A total solar eclipse occurs when the Earth, Moon, and Sun align precisely in space. (In astronomy, they call this line-up of celestial bodies “syzygy,” a truly excellent word!) When the Earth and Sun line up with the Moon sandwiched directly in between, the Moon physically blocks — or eclipses — the view of the Sun from a select swath of Earth.
This phenomenon feels wildly out of the ordinary for us little entities walking around on the surface of this little blue marble. Most of us won’t get a chance to see more than one or two total solar eclipses in our lifetimes, if that, and it’s a hugely affecting experience. As a human being, it’s difficult to fathom just how deeply you’ve internalized the expectation that the Sun will shine in a cloudless daytime sky until the one strange stretch of time that it doesn’t.
Astrologically, a total solar eclipse is like a mega, major, superpowered New Moon. It elicits a sensation of ego death. Forget wiping the proverbial slate clean; during a total solar eclipse, the entire Sun gets wiped out of the sky! It’s a huge, healthy reset for the human brain. It’s tough to care much about trifling, self-centered concerns when you’re participating in the larger cosmic cycles of the solar system. If you were ever a kid who read sci-fi and imagined that your mind might feel more peaceful if you were surrounded by metaphysically fantastic events, this solar eclipse is for you.
The total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 remains one of the most profound experiences of my life to date. Prior to that date, no solar eclipse had been visible across the entirety of the United States since 1918. (The 1979 total solar eclipse that passed over the Pacific Northwest was hidden from view over Portland by clouds.) I was fortunate to live within driving distance of the 2017 eclipse’s path of totality, and was easily able to travel to a remote viewing location to observe its passage with loved ones.
A total solar eclipse takes longer than you might imagine. At the start, the Moon takes only a tiny visual “nibble” from the edge of the Sun — already a freaky sight. In the following hour, the obscuring Moon edges farther across the surface of the Sun, turning the big ball of fire into a rounded, ravenous Pac-Man silhouette, then a thin crescent. As total eclipse approaches, the sky grows ominously dim. Shadows fracture into sickle-shaped waves, transforming the ground underfoot into a disorienting ocean of light. Just before the Sun disappears, a heart-squeezing sensation seizes your regular cadence of breath. You understand what's happening, you know that you're safe, yet some deeper bit of the brain remains convinced that the whole world is ending. It's an eerie sensation, hair-raising and uncanny.
When the Moon blocks the Sun entirely, euphoria overwhelms all senses and demands an act of release. Among the group I observed with, most of us cheered, sang, and jumped around in excitement. I danced. We all hugged. Our resident Pisces sat uncharacteristically still, weeping spontaneous solemn tears at the beauty of the experience. The Sun was a large dark hole ringed by diamonds. The entire sky was painted in the warm purple twilight usually only visible on the edge of the horizon at the last instant of sunset. In spite of our celebration, the air felt heavy with quiet. Satellites that would otherwise be rendered invisible by daylight hung bright in the sky. We all felt so small beneath the immensity of outer space, but joyful to be alive and aware within the vast, magnificent universe.
The experience was exhilarating and emotionally wrenching. We were all the same people afterward — it wasn’t like we immediately adopted new personalities or anything — but we'd witnessed something seriously incredible. Without any discussion or even conscious planning, we each made significant changes to our lives and futures in the days and months that followed.
If you happen to live within the path of April 8, 2024’s Great North American Eclipse, I urge you to grab some safety viewing glass and get your ass outside when the time arrives! But if you, like me, fall out of geographic range for this one, don’t fret. We’ll still see a darkening of the sky from states far away, and we’ll all feel the astrological effects. This eclipse is time for a big new beginning, and you’ll find that you know exactly what to do with the opportunity once it arrives.
Read on for your guide to the total solar eclipse, broken down by zodiac sign:
- The Sun, the North Node, retrograde Mercury, Venus, and Chiron are all in your sign.
- On Monday, the New Moon blocks the light of the Sun from a large swath of North America in a total solar eclipse.
- At the same time, the Sun passes through conjunction with healing Chiron.
- Later in the week, the Sun travels through conjunction with retrograde Mercury.
- Your sign ruler Mars is in Pisces, where it passes through conjunction with Saturn.
This historic total solar eclipse is going down in your sign, which is not surprising. Aries is present for every happening worth attending, and in this case, you’re hosting the event! Honestly, this party is a little off the chain. You’ve asked all your buried secrets to attend, you left a personal lip mark on the invitation to desire, and you told your emotions that clothing is optional for the occasion. The Moon and Sun come together to create an absolutely arresting work of performance art in the middle of the gathering, which is so deeply affecting that it bodily heals audience members fortunate enough to witness the event. But then afterward, everyone realizes that nobody saw quite the same thing during the show. You’ll get a little fussy about clean-up in the days afterward, while doubling down on your own interpretation of events.
The timing of the total solar eclipse and the Sun’s conjunction with Chiron is astonishing: the Moon covers the Sun in maximum eclipse, then only ten minutes later they both align in cooperation with Chiron the healer. Translated: You experience ego death, and then almost instantaneously begin recovering from trauma! If you were a fantasy author who invented this schedule of celestial events, your editor would say, “The world-building seems unrealistically convenient, but we’ll let you keep it because it does so much to further the plot.” Seriously, it’s stretching the suspension of disbelief here: You accomplish this enormous feat during the back half of the greatest North American eclipse for the next 20 years, during work hours on a Mercury retrograde Monday afternoon? Who but an Aries would even attempt such a feat?
It’s almost like you’ve been waiting for this or something. Finally, the time has arrived! Mercury is still twirling retrograde for two more weeks, but who cares? You’re charging forward regardless.
- Jupiter and Uranus are in your sign.
- Your sign ruler Venus is in Aries, near the eclipse.
- After the eclipse, Uranus creates a trine with Lilith.
Your sign ruler Venus is hanging out in Aries, where all the action is taking place. The waning crescent Moon passes through conjunction with Venus on its way to blot out the light of the Sun, grabbing your attention for the duration of the event. Watching the party from the comfort of your house next door, Jupiter and Uranus are feeling lucky and creative. The solar eclipse will initiate a fresh beginning, but that doesn’t always translate to sudden, dramatic change. Instead, it might manifest as a recommitment to a path you’ve already chosen. Your continuing plan will build gradually, growing brick by brick with the repeated affirmation of your goals.
- Your sign ruler Mercury is retrograde in Aries, near the eclipse.
- A few days after the eclipse, the Sun passes through conjunction with Mercury.
Your retrograde sign ruler Mercury is moonwalking through Aries alongside the eclipse. The Moon actually catches up to Mercury later the same evening, passing through conjunction as it waxes from New to crescent phase. You’ll experience a nighttime urge to talk out all of the emotions you felt during the eclipse. (Thanks to Mercury’s current retrograde status, this conversation will probably come across as incoherent babble to other participants, no matter how plainly you express yourself. But that’s beside the point!) You need all this talking to explain your own feelings to yourself. If someone else can’t comprehend it, sounds like it’s their problem! As usual, the specific experience of your individual human existence remains ultimately unknowable to others.
A few days later, you’ll feel a similar urge to explain yourself to yourself when the Sun follows the Moon’s previous path through conjunction with Mercury. You don’t necessarily need to recruit a conversation partner for this discussion, but you’ll likely find it helpful to say the words out loud, even if you’re only talking to yourself.
- Your sign ruler the Moon reaches New phase in Aries near the North Node, blocking the light of the Sun from Earth in a total solar eclipse.
Rise up, Cancers, you’ve reached an epoch of lunar sign supremacy. This is your time to shine — or, rather, to blot out everyone else’s shine in tremendously dramatic fashion. Your sign ruler the Moon is having a moment — nearly four and a half minutes at the longest totality over Mexico — and down here on Earth, so are you. Astrologically, the Sun represents your sense of self: your consciousness, your personal image, your willpower and animating motivations. The rapidly orbiting, perceptually shape-shifting Moon governs emotion. Every New Moon brings your sign a sensation of wholeness as the two heavenly bodies align, but this New Moon arrives with a seriously special opportunity for self-discovery. Embrace it and prosper.
- Your sign ruler the Sun is in Aries.
- The New Moon blocks the light of the Sun from Earth in a total solar eclipse. At the same time, the Sun passes through conjunction with Chiron.
- Later, the Sun travels through conjunction with retrograde Mercury.
Wow Leo, a big humbling helping of healing is coming for you! Your sign ruler is the center of our solar system; it literally lights up life on Earth every single day. Rare is the instance when another astrological body stands between you and the sunshine. Clouds can cause a little gloom on the ground from time to time, but that’s nothing like the melodramatic eclipse the Moon can cause when it lines up exactly right.
This isn’t bad for you, per se. Sometimes we all need to get our self-image swallowed up by an overwhelming orb of emotion. What’s really wild in this case is physically much farther out. Within moments of conjunction with the New Moon, the Sun also lines up directly with Chiron the centaur, the outer solar system arbiter of injury and healing. In literally fewer than 10 minutes of being overtaken by perfect alignment with the Moon, your sign ruler bonds with the celestial representative of recovery. Lingering trauma doesn’t stand a chance; it’s about to get pressure-washed right out of your soul. Will this feel awesome in the moment? I’m thinking that’s unlikely, but holy hell! In just a few more days, you’ll no longer feel some of the familiar phantom aches that have long been gnawing at you from gnarly old hurts. That’s amazing.
- Lilith is in your sign.
- Your sign ruler Mercury is retrograde in Aries, near the eclipse.
- A few days after the eclipse, the Sun passes through conjunction with Mercury.
- Uranus creates a trine with Lilith.
Y’all get the big psychic reset of the eclipse along with everybody else. It’ll be lovely and life-affirming, and you need it. The celestial events that really beg your attention, however, unfold later in the week. Your sign ruler Mercury is currently retrograde in Aries, and the Sun decides to encourage its shenanigans. Meanwhile, shadow representative Lilith remains in your sign. Before the week is out, you’ll be graced with a strange surge of creativity in connection to your dark side.
These occurrences are important, but also potentially dangerous. Mercury’s retrograde status screws up interpersonal communication, causing misinterpretation and misunderstanding all around. Lilith likes to keep you self-centered and defensive. Its presence influences you to feel safest in a constant state of conflict-readiness, and you’d often prefer to initiate a fight rather than suffer the anxiety of waiting for an argument to discover you. In combination, the two keep you primed for destructive explosion.
Pay close attention to your feelings during the eclipse, and use them as a guide for your behavior afterward. Some battles are worth fighting, certainly, but you shouldn’t carelessly harm your closest relationships in a one-sided struggle with illusory shadows.
- The South Node is in your sign, opposite the eclipse.
- Your sign ruler Venus is in Aries, near the eclipse.
You’re still in your South Node era of reminiscence. A quick explainer for new readers: the Moon doesn’t travel around the Earth in a perfectly flat, perpendicular plane. Instead, its route is tilted on an angle. The Nodes of the Moon’s orbit are the points in space where the Moon passes “up” and “down” through the ecliptic plane to enter the upper and lower halves of its path around the planet. Eclipses always occur when the Moon is near one of the Nodes (they have to, for the Moon to be in the correct position to block or be blocked from the Sun). Astrologically, the North Node, where the Moon moves up topside, governs the future and eternally unfolding destiny. (Currently the North Node is allowing for solar eclipse in Aries.) The South Node, which is parked in your sign, represents the constantly collecting history of the past.
This solar eclipse resets the stage for new beginnings, but for you, its themes will be intimately connected to the burdens of your personal history. Get ready to venture into the proverbial cave and face the terrors of your own old trauma. Or, less dramatically, you might assess the outlines of your comfort zone and determine whether you want to stay there, or broaden your boundaries. Best of luck! This is truly important psychic work. The South Node’s summons can be a real beast.
- Your sign ruler Pluto is in Aquarius.
As always, your eternal quest of metamorphosis grinds on slowly and irrevocably, but you have undertaken some startlingly rapid shifts lately. For you, this darkening of the Sun is themed around adjustment and acceptance. You sort of hate change, though you’re always trying to achieve it. (No wonder Scorpios catch a reputation for being a bit grumpy.) Your sign ruler Pluto’s relatively recent move to Aquarius, however, has placed you in an interesting experimental headspace. You’re more flexible than usual at the moment, and capable of adapting more quickly than you’re typically accustomed. As the fixed water sign of the zodiac, you tend to stay icy, but right now you’re in a liquid moment. Take this eclipse opportunity to examine the vessels available in your vicinity and decide which shape you want to pour yourself into for the next phase of your journey.
- Your sign ruler Jupiter is in Taurus.
In an interesting twist for Sagittarius, continuing on a larger theme of the past year, your energy is focused on developing and maintaining your home. You’re nesting! You’re taking all of the restless energy associated with your sign and stashing it in one place for the moment. You want your home space — whether that’s a physical location, or merely a comfy beanbag inside of your own mind — to feel comfortable, but not stagnant. You have to be able to rearrange the furniture on a whim.
During this week’s solar eclipse, take some time to think about what “home” means to you. Is it your actual domicile? Your body? A little corner of your soul where no one else is allowed to go? You need to understand the space where you feel safest, because the urge to adorn your abode will only intensify as we progress into the upcoming Taurus season. Your typically impulsive travels will be directed by an inner purpose: you need to acquire objects to decorate your place in the most personally satisfying fashion.
- Your sign ruler Saturn is in Pisces.
- After the eclipse, Mars passes through conjunction with Saturn.
In the wake of the eclipse, ambition overtakes you. (Haha, wow, something so new and unusual for you!) But seriously: Mars is prepped to superpower your sign ruler Saturn, and you’re about to be overcome with a previously unprecedented drive to get stuff done. Good for you! Go do it! The rest of us are waiting to admire the fruits of your labor some months down the road once you’ve finished.
Of all the signs in the zodiac, you maintain some natural resistance to the vagaries of the Moon. You are busy accomplishing things; you can’t let an unpredictable force like emotion dictate the course of your day! But the overwhelming power of a solar eclipse ultimately affects everyone, especially if you’re located directly beneath it. Your challenge for Monday is to relax just enough to allow yourself to feel the eclipse’s transformative power. Don’t waste your time trying to block it out. In the end, emotion cannot be denied, and getting bowled over by an insistent tidal wave of lunar energy is not the best practice to maintain your regular productivity.
- Pluto is in your sign.
- Your ruler Uranus is in Taurus.
- After the eclipse, Uranus creates a trine with Lilith.
You enjoy a few days of floatiness following the solar eclipse, and then you snap back into yourself with a vengeance. Strangers should avoid trifling with you for the remainder of Aries season: you’re just looking for a reason to slash and bite! Furthermore, your fighting style is unusual and difficult to prevail against. You instinctively know how to get around blocks and land disabling blows to your opponent. If other people know what’s good for them, they’ll steer clear of you during this time, but Mercury retrograde raises the possibility that challengers might behave foolishly, or perhaps even try to provoke you. Wear headphones and shield yourself with the sounds of a favorite playlist to block out reckless chatter.
- Mars, Saturn, and your ruler Neptune are in your sign.
- After the eclipse, Mars passes through conjunction with Saturn.
In 2017, witnessing the total solar eclipse struck my Piscean friend like no one else in my group. She’s an odd example of a mutable water sign with a lot of practical earth and fiery initiative energy in her chart, and most people don’t clock her as a Pisces unless they’re directly informed of the fact. Piscean she remains, nonetheless, and her emotional core rose to the surface when the sky fell dark. Arrested in awe, she remained aloof from those of us who leapt and shouted in revelry. The profundity of the sight sent tears streaming silently down her face. She was quiet for a long time afterward, absorbing the immensity of the experience.
So, that’s my own personal record of total solar eclipse’s effect on a Pisces individual. Prepare yourself appropriately! You’ll undergo a powerful burst of organizing motivation in the days following the eclipse. It's a bit like a case of the zoomies, if the aimless sprinting was specifically focused on setting your life to rights. You’ll know exactly how you want to proceed for once. Wait until the reverent wonder inspired by the eclipse has time to fully pass over and through you, then get up and do what you need to do.
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