Welcome to Part 2 of this year’s Eclipse Guide! If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.
We pick up about six months after a potent pair of eclipses this spring, which happened in late April and mid-May, activating the signs of Taurus and Scorpio in an unfolding narrative of change along these signs.
This fall we have two more eclipses in these signs, a solar eclipse in Scorpio on October 25th and a lunar eclipse in Taurus on November 8th.
Eclipses can bring periods of sudden change that shake things up along two opposing signs. Read on to understand more about the changes in store from the current eclipse cycle, as well as tips on how to deal with eclipses.
Eclipse Redux
In the ancient world, eclipses were regarded as ominous phenomena, when the life-giving luminaries temporarily disappeared from view.
Traditional astrology tends to view them in this way, as destabilizing periods that shuffle our lives, for better or worse. Change may be good, depending on your situation, but it can also be hard.
Eclipses occur when a new or full moon falls within 15° of the Nodes of the Moon, the two points where the moon’s path crosses the ecliptic. Currently, the Nodes of the Moon are in Taurus (North Node ☊) and Scorpio (South Node ☋), where they’ve been since January 2022.
Of Dragons and Change
The North Node, known as the Dragon’s Head in Indian astrology, denotes a point of increase that can be hard to handle, much like a power surge can cause a blackout. Thus, the North Node, currently in Taurus, has been expanding the topics in the Taurus house of our charts, sometimes in a way that can feel overwhelming.
On the flip side, the South Node, or the Dragon’s Tail, denotes a site of endings, decrease, loss, and letting go. Think of a bathtub without a drain stop, which never fills despite how much water you add. Scorpio is the site of this leakage currently.
This eclipses series, which had a preview of sorts during the first eclipse of this batch along the Taurus-Scorpio in November 2021, has been developing the narrative since then.
It’s important to look at where your Taurus and Scorpio houses fall in your natal chart. The Taurus house is experiencing a (possibly overwhelming) period of growth, while the Scorpio house is experiencing a drain and a time of shedding.
Eclipse Action
People with fixed rising signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius) will likely feel these eclipses most strongly, as the active and pivotal angular houses in their charts will be activated:
Taurus and Scorpio risings will feel these eclipses along the all-important first house of self and identity and the seventh house partnership and open enemies.
Leo and Aquarius risings will experience these eclipses along their fourth house of home, roots, and parents and the tenth house of career and reputation.
Those with cardinal rising signs (Aires, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) will experience these eclipses along their succedent houses — the second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh. These houses have a latent power, as they’re rising up to the active angular houses, but are considered to be less active. Nevertheless, expect some changes in the topics of these houses:
Aires and Libra risings will feel these eclipses along the second house of personal income and the eighth house of shared resources and death.
Cancer and Capricorn risings will feel these eclipses along the fifth house of children and creativity and the eleventh house of friends, groups, alliances, and hopes and dreams.
Folks with mutable rising signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces) will experience these eclipses along the cadent houses — third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth. These houses are traditionally considered the weakest houses in terms of bringing about the topics they signify, though the effects of the eclipses will likely still be felt in the topics signified by these houses:
Gemini and Sagittarius risings will feel these eclipses along the sixth house of daily work, physical health, injury, and routines, and the twelfth house of mental health, loss, suffering, exile, spiritual practice, and secret enemies.
Virgo and Pisces risings will feel these eclipses along the third house of siblings, local neighborhood, and communication, and the ninth house of ninth house of international travel, religion, philosophy, and higher education.
It’s also possible to be strongly affected by the eclipses if you have personal planets (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars) near the degrees triggered by the eclipses, particularly by conjunction, square, or opposition.
Fixed Sign Pressure
Taurus and Scorpio, as well as the other fixed signs Leo and Aquarius, have all been triggered this year by the change narrative of this eclipse series as well as the continued stress of the ongoing square between Uranus in Taurus and Saturn in Aquarius.
This square, which has been active since 2020 and has correlated with surges of conflict since then between forces of change and the established order, is finally wrapping up this fall. Probably not coincidentally (because: astrology), this last intensification of this tense outer planet square is happening at the same time that we get our final two eclipses of this year.
What this means is that this fall’s eclipse season, which always shakes things up, is extra activated and tied into themes of conflict and change in society that we’re seeing all around us.
“Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
And loathsome canker lies in sweetest bud.
All men make faults.”— William Shakespeare
A Kinder, Gentler New Moon Eclipse in Scorpio?
There are those who believe, not unreasonably, that eclipses are potentially ominous no matter what flavor they come in, that their obscuring of the light negates any other positive configurations.
Something along these lines may have happened during the eclipse on April 30th of this year, which featured an exact conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Pisces, normally an extremely fortuitous event.
Yet eclipses. . . eclipse, with the result that something that may have seemed fortunate was overshadowed, didn’t quite happen, or didn’t happen according to expectations surrounding it. Think back to that time, which for many people with fixed sign placements coincided with the start of some big changes.
On the other hand, there’s clearly a spectrum of eclipses. Some, like that April eclipse, have some positives baked in, some padding to fall on, or a parachute for when turbulence strikes. Others just seem malign.
I bring this up because the first eclipse of this fall pair is of the gentler sort, if we can say that about anything happening in Scorpio, a down-and-dirty water sign ruled by warlike Mars.
In the eclipse on October 25th we have the Sun and Moon at 2° Scorpio in an exact conjunction with Venus, who is now extremely combust (burnt by the Sun) and in the sign of her detriment. Basically, Venus is not in good condition, her benefic light eclipsed as well as that of the luminaries.
This is the bad news. The (sort of) good news is that the rest of this chart is somewhere in the middle of our spectrum, i.e. not amazing, but also not a dumpster fire.
The ruler of this eclipse, Mars, is in Gemini forming a supportive grand trine in the air signs with Mercury and Saturn. However, it’s off-axis from the Taurus-Scorpio axis, so therefore not able to get up to no good in a way that matters. It’s also still direct, and therefore operating according to the rules of engagement.
Mainly, the lunation degree is pretty far from the Nodes themselves, which lessens the intensity. Uranus, four degrees ahead of the North Node, is even further away, muting the disruptive instigator of sudden change, which has been a hallmark of this eclipse series.
A Rough and Tumble Full Moon Eclipse in Taurus
I wish I could say the same about the next eclipse, on November 8th. Take a look: all the red indicates a predominance of tense aspects.
The Sun and Moon are at 16° of Scorpio and Taurus, respectively, in an exact opposition/conjunction to trickster Uranus, very near the Nodes, and in a close square to limiting Saturn in Aquarius.
Venus, the ruler of this lunation, is still combust and in detriment and, therefore, struggling, and not in a position to help. Jupiter, recently reentered into Pisces, is sending a loose trine/sextile to the luminaries, but it’s just that: loose.
Basically, the screws are being tightened after a looser preview in late October. There may be elements of surprise, change, and limitations or contractions coming up along the Taurus-Scorpio axis.
More importantly, whereas Mars was still (barely) direct in the previous eclipse, it’s retrograde in this one, going rogue off on its off-axis sidelines. So, in addition to the wheel of fortune quality from Uranus and the Nodes, there may also be an element of an unstable or discordant element, a loud weaponization of information.
Almost There?
These eclipses mark a significant juncture in the story of this eclipse cycle. Next year we will have the first eclipses in Aires and Libra, which will overlap with the final ones in Taurus and Scorpio. This is because the Nodes will be nearing the end of their journeys through these two signs, edging towards Aires and Libra in their retrograde motion, which they will finally enter in mid-20231.
We will have another couple of eclipses in Taurus and Scorpio in 2023, but they will each be paired with an eclipse in the next set, Aires and Libra, in a kind of mixed bag series that seems to want to introduce additional plot lines mid-season.
What does this mean for you? Whatever changes have been unfolding over the past year or so will likely see more development this fall. This narrative may continue to play out over the next year as a preview of the next cycle of change comes into focus.
Here are some general tips:
Try not to over-schedule yourself. Leave room for things that come up “out of the blue” as they tend to during eclipse season.
Rest, if you can. The energy can be chaotic during eclipses. The less you have to do, the better.
Try to envision how positive change might manifest along the topics of your Taurus and Scorpio houses, especially how “doing less” in the Scorpio part could look.
Want more specifics? I’m offering special Eclipse Season Mini-Consultations from now through mid-November. In a quick-and-dirty 30 minute session, we break down how these eclipses are affecting your chart and explore how these changes might play out.
Stay safe and stay tuned for Part 1 of next year’s Eclipse Guide next spring!
An earlier version of this post, emailed to subscribers, had the incorrect date listed for the ingress of the Nodes into Aires and Libra. This will happen in July 2023, not early 2024. The Nodes stay in a pair of opposite signs for about 18 months.