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.
The door opens on 8/12 at 1:46 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. This energy begins on 8/12 with our solar eclipse at 20° Leo and ends on 8/28 with our lunar eclipse at 04° Pisces. This puts the degrees between 20° Leo/Aquarius and 04° Virgo/Pisces 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 changed signs in late July.
For this reason, this eclipse season carries energies of both what is about to happen (solar eclipse on the Aquarius/Leo axis) and what is ending (the last lunar eclipse on the Pisces/Virgo axis). 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. While the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter are moving forward through Leo, the South Node is moving backward.
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.
Currently the North Node is pointed towards Aquarius, and the South Node is pointed away from Leo. This dichotomy is best understood as forms of government: Leo, the sign of the king of kings, can be associated with monarchy; Aquarius is more associated with socialism. 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.
Put differently, Leo (as a sign) is more focused on the “me” of things (ruled by the Sun), whereas Aquarius 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). These are the energies we will marinate in over the next two years until the nodes move into Capricorn/Cancer in March of 2028. This solar eclipse in Leo may prove especially intense as it is our first taste of an eclipse during our Aquarius/Leo cycle.
Eclipse seasons are always intense, and this one packs a strong punch as the Sun and Mercury pass over our South Node at 29° Leo on 8/22 and 8/25, respectively. We are going to get a major repeat of this energy in November when Mars, Jupiter, and the South Node meet up in a significant stellium while square to the Sun in Scorpio. This is the first hit on a significant message, and our fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius) are our antennae. Fixed eclipse seasons tend to hold extra tension; the big flex is to bend before you break.
Our solar eclipse will affect those with a strong planetary presence between 15 °- 25 ° Leo and Aquarius the strongest, followed by the same degrees in Taurus and Scorpio, and then in the fire signs (Aries and Sagittarius). Look at Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and the lunar nodes in these degrees. This is a total solar eclipse; although it will not be visible in most of the world, that doesn’t mean that its energy will not still be in strong effect. This is a complete blocking of the Sun’s light, similar to the energy of the winter solstice but in the height of Summer. It will be especially charged as the Sun is in the sign of its domain where it is usually at its strongest.
This energy supports all types of dark magic, the things you do not want to have seen or witnessed. As the first solar eclipse in our new nodal cycle, this is the ultimate seed stage.
Our lunar eclipse will be more complicated. It will affect those with a strong planetary presence between 29° Aquarius/Leo and 04° Pisces/Virgo strongest, followed by 29 °Taurus/Scorpio-04° Gemini/Sagittarius, and finally 29° of the fire signs and from 00°-04° of the water signs (Cancer and Scorpio). This is a partial eclipse (less powerful) and in the past signs of our lunar nodes. It can be used to clean up, revisit, or make amends for anything that is left over from the last two years.
Those born while the moon or lunar nodes were in Leo and Aquarius will be strongly affected by the Leo solar eclipse, and those born with the moon or the lunar nodes in Virgo and Pisces will be strongly affected by the lunar eclipse. Again, the closer to exactitude the orb, the stronger the effect.
I want to be very clear that the effect of an eclipse does not have to be bad. Not by any means! Many find eclipses deeply enlightening times, full of insight. Others find them chaotic and draining. The better you can handle intensity, the easier eclipse season may feel. There is nothing bad or wrong with how you react to eclipses; it’s all about understanding. The more conscious you are of your reactions to things, the more control you have over these reactions.
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 downhill: 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.
Expect everybody (especially any Leo types in your life) to be very dysregulated, egoic, and in their feeling during this eclipse season. If it doesn’t happen, great. But being prepared ahead of time can definitely help to mitigate some of the more annoying eclipse effects. The big flex is to stand in your own light rather than give in to the energy of the Gen Pop. Those who are especially sensitive to the energies of others may wish to take steps to protect themselves during this time. Try not to take what isn’t about you personally; it will make the eclipse season much more tolerable.
Further Reading:
Demystifying the Magic of Working With Eclipse Energy
The Details
8/12 – Solar Eclipse 20° Leo
8/15 – Mercury conjunct Jupiter 10° Leo
8/22 – Sun enters Virgo, Sun conjunct South Node 29° Leo
8/25 – Mercury enters Virgo, Mercury conjunct South Node 29° Leo
8/27 – Sun conjunct Mercury 04° Virgo
8/28 – Lunar Eclipse 04° Pisces, Sun in Virgo square Uranus in Gemini, Mercury in Virgo square Uranus in Gemini
Leave a Reply