Eclipse season returns! The full Moon in Pisces on September 17th, will be a partial lunar eclipse at 25° Pisces. This partial eclipse kicks off the first of many along the Pisces*Virgo axis. This axis will be highlighting the archetypes of Pisces and Virgo, the dreamer and the realist. These eclipses will explore the light and shadow of both mutable zodiac signs. A lot can be said about the dichotomy of these two zodiac signs, one that is Jupiter ruled and the other heavily dosed by Mercury. 

Pisces is expansive, shifting water that can be likened to an endless flowing sea with layers of depth and unknown caverns just waiting for exploration. Pisces is the telescope searching the sky for any signs of alien life. Pisces turns inwards, dowsing their own soul for any signs of divine connection and inner knowledge. Pisces seeks to better understand invisible realms, the unknowable.

Virgo is exacting, mutable earth, that yearns to be calculated and organized. Virgo is the microscope, zooming in to comprehend what constructs this material realm. Virgo turns outward to count and organize the world to better understand what is already known and knowable.

Under these eclipses, both ideals can slip away and transmute into rivers and mudslides. Eclipses have the power to obscure or to obfuscate the signs natural tendencies. The lunar eclipse on the 17th is in conversation with not just the Moon and Sun, but also Neptune, Saturn, Mercury and the eclipse ruling planet- Jupiter. Both being double-bodied signs, they possess the ability to withstand change, but the process of change does require crossing boundaries.

PLANETARY FACTORS

As the eclipse begins to form, the Moon first passes through the forming opposition of Saturn and Mercury. Mercury being strong in dignity in his home sign of Virgo stares down Saturn in Pisces. Mercury in Virgo beckons the image of the actuarial analyst, calculating investment/profit, risk/reward. Analyzing the system down to the most minute detail and submitting a full report of their findings. Saturn in Pisces is the dogmatic zealot who wants you to ride on faith alone and ask no questions. Saturn in Pisces is the man behind the curtain. With Saturn in Pisces paired with a Neptune co-presence, this has been a period where we really have been asked to swing the sword of discernment, yet slashing through dark waters of deception can be emotionally exhaustive. Many just tune out.

Saturn in Pisces has dragged his anchor through the collective unconscious waters and has walled off many factions of people against one another, using illusive traps of social media, AI, authortative censorship and false narratives. As the Moon activates this opposition between the analyst and the censor, we get a sense that narratives are breaking, veils are slipping, illusions are wearing off. Perhaps the emperor really has no clothes. 

Mercury may ask hard, direct questions and want honest, straight answers.  Saturn may continue to try and elude the cross-examantion, but this eclipse may just reveal the big magic trick. 

Neptune is also closely conjunct the Moon during this eclipse, and it is Luna’s next aspect after the eclipse. This aspect adds an additional dose of nebulous flavor to this lunation. Being the first eclipse along this axis, this partial darkening of the luminaries may be the first cracks along the collective conversation that begin to expose disillusion, deceit, and trickery. 

This may be an emotional eclipse for many that begin to lift the veil on stories we have constructed and activated for own well-being. Jupiter, the ruler of the eclipse, sits in a T-square, like the fulcrum point to this lunation holding both sides up in a judgmental equilibrium. Where has Saturn been adding weight in your own life, constricting growth? Which side will collapse under the weight of truth? Can enough faith hold us up over the reality of the matter? Perhaps the truth really will set us all free.

Words escape my thoughts as I sit and write, it is challenging to verbally pin down this first eclipse. Neptune is working his illusory magic. It does seem to be the real first ground swell that sets the course for the next couple years. The Pisces/Virgo eclipses will fully wrap up in early 2027.

Plates are shifting along the Pisces/Virgo axis, and where does it fall along your natal chart? Zoom into the themes of those houses and ask yourself if you feel disillusioned or maybe things seem very heavy, nebulous and uncertain. Perhaps a veil is lifting around a fictional story we put in place for emotional protection. Eclipse activation may pry open the chapters we have kept shut, encourage us to recite the words out loud, and then shed these old narratives once and for all.  Don’t let go of faith or optimism, but also don’t spiritually bypass the most important growth for the soul that sometimes requires a dose of harsh reality.