Astrology with Alice: Total Eclipses of the Fall

Eclipse season is baaack. October will host two eclipses—a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse—separated by just a couple of weeks. Astrologically, eclipses announce the upcoming year’s evolutionary focus for us, both as a collective society as well as individuals. They forecast the areas of our lives where we might experience shake-ups. Eclipses help us forecast where the energetic charge is building in our lives.

First, what are eclipses?

They’re power-packed new moons (solar eclipses) and full moons (lunar eclipses). Back in the spring, we talked about how solar eclipses bring about new beginnings while lunar eclipses close out chapters in our lives. We also talked about how eclipses are different from the usual varieties of astrological phenomena because eclipse energy lingers. So instead of acting immediately, eclipse energy takes its time to bloom throughout the year. Wherever the eclipses fall in a person’s chart, that area of life experiences tremendous pressure to change. Old patterns that need to end will end, and new growth will beg to replace something obsolete.

The pressure to change can be internal, as was the case for me when last year’s eclipses kept firing off near my natal Chiron, an asteroid that represents an individual’s soul wound. My tenth house Chiron in Taurus indicates that my soul’s wound is wrapped up in stories of unworthiness, scarcity mindset, and the belief that I don’t deserve success (yikes). My Chiron usually floats around doing its own thing because, thankfully, it’s not talking to other planets in my birth chart. However, when the Taurus and Scorpio eclipses of 2022 activated it, my “Chironic” issues took center stage and turned 2022 into a year of an existential crisis that necessitated a lot of meditation, reflection, and journaling. (I’m in the clear now. Phew.)

The pressure to change can, of course, also manifest externally, but a lot of other things also need to happen in your birth chart, so I want to deflate the fear around eclipses. An eclipse alone–I repeat–an eclipse alone will not blow up your life. Eclipses simply tell us where you’re going to experience energetic yayas, and it’s through the course of your actions there that external changes will manifest.

South node solar eclipses remind me about how we must lose our baby teeth to make room for our adult teeth. The Libra eclipse tells us where you must make room for big-kid teeth.

This month, we have a Libra solar eclipse on Oct. 14 and a Taurus lunar eclipse on Oct. 28. While solar eclipses open up new opportunities, this solar eclipse is near the south node. If you recall last month’s article about the nodes, the south node warns us of harmful elements from the past that we need to let go of. All south node eclipses—even solar eclipses—carry this intention that something needs to end before something new can begin. South node solar eclipses remind me about how we must lose our baby teeth to make room for our adult teeth. The Libra eclipse tells us where you must make room for big-kid teeth.

Meanwhile, the Taurus lunar eclipse two weeks later on Oct. 28 is joyous and bright as it sits next to Jupiter, the planet of fortune. The last aspect it makes before forming the eclipse is a conjunction to Chiron, the asteroid nicknamed “the wounded healer,” so this lunar eclipse will bring us the courage to finally put old stories of insecurity and unworthiness to rest. This lunar eclipse will remind us that not all endings are bad, and that, in fact, some endings are welcome. The Taurus eclipse tells us where you will create much-needed closure.

Are you ready to find out how this pair of eclipses will affect you? I’ve listed predictions below by sign, so please read for your sun sign and your rising sign. (If you don’t know what your rising sign is, you can find out by getting a free birth chart here.)