We are in the bardo period of eclipse season – that liminal period in between eclipses. This is always a time where things feel more unstable, uncertain, chaotic and just plain weird.
The first eclipse of this cycle was a lunar eclipse on September 17, 2024. It was at 25 Pisces, very closely conjunct Neptune. Even though this was only a very partial lunar eclipse, barely visible, boy was it a doozy.
I felt strange all day – and noticed many eclipse-related events and feelings bubbling up within me, as well as in the people around me. It was actually one of the most noticed eclipses in recent memory, in terms of many different people commenting things like, “What is up today??” or “Man, I feel super weird,” or “I don’t know what’s going on but things just feel crazy right now.”
I heard these comments from both weirdos and normies alike. I use both terms affectionately. Weirdos are the people who are into astrology and the occult and therefore are more tuned into eclipses than the average person. Normies are the people who don’t pay attention to anything esoteric.
I love hearing comments like this from normies because they are a great litmus test for the current space weather. When I hear a bunch of coworkers, parents at my kids’ school, or random people on the bus making comments about how things feel off, a bunch of warning bells go off in my astrologer brain.
I also have to resist an overwhelming urge to scream, “It’s the eclipse!!! We are in eclipse season!!!!! The Moon is making you feel that way!!!!!!” Though, when I do give into those impulses (and as I get older, I care less about showing my weirdo-ness to the general public), I’m often surprised how many people nod and say, “Oh OK, that makes sense!” It’s almost like we instinctively understand that these giant orbs, one that makes life on Earth possible and the other that moves oceans, have an effect on people. Go figure.
I’ve written a lot about eclipses before. Generally, I have a pretty negative view of them, because eclipses can bring a lot of not-nice things. However, I always preface that by saying that not all eclipses will be disastrous – we get at least two eclipses twice a year, every year. That’s a minimum of four eclipses a year. If eclipses always heralded disaster and ruin, we’d all be dead long ago.
However, there’s no denying that when really crazy stuff goes down, eclipses are often very much a part of them. So, I err on the side of caution with eclipses and tend to avoid them as much as possible.
But I also find them fascinating. Not only are they one of the most impressive, beautiful astronomical phenomena, I always marvel at their astrology. They can presage huge, life-changing events but sometimes they show up in mundane, even silly occurrences.
Astrology is all about pattern recognition and as an astrologer, I’m always noticing the patterns.
So, as we sail through the bumpy waters of eclipse season, I’ve been ruminating on the common events and symptoms that I notice around eclipses. In no particular order, here’s what I tend to notice and experience during eclipse season. These things can show up throughout eclipse season but are usually more intense right around the day of the actual eclipse.
Fatigue and low energy, sickness
Last week’s lunar eclipse occurred shortly after sunset, around 8:30pm MDT. Right around dinner time I was suddenly crushingly tired. The Sun is associated with health and vitality, and the Moon is associated with our emotions and physical body. When eclipses throw the two luminaries out of whack, our bodies correspondingly go haywire and we often feel very tired. We’re also more prone to illness around this time. These symptoms can also come on very fast, like in a matter of minutes or hours.
Feeling giddy and/or intoxicated
This is kind of the reverse of feeling low energy and tired, but sometimes you get both at once – feeling both tired but also messed up, like you’re drunk or high. The Moon has a long history of being associated with craziness and intoxication – remember that the word “lunacy” and “lunatic” come from “lunae”, the Latin word for Moon.
During last week’s lunar eclipse, even though I suddenly got super tired right before the exact eclipse, I also felt like I was drunk. (I was completely sober.) I think it was particularly noticeable this time around because this eclipse was very closely conjunct Neptune, the planet that rules drugs/intoxication, illusions and delusions.
Eye pain
In astrology, the Sun is associated with eyes and seeing (since it casts the light by which we see during the day). Eclipses are when the Sun or Moon’s light is obscured, and you’ll often notice physical effects on your eyes and eyesight during this time. This tends to be more prominent during solar eclipses, but sometimes I get issues during lunar eclipses too. Watch out for eye pain, strain and even eye rashes or other ailments.
Poor sleep and crazy dreams
Without fail, every eclipse season I have absolutely bizarre dreams. They have a different quality than normal dreams – a sort of epic, “holy shit this means something” quality. Write these down, because they can be very important and even prophetic. Your guides and/or other intelligences are trying to get your attention, so listen!
You’ll also probably have a crappy sleep during eclipses, especially lunar ones. I often have restless nights during normal Full Moons, but during lunar eclipses? Let’s just say I try not to schedule anything in the early morning the day after them.
Sudden shocking events
Every eclipse season I scan the news headlines for the new crop of eclipse stories. They are easy to spot – look for sudden, shocking stories with a serious WTF factor. They are often stories about previously hidden things suddenly coming to light. Conversely, sometimes there are news events during eclipses that seem innocuous at the time, but later on (often during the next eclipse season) they are suddenly revealed as being very important. Again, recall that eclipses are associated with hidden, occulted things.
You’ll see this play out in your own life too, once you start paying attention. It’s not always super shocking or monumental events, either. Sometimes, it’s just things that are super weird or odd.
Make note of weird events like this, because I’m willing to put money on the fact that there will be echoes of that event during the next eclipse season, until they naturally conclude. And more often than not, this conclusion is when the eclipses shift signs.
For example, in spring 2023, I had a very bizarre situation happen at the vacant house next door. This was the first eclipse in the current Aries-Libra eclipse cycle. I won’t go into specific details, suffice to say there were further developments with the fall 2023 eclipses, the spring 2024 eclipses and again now during the fall 2024 eclipses. Things seem to be concluding too (yay), which makes sense since this is the last eclipse in Libra. I’m expecting it to be fully resolved next spring 2025, which is the final eclipse in the Aries-Libra cycle.
The Nodes change signs every 18 months or so, which means eclipses last around 18 to 24 months across a certain axis. They are currently shifting from Aries-Libra to Virgo-Pisces. It’s not a hard changeover either – rather it’s a phased transition where you’ll notice some things from the previous cycle concluding and new things cropping up.
Flickering lights and internet outages
My internet was inexplicably going out periodically during the eclipse day and has continued to be spotty throughout this bardo period. During the hours right before and during the eclipse, lights started randomly flickering. (They haven’t done that since.) Again, eclipses are associated with an obscuration of light and sometimes you notice this happening very literally around you.
Plumbing and drainage issues
This is especially true around South Node (Ketu) eclipses, because the South Node is associated with things being drained away – and sometimes this becomes very literal. It can also be more prominent when the eclipses are in a water sign. The lunar eclipse on September 17, 2024 was a North Node (Rahu) eclipse, but it was in the water sign of Pisces. So, issues with water become more likely to occur.
We’ve been experiencing some weird drainage issues with our dishwasher over the last week since the lunar eclipse. In the last few days, both my sister and my parents had to call a plumber to fix their kitchen sinks, which had become completely plugged. It’s actually kind of hilarious how literal it is (though the plumbing bill is much less funny).
Lots of sirens
This is a coded way of saying that eclipses hit some people hard. Like, life-threatening-medical-event-or-accident hard. It depends on how the eclipse lands in your chart, and again, most of us will be fine. However, remember that eclipses often bring on sickness and they are associated with sudden random shocking events. Medical events and accidents certainly fit that description. I often use eclipses for rectification when people have life-or-death situations, because of how often they line up with such events.
On the day and night of the latest eclipse, it seemed like I heard sirens non-stop. I live near a busy road so sirens are common, but they were noticeably more frequent. On the morning of that eclipse day, my husband witnessed three separate accidents with an ambulance on scene, in only a 15-minute drive.
So, take care of yourself and others during eclipse season. For some good remediation tips, read this post.