Overnight, the Full Moon in Pisces arrives with a partial-but-close-to-total Lunar Eclipse. At maximum, 96.2% of the Moon’s surface will be occluded, which is pretty close. This will be a Blood Moon.
The eclipse will be visible from beginning to end in North and South America. The central Pacific Ocean will see this eclipse rising. It will set across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.
This is a Pisces eclipse, the mutable Water sign that is vast, connected, mysterious, and somehow home and away at the same time. With this much space, it feels right to cast a wide net.
Eclipses are always part of a group, many different, intriguing kinds of groups.
All eclipses are is a Saros series. This eclipse is in Lunar Saros 138. All eclipses in a Saros are located at the same Node of the Moon.138 is all ascending, or North Node, eclipses. This Saros began October 15, 1521 and ends March 30, 2982. We’re less than halfway through.
Because of the complex interactions of lunar and solar time, there’re also metonic cycles, inex cycles, exeligmos cycles, tzolkinex cycles, and tritos cycles.
We can put that lovely list of strange words down to the influence of the Sun conjunct Mercury in Virgo at this eclipse, and move on.
Astrologer Chani Nicholas, in her post for this week, suggests we look back to the beginning of this particular eclipse series in Virgo and Pisces. That would be the Lunar Eclipse Full Moon of September 17, 2024, at 25º 40’ Pisces.
That eclipse arrived just before my birthday, which was followed by Hurricane Helene landing in western North Carolina (where I live), bringing devastation and great loss. While much progress has been made in the recovery, much damage remains.
In this first eclipse in September 2024, the Moon was conjunct Neptune. With both in Pisces, flooding was part of the predictive picture. So, do look back. What was happening for you at that eclipse? How have its themes carried forward? Remember flooding can also refer to our emotions, which can definitely run high during eclipses like these.
If you want to look back to the previous series of eclipses in Pisces and Virgo, that would be the lunar and solar eclipses in those signs between 2006 and 2008. Looking back to those years can also provide helpful context for what’s happening now.
I’ve made a list of the Pisces–Virgo eclipses in this current series, which ends with a Lunar Eclipse in Virgo in February, 2027. This will make it easier for you to see what’s been going with this eclipse series. The list appears at the end of this post with the charts.
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Right now we’re very close to this Full Moon eclipse. Already, the news is full of major floods including a devastating one in Nepal, floods in Hawaii, Indiana, New York City, England, Indonesia and other places around the world we wouldn’t normally expect floods at this time of year, including one at Heathrow Airport caused by a water main breaking.
So let’s see what’s happening in this chart.
The Moon at 04º 54’ Pisces is conjunct the North Node at 29º 50’ Aquarius. The Moon has another companion, though, who brings the same mystical vibe Neptune does. The Moon is tightly conjunct the fixed star Fomalhaut.
Fomalhuat is one of the four Persian royal stars, a group that includes Regulus, Aldebaran, and Antares. These four stars are also known as the Watchers, the Guardians, and are associated in some traditions with the four archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.
The significations for Fomalhaut are similar to Neptune in being associated with mysticism, deep mysteries, and poetry and other forms of creative expression. An important difference when a fixed star shows up is that the stars require integrity. If we’re tempted to channel the power of a star into selfish, grasping, or unethical action, there will be consequences. Not recommended.
The Pisces Moon is active in this chart. She opposes the Sun and Mercury, trines Mars, squares Uranus, sextiles Chiron, is conjunct the North Node (and opposite the South), and trines Ceres. This is a wide, complicated conversation that is very Piscean. We need to listen carefully.
Of course, we want to know how this Moon (and the rest of the Full Moon Chart) connects with our own birth chart. Eclipse Full Moons always affect the world. How we, personally, feel influenced or supported or challenged depends on whether the eclipses axis, or other strong placements in the chart, interact with our own planets and points.
The Moon is at the beginning of Pisces. This first decan places the Moon in a slow, dreamy cocoon. We may find ourselves thinking of the past, our childhood, or even a more distant past. Where do you go, inside yourself, when the world is too much? That place, or those places, may call to you now.
We can be drawn into parts of our past that were not wonderful. If memories come up that are difficult or challenging, please reach out for support to those who care about you.
The Sun opposes the Moon and the North Node, is conjunct Mercury as well as the South Node, squares Uranus, trines Chiron, and sextiles Ceres.
The Sun-Mercury-South Node opposite the Moon-Fomalhaut-North Node is the eclipse axis. But there’s one more voice to add here.
We need to look at Regulus, another of the Persian Royal stars, and the one opposite Fomalhaut. Regulus is currently at 0º 11’ of Virgo, a recent and significant change for this star, historically associated with Leo for centuries.
Because the stars use a very small orb, Regulus is not conjunct the Sun and Mercury but is conjunct the South Node in Leo. Still part of this eclipse, Regulus is known as the kingmaker, associated with power, influence and those prominent on the world stage: power we can see. Regulus also demands integrity, with consequences for those who wield power without it.
Let me note here that Mars and Pluto, two planets associated with power and force, are out of bounds at this eclipse.
Being out of bounds for Mars links to outlaws acting for the greater good, and also those who abuse power for their own ends.
Pluto out of bounds is rare, and becomes a marker for those times in history. We don’t have too look far for evidence that power is a key issue now, both the impact of having too much, and the power of sharing.
Mars is conjunct Ceres, trines the Moon, sextiles the Sun, and squares Saturn. He’s got something to say here about the right use of power and the impacts we see when it’s abused.
Pluto remains connected to Uranus and Neptune through the shallow triangle of trines and sextiles they’ve been maintaining.
Uranus is the most important of the outer planets for this eclipse, because they square the Sun and Moon, turning this Full Moon eclipse into a T-square. Uranus’ role here is to amplify the wild unpredictability that comes with any eclipse.
So, expect the unexpected. Remember, though, that while Uranus is fast and unusual, the results are not always bad. Surprises can be destabilizing, but some are great. I’m holding on to the possibility of eucatastrophe, a sudden, unexpected event that saves us. This word was coined by J.R.R. Tolkien for those moments in his tales, and in life, when something vital is saved by an unexpected event. Those, too, are Uranian.
So what are we meant to do with this eclipse? How do we approach it? What can we learn?
I’m going to bring in Mercury here, who, tightly conjunct the Sun, participates in all the aspects the Sun makes. Mercury is very strong in this chart, ruling Virgo and thereby ruling the Sun, and ruling Gemini, where we find Uranus, the challenger.
We can bring the magic of the small into this eclipse time. The right word in the right place. I’m a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Chalion novels. Early in her novel, The Paladin, a prayer is offered to the Bastard, one of the five gods in that pantheon, and a very Uranian figure. The prayer asks the Bastard for these blessings:
“… in our direst need, the smallest gifts: the nail of the horseshoe, the pin of the axle, the feather at the pivot point, the pebble at the mountain’s peak, the kiss in despair, the one right word. In darkness, understanding.”
That is the voice of Mercury in Virgo speaking to Uranus.
Voice is vital at this time. I found the name for this post, The Songs We Sing, through an Instagram reel made by a group of singers, musicians, who, in a shared post, quoted words of Woody Guthrie.
The singers are Rhiannon Giddens, Billy Bragg, Carrie Blanton, Ryan Cassata, Bambu DePistola, and People’s Songs. The quote is a long one, from an interview Woody Guthrie gave many years ago. It begins with “I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good.”
The heart of the quote says: “I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work. And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you.”
The next day, I learned Dolly Parton had passed, a magnificent, creative force for good in this world who wrote and sang just those kinds of songs. The day after that, I learned Tim Curry had passed, a unique voice that also lifted up everyone, no matter who, and made us laugh. A lot.
So, is this Full Moon Eclipse a powerful one? Yes, it is. Will it signal crises? It already has. It is bad? Something horrible? Not entirely. Not in the end. This is, more than anything else, a time of change. A pivot. What we make of it depends on the songs we sing.
Title image adapted from a photo by __ drz __ on Unsplash
Eclipses in Virgo and Pisces, 2024 to 2027
September 17, 2024: Partial Lunar Eclipse at 25° Pisces
March 13, 2025: Total Lunar Eclipse at 23° Virgo
September 7, 2025: Total Lunar Eclipse at 15° Pisces
March 3, 2026: Total Lunar Eclipse at 12° Virgo
August 28, 2026: Partial Lunar Eclipse at 4° Pisces
February 20, 2027: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse at 2° Virgo
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