moon Archives - Magic of the Moon Astrology & Tarot

A solar eclipse occurs approximately every six months, so it’s not a rare occurrence. However, each eclipse that happens is unique because of everything else going on in the sky, and this year we have some very interesting “other things” happening in the sky during the time of the eclipse!

Background

First, let’s talk about the Aries solar eclipse in general. If you know what house Aries occupies in your chart, that will be a big help to understanding what area of life you will likely experience the beginnings/endings of this cycle! Aries represents the warrior energy in the zodiac. The desire to fight and to defend. In its best incarnation, Aries is a warrior who is fighting for something. In its more shadowy incarnation, Aries picks petty fights that aren’t meaningful. In modern astrology, Aries is also the first sign of the zodiac, and a cardinal/initiatory sign, which gives it more power to get things started. Eclipses typically strongly facilitate beginnings and endings, but this is even more true when the eclipse is occurring in the “beginning” sign of the zodiac!

With all of this talk of beginnings and endings, though, it’s important to realize that eclipses come in year-and-a-half “series”. We had our first Aries/Libra eclipse back in the fall of 2023, and we won’t have our final Aries/Libra eclipse until March 2025. So the beginnings and endings we see as part of the eclipse on April 8th, 2024 will not bring brand new, unexpected beginnings and endings, but rather will bring the next chapter in beginnings and endings that started in October 2023. Think back to the mental space you were in and what changes you were contemplating. Has your thinking around some of those changes matured now? Do you have clearer ideas around not just what isn’t working in your life, but what you might want to do to fix it? Everything that is unique about this upcoming Aries solar eclipse encourages us to go deeper and take the next step in our journey of beginnings and endings. The eclipse in October was more about dipping a toe in the water; by April 2024, we are all in the thick of it and likely contemplating (or already making!) big changes.

So what is unique about this eclipse on April 8th? Several things, and we will discuss all of them below!

Mercury retrograde

As the solar eclipse is happening in Aries, Mercury is also retrograde in Aries. Mercury retrogrades often give us an opportunity to revisit and re-think. This will help us move forward with eclipse beginnings and endings more thoughtfully. Is the change we are contemplating really the best one for us? Are there other changes we could make that would accomplish the same goal more effectively? Mercury retrograde will help us answer questions like these (although with Mercury in Aries, we will have to fight the urge to just move forward without proper reflection! Mercury in Aries is not known for its patience!).

The connection to Chiron

This Aries solar eclipse takes place directly on the asteroid Chiron. Chiron embodies the archetype of the Wounded Healer. It represents the areas where each of us have experienced wounds. Some of these wounds we have healed from, and we can now use our experiences to help others heal from the same type of wound. Some of these wounds we are still in the process of healing. Still others we have likely buried deep in our Souls and haven’t begun the healing process for them yet.

Regardless of which stage we are at, an eclipse taking place on Chiron will remind us how critical it is to integrate the growth from our wounds into the rest of our lives. Can we help others using our experiences? Is there further deep, shadow work we need to do to heal from our wounds? This eclipse will bring up these topics, especially in the house where Aries falls in your chart.

Mars/Saturn conjunction

Mars and Saturn conjoin every two years, and this cycle they are conjoining on April 10th, 2 days after the solar eclipse. Mars and Saturn both represent challenging energies – Mars represents (among other things) our warrior’s desire to fight for what we believe in and our desire to move forward. Saturn represents the importance of discipline, duty, and work toward our long-term goals.

Eclipses always tend to bring endings and new beginnings, but with Saturn and Mars conjoining just as the eclipse happens, we will be feeling even more energy toward closing out things in our life that don’t contribute to our goals. If we take advantage of this double dose of profound energy – the Aries eclipse and the Saturn/Mars conjunction – we can make changes which echo for years within our lives! What an amazing opportunity!

Visible to many people

This solar eclipse is visible to a large group of people across North America! Even though we have a solar eclipse approximately every six months, eclipses often take place over one of the oceans or somewhere that isn’t visible to many people. When eclipses are visible, their impacts seem to be greater and more profound – we are directly experiencing it! (Please use proper eclipse glasses if you hope to view it – it is too much for our small eyeballs!)

Final notes

It is worth calling out that not everyone is affected equally by every eclipse. In general, if you were born near an eclipse (i.e. if the Sun is near either the North or South Moon node in your birth chart), you are especially sensitive to eclipses.

Additionally, each eclipse affects people differently depending on which part of your chart the eclipse is hitting. If the eclipse is happening in an important house (i.e. your 1st house), or if it’s happening near an important planet in your chart (i.e. your Sun or Moon), you will feel that eclipse much more strongly than others around you might.

Since ancient times, people have been a little frightened of eclipses. That makes sense – evolutionarily humans don’t like change, and eclipses are all about change! However, there is an immense capacity for growth during eclipses. Big changes seem to find us, even if we don’t feel ready for them. And often, when we look back on these times in our lives, we see how eclipse-initiated events were crucial to re-shaping our lives in a positive way. If we can find a way to roll with the energies, to accept what comes, and to lean forward instead of fighting the changes, this can be an incredibly powerful and profound month in our lives. My hope is for all of you to give yourself that opportunity!

Photo by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash

There is a New Moon every month, and of course February is no exception. By itself, a New Moon is not a rare or exceptional event. However, our New Moon this month on February 9th is a little different.

The New Moon in Aquarius

First, it is a New Moon in Aquarius. Because of this, we have already been Aquarian energy emerging with Pluto newly in Aquarius. Some of the earthy feel of Pluto being in Capricorn for the past 18 years has been replaced by the airy energy of Pluto in Aquarius. So there is already the sense of being moving from solid Earth to slightly unmoored and adrift in Air. Pluto in Aquarius definitely doesn’t have its proverbial feet on the ground the way Pluto in Capricorn does!

The Uranus square

In addition to this New Moon piling on to the existing rise in Aquarius energy, this New Moon squares Uranus in Taurus within a degree. This means that both the Sun and Moon (which are conjoined during a New Moon) will be 90 degrees away from Uranus during this New Moon.

The square, or 90 degree angle, is an interesting one in astrology. It represents the friction between two different energies and the need to integrate them rather than embracing one and rejecting the other. During this New Moon, the Sun and Moon in Aquarius will be pushing us to develop new habits and relationships around our connection to society, technology, and community. With the Sun and Moon being the most personal “planets” in our charts, this will be a highly motivated drive from deep within our Souls. If you know what house this New Moon in Aquarius will fall in your birth chart, you will have a sense of where this energy may be manifesting for you in particular. How do we show up in a community and work toward whatever social justice we most believe in? How do we support our community? What authentic part of ourselves do we bring to group settings vs one-on-one interactions?

Balancing energies

As this New Moon in Aquarius causes us to examine the ways we show up in our communities, Uranus in Taurus squaring this energy brings a sense of rebellion in a material way. Maybe people expect us to show up in a particular way and embody a certain role. Maybe we are viewed as “the funny one”, “the helpful one”, or other archetypes that are starting to feel one-dimensional and like too-small clothes that no longer fit given the ways we have grown. Uranus will ask us to throw off the expectations of these communities that no longer resonate with us and go galloping off into the sunset unhindered.

As humans, we tend to gravitate toward extremes – in this case doubling down on one energy and ignoring the other energy. It would be easy for us to ignore the “too small clothes” feeling from Uranus in Taurus and just show up the way others (or even ourselves) expect us to show up. It might be equally easy to abandon particular communities entirely because they don’t feel like they “fit” us anymore.

But what does it look like if, instead of choosing one extreme or the other, we work to redefine the perception of ourselves in existing groups in a way that matches the authentic way we view ourselves? What if, rather than starting over in new groups and communities, we do the work of maintaining our existing relationships but working to redefine them? What does that look like?

A call to action

This is what the Aquarius New Moon squaring Uranus in Taurus asks us to do. Determine what is important to us societally and the way we want to show up. And then do the work to show up that way even if it’s different than the way we have shown up in the past. In a way, it really is about discarding clothes that no longer fit and replacing them with newer, better fitting clothes. There is work required to discover the new metaphorical clothing sizes that fit the new authentic you, but that work is part of your Soul growth and allows you to show up intentionally in your groups and communities and contribute in the way that best resonates with your Soul. If you have been feeling the itch of ill-fitting roles in society, this New Moon provides an immense opportunity to redefine the way you show up to the world.

Photo by Cam Morin on Unsplash

Category: moon

The 2024 Aries Solar Eclipse