Virgo Solar Eclipse September 1st & Pisces Lunar Eclipse September 16th, 2016

This month (September 2016) there are two eclipses… a solar one (at the time of the new moon) in the sign of Virgo on the 1^st. And a lunar (at the time of the full moon) in the sign of Pisces on the 16^th.

Both indicate key stages in the lunar cycle – solar eclipses tend to indicate new phases or new beginnings, and lunar eclipses often indicate closure or letting go. Especially emotional closure. The Moon is about emotions and feelings, and so they are coming to the forefront this month, to be acknowledged, processed and integrated.

In astrology eclipses are about major turning points, where certain situations have been building up momentum through events for quite some time, for good or ill, and the events at eclipse times are release points, or trigger points for long-term change. You can look back with hindsight at an eclipse period and see how events around that time were movers and shapers of future direction.

September 1^st Eclipse = Preparation is Key

During the September 1^st eclipse, the planets suggest there has been pressure to act in a certain way, or to act on certain things, but the timing might not be quite right to take action, even if you want to. Withholding or holding fire doesn’t mean failure to launch, it is more about good preparation. The time for action might be more mid-month or beyond, when Mars aligns with the lunar eclipse.

Saturn square Neptune

This planet alignment has been one of the key themes of the year, and it figures highly in the eclipses, especially the solar eclipse on the 1^st. This alignment has brought our fears to life in some respects, only for us to find out that our fears hold no power over us in reality.

It’s also about being very careful what we believe in or buy into, as what seems real often turns out to be just a façade. It’s been a year of remembering not to judge books by covers.

Mercury Retrograde

This retrograde period started near to the solar eclipse on 30th August, and will continue for most of the month, ending on the day of the Autumn equinox, 22nd September.

Although Mercury retrogrades three times a year, this one is a strong retrograde because:

-          Mercury is in Virgo, the sign which it rules.

-          North node is in Virgo, which is an indicator of opportunities or open doors that feel ‘fated’ or like ‘destiny’ to walk through. Mercury is therefore planet associated with this north node, which means it’s the planet to watch for the way these opportunities will manifest (Mercury is about communication, logic, pathways, transport, siblings and sibling relationships, and neighbours). As Mercury is Retrograde it means the concept of retrograde is also how those opportunities manifest. Retrograde means reconnection or returning to the past in some way… looking to the past, looking in a different direction, etc etc. 

-          Mercury meets Jupiter at eclipse time. Jupiter is the planet of good luck, good fortune, faith and expansion. Jupiter uplifts what it touches, which gives this Mercury retrograde period a touch of miracle mindedness; a sparkle of extra confidence and self belief. 

Lunar Eclipse = Ready to Receive

When the moon stands opposite the Virgo sun, from the sign of Pisces on the 16^th, it also stands next to the asteroid Chiron. This asteroid is about healing, and specifically about being receptive to healing. Being open and accepting of solutions can be a challenge when the problem or symptom is dominant… it takes imagination to look past what looms large in our life, and be open to answers and opportunities. It also means accepting we are deserving of being given to in this way.

Ask and it is given is the mantra of the universe according to Law of Attraction, but the universe can only give by us being open to receive. The lunar eclipse on the 16^th suggests events that highlight this idea of being receptive and open to solutions and problems. The time might be right for action too, according to Mars...

Full Pink moon in Scorpio (with partial lunar eclipse) on Thursday 25th April 2013, Pluto square Uranus 25th May.

I do wish the moon was actually about to turn pink on Thursday! It's the correct shade of moon glow in my opinion :)  but sadly not, this Pink moon is only named after a spring plant that is prolific in North America at this time of year.

From an astrology perspective the Pink moon is the annual full moon in Scorpio, the sign of renewal and rebirth. It’s the time of year when the sun (currently in the earthy and stable sign of Taurus) stands exactly opposite the moon in Scorpio - at 9pm London time on the 25th April, to be exactly exact J - and this full moon is also a partial lunar eclipse (full moon eclipse is also called lunar eclipse) which in astrology terms gives it a little more va va voom  impact-wise than just any old full moon.

I feel drawn to write about this lunar eclipse because the planet patterns look interesting, and also because one of the major planet patterns of the year, Pluto square Uranus is underway (exact on May 25th, but active long before and after that time), and as Pluto is the ruling planet of Scorpio it means a lot more attention than usual is on all things Pluto/Scorpio related.

If I could give this annual full moon in Scorpio a name it would be the Unfinished Business moon. Pluto is retrograde at this time of year (where it appears to be moving backwards in the sky), which in Pluto language is about going back to clear the clutter, or maybe the clutter coming back to haunt you a little…  Pluto itself is all about the clearing and recycling process of life, physically, mentally and/or emotionally, which allows a natural transformation and evolution process to happen in all kinds of ways.

So this Pluto retrograde and Scorpio moon might coincide with stuff being brought back or brought up that needs dealing with; unfinished business that was swept under the carpet deliberately or accidentally. What was lost is rediscovered and what got buried under more pressing priorities is brought to life again, for the purpose of renewal and rebirth.

We have got treasure in store from all this but don’t worry if at first a specific situation makes your heart sink to see the past repeating itself; don’t fret, its not same old same old…it’s all about to be updated and rebooted…. Pluto squaring (challenging) the future focused planet Uranus means trust that the process you are going through now, whatever the situation, is pulling what is valuable from your past into the future, while letting go of what isn’t necessary for moving forward from here. It’s the old you transforming into a new you, in other words, through gaining a sense of closure and of tying up loose ends on what was unfinished business up to now.

Just remember Pluto square Uranus isn’t  usually a gentle prod, it’s usually more like a powerful shove in the shoulder blades into letting go of the past in order to accept an unknown or unfamiliar future, and all the feelings that go with that. It’s really a form or version of us we are letting go of, whatever the situation looks like, in order to accept a new version of us that is unfamiliar and unknown to us (scary as that is all we have to rely on and lean on). This translates in everyday life as challenges that pull the best out of us, that evolve us, and spiral us into a new relationship with ourselves first, and then the world.

The lunar eclipse chart for Thursday shows how the momentum is building in this, and what I like about this chart is the Neptune energy working nice n easy to soften any hard feelings and dissolve old hurts and stored resentments, allowing us to let go and move forward with a more open hearted approach to new/old situations.

The message, as always with strong Pluto/Scorpio symbolism in planet patterns is trust the process, it’s rebirth and renewal of your life in some way… don’t cling to the past form or structure of a situation as 'that was then this is now', and really it’s just an old ‘you’ that you are clinging to, whatever form the situation would take. Allow the new forms and structures to reveal themselves, they are this way right now because they will evolve to best support the emerging new you. It's time to step into the unknown and meet yourself in whole new way :)

Solar Eclipse In Capricorn Jan 15th 2010

Eclipses are BIG signposts in astrology; big neon flashing signposts that shout ‘this is the way forward!’ Eclipses tend to happen two at a time, within a couple of weeks of each other (during New Years Eve we had a lunar eclipse in Capricorn, and now we’ve got the solar eclipse two weeks later to make the matching pair), and eclipses also happen twice a year, within about six months of each other. On top of that, they cycle through different signs of the zodiac over a period of about 19 years.

Each sign that the eclipses fall in can indicate the way forward through current life challenges because each sign has a particular way of approaching life; each sign has its own way of going about things and responding to problems and challenges, so whatever sign you are, and whatever it is you are personally going through (and eclipses do tend to stir up quite a bit of stuff that can stay relevant for months to come sometimes), these January eclipses are indicating a call for a Capricorn-esque response.

So what’s the underlying essence of the rumblings and stirrings that current situations have been bringing to your attention over the past few weeks? Eclipses are about moon cycles, and the moon rules emotions and feelings; so it’s about the emotions (usually negative at first) that situations are putting you in touch with - Powerlessness? Frustration? Overwhelment? For example, As I write this, the UK (whose sun-sign is Capricorn), is under an unusually heavy blanket of snow and ice. Collectively we’re all feeling the frosty pinch of popular Capricorn emotional metaphors: we’re all feeling a bit snowed under; a bit under the weather, a bit overwhelmed, a bit powerless against outside forces. We’re feeling a bit put in our place by the authority of the elements. It’s all very Capricorn, and it’s all very magnified, in that way that eclipses have about them.

But like I said earlier, just as eclipses stir up the kind of stuff very much associated with the sign they fall in, they also how they point to the way through it all: this is the flashing neon signpost that answers the question ‘how do I get through this eclipse stuff’ with ‘do it the Capricorn way’. Which means in its most positive sense Capricorn is a sign aware of current limits while not feeling defeated about future ambitions. It’s a sign that can look long-term, plays the long game by taking things step by step, and knows that day by day those steps mount up to something solid in structure.

Capricorn is very much aware of time, and like Old Father Time (a key symbol of the Capricorn season), is aware of its own mortality and therefore the temporary nature of all situations. Surrendering to the authority of time and trusting that all things happen in good time, turns out to be a potent stress reliever too; so basically, rather than being buffeted by overwhelming thoughts of the impassable, impossible limits of today, the Capricorn eclipse emotional rescue remedy is to quietly keep in mind that just like the heaviest of winter snow, in the grand scheme of things, ‘this too shall pass’.

New Moon Eclipse In Cancer

... happening during the early hours of the 22nd July, UK time, about 3.30am. Eclipses seem to set future events in motion, by amplifying the emotional significance of events happening around the time of the eclipse, which future events then seem to unfold out of quite naturally; all within the symbolism of the sign involved. They set a certain tone or a theme for months, sometimes years to come, through the emotional response that events at the time of eclipse seem to invite, or sometimes demand.

This eclipse is in the sign of Cancer, so is uber-emotional anyway, being the sign of emotional attachments, emotional responses and comfort zones. It's all about the invisible emotional cords that pull us to places and people and things, so expect nostalgia and reminiscing, comfy chairs, comfy cardigans, and all that goes with joy of what's soothingly familar, but also what is holiday hell when families get together to squabble amongst fine food and suppressed emotional clutter.

I think this eclipse could highlight need versus neediness, or emotional fulfilment versus lack of it. Then it's the emotional response to it all which is going to count...pangs of indefinable, free-floating, restless discontent might seem to beg for icecream or therapy sessions, but I do think its more symptomatic of feeling the effects of being unplugged from yourself. And no amount of anything that you reach for outside yourself for is going to cut it.

So I think it's a theme of emotional disconnection/reconnection highlighted at the moment, which continues in various forms through situations over the coming months, and while it might seem like others are important in this emotional equation, it's really about being plugged in or not to yourself, and the icky vibes that come with falling out of love with yourself. There's just not enough ice cream in the world to soothe that break-up...

Full Moon In Virgo

This years full moon in Virgo (11th March @ 2.40am GMT) happens right on that Saturn/Uranus opposition that's been hanging around since last November. While the alignment of Saturn/Uranus isn't exact at the moment, this moon sort of fills in the gaps of the degrees and pulls it together again, focusing and amplifying the energy through full moon-esque events.

I was pondering with furrowed brow what a Virgo full moon-esque event might look like, then got distracted by a sudden need to bleach the bathroom grouting with a toothbrush. Which is so utterly Virgo it's not funny (especially the furrowed brow ponder while doing so). Then I decided I must ask my four-planets-including-Saturn-in-Virgo friend about painting my living room (he'd pointed out all my patchy paintwork and offered to finish the job properly, and now all I can see is my patchy paintwork), but was interupted by my Virgo relative who phoned all wired and excited to say she was going to see a psychic to attempt to contact her deceased father, and she felt it was going to be 'electrifying' (Sun/Uranus in Pisces). So though I couldn't see for looking, the energy is there and flowing, and I do get the sense there might be a rather a lot of over-stimulated, jangled nerves about, especially with Virgo and Pisces.

Also, for me and a lot of Pluto in Virgo generation this Saturn/Uranus opposition is hitting Pluto in the chart. Pluto is about trust versus control in situations, so you can add that into the mix of moon energies if applicable, as well as a thought I had the other day about the Virgo eclipse of mid-September 2007. I remember it because it happened around my Pluto in Virgo degree... but I just have a feeling that because this full moon is so close to that spot, with Saturn right on that eclipse degree, it's going to be echoing events from around that time somehow, or breaking a stalemate feeling, or moving things on, or amplifying that eclipse theme in a Saturn sort of way... oh the possibilities are endless; so if you notice this in your experience at the moment, do share with a comment. Anyhoo, back to me grouting :)

Aquarius Eclipse

The sun and moon are together in the sign of Aquarius today, making a new moon (new phase), and this one's an eclipse. For me eclipses are pointers to significant times with effects that ripple out, like a stone thrown into water; so what is happening in your life around an eclipse time is the point of focus for energy for months, sometimes years to come. But don't get too hung up on the heaviness that implies, especially if you feel things have gone a bit pear-shaped at the mo, because it's more about it being a point of inspiration for the future. It's the inspiration that current events are giving you, rather than the events themselves that is the key.

And there's a lot of inspiration symbolised in the current planet pattern line-up. Jupiter is right next to the sun and moon, and Jupiter represents the urge for expansion and broadening horizons. It's an uplifting kind of vibe, which inspires a kind of panoramic technicolour outlook of what is possible for the future. Mars (action) and Mercury (communication) are together in the structure-loving sign of Capricorn, linking to the upcoming re-alignment of the two ruling planets of Aquarius: Saturn and Uranus. I really like the vibe of this eclipse, there's a freshness of energy to connect with and as Aquarius is an air sign, this breath of fresh air is most welcome; if you've been seeking new ideas or looking for a new approach, then this is your eclipse.

Leo Full Moon Eclipse On 16th

It's time for the second of two eclipses in Leo. We had the new moon eclipse on the 1st, and now the cycle moves into the full moon phase on the 16th.

The Sun in the creative sign of Leo is standing opposite Moon and Neptune in Aquarius. Moon/Neptune is ultra sensitive and responsive - all psychic and open to the flow, so as Aquarius is the sign of freedom and the future, there's bound to be a bit of telepathy or deja-vu going around - expect along the lines of knowing whose calling before they get the idea themselves, and other similar spicy synchronistic cosmic patternings.

The trick to getting the most out of astro oppositions is to find a way to meld the two signs somehow - mind meld them in this case perhaps, like the cool-handed spaceman off Star Trek. So because Leo loves sparkle and Aquarius is all futuristic, perhaps we'll all be wearing silver jumpsuits by Sunday, finally living out the 1960's dream of space age living. But seriously, now would be a great moment to finish off that time machine you've been inventing in your basement as Leo/Aquarius really fits with lightbulb moments and sheer flashes of genius. Or perhaps we're going to hear more on the uber-Neptunian invisibility cloak, news of which has recently appeared (no pun intended) since the last eclipse.

As Leo works from the heart and Aquarius from the head, choose thoughts that put a smile on your face, which will be especially useful to handle the tense Mars/Pluto aspect that's also a strong signature of this eclipse chart. And then there's all the Virgo vibe in there too; Saturn, Mercury and Venus all close together, in happy aspect to Jupiter in Capricorn, which again spells out time machine to me... I tell you, I wish someone would hurry up and invent one, as I swear my first destination would be 2012, so I could come back with proof (and a silver jumpsuit) to reassure folk that THERE'S NO BLOOMIN' END OF THE WORLD JUST BECAUSE THE MAYAN CALENDER IS ENDING THEN.

New Moon Eclipse In Leo On 1st August

It's one of my fave times in the astro year, new moon in Leo, and this one's an eclipse, which makes it a doorway for events that have long-lasting significance. I know eclipses used to be considered harbingers of doom, but there's always a positive side to tap into instead, this being a universe built on the principle that light and shade are an essential part of all things. So what are the positive elements that make up this eclipse?

Well first off there's the actual new moon in Leo, the sign of 'energy follows attention', with it's shining heart and twinkle in the eye (romance, or paparazzi flashes, it's all Leo). New moon's are all about new phases, like a freshly dug garden all paused and waiting to grow, and it's the desires born of current circumstances that seed the garden; so eclipses tend to birth very strong desire for future fulfilment out of what's happening now.

Mercury (communication/information) stands right near the eclipse point, and Venus (value/worth/relationship) is in Leo too, right opposite Neptune (imagination/path of least resistance) in Aquarius. All these keywords are being expressed through the Leo vibe that runs through your life, so look how important those keywords become during eclipse time in relation to, for example, matters of the heart and art, what or who turns you on to life and presses all your favourite buttons, what or who you find entertaining, fun, fabulous, warm, starry-eyed and blingy; and of course don't forget this side of yourself and how and where it's expressing.

Meanwhile there's a punchy opposition forming between Mars (desire and the call to action) and Uranus (like lightning and a catalyst for change), on the Virgo/Pisces axis, setting those keywords up as opposing circumstances within an 'order versus chaos' theme, or a 'like clockwork' versus 'go with the flow' scenario. Mars/Uranus can be a tad unpredictable, because it can be about sudden or unexpected action, but there's a way to sense what's coming by feeling the crackling tension in the air, or the caged butterflies in the belly, where freedom-seeking action becomes the relieving anti-dote.

If I had to pick one word to define the Leo wavelength I would pick 'appreciation', just because there is so much that is sunny, special, uplifting, warm and important about that word, and even with the snarly Liam Gallagher-esque two fingered salute of Mars/Uranus, or the yearny (sometimes whiney) lament of Venus/Neptune, it's going to be the fulfilment of the eclipse-seeded desire for giving/receiving appreciation that will really move and shake the heart of a situation for months to come.

I'm Moving House...

... so will be offline until I get sorted. Not too long I hope - even though Mercury is retrograde ;-)

There's a big old solar eclipse in the skies on the 7th (03.45 gmt), in the sign of Aquarius, which is bound to be gorgeous for new starts, new phases, and new beginnings, all on an Aquarian theme. Solar eclipse energy is always powerful stuff, and in Aquarius has a tinge of insomnia about it. We'll all be wired and wide awake for the next few days no doubt, but fear not, it means there's plenty of time to day dream in the darkness; a kind of traditional Aquarian method for birthing the best of future plans.

New Moon Eclipse In Virgo - When Less Means More

Willard Wigan MBE is an artist who makes sculptures so small they can't be seen with the naked eye, some are so small they are only three times the size of a blood cell. He paints the sculptures with a hair plucked from the head of a housefly, and sets them in the eye of a needle or on the tip of an eyelash.

As a child he had undiagnosed dyslexia, and was made to feel small by teachers who singled him out and told him he would never amount to anything. His response was to run away from school and hide in a shed, watching the ants that lived there. He began constructing houses for them out of splinters, and his obsession with miniature worlds started to unfold, born out of a desire to prove that 'less is more' and that 'nothing could be everything'. And he just sold his collection to date for £11million.

Virgo is the sign which has an eye for detail, and often astrology focuses on the downside of that - the nit-picking, the criticism, the scepticism, the fussing. But when a new moon eclipse comes along in Virgo there's not much time to dwell on the negatives, especially when hard working Saturn has just arrived in this sign, and law-breaking Uranus, the paradox planet that has the power to turn any situation completely on its head, is linking up to the new moon from opposite sign Pisces. The message being, that because in reality anything is possible, now's the time to whittle it all down by choosing what it is YOU WANT to be possible. Scientists and sceptics doubt this artist's creative ability because they don't see how it can be done, but thankfully disbelief didn't dampen his desire to make great things happen out of apparently nowhere.

You can read more on Willard Wigan here
and here
watch an interview here
and here's a YouTube montage of his works:



The 2007 new moon eclipse in Virgo takes place on 11th September at around 1.45pm UK time.

Walt Whitman For August 28th Eclipse In Pisces

Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances

Of the terrible doubt of appearances,
Of the uncertainty after all—that we may be deluded,
That may-be reliance and hope are but speculations after all,
That may-be identity beyond the grave is a beautiful fable only,
May-be the things I perceive—the animals, plants, men, hills, shining and flowing waters,
The skies of day and night—colors, densities, forms—May-be these are, (as doubtless they are,) only apparitions, and the real something has yet to be known;
(How often they dart out of themselves, as if to confound me and mock me!
How often I think neither I know, nor any man knows, aught of them;)
May-be seeming to me what they are, (as doubtless they indeed but seem,) as from my present point of view—And might prove, (as of course they would,) naught of what they appear, or naught any how, from entirely changed points of view;
—To me, these, and the like of these, are curiously answer’d by my lovers, my dear friends;
When he whom I love travels with me, or sits a long while holding me by the hand,
When the subtle air, the impalpable, the sense that words and reason hold not, surround us and pervade us,
Then I am charged with untold and untellable wisdom—I am silent—I require nothing further,
I cannot answer the question of appearances, or that of identity beyond the grave;
But I walk or sit indifferent—I am satisfied,
He ahold of my hand has completely satisfied me.

Walt Whitman
(1819-1892)

The New Moon Solar Eclipse In Pisces

Pisces people have a reputation in astrology folklore for being the 'old souls' of the zodiac. I don't know about that, but I do agree with the thinking behind it, because Pisces is a sign associated with transcendental experiences; the kind of experiences that rock your world, take you beyond your current perspective and leave a legacy there's much more going on than meets the physical eye. And it takes courage and the wisdom of lifetimes to deal with all that effectively, because all too often these experiences feel at best transient, and at worse elusive and indefinable.

Pisces is as much about spirituality as it is about drugs, and as much about art as it is about religion, because this sign is about finding the Self by losing the self. We all have Pisces somewhere in our chart so we all have this kind of thing going on somehow, and especially now, as the sun and moon meet in this sign for the new moon eclipse on March 19th at 2.33am GMT. Pluto in Sagittarius is squaring the sun and moon meeting point, meaning that the intense, transformational quality of Pluto in Sagittarius, the sign of beliefs and philosophy, is going to be an active and influential part of the Pisces eclipse pattern. Or in other words, events are strongly suggesting that the best course of action is to Trust The Process, and Go With The Flow, as This Too Shall Pass.

Full Moon Eclipse In Virgo On 3rd March

Along with the new moon eclipse (next one is in Pisces in a couple of weeks), full moon eclipses symbolise trends and themes that are important in our lives for months, sometimes years to come. It's always a double event when it happens - one full moon, one new moon - and there's always 2 sets of eclipses a year that run in cycles through the signs.

We're in the season of the Virgo/Pisces cycle of eclipses at the moment. It's easy to tell which season we're in, by checking the sign the north and south nodes of the moon are moving through, because when a full or new moon falls within about 10 degrees of the nodes, you have an eclipse (find out more about moon nodes here)

All eclipses have the potential to be powerful, but this one on 3rd March caught my attention as I like to look to the planets that rule the north/south node signs for more information on the ways the eclipse will manifest and express; in this case Mercury, ruler of Virgo, is currently in a retrograde phase, while Jupiter and Neptune, rulers of Pisces, are both on important journeys of their own.

Jupiter (expansion) is squaring the north/south node axis (square = dynamic, challenging, stressful), which might give a feeling of being at crossroads, or having a choice to make about direction, especially regarding the past v future. Neptune of course, is currently still close within its second of three oppositions with Saturn that take place over 2006/7, and I wrote this post about the potential in that aspect, during the first hit last summer.

Onto the actual sun/moon relationship that is the centre of the energy in any eclipse, and the sun in Pisces stands opposite moon in Virgo, which means it's a full moon, and any full moon symbolises a turning point, a change of pace or direction. The build-up of energy as the planets pull against each other can often be felt as tension or restlessness, and it’s this energy that pushes situations towards change. With moon in Virgo there might be the feeling that there's been enough analysis of a situation and it's time to go with flow, in a move from linear to non-linear based thinking. Or maybe you've decided you've experienced enough criticism and not enough compassion, especially from your inner critic. Maybe you feel you've had it up to here with 'to do' lists. Whatever it is you'll recognise it in your urge to shout ENOUGH! No More!

During this full moon, the sun and Uranus are close together in Pisces, which is another important piece of this eclipse picture, and another potent symbol for change. Uranus is known for its unpredictability and the tendency to turn situations on a sixpence, in the twinkling of an eye. It’s a planet that is often called The Awakener, due to its ability to offer sudden clarity and flashes of inspiration, but also quite literally with its over-stimulating effect on the nervous system that can lead to insomnia and wide-eyed caffeine-style highs.

The moon in opposition to Uranus will most likely increase the feeling of restlessness that characterises the full moon experience, as well as lowering the tolerance level to feeling trapped or bored in a situation, but it can also carry an uncompromising energy with it, that can be refreshing and supportive to those in need of reconnection with Self. This is because Uranus champions the true nature of an individual, while having little interest in helping accommodate square pegs in round holes.

Remembering that the eclipse period indicates events with long-lasting, far-reaching effects, it looks like the symbolism of this planetary picture shows this is where 2007 starts to get interesting.