beings, we need to recognize both that we are an individual (Leo) and that we are part of a society (Aquarius).
Themes are this will be at the forefront of our minds during the solar eclipse on 2/17, and then in the forefront of our minds (and in society as a whole) as the North Node moves into Aquarius proper later this year. This is an early glimpse; a sneak peek, if you will.
For this reason, this early Aquarius solar eclipse can be used to look ahead, read the last sentence, if you will. It supports work to both predict AND change the future. That is, if you are not overwhelmed by it.
Eclipse seasons are always intense, and this one packs an extra punch. This has to do with Saturn’s recent ingress into Aries, which is putting a lot of pressure on new beginnings, and Mercury’s retrograde that begins on 2/26. We are in the in between – most of the eclipse season will take place with the Sun in Pisces, the last sign of the horoscope, working our way towards the Sun (and Mercury, Venus, and Mars’s) inevitable transitions into Aries, where they will immediate conjunct Big Daddy Saturn.
Anybody with a planet (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn) between 23° Aquarius and 03° Pisces, firstly, Leo/Virgo, secondly, and Taurus/Gemini and Scorpio/Sagittarius, thirdly, will be most affected by the solar eclipse.
Anybody with a planet between 08°-18° Virgo, Pisces, or Gemini and Sagittarius will be most affected by the lunar eclipse.
These connections should be read by planet, aspect, element, and house(s) involved – in that order of significance. The closer to exactitude the orb, the stronger the effect.
Those born while the moon was in Aquarius and Leo will be strongly affected by the Aquarius solar eclipse, and those born with the moon in Virgo and Pisces will be strongly affected by the lunar eclipse. Again, the closer to exactitude the orb, the stronger the effect.
Those who struggle with uncertainty will likely be highly sensitive to eclipses. 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.
Besides the days of the eclipses themselves, we should note the date that the Sun conjuncts the North Node at 09° Pisces – if you want to work with eclipse energy but you are too widgy to do eclipse shit on the eclipses themselves, this is the date.
The Details
2/17 – Solar Eclipse 28° Aquarius, Venus conjunct North Node 09° Pisces
2/18 – Sun enters Pisces
2/26 – Mercury retrogrades 22° Pisces
2/27 – Sun conjunct North Node in Pisces 09° Pisces
3/3 – Lunar Eclipse 12° Virgo
Further Reading:
Demystifying Working with Eclipses
Simple Magic for Eclipse Season
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