Summer's End Eclipses!

I thought, a couple of months ago, that this was going to be a death summer. The heat makes me feel like I'm dying; not everything survives the heat. Summer is a beautiful, slow, hostile environment. I decided I would spend the summer throwing a funeral; letting what asked to die burn, letting it go home to the Earth or the sky, leaving here. I would honor it's absence. And I have been doing so, with the Death tarot card on my altar, observing what comes up and asks to be set free.

But really what is going on this summer, is that so much is being born. And we have to make room, and there are some things here that have to die because they can't coexist with the new. Eclipse season is now approaching; fate is here to wipe out the expired and deliver the new. This is an especially powerful eclipse cycle, kicking off with a zero degree new moon, featuring the outer planets in their new signs, this years' Virgo season has lots in store; here is the landscape of this summers' end.

August 23rd New Moon in Virgo: Arrival

Something is being born from the recent outer planet shifts. There is a meeting in the sky with Uranus, Pluto, Neptune and Saturn all sat at a round table, and the communication is a lot better than usual, because their aspect orb is so tight. The groundwork for each planet's new era and how they will interact with one another is being put down right now. New Moons are the fertile silence in the monthly lunar cycle, when the dust from the full moon has fully settled, one cycle ending, another about to begin. August 23rd's new moon occurs at 0 degrees Virgo, signifying a potent beginning. While this new moon is not an eclipse, it is a really important part of this eclipse season's story. What the larger Pisces/Virgo eclipses will bring to our lives, is starting to take real shape; certainly some kind of shift is occurring where Virgo falls in your chart. It is as if this new moon marks the arrival of whatever change eclipse season has in store, and we will then spend the actual eclipses making room for the new in our minds and realities.

On the collective scale, the outer planets' big plans are beginning to materialize, and this new moon brings a moment where what is to come (and what is now gone) becomes obvious. Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto are quincunx to this new moon, forming a yod, while Uranus is square to the new moon; this lunation snaps our attention to the meeting in the sky. 0 degrees Virgo, the very beginning of the mutable earth sign, is about the nature of coming into existence. The magic happens in the details, slowly, one piece at a time. The new moon may bring a moment where the bigger picture comes into focus; stories that began in March and have been forming behind the scenes, through the changing astrological landscape of the summer, find their plot.

The feeling of this new moon is social, full and fertile, reminding us (like the entire Pisces north node season) that nothing happens in a vacuum. Ruled by Mercury in Leo, about to leave their retrograde shadow and separating from a sextile with Mars in Libra, tense energy from Mercury retrograde and Mars' earlier opposition to Saturn and Neptune may linger. But, energy from the Venus-Jupiter conjunction lingers as well with Venus remaining in Cancer. What is developing in the Virgo realm (check the house where Virgo lives in your chart) will be in apparent, tight relationship to and could be prompted by the important people and factors in your life.

Practice Recommendations

This new moon is a good time to get to know what Virgo represents in your birth chart, and reflect on the Pisces/Virgo nodal transit so far. Find the houses that Virgo and Pisces rule in your natal chart and consider what has changed in those parts of your life since September 2024, and what you would like to see change, what you expect will change. This lunation feels to me, like an entrance of the inevitable. Using that feeling to manifest could look like accepting the desired as fact (it might be anyways) and focusing on the feeling of it. The Virgo new moon is also a moment of silence before the motion really starts, and it's a beautiful moment to take stock of where you are. A journal entry about your mundane, taking photos of small things, spending some time practicing mindfulness to ground into what is around you and where you are right now in your own story.

September 7th Lunar Eclipse in Pisces: Logistics

On September 7th, a lunar eclipse arrives at 15 degrees of Pisces. In the middle of the Virgo-Pisces axis, this eclipse is about the logistics and reality of bringing something to life; the daily work, constant care, and minute changes in our minds and realities that large shifts require. Something old is gone, and something new is here, and what does that actually change in our hour-to-hour minute-to-minute lives? This eclipse sees us walking between worlds, leaving the past behind and moving in to the future, and introduces what that actually means. There is pressure from Venus at 15 degrees of Leo, inconjunct the Sun and quincunx the Moon, and Mars in a similar position (but farther away by orb) at 20 degrees Libra; daily practices are being investigated for alignment with our egos and values.

The Pisces moon is ruled by Jupiter in Cancer, forming a lovely trine with reception. This energy is incredibly supportive; the eclipse Moon in Pisces looks to take a kind of leap of faith, and Jupiter in Cancer can provide the hope, encouragement and resources required. On August 12, Jupiter and Venus formed a really pleasurable conjunction at 14 degrees of Cancer, one degree a way from an exact trine with the degree of this eclipse; this could be a time to make more permanent space for joy or beauty found under the benefic conjunction.

Saturn will have slipped back into Pisces, and is therefore also answering to Jupiter. What grew under Saturn in Pisces (March 7 2023 - May 15 2025) is being revisited from September 2 2025 - February 15 2026, with Jupiter now in a stronger position (exalted in Cancer). So, difficulties and efforts that occurred in the Pisces house of your chart during that transit will come back around and it could go more smoothly this time. Saturn's retrograde into Pisces means that there is a brief separation by sign between the Saturn-Neptune conjunction (September 2 - October 24) until retrograde Neptune reaches Pisces as well. This brings a shift in the quality of reality; reality feels more malleable when it's planetary ruler, Saturn, is in Pisces, the sign of many realms. Under the Arian Saturn-Neptune conjunction, hard truths and illusions have been crashing together; the sign separation is a moment of refuge in softer energy, a chance to make some final adjustments before both planets re-enter Aries in 2026.

Practice Recommendations

The Pisces lunar eclipse is a statement, that change happens when you change things, and that we are all active participants in the moving world. Eclipses are not a time for manifestation nor attempts at control; fate takes the wheel and it's better if you don't try to backseat drive. But, this eclipse is wonderful for reviewing the practical elements of your life and seeing where you can bring them closer to alignment with the life and world you want; boycott harder, and look for sustainable alternatives that you want. It's about seeing every action, dollar spent, as ceremony and creation; the inconvenience of denying the systems that don't serve the collective wellbeing as stewardship and creation of something that does. The chart has lots of interpersonal energy, so it's a good time to do this with others also.

September 21st Solar Eclipse in Virgo: Impact

The second conjunction of the Sun and Moon in Virgo arrives as an eclipse at 29 degrees, with a strong energy of finality. The 29th degree of any sign is considered "critical"; the solar eclipse will oppose Saturn; this is our only solar eclipse taking place in Pisces or Virgo during the nodes' transit of the axis of service. Though the nodes will remain in Virgo and Pisces until August 2026, the solar eclipses of 2026 will occur in Leo and Aquarius. So in a way, this solar eclipse really brings what this nodal transit has in store for us into existence, although it will continue to develop over the next year. Endings and new beginnings are of course inextricable, however solar eclipses near the south node (like this one) are often heavy on the energy of endings; the south node sucking away the old, leaving space to start anew without.

The standout aspect of this eclipse chart is the eclipse's opposition to Saturn. The last decans (20-29 degrees) of Virgo and Pisces are about the inevitable end and inward collapse of existence; the leap towards perfection, achievement, fulfillment, and the subsequent fall, in the material and emotional realms respectively. As we move into the new landscape, in the world and in the Virgo places of our lives, there is a call to focus on journey and legacy over material outcome. Between now and the next eclipse season, Uranus and Neptune will join Saturn in retrograde motion out of their new signs, temporarily returning to their homes of years past and pre-this-summer. The energy will feel familiar and the newness that summer brought will fade. Keep your experiences from this summer present in mind, because by March's eclipse season all the planets (except Uranus) will be back in their new zodiacal domains to stay. March's eclipses will of course, call back to this time, taking place at 28 degrees of Aquarius (sextile this Virgo solar eclipse) and 12 degrees of Virgo (opposing the above mentioned lunar eclipse), and Jupiter will spend all of March stationing at 15 degrees of Cancer (trine the lunar eclipse, where he is as I write this). So- what happens under this eclipse is here to stay, or at the very least due back in March.

This last Virgo solar eclipse is ruled by Mercury, sitting at 5 degrees of Libra, taking their turn to form a grand air trine with Pluto and Uranus. Mercury brings even more trickster, dynamic energy to the meeting in the sky and might clue you in to what's going on as well; Mercury can bring attention and conversation to a topic. I will be paying close attention to ideas, conversations in my mind and the zeitgeist around this eclipse (from September 19 until the 23rd roughly) for previews and insight into the coming years.

Practice Recommendations

Write, think, and talk! Use the air trine energy and document this time to look back on later. The Virgo solar eclipse surely marks a turning point, and eclipses sometimes don't make their impacts known for months, years to come. This eclipse encourages commitment to the way you want to live. Mars is inconjunct the sun and moon, adding some pressure and opportunity to act ingenuine; whether it is to keep the peace or be a little selfish. The eclipse is a reminder that this is all fleeting and there is nothing to gain, and it is better to act within your own integrity. The energy provides opportunities to reflect on your motivations and adjust them if you want to.

xo thank you for reading!

I would love to hear about your eclipse season experiences, thoughts, anything in the comments or my inbox! You can message me on Substack, Instagram @28degreesastro, or email at bianca28degrees@proton.me

I am available for natal and timing focused astrological readings and would love to work with you. Inquiries by DM on here, on Instagram, or through email above :)