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Photo-Illustration: by Preeti Kinha; Photos: Getty Images
Gird your loins: Eclipses are coming! Does this mean you should … run for the hills? Potentially! But first, you should at least know why.
Eclipses are a big deal from both an astrological and astronomical perspective. When the sun, moon, and Earth get into formation, the sky delivers some of its most striking visual phenomena — and this month, we get the full package. On August 12, a powerful total solar eclipse in Leo arrives, followed two weeks later by a lunar eclipse in Pisces on August 28. So who’s going to be most impacted, and what should you know about these dramatic celestial events? Read on for the full rundown on eclipse season.
A typical lunar cycle lasts about 28 days, beginning with a new moon, building toward a full moon at maximum illumination, and then gradually returning to darkness. This is our standard, ordinary flow — eclipses, though, are notoriously disruptive.
Eclipses occur when a new moon or full moon takes place close to the lunar nodes — the two points at which the moon’s orbit intersects with the path of the sun. In astrology, these points are known as the North Node and South Node, and they’re directly associated with fate, destiny, karma, and purpose. This is a big deal because eclipses, by extension, activate these themes on both a personal and collective level.
And even from a visual perspective, eclipses certainly appear to be interruptions of normalcy. During a solar eclipse, the moon passes between Earth and the sun, temporarily obscuring the sun from our perspective. During a total eclipse, our standard, reliable daytime suddenly transforms into an eerie twilight as the moon completely covers the sun. It’s jarring,to say the least.On the other hand, during a lunar eclipse, Earth passes between the sun and moon, casting its shadow across the lunar surface. So instead of reflecting the sun’s usual silvery light, the moon can take on a strange coppery-red color — hence the nickname “Blood Moon.” Spooky!
In astrology, eclipses are associated with sudden changes, unexpected developments, dramatic revelations, and major turning points. Eclipses accelerate timelines and move us into circumstances we never could have anticipated. Basically, eclipse season is when everything that may happen actually does. It’s a lot, and this is why we always advise to “expect the unexpected” during this time.
Solar eclipses occur during new moons, when the moon — representing our emotions, instincts, and internal world — temporarily blocks the Sun (associated with identity, vitality, and purpose). Astrologically, solar eclipses often correspond with major beginnings and unexpected events that alter the way we see ourselves and our trajectory. These changes tend to be extremely visible, pertaining to our identity, career, relationships, and other outward expressions of selfhood.
But eclipses are never singular, isolated events. They tell stories through time, unfolding across a series of lunations connected by the same pair of zodiac signs. This August 12 eclipse belongs to a much larger cycle of eclipses occurring across Leo and Aquarius (Leo’s opposite sign). In fact, the first eclipse in this series occurred six months ago — on February 17 — and after this second installment, four more eclipses will continue the story through 2028.
Leo and Aquarius represent two very different ways of understanding individuality. Leo is ruled by the sun, the only star in our solar system, and celebrates singularity. Aquarius, meanwhile, is associated with community, networks, movements, and the collective. Aquarius reminds us that even the brightest star exists within a much larger constellation.
Accordingly, this eclipse cycle asks us questions about leadership and community, personal expression and collective responsibility, and celebrity and society. What does it mean to stand out without separating yourself from everyone else? When does individuality inspire a community, and when does it become a bastardization of personal ego? Over the next two years, these questions will become increasingly apparent — both personally and culturally.
Because the lunar nodes take approximately 18.6 years to complete their orbit, eclipses return to similar areas of the zodiac in recurring cycles. The last time eclipses activated the Leo-Aquarius axis was from 2016 through 2019. In fact, this is our first total solar eclipse in Leo since August 21, 2017, when the “Great American Eclipse” cut a path across the United States — and who could forget Donald Trump looking directly at the eclipse without protective glasses? Not me!
Interestingly, from 2016 to 2019, while the zodiac signs were the same, the karmic orientation was reversed: The North Node, associated with forward movement, was traveling through Leo. Now, however, the North Node is in Aquarius, a sign it hasn’t occupied since 2007 through 2009. And this astrologer cannot help but notice that both of those previous Leo-Aquarius eclipse eras coincided with dramatically different chapters of American political life and monumental, paradigm-shifting presidential elections. So what will this return to the axis yield? We’re about to find out!
Eclipses activate fate and destiny for everyone! No one is spared! But people with prominent Leo and Aquarius placements — especially the sun, moon, or ascendant — are likely to experience this solar eclipse more directly. And because this eclipse occurs at 20 degrees Leo, placements close to that degree will receive an especially strong jolt. Expect developments around identity, purpose, relationships, contracts, visibility, and the structures that define the direction of your life. Goody!
If you have your North and South Nodes in your birth chart in Leo and Aquarius, you are entering an especially significant period. If your North Node is in Aquarius, you’ll be going through your Nodal Return, a cycle that occurs approximately every 18.6 years and can coincide with major developments around purpose, direction, and the deep knowing that your life is pulling you toward something larger. If your North Node is in Leo, you’ll be going through your Nodal Opposition — the halfway point of that cycle — when circumstances can force you to reevaluate whether the path you’ve been following still reflects the person you’re becoming.
Two weeks after the solar eclipse in Leo, we get another eclipse — only this one is a lunar eclipse. Lunar eclipses occur during full moons, when Earth passes between the sun and moon and casts its shadow across the lunar surface.
While solar eclipses initiate visible changes in our external circumstances, lunar eclipses often illuminate something that has already been developing internally. Since the moon symbolizes our emotions, memories, and private psyche, lunar eclipses are associated with profound emotional transformations. They can catalyze psychological breakthroughs, intuitive revelations, and even cataclysmic changes of heart we never saw coming.
And just as the Leo-Aquarius eclipses belong to a bigger story, this lunar eclipse speaks to another ongoing narrative: the Virgo-Pisces eclipse cycle. This story began in 2024 and concludes February 2027, which makes this August eclipse one of its final chapters. By now, there’s enough material to start connecting the dots.
Look back at what was unfolding around the previous Virgo-Pisces eclipses, especially September 17, 2024; March 14, 2025; September 7 and September 21, 2025; and March 3, 2026. Review your photos, calendar, emails, journal — whatever archives you have. What was beginning? What was ending? Which themes kept resurfacing, even when the circumstances looked completely different?
Understanding your eclipse story is a wonderful way of tracing your own evolution through time. Eclipse cycles give us another way to zoom out, offering us an opportunity to consider our personal transformations.
Again, everyone will be impacted! Eclipses come for us all! Virgo wants to organize, analyze, improve, and make sense of what’s happening; Pisces asks us to trust what cannot always be measured or explained. Likewise, eclipses on the Virgo-Pisces axis deal with the delicate relationship between control and surrender. Accordingly, people with prominent Virgo and Pisces placements — particularly the sun, moon, or ascendant — may feel this lunar eclipse especially intensely.
Additionally, those with lunar nodes in Virgo and Pisces are wrapping up an extremely consequential chapter of life. If your North Node is in Pisces, you’ve been moving through a Nodal Return since 2024, which has been speaking to themes of purpose, destiny, and genuine fulfillment. If your North Node is in Virgo, you’ve been swimming through a Nodal Opposition, a powerful midpoint that tests your existing trajectory and asks whether the systems, habits, and choices organizing your life are actually taking you where you want to go. It’s been a doozy, but you’re almost on the other side!
Well, for starters, I do not recommend manifesting. Eclipse energy is volatile and chaotic by design — all that drama helps ensure we end up on the right path. For example, you probably wouldn’t deliberately manifest getting laid off, experiencing an unexpected breakup, or watching a carefully constructed vision for the future unravel. But months or years later, you’ll realize that the job was suffocating you, the relationship was stifling, or that “perfect” plan wasn’t actually built to last.
There are moments for setting intentions and moments for paying attention, and eclipses belong firmly in the latter category. Plus it’s good spiritual hygiene to occasionally take a break from wanting things! Late-stage capitalism hates to see it coming!
Instead, through eclipse season, I invite you to practice gratitude, observe what’s changing, and stay as present as possible. Pay particular attention to unexpected invitations, endings, conversations, and revelations that arise during this period because they may reveal the larger story at play. You don’t need to immediately understand where everything is going; your only responsibility is to notice what’s happening. Hey, eclipses are unhinged, but that’s what makes them special. Kind of relatable!
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