September 2024 - Lunar Eclipse in Pisces
On Tuesday, September 17th we have a lunar eclipse in Pisces. I’m sure you’ve felt these energies building in the past couple weeks. My hope here is to give those energies some names, and give you some tools for navigating this powerful, consequential time.
Eclipses in general are a super-charged full moon. Full moons are a time for releasing, when emotions come to the surface as part of a month-long cycle. Eclipses similarly pull things to the surface — whatever you’ve been trying to ignore or suppress becomes impossible to keep down. These feelings are dredged up so that we can consciously notice, process and move through them as the effects play out over the next 6 months.
Here’s the trick: eclipses are such complex emotional times that it can be hard to know what to do.
We can turn to astrology to intellectualize the various emotional patterns arising in ourselves and those around us. We can name feelings and say “ah-hah!” and grin as astrology reveals itself. We can do all these things and still have a boat load of feelings in an energetic tempest.
My advice is to put your sails down. Do not try to control this energy. Do NOT do manifestation work or look for the material actions this eclipse is pushing you towards. Look for patterns, take note, and then allow yourself to simply feel and exist in the energy. When the storm calms, take your bearings and write down your lessons before hoisting the sails again.
This is not to say that we should be completely passive and helpless passengers this week. We still have a responsibility to ourselves and each other to handle our responses with kindness and integrity. Don’t try to control your feelings, but do exercise control over what you do and don’t do because of them. In a world without a common emotional curriculum, we too often play the victim to our feelings and justify misbehavior.
All that to say, here’s some of the aspects in this eclipse chart. If you’re interested in learning how this eclipse will affect you personally, you can look at the transits to your birth chart on this date, and/or consult a professional astrologer.
Moon conjunct Neptune, opposite the sun. 😶🌫️
This aspect adds to this eclipse’s clouding effect. You are not meant to know what to do. You are meant to experience ambiguity and confusion — you are to be disoriented for the purposes of having to reorient yourself. The moon conjoins Saturn earlier in the day, creating a common narrative of 1) an emotional consequence and then 2) confusion on how to deal with it. The sun in Virgo means this could play out in relationships (not just romantic) as one person having a very literal experience or interpretation of something, while another feels more ethereal and out of grasp of the other. This can lead to feeling misunderstood and invalidated. Leave space for each person’s experience of these energies — don’t focus too hard on who’s “right”.
Moon and Neptune sextile to Pluto. Pluto trine to Sun. 🫂
This aspect deepens the feelings brought up above. In its more difficult moments, it can make the fight to be “right” or understood feel like a matter of life and death, wielding our survival mechanisms like wrecking balls. When used consciously, it lets us dig even deeper for boldly true and honest expression. This is a healing aspect, in that it uncovers the wound to be addressed.
Jupiter square to moon, Saturn, and sun. Trine to Venus. 🎇
Jupiter serves to expand energies. In this case, Jupiter in Gemini makes it more likely for us to want to over-process anything that arises in relationships. Communicating during the eclipse is a great thing, but it will be hard not to become attached to a specific outcome or shared understanding — that will likely not happen on this day. Trine to Venus in Libra, we may be more willing to reach a diplomatic “agree to disagree” state if we can find a secure place within ourselves instead of with others.
Chiron opposite Venus. ⏳
This aspect can bring a scarcity mentality to issues like your finances, relationships, and body image. With Chiron in Aries and Venus in Libra, you may feel like you need to fight for your autonomy in a relationship — be wary of pushing away the very things you want, out of fear of losing it. Combined with the Venus trine to Jupiter, watch out for overspending or trying to “buy happy” to escape uncomfortable feelings of not having — or being — enough.
Mercury opposite to Saturn. 🛣
This aspect can similarly trigger scarcity mentality. While Chiron opposite Venus is more about the idea of stability, Mercury opposite Saturn is the inability to stop focusing on roadblocks. This too can lead to over-processing, where one party feels they must ruminate or expound on the limitations they feel from another. It’s a good time for list-making, both to help you regulate your emotional responses and to find some peace in “making a plan” when everything feels a little too overwhelming.
Pluto trine Uranus, both sextile to the moon. 🗳
This aspect brings a societal aspect into personal consciousness. Pluto trine to Uranus is a long-lasting transit that’s been activated by Pluto moving through the final degrees of Capricorn. With Pluto visiting Capricorn one last time before it finally ingresses into Aquarius permanently, we’re likely to see unexpected consequences of attempts to maintain power and the status quo. Obviously, in America we can we can see this playing out in the build-up to the election among many other collective experiences. This eclipse will make us each individually aware of the uncertainty and precariousness of who will hold power, when, and why.
Hopefully this gives you some astrological food for thought, a place to start looking at your own birth chart, and some useful knowledge to navigate the coming days. I’m wishing you all a meaningful, resonant eclipse season and the presence of heart and mind to handle it intentionally.
