Monday’s eclipse has been building for a while now. In some ways you can say it’s been building since 2008 with the last round of eclipses along the Leo/Aquarius axis. In fact, it might be interesting for you to look at whatever themes you were working through 2008-2009, 1998-1999, 1988-1989, 1979-1980, 1970-1971. There might be particular themes you notice repeating, either in the greater world or your personal life. Whatever themes these are tell you something about what you’re currently working with.

Monday’s eclipse has also been building since February when we had the first solar eclipse of this cycle in Aquarius. And Monday’s eclipse has been building since August 7th, when we had the partnering lunar eclipse in Aquarius that revealed something about whatever it is we need to let go of in order to make space for what’s arriving.

Eclipses in general mark times of change. Symbolically this is the time when our two great lights, signifying a larger more universal consciousness and our personal layers of awareness, come together and infuse, or eclipse, one another. These events bring our attention to all kinds of structures that are ready to die. Our identities, values, emotions, habits, relationships, jobs, and commitments are all up for review. We are ready to realize the next step on our evolutionary journey.

Eclipses seem to need a lot of space around them for their energy to manifest in the best ways possible. Combine this timing with Mercury retrograde in opposition to Neptune and my advice is to hold off on any important decisions for a few weeks if possible. Mercury will station direct on September 5th at the same degree point as Monday’s eclipse.

Lots of new information or clarification on your intuitive musings will come in the two-ish weeks between the eclipse and Mercury's station direct. And of course it’s best to give Mercury a minute to get back up to speed. If you can make it work to postpone major beginnings or initiations until mid September it will be best.

The hallmark of this eclipse as I see it is the grand fire trine it sets off. A grand trine is when there are planets at similar degrees in all the signs of the same element, in this case fire. The planets that are occupying these signs are no lightweights either. Along with the sun and moon conjunct to the north node and Mars in Leo, Saturn is conjunct Lilith in Sagittarius, and Uranus is conjunct Eris in Aries. This is a signature of times changing. And indeed they are. The events of the last few weeks have seen a rise in fire energy. Literally fires are burning across the country (and globe) right now. Figuratively, fiery energy is exploding in most of us as outrage, passion and some kind of evolution that has to break through our mental self-concepts of difference.

The Leo/Aquarius axis brings power struggles with it. The group/collective fights against the ruler. The leader has to answer to the followers. The nervous systems and circulatory systems are charged. This means information technologies, communications and means of exchange get jolted on all levels. We are seeing more extremism more often and the feeling of Nothing Left To Lose becomes a galvanizing force for extreme measures.

Additionally this eclipse occurs during the Pluto return of the United States. Pluto brings transformation, but first it brings death. The U.S. natal Pluto in Capricorn represents power structures that were formed upon the death and transformation of European/British colonialists asserting autonomy and freedom. The birth of this nation however was also an assertion of oppressive control upon others and the reenactment of the same kind of royal entitlement the forefathers fought against.

Now we see how the supposed ideals of the nation become its own demise and transformation towards the actual ideals. Freedom for all (white, cis, straight, wealthy, Christian) men must be redefined to include everyone. Some will continue to fight for supremacy, but a growing majority will fight for liberation. Some will cling to the past and seek to force submission, more will claim the future and seek means of collaboration. Watch as the old statues continue to be taken down – peacefully and by force.

Remember that human evolution towards greater consciousness and enlightenment has never been an easy path. Remember also that history repeats itself, and be mindful of the ways you oppose others. In any opposition there is an axis and balance. The strength of one side will be met by the strength of the other. If you seek to dismantle supremacy of any form you will be served by your own balance of confidence and humility. Do not become the force that you fight against.

The need for new options and conscious alternatives is great. The focus we’ve had on critique and dismantling is important and will continue to serve a purpose. However, now we need stronger voices of possibility and hope to rise. We need to know what we’re fighting for as much as we need to know what we are against.

One thing is for sure. As old leadership structures fall new ones will emerge to take their place. There will be different looking, different sounding individuals who seek the same kind of power and control as the last guard. They might preach new values but if their practice doesn’t include horizontal leadership they will not bring the equality we want. The new age comes with community leadership. Community leadership is created by empowered individuals who seek creative life fulfillment through empowering one another towards beauty, art and right relationship.

This eclipse I’m offering a number of different podcasts to help you expand your understanding of the astrological influences and work with them in your own life. Over the course of the last few weeks I’ve created a series of podcasts looking at the eclipse’s effect on the United States, the eclipse’s effect on Donald Trump, and finally the eclipse’s effect for us on individual levels. Because the eclipse brings extremely heightened fire energy (which means anger and sexuality,) it will serve your best interests to work with both of these powerful emotions towards means of self healing and positive growth. Work with me to develop Empowered Anger and then Let’s Talk About Sexual Healing!

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ARIES
Something to understand about erotic energy is that it’s everywhere. Nature is sexy. The material world we live in is created by attraction and creative combinations. If you want to feel turned on, all you really need to do is pay attention to your body in its natural state.

Recognizing eroticism is a choice though. And unfortunately it’s a choice that most have us have been given extremely dysfunctional messaging about. Therefore recognizing eroticism can’t happen at this point without also recognizing oppression, suppression and shame.

So it’s good news that you’ve been doing the work you’ve been doing. Whatever it is, it seems to me that you’ve been putting in some significant strides towards freeing yourself from limiting mental constructs and building your own power within hierarchical dynamics that could easily keep you feeling like a perpetual child.

Monday’s eclipse is here to boost your efforts tenfold. It’s here to help you land in your own pleasure. It’s here to help you land in your own power. Your job is to keep opening up to what you actually want. Your job is to keep doing the work you’ve been doing of acknowledging, naming and claiming what turns you on and keeps you going.

Power can be a scary thing. It can and should bring your attention to the ways it has been misused against you, and others whom you care about. As you gain power personally it’s your job to see the ways you instinctually react with it. Do you run from it and try immediately to give it away? Do you grip onto it and become fearful of losing it? Does it make you uptight or stress you out? Do you get drunk on it and lose the ability to empathize?

Hopefully you will get excited by it. Hopefully you will be inspired by it. Hopefully you will recognize the power you have to empower others and boost the good work they do. Hopefully you will fully embody your power, and get turned on by the potential you have to actually create some change in the world around you. Your eclipse affirmation is, “The pleasure is mine.”

TAURUS
What feels like home? Is it a place? Is it a person, or people? Is it a collection of facilities and accoutrements? Home could be the sound of an accent or your (grand)parent’s native language, it could be certain smells, it could be the taste of food you grew up with. It could be your chosen family and current friends. When you feel at home you know it. What is it for you?

Monday’s eclipse will reveal something about the ways you stabilize and know yourself to be at peace in the world. It will bring some information pertaining to the means of exchange you share with your family – those who you’ve chosen as well as those who you haven’t. It will help you recognize any unconsciousness you’ve been carrying that keeps you feeling not at home.

In the next six months you may be looking at choices to change your address. If there are no plans to move then the movement will be internal. It may be redecorating or other literal shifts of scenery. It may also be more subtle transitions of attitude and perspective that seem to suddenly illuminate the spaces you occupy with a new light. Whatever way you go, your choices seem to be coming from a need to express who you are currently rather than who you were then. The choices you’re making might be risky, but ultimately they feel positive, productive and loving.

Ground yourself in creative approaches to your own healing. Ground yourself through committing to spiritual growth and pursuit of self-knowing. Ground yourself through seeking to understand the patterns you play out, and recognize that home is always and forever right here and now.

Your eclipse affirmation is, “I am peace, acceptance and belonging.”

GEMINI
Oh Gemini. Words are powerful indeed. Thoughts are magnificent for sure. Communication is key. And… Words fall flat when they don’t come from your heart. Thoughts might be grand but also eventually useless if they stay in your head. Communication is always happening, and on much subtler levels than anything you can consciously control.

What is relevant right now is when words become vehicles for emotion, rather than forms which explain or limit. What is interesting right now is when thoughts are freed from the bondage of needing to make sense to yourself and open to creative inspiration (which sometimes doesn’t make sense) instead. What is compelling right now is when communication breakdowns actually create the space you need to listen to your own intuition.

Watch for the ways you spin stories around others’ experiences. Particularly if you feel restricted or unappreciated by, or in, important relationships. Particularly if you’re angry about something that you’re not sure how to express. Do not, I repeat do not, get caught up in thinking you know what anyone else is thinking.

The next six months will open ample opportunities for you to network and engage in all kinds of exciting relationships. It’s important that you stay on track with honing your strategic skills. You’re entering into a phase which will ultimately strengthen your intuition, but in order to do so pleasantly you’ll be best off beginning from a place that assumes the best in everyone.

This doesn’t mean don’t be discerning. It means simply, listen. Listen to whose voice is talking. If what you’re hearing sounds like it’s coming from your own insecurities, then it’s not a voice to indulge. If what you’re hearing pushes you to honor your own needs and see everyone as your equal, then the answer is yes. Your lesson now is to unite your head, heart and body and to cease centering on your mental capacities. Your eclipse affirmation is, “I listen to my intuition.”

CANCER
Breaking through barriers of insecurity is no small task. Learning to love yourself seems like it shouldn’t be a thing, but for many of us it will actually be one of the hardest things we ever do. Especially if you’re feminine. Especially if you’re queer. Especially if you live in a body that for whatever reason hasn’t always been recognized as inherently worthy, and worthy of love, in the cultures, families or places you’ve lived in.

The process you’ve been in for nearly three years has been one of slowly confronting the structures that keep you small. These structures exist in the details of things. How you go about your everyday tasks, your chores, your habits, your self-care, your immediate environment and the details that need attending to… and at the most basic level, the ways you put yourself, or feel yourself, in service to the world around you and those who inhabit it.

As you’ve gained more clarity about your capacities and preferences, as you’ve set the boundaries you’ve needed to set and asked to be met the ways you’ve needed to be met, there has surely also been plenty of letting go. If you’re on track than you’ve been letting go of whatever, and whomever, has been limiting you from feeling yourself as the worthy, worthwhile, brilliant, beautiful being that you are. If you’re on track than this letting go has been a consistent, systematic process of sorting through the details of what constrains and ignores you, and  weeding out what works and what doesn’t.

The space you currently occupy might feel somewhat empty, though hopefully it is also filled with an increasing amount of appreciation and support as you gain more confidence to let yourself be seen.

In the times that are coming you can expect more abundance. Especially as you revolutionize your mind to expand into your future hopes and larger social environments. Especially as you discern which details you actually want to attend to because they support your health and happiness. And most importantly, especially as you continue to build a healthy sense of self-confidence, so make sure that’s exactly what you’re focusing on right now. Your eclipse affirmation is, “I am my own most valuable asset.”

LEO
Dear Leo, this is the second of two new moons in your sign… this one emphasized by a powerful solar eclipse directly in the heart of your namesake constellation. One thing this means is that your entire self concept is up for review. In the weeks leading up to and following the eclipse I highly suggest you take as much personal space as possible. Get quiet, get still, and get inspired. The things you thought you knew about yourself are ready to be reviewed for their efficacy and accuracy. Being anything other than 100% real (with yourself or anyone else) is no longer an option.

Getting quiet and still might be a challenge however, because another thing this eclipse brings with it is a huge surge of support for the work you’ve been doing. For many of you this will mean your career, for others it will mean a purpose that feels deeper than career. For now let’s call it Dharma and define it as the purpose you have here in the world. You’ll know it because it feels joyful, expansive and like something you can’t live without.

So how do you take space and catch the big waves coming your way? The trick is to be open to the right opportunities and know when to grab for them. The right ones are the ones that feel easy in your mind, heart and body when they’re presented to you. The right time to grab is when they offer themselves for it. If anything feels too forced, too much like striving or aggressive ambition then it’s not the right thing and it’s not the right time.

So whether this eclipse finds you in a still point of contemplation, a place of acting on opportunity ripe for the taking, or somewhere in between… your job right now is to articulate as clearly as you can exactly what you want and then stick to it. Let the offers that don’t meet your criteria pass on by, grab the ones that do and work hard for them. One bit of advice though is to keep things somewhat loose until the second week of September. There might be a few pieces of information you get between now and then that will help inform and prepare you even better for what’s to come. Your eclipse affirmation is, “I open my mind to possibility beyond what I previously thought was possible. With courage and love, I build upon my dreams.”

VIRGO
Monday’s solar eclipse occurs in the part of your chart that rules invisible spaces. These spaces might be invisible because they are hidden and secret, or because they have been forgotten somewhere either by you or the people you come from. These spaces might be obscured from view or public eye. These places might be invisible because they are too big to be seen – like culture, corporate conglomerates and humanity.

Monday’s eclipse occurs in the space of your chart that rules infiniteness and spiritual belonging. This is the place where the ancestors came from and returned to. It’s the place where angels live. It’s the place where you can see, hear and feel what “reality” will you tell can’t be seen, heard or felt.

Monday’s eclipse occurs in the collective and communal fabric of your life. The space where you are pulled, pushed and provoked by the other 8 billion souls who are here at this time on Earth in your cohort. The space where you lose yourself and find yourself again and again, constantly spinning round in the wheel of your own self-importance and self-forgetting.

My advice for you is to invite intimacy with everything and everyone. Treat each being with the respect you’d offer a spiritual guide and allow yourself to ponder all symbols as potential messages. Break through the confines of your aloneness by intentionally connecting with the multiplicity of your being-ness. Disrupt your own habits by inviting the world into your home. In short, Monday’s eclipse is a time for you to lose yourself completely so that you can find yourself again. Your affirmation is, “Letting go of any goals, I find myself revealed in the present questions.”

LIBRA
Your relationships now are your most profound places of learning. This might always be the case for you Libra, but now it’s multiplied, underlined and emphasized. Be with the ones you love. Be with them in your mind, your heart, your body. Be as present as you can be. Listen, notice, appreciate, attend.

The ones who are close by – in your town, on your block, in your house. These are the ones who will test you, try you and ultimately show you the fortitude of your capacity to choose, again and again, to arrive with them. In the relationships that are close you learn commitment, strength and mastery of your mind.

The ones who are your partners in business, life, and love. These are the ones who will help you learn freedom. Not just freedom in your heart, but freedom in totality. Freedom as a life statement. Freedom as an identity. And yes, freedom in your heart. Learn from them by acknowledging your differences and loving all the space in between. Give them their freedom in order to find your own.

The ones who are far away, in the future, in the visions, in the connections that travel across miles, decades and idealism. These are the ones who will grow you the most now. Reach out with bravery and your utmost honesty. This is the time to infuse your networks with intention. This is the time to plant seeds of actions that will grow into a future you dream of. Give to them by giving your true self, unapologetic, radiant and real.

Your eclipse affirmation is, “People are people and people need to be loved and appreciated. I see past our differences without disregarding our differences. I love fully and appreciate specifically.”

SCORPIO
You might be nearing a point of decision you never thought you’d come to. You might close to putting yourself “out there” in ways you didn’t think were possible. The movement between the sun, moon and Earth right now wants to align you towards a purpose that seems to be quite rich, warm and vital. To get there you’ll have to allow structures to shift around your values and finances. To get there you have to allow your daily rhythms to move towards more mental freedom.

Whatever you’ve been working to build, fortify and save in the past few years – this could include your bank account, your self esteem and your capacity to actually live your ideals – might currently be giving you pause. When feelings of frustration arise notice the tendency to turn towards austerity. Remember that it’s not always all or nothing. Creative negotiation takes the strength to hold your own terms as well as the capacity for collaboration.

In whichever ways you’ve been enriching your day-to-day life by getting out of your own way, notice the tendency to engage disruptive thought patterns. You need to keep on with the work you’ve been doing of setting your own agenda and advocating for your autonomy. At the same time you want to be mindful of blowing something up just to change it up.

Ultimately you will need to be the one to trust your own balance, but what this means might not be revealed for another few months. You’ve been working through some deep terrain my friend, and there are still a few more layers to get through. In the midst of all the excitement and possibly upheaval, please still make space for quietness. In the midst of everything try and attune to your intuition and inner sage. When the time comes you will know what to do. Your eclipse affirmation is, “My purpose in the world is to love as courageously as I can. I practice this with myself and then with others. When my heart is open creativity is easy and unstoppable.”

SAGITTARIUS
All faiths, philosophies and belief systems can and must change. Evolution is not static and life will not wait for human consciousness to comprehend. Make space in your spirit for the un-understandable to abide. Everything that was hidden should now come into full view. Don’t let it catch you off guard by clutching to formulas.

Feeling restricted in your self expression is a momentary sensation. Feeling unwanted and rejected should be an invitation to look at the ways you reject or don’t want what others have to say or show to you. Expand beyond your judgments and accept the ways your friends show you your blind spots and hangups.

Life should get expressed through you, not filtered through what you think others will find valuable. Listen as deeply as you can to the uninterrupted flow of inspiration. Express what arises moment by moment through any medium that can contain your expression. Do not get caught up in self critique. Make art because it feels good.

Let the moment you’re in illuminate relationships as a holographic web of intention. If somewhere deep inside you feels icky and sticky then you will get ick and stick from the world around you. Burn through the layers of your misperception of others by fiercely owning your own experience with no attachment to outcome. You have to live this moment now and trust that the person you’re becoming is more awake, more aware, and more ready for all of this than the person you were before. Your eclipse affirmation is, “My path unfolds before me – unexpected, mysterious and perfectly correct. I only need to know what the next step is. The final outcome is yet to be decided.”

CAPRICORN
Old habits of anger and betrayal are on their way out. As they go they might be kicking up some dust. If confusing attachments or unrequited neediness (your own or your partners) is presently arising, you’d be best off holding these sensations lightly. Taking them too seriously gives them more power than they warrant and will prolonge everyone’s confusion. Meet the moment with an attitude of compassionate pragmatism. There can be compassion for what has been along with disciplined release of what (or who) is no longer current.

Letting go of the past will make you available for the present and future. One thing for you specifically to make a point of is not believing your own doubt. Whatever you focus on will accumulate so be careful with your focus. Point your laser eyes to the future – touch it, feel it, taste it, see it. It will be here before you know.

The intimacy you want to provide is bright, brilliant and supremely creative. Remember that creativity arises as a response to the moment that is, NOT as a formula to impose on what might be. You have to be willing to meet others where they are and trust that they will find their way to you too. Meeting each other in the now makes innovative collaborations possible. Do not impose your ideas of what love should look like upon your unknown future, or anyone else’s.

As you release old habits and welcome new ones in I encourage you to practice what you hope to be feeling more of. Practice feeling delighted. Anytime you experience beauty take note. Anytime you experience pleasure take note. Anytime you experience appreciation take note. Let the sensations of fulfillment, even if they are momentary, become more pervasive in your day-to-day. Your eclipse affirmation is, “My relationships reflect who I am now, not who I was then. I have the courage to ask for what I want and need, and the big-heartedness to receive what others freely give me. I am unafraid to be alone and equally unafraid to be together.”

AQUARIUS
You might be coming to a realization of relationships that puts the past in perspective. You are able to see more clearly the ways your own adamance has formed immovable structures and deep habits. In your intimate and close relations as well as the ways you’ve felt yourself in groups and larger social networks, you are shifting towards a deeper self-understanding.

Your growing awareness of how others may have been affected by you puts a different spin on what you previously perceived as their problems. In this shift your heart will become softer and more adept at listening, your mind will get freed up from chains of judgment, and your body will be capable of truly experiencing nourishment and love. Hallelujah.

In the months coming you will have the opportunity to initiate new kinds of experiences in intimacy. Your job now is to see past your criticality and look for the ways that others support your healing, and you support theirs.

It’s easy for our minds to dwell upon the faults and imperfections. When we focus on what’s wrong, the wrongness grows and grows until it’s all we see. You must now find a balance that weighs your discernment with optimistic detachment. Believe in the goodness of those you find yourself relating with, and trust that they believe in yours. Your eclipse affirmation is, “When I recognize and celebrate the goodness in others my own goodness becomes stronger and more apparent.”

PISCES
Steady yourself in shifting situations by keeping your sights set on liberation. You’re ready to realize something important about how you’ve been spending your energy, and whether or not your day-to-day is actually in line with your true nature.

The last few years have taught you something about servitude. You’ve been putting yourself out in the world in ways that often take more than you have to give, and then some. At this point you’re ready for something different. You need to be adequately compensated for your energy. This may or may not be financial. It could be attitudes that need shifting. One way or another, in the next six months you’ll be ready to change course if the current situation doesn’t give you what you need to stay.

While I understand the possible financial precarity this could bring up, let me also point out that by now you know something about living on the edge. Since 2011, Uranus in your wealth and resources sector has been creating some significant ups and downs in your bank account. This may be through the form of outer circumstances as well as your own choices.

Either way, I hope you’re familiar enough now with the kind of trust the game of life requires. Just take one step at a time. Markets come tumbling down and situations change over night. Saving for the long term is a good idea but it’s also no guarantee that what you save will still be there, or be the thing you need then. It’s certainly not a reason to give your vital energy to people, jobs or other contracts that leave you feeling unappreciated and drained.

Monday’s eclipse lends its energy to you making choices that feel radical, brave, joyful and creative. It’s asking you to get free from situations that keep you feeling stuck and stagnant, and to trust that what you need will appear when those choices have been made. Your eclipse affirmation is, “This is my life. I choose how to live it.”