Solar Eclipse 2023: Aries + Libra

Solar Eclipse 2023

We’re about to venture into our first eclipse season of the year! The first solar eclipse 2023 delivers is in Aries, and in October we’ll have another in Libra. This year’s lunar eclipses, meanwhile, are in Scorpio and Taurus.

How does a solar eclipse differ from a lunar eclipse in astrology? Solar eclipses fall on the New Moon and bring a major transformative change, a sharp ending and beginning, often acting as a call to action in our lives. In contrast, lunar eclipses fall on the Full Moon and are more about an emotional awakening or inner revelation.

Eclipses are not a good time to do magick or to start new projects. It’s best to lay low and process the changes at work within and around us. Give a couple days padding for important affairs if you can.

Solar Eclipse 2023 Part 1: Aries Decan 3 (April 19)

Solar Eclipse 2023

The first eclipse gateway we walk through in 2023 is in the passionate 3rd decan of Aries. This is the 4 of Wands in Tarot, Lord of Completion, which is ruled by the benefics, Venus and Jupiter. A celebratory card, it represents a joyous occasion and a rite of passage. It marks the completion of one chapter and the commencement of a new adventure that awaits us.

This rather positive card comes up when there’s an important event recognizing a rite of passage: graduations, weddings, and birthday parties are prime examples. With each of these kind of events there’s a sense of finality or completion paired with the promise of a new beginning. Thematically this is very apt at describing Solar eclipse energy in general.

The Sun and Moon are in the urgent last degree of Aries, too. This is already a very fervent, compelling energy with the third decan of Aries. Being in the last degree adds some heat and intensity.

A caution for this fiery eclipse is to avoid burning too hot and too fast. Burnout is quite possible when we get wrapped up in the heat of the moment. This can be a strong party vibe, or an anxious feeling that what we hunger for most must happen right now.

But in the morning when the Sun goes into Taurus, we’re going to be more aware of a need for conservation and slowing down. Mercury stationing retrograde in Taurus at the same time will cut the party short as well, counseling rest. We’ll be reminded that this is only the beginning, and we have to pace ourselves!

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Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Taurus: 7 of Disks (November 2021)

Lunar Eclipse in Taurus

November 19, 2021 is the day of the Full Moon, a Lunar Eclipse in Taurus! This is our first Eclipse of the season. It’s also the very first Eclipse to grace us from the Scorpio-Taurus axis, a set of Eclipses that takes us from this moment into 2023. This Full Moon is the culmination of the New Moon in Scorpio that fell on Thursday, November 4.

Turbulent Uranus still has his hands in the cookie jar, and will continue to be an important player throughout this Moon cycle. He’s sitting opposite hot-headed Mars on Wednesday the 17th, putting tension on our need for independence, freedom, and change that can lead to hasty decision making or other bold moves.

Uranus is also in a more harmonious relationship to Venus, which helps during the Lunar Eclipse in Taurus, because Venus is the ruler of that sign and is overseeing Uranus’ actions. Venus has also just entered the shadow zone of her upcoming retrograde in Capricorn (the shadow starts on November 17).

Mercury rules this chart (set for Portland, OR) and is opposite the Moon during her Eclipse. Mercury in Scorpio opposite the Lunar Eclipse in Taurus can pit our emotions against our logical mind or at least separate the two. Even if we know something logically, emotionally it may be a completely different matter. Now we’re looking at the third decan of Scorpio, which is about passion, hunger, and death.

This is the longest duration of an Eclipse since 1440 and until 2669. The Eclipse is 6 hours long.

Lunar Eclipse in Taurus
Lunar Eclipse in Taurus Astrology chart – November 19, 2021 (12:57am PT)
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New Moon in Scorpio Lunar Cycle (November 2021)

New Moon in Scorpio

New Moon in Scorpio 2021

The New Moon in Scorpio is on November 4, 2021. This Lunation is the beginning of Eclipse season, with our first Eclipse on the Scorpio/Taurus axis falling on November 19. The New Moon in Scorpio is directly opposite unconventional Uranus. Follow that up with a partial Lunar Eclipse in Taurus, and November 2021 Astrology is fairly electric. It will spotlight the ongoing Uranus in Taurus stories unfolding in each of our lives.

The cycle begins in the middle decan of Scorpio, with magnanimous Sun and Jupiter ruling this portion of the sign. The 6 of Cups is the soft underbelly of Scorpio, playful and nostalgic, recalling our inner child. With the middle decan of Taurus opposite (the 6 of Pentacles), there is a reminder of the importance of reciprocity. There has to be a give and take, and equal energy exchange in all that we do.

Venus is in the final degree of Sagittarius during the New Moon, changing signs on the following day. Within this lunar cycle, she will begin her shadow period preceding Venus Retrograde in Capricorn. This period is a precursor to Venus Retrograde. It’s made all the more important by Venus’ rulership over the Lunar Eclipse in Taurus later in the month.

New Moon in Scorpio 2021
New Moon in Scorpio Astrology Chart 2021
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November 2021 Astrology: Scorpio Season

November 2021 Astrology

November 2021 Astrology

November 2021 Astrology features the beginning of Eclipse season, with a New Moon in Scorpio and a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Taurus.

Mercury clears the shadow of last month’s retrograde just ahead of the New Moon early in the month. The swift-footed one is finally moving on from the prolonged conversation and balancing act he’s been at in Libra. On the 5th of the month, he plunges headlong into the cold waters of Scorpio just on the heels of the Sun and the Moon.

Now we are once again entering new territory. We know it when Mercury and Venus change signs – from active modalities to passive-receptive modalities – on the same day.

Venus leaves fiery Sagittarius in favor of the more reserved and cautious terrain of Capricorn also on the 5th. Here she prepares for next month’s Venus Retrograde in Capricorn, a period of review and reconfiguring of relationships, finances, values and valuables. The shadow period for her Retrograde cycle begins on November 17th.

The second half of November 2021 Astrology sees Mercury moving swiftly on to wax philosophical in Sagittarius. The Sun will of course lead the way just ahead of Mercury, beginning Sagittarius season on November 21 this year.

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Full Moon in Aries: 4 of Wands, Completion (October 2021)

Full Moon in Aries

The Full Moon in Aries is on October 20, 2021 in the final decan of the pioneering sign (at 27° 26′), which is ruled by Venus and Jupiter. This decan represents a rite of passage or celebration of initial success. In the Tarot, it’s assigned to the 4 of Wands, whose esoteric name is the Lord of Completion, or the Lord of Perfected Work.

Since the New Moon in Libra on October 6, Mars and Mercury have both been reborn in the heart of the Sun, starting new planetary cycles. Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury have all ended their Retrograde cycles, making way for a new chapter where energies can begin to move forward again. Pluto is in there breaking down the old structures and rooting through the ashes for gold and information.

With so many planets stationing direct, there is both the feeling that things are starting to move ahead, and that the energy is standing still. It will take Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter time before they get back up to speed (while Mercury will be a little quicker on his feet).

Full Moon in Aries
Full Moon in Aries Astrology Chart 2021
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Full Moon in Pisces & October Astrology: 10 of Cups

Full Moon in Pisces

The Full Moon in Pisces falls on Monday, September 20, 2021, just two days before Autumn Equinox, the changing of the seasons and the turning of the Wheel. In the last part of Pisces, alongside daydreaming Neptune, the Full Moon invokes the 10 of Cups card in the Tarot, the Lord of Satiety.

As every Full Moon is an opposition, we also have the Sun representing the 10 of Pentacles (Wealth), nearly ready to forge a new path when he initiates Libra season on Wednesday. Both of these cards signal completion: Emotional & Physical. Relationships, family, and security are major themes at work with this Moon. The 10’s of the Tarot serve here as a reminder that we’re at the end of the season and new energies are definitely incoming.

Mercury forms a perfect, uplifting trine to the Full Moon in Pisces’ ruler, Jupiter, during this lunation. In the same moment, he makes an intense square to purgative Pluto. Both aspects will be repeated during Mercury’s forthcoming Retrograde (September 26 – October 18). Pluto will be a main player as we wrap up this Lunar cycle and during the entirety of the Next, stationing Direct on the New Moon and nowhere near stopping at that.

An abundance of free-flowing Air energy will be stimulating mentally, making this Full Moon a good time for research and investigation. We can bring things into the light more easily now, confronting truths we buried long ago.

Full Moon in Pisces
Full Moon in Pisces astrology chart
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