Between Two Eclipses

I’m curious what’s going on for you this week, more curious than usual with these eclipses stirring things up. Tell me here. It will take you less than two minutes.

What is on your mind?

On August 12, the Moon and Sun met up in Leo for a total solar eclipse. Early Friday morning, the Moon reaches its fullest point in a partial lunar eclipse. The week is all about preparing for and paying attention to that bookend.

The week begins quietly, with only the Moon actively engaged today. We are in that liminal space between eclipses, suggesting the importance of time alone in contemplation as we observe the changes taking place in every sector of life around us.

When the Moon is in Capricorn, we can tap into the side of ourselves that is hard-working and ambitious. It does not matter if anyone else notices your efforts as long as you are working toward what is important to you. Ambition aimed at impressing someone else loses its integrity, and integrity is what’s being asked of you today. Capricorn is a solitary sign, interested in its own private measure of progress. This is the day to close the door and do the work that is private to you.  Success performed for others may cost your self-respect.

• What work needs your attention today?
• Where are you seeking approval you don’t need?
• What would you do differently if no one were watching?

The Moon enters Aquarius at 5:01 am EDT, and your emotional need turns from ambition to gaining emotional clarity and objectivity. When the Moon is in Aquarius, we want distance and perspective, room to think about a situation without being overwhelmed by it. You may want to talk something over with someone outside the situation, or need space to think instead of reacting. Notice who you want to engage with today. It may not be the person you expect.

At 7:04 am EDT, Mercury enters Virgo, one of the signs it rules. Mercury spent June moving retrograde through Cancer and has been building back to its usual speed since. Mercury, the planet of information and communication, is very much at home in Virgo, where our thoughts become precise and practical. Any conversations you have been hesitating to have will be easier during this transit. Mercury will remain in Virgo until September 10th.

At 2:57 pm EDT, Mercury forms a trine to Chiron. Chiron has been in Taurus since June 19, working on a cultural and personal wound around the body and what it means to be embodied. This transit may offer you language for approaching and better understanding this wound within yourself and those around you.

• What do you need to see more objectively today?
• What conversation have you been putting off?
• How does your body need your attention today?

The Moon continues through Aquarius today, the only obvious activity of the day. This is the waxing gibbous phase, past the First Quarter and reaching toward Friday’s Full Moon, when the lunar eclipse arrives. Something is coming into view. We can’t see what is coming, but can sense the shape and feel of it. This is not a day to try to resolve anything. Keep yourself in an observational state of mind.

When the Moon is in Aquarius, the way we connect with others is important. Find the people who view the world the way you do.  You may notice a pull toward people who understand you as an individual, not just a role you play in their lives. This is also a good day to hold your opinions loosely without too much attachment. Seek objectivity in all that you do today.

• What can you sense today without fully understanding it?
• Who sees you as more than the role you play for them?
• Where could you hold an opinion more loosely?

The Moon spends the morning in Aquarius before entering Pisces at 3:03 pm EDT. The need for distance and objectivity has done its work, and by this afternoon it is time to sink into feelings. When the Moon moves into Pisces, notice the difference: thinking quiets down, and feelings deepen. Tonight, Earth’s shadow begins to cross the Moon as it builds toward the lunar eclipse, occurring shortly after midnight.

At 1:03 pm EDT, the Sun and Mercury meet exactly, with Mercury sitting at the very center of the Sun’s light. Mercury has been building toward this moment since it stationed direct on July 23: clearing the retrograde, gathering speed, and finally arriving in its own sign three days ago. Today, identity and mind speak with one voice. After this, Mercury moves ahead of the Sun and turns from a planet you would catch before dawn into one you would catch after dark.

• What clarity did you reach today?
• What are you ready to feel again tonight?
• Where do your identity and your voice actually agree?

At 12:12 am EDT, while you slept, the Moon reaches its fullest point at the Pisces Full Moon. This is a partial lunar eclipse. This eclipse grew out of the total Leo solar eclipse on August 12th, closing this eclipse pair. Pisces asks for permeability, for feeling without clarity, and an eclipsed Pisces Moon pushes that further than anticipated. Whatever surfaces overnight might not make sense. It does not need to make sense to be true. Nothing needs to be resolved. Eclipses unfold over time, and what this one shows you may not make sense for some months to come.

At 3:24 am EDT, Mercury squares Uranus, and three hours later at 6:18 am EDT the Sun squares Uranus. The cycle between Mercury and Uranus began on May 17th; the cycle between the Sun and Uranus began on May 22nd; clearly these two cycles are sharing a common story. The 90-degree square brings us to a point of tension, a point where something that began in May must be acted on in some way. Something feels disrupted in your thinking and your sense of self today. An idea may not fit your careful plan. You may question something about how you’ve been showing up. Let your thinking and your sense of self be interrupted; there is something important to learn. Excitement and anxiety may show up hand in hand.

• What feeling did you wake with this morning? Pay attention.
• What idea from mid-May do you need to act on?
• What idea or sense of self doesn’t fit your plans or idea of yourself?

The Moon remains in Pisces today, but with the eclipse now behind us, the intensity is considerably reduced. Today is quieter. You may need more quiet and time in contemplation. On the other side of the Full Moon, we come into the waning half of the lunar cycle. Focus on rest and release today, with few expectations.

Late tonight, at 10:37 pm EDT, the Moon enters Aries, right around when you would normally be falling asleep. That timing may work against you: Aries brings a burst of restless energy, right when your body is ready to wind down. An afternoon nap can help you get some rest before Aries energy arises. A walk or other exercise before bed can give the energy somewhere to go. Keep the evening slow, and don’t be surprised if the very end of the day feels energized instead of calm.

• Can you give yourself a full day of rest?
• What are you ready to release?

The Moon is in Aries today, and our emotional needs turn from Pisces’ sensitivity to directness and action. When the Moon is in Aries, we have little patience for hesitation. If something has been unresolved, today may give you the push to get it done. There is no need to wait for the perfect moment or anyone else’s approval.

• What decision have you been putting off?
• What are you ready to do without anyone’s approval?
• Where are you ready to be brave?

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I’m curious what’s going on for you this week, more curious than usual with these eclipses stirring things up. Tell me here. It will take you less than two minutes.

What is on your mind?