Pisces Lunar Eclipse; Opportunities for Spiritual Growth

Years ago, my first meditative practice was to walk an outdoor labyrinth at the Sisters of St. Joseph in St. Paul. I'd walk it 4 or 5 times a week. At the time, my world felt turned upside-down and the practice helped connect me with something greater than myself—helped ground and center me in life. I was in the midst of my Uranus opposite Uranus transit—one of the "midlife" transits we hit around the age of 40–43. The practice involves posing a question to yourself as you walk around the circle toward the center, listening for insight at the center, and then reflecting on what you learned as you exit.

September 17th’s Full Moon in Pisces is a Lunar Eclipse.

Solar and Lunar eclipses happen at New and Full Moons, respectively, when the Earth lines up with the Sun and Moon in a way that they darken or seem to disappear from the sky.

Time lapse image of a Lunar Eclipse.

The esoteric meaning of eclipses is mysterious and karmic; it suggests ideas, people, or things suddenly appearing or disappearing from or into our lives out of the deep, unknown realms of existence.

Eclipses can bring (1) sudden changes where we let go of people, things, or identities that no longer fit with who we are or (2) sudden boons in our lives—the appearance of new opportunities or relationships that satisfy our hidden longings.

This month's eclipse has the potential to bring a profoundly spiritual or naïve and dream-like connection to reality, depending on how your ego relates to the energy. Fortunately, a couple of aspects in the chart balance and ground the energy, perhaps allowing us to see through the fog as we process any changes the eclipse brings.

This eclipse’s spiritual and dream-like quality stems from a couple of factors. It is conjunct (right next to) the planet Neptune and takes place in the sign of Pisces. Neptune is the planet of imagination, dreams, spirituality, and delusion, as well as addiction.

Pisces carries some of the same significations as Neptune. It is a feminine/receptive water sign associated with deep compassion. The last sign of the Zodiac carries the energy of letting go and merging with the ground of Being.

Folks with a Pisces emphasis in their birth charts may long to merge with the universe. They may experience an understanding of the mystery of Being in their bones, “knowing” the reality that life unfolds in a never-ending cycle of endings and beginnings, life →death→life. They may have a deeper connection to the underlying unity of existence—the Hindu notion of “Tat Avam Asi” = “I am that too,” = “the Universe and I are one.”

The eclipse falls in Pisces III, the very last decan (10 degrees) of the Zodiac, suggesting that any changes brought about by the eclipse may help expand our conscious awareness—that they may help us learn something new about who we are or how we act in the world.

The tarot card associated with Pisces III is the 10 of Cups, which speaks to the expansion of consciousness that comes with the wisdom of age. Meditating on the images in the card, you can imagine that the two sets of figures are the same people at two different moments—as children and as adults.

10 of Cups, Rider Waite Tarot Deck

Observe the difference in how they relate to the rainbow of cups above their heads. As children, they are carefree and playful, contained within the mystery of Being and oblivious to its wonder. In contrast, as adults, having lived through the ups and downs of life, they are consciously related to the world around them—they look up in wonder at the rainbow of cups in the sky and have a conscious connection to something greater than themselves.

Symbolically, the image represents the path from innocence to wisdom that often comes with age and life experience. This path is like the one we follow as we experience transits and travel around the wheel of the Zodiac from Aries to Pisces and back to Aries again.

This month’s eclipse may bring opportunities for the same conscious growth captured in the 10 of Cups card. As we work through the events that coincide with the eclipse, we may experience a feeling of karmic completion—the “aha!” that can come with accepting changes that befall us.

There is positive energy in the chart to support us as we work to make meaning of any eclipse events. The eclipse chart includes a supportive aspect from Jupiter, the planet that rules Pisces, and the eclipse to Venus. A trine between Jupiter and Venus is the most positive aspect you can have in a chart. With Jupiter in Gemini, a sign of gathering and sharing information, and Venus in Libra, a sign of balance, harmony, justice, and beauty, this eclipse supports the emergence of new ideas and information promoting Libran ideals in the world—deals like beauty and the arts to diplomacy, equity, and justice.

September 17, 2024 Full Moon Lunar Eclipse Chart

Saturn, the god of restrictions, limitations, and what is possible in the real world, opposes Mercury, the god of communication in the chart. This aspect may be just the dose of reality we need to counter the dream-like energy of this Neptunian eclipse in Pisces, especially since Mercury is in excellent condition in the chart. It is in earthy Virgo, its sign, giving it extra power to separate the wheat of truth from the chaff of fantasy (or disinformation if you’re thinking about the political reality of the moment). It is also “exalted” in Virgo—capable of gathering respect and authority as it communicates the moment's truth.

While eclipses can bring change into our lives, remember that the degree to which an eclipse may affect you personally depends on your birth chart. Moreover, we do not always feel the impact of an eclipse immediately—we experience its energy over a period of 6 months following the eclipse.

Wherever the eclipse occurs in your chart, you may experience new endings or beginnings in that part of your life. So, suppose you are a Gemini Rising with your Midheaven in Pisces/10th house of career, like Vice President Kamala Harris (!). In that case, you may experience a sudden shift in your career and your visibility in the world. Or if you are a Virgo Rising, with Pisces in the 7th house of one-on-one partnerships, you may experience growth or changes around marriage or partnership.

This Lunar Eclipse is the first in a series of eclipses along your birth chart’s Virgo/Pisces axis between now and 2027. Eclipse themes also reverberate in the short and long term. Since we’ll have multiple eclipses in the Pisces/Virgo axis over the next couple of years, this month’s eclipse previews the energy that will unfold in this part of your chart in the coming years. You can also link the themes of this eclipse to themes that arose for you around 9 or 18.5 years ago when we last had eclipses in Pisces/Virgo.

To learn more about how this eclipse or the upcoming shift of the lunar nodes into Pisces and Virgo may affect you personally, feel free to reach out for a reading using the link below.