Welcome to eclipse season, fall 2023 edition. This year’s second and final set of eclipses kicks off tomorrow with a dramatic solar eclipse on Saturday, October 14, 2023. This eclipse is at 21 Libra and will be visible across all of North America, Central America, and the northern part of South America. Here’s a map of the eclipse path:
This eclipse will be followed by another eclipse in two weeks: a lunar eclipse on Saturday, October 28, 2023. This one will be at 5 Taurus and will be visible across all of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and part of South America.
I’ve written a lot about eclipses in the past. Eclipses fascinate, thrill and scare me. On a purely physical level, they are one of the most striking astronomical sights to witness – not that I do much of that anymore! On an astrological level, they bring about massive quakes both for individuals and the world.
I want to give a few comments/observations on this particular set of eclipses, focusing on the mundane astrology/geopolitical level.
I’m not going to offer any individual natal forecasts/predictions. It’s very difficult to do so in any meaningful way unless I have your chart in front of me. Eclipses can be life-changing if they hit your chart the right way, but they can also pass by unnoticed. I want to acknowledge that when I talk about eclipses, I probably make them sound scary and malefic (because they are).
However, not every eclipse will bring drama, pain or huge changes for every individual. Remember that eclipses occur twice a year, every year, so you’ve been through many eclipses already. It’s only when they hit your natal chart in a sensitive spot that you’ll see big things happening.
If you’d like to talk about how these eclipses might affect you personally, please book a consultation with me.
Today I’m focusing on the solar eclipse because those are almost always more influential on geopolitical matters. Eclipses often herald the death and/or changeover of kings, leaders and people in power. One of the most famous examples of these was King Henry’s Eclipse in 1133, which I gave a talk about earlier this year. (I have to figure out how to post that talk for sale on my site, at some point – email me if you’re interested in this.)
When judging the potential effects of an eclipse, in traditional astrology we look at the sign of the eclipse and consider the nations where that sign is very important to the national chart. Similarly, any world leaders with key planets/placements in that sign are going to be more impacted by an eclipse there.
So, the eclipse tomorrow at 21 Libra will be more influential over nations where Libra is a key sign (particularly the rising sign or the sign of the Midheaven), or where a lot of planets are located. It will also be more important for nations ruled by Venus (i.e. Taurus or Libra rising nations).
Because the Sun is being occulted in a solar eclipse, any interaction of an eclipse with the Sun of a person or place will be the most impactful.
A final consideration is the path of totality of the eclipse – that is, the path where the eclipse will be visible on earth. The eclipse on October 14, 2023 is visible across all of North America, so we expect it to be more impactful on the US, Canada, Mexico, the countries in Central America and the northern part of South America.
Exactly which nations are triggered by this will depend on their charts and the charts of their leaders. I don’t have time to analyze every single nation in the eclipse path and their leaders’ charts; so instead I’m focusing on Canada and the US due to my own location in, and familiarity with, Canada/North America. More on that below.
Obviously the biggest news headline right now is the war that just broke out between Israel and Palestine. The attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists is a classic eclipse event: it was a surprise (eclipses obscure/blind, so their related events often seem to come out of nowhere), it was violent/painful (eclipses are not gentle), and it involved the primary associations of the sign of the eclipse.
In this case, that sign is Libra: the scales, a sign signifying balance, harmony and relationships between people. On a very basic level, an eclipse in Libra will cause chaos, discord and strife – the opposite meanings of Libra. And indeed, this attack completely upended the balance in that area of the world. Though, also in true eclipse fashion, it exposed tensions and strife that had been simmering under the surface for a long time, and revealed that the previous “balance” was no more than a façade.
The October 14 eclipse isn’t visible over that area of the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s not intimately connected to these events. It certainly is, given that the conflict erupted just a week before it. Eclipses open up a window of time and aren’t limited to just the days on which they occur. Usually you start getting previews a week or two before the first in the cycle.
Indeed, when we look at the chart of Israel, we see that this eclipse is absolutely going to heavily impact that place. Here is the chart of Israel, which has 23 Libra rising – so that eclipse occurs only 2 degrees from its Ascendant:
Furthermore, here is the chart of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel.
You can see he has a stellium in Libra, including both the Sun and Moon. The eclipse on October 14 is only 2 degrees from his natal Moon and 6 degrees from his natal Sun, so this one is going to be extremely important for him. Furthermore, Netanyahu’s birthday is in just over a week, so his solar return chart falls in the bardo period between eclipses.
He’s currently finishing up a second house profection year and will move into a third house year on his birthday on October 21. Both of those houses are ruled by Saturn, so it emphasizes his tenth house – and yes I’m sure he’ll be in the news a lot over the next year. It also emphasizes his second house of money and resources, and his third houses of communication, siblings/extended family and all the things that are local to him.
Even more incredible, Netanyahu was born under an eclipse – there was a solar eclipse at 28 Libra the night after Netanyahu’s birth. Eclipses herald kings, and indeed he is a modern king as the prime minister of Israel.
Israel itself is also very connected to eclipses – the nation was founded just five days after an eclipse (on May 9, 1948) at 18 Taurus. Taurus is the eighth house in Israel’s chart, meaning that this natal eclipse imprinted itself firmly around the themes of death and the financial dealings with other nations. Given that this is where Israel’s Sun is located, it suggests the leader of Israel will also be tied to these things.
So, given all this information, it is extremely clear that the eclipse on October 14, 2023 will mark a pivotal moment for both the leader of Israel, Netanyahu, and the nation of Israel itself.
Another predictive technique that is useful for eclipses is looking at the Saros (i.e. the eclipse cycle) that it belongs to. The one on October 14, 2023 is part of Saros 134. Eclipses in a Saros recur every 18 years.
Here is a list of the previous Saros 134 eclipses and some key events related to them:
October 3, 2005
- Israel demolished multiple settlements and evacuated the Gaza Strip.
- Clearly this is directly connected to the events happening now and I expect we’ll see more destruction in this area by Israel.
- The trial of Saddam Hussein began around this time too, which was unrelated to the events in the Gaza Strip (as far as I’m aware), but does speak to themes of tension and conflict in the Middle East.
September 23, 1987
- Sikh nationalists declared the independence of Khalistan.
- This has become a huge issue in Canada’s foreign relations recently; more on that below.
- The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement was established, the precursor to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
- Black Monday: the worst stock market crash since the one that caused the Great Depression in 1939.
- I read economic news as part of my day job, and I’ve seen several references to 1987 in the last couple of weeks, as market conditions are similar right now.
- I predicted a possible market crash in late 2023, as part of Pluto’s shift into Aquarius.
- The last major stock market crash (excluding the one in 2020, which was very brief), was in 2008 and occurred after Pluto had made a brief ingress to Sagittarius and then returned to Scorpio. So I’ve been wondering if we get an echo of that when Pluto returns to Capricorn after ingressing Aquarius earlier this year.
September 11, 1969
- An Islamic conference was held in Morocco and condemned the Israeli claim of ownership of Jerusalem, in response to a recent mosque fire in Jerusalem.
September 1, 1951
- The UK began an economic boycott of Iran over the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.
- This echoes current sanctions over Iran by the UK, US and other nations as well as Iran’s involvement with Palestine.
- NATO accepted Turkey and Greece as members.
August 21, 1933
- The Haavara Agreement was concluded between Nazi Germany and Zionist representatives, allowing German Jews to leave Germany and move to Palestine.
- This was the start of a mass migration of 60,000 Jews to the future country of Israel.
Now, obviously a lot more history happened around all of those dates than just the events I noted here. I was focusing particularly on events related to Israel and/or the Middle East. I think we clearly see there are some significant themes and patterns with Saros 134 and therefore, the eclipse on October 14, 2023 will be a continuation in these themes.
I would love to predict that the situation in Israel will come to an end quickly. It might, especially given what happened during the previous eclipse in this Saros cycle. It’s also not a good eclipse for Netanyahu’s health, given that it is so close to both his Sun and Moon. It’s certainly not good for the health of the nation of Israel either.
Given the events that previously occurred in this Saros cycle, this eclipse will likely bring about a foundational reshaping of Israel and the people who live there. Borders may be redrawn, people relocated. This is likely to be at peak intensity this month, October 2023, and continue until the Lunar Nodes leave the Aries-Libra axis in early 2025.
Whatever occurs, achieving a Libran sense of balance and harmony is likely to be difficult, if not impossible. I wish everyone safety and health, and I pray peace.
Now let’s consider the impact of this eclipse on North America. Given my previous comments on the impact of eclipses as being usually stronger on areas where they are visible, I expect the US to become intimately involved in the Israel conflict. Now, you don’t need to use astrology to make that prediction, as the US is involved in basically every global conflict in some way or another.
Looking at the charts of the US (I use the Sibly chart) and Joe Biden, this eclipse does hit a couple significant areas. In the Sibly chart, the eclipse is 7 degrees from Saturn in the eleventh house and squares the stellium in Cancer, which is the eighth house.
Let’s also not forget the US is finishing its Pluto return, which adds a deep layer of Plutonian obsession, power struggles and death over an already death-heavy chart.
Joe Biden is also a Sagittarius rising like the Sibly chart, so this eclipse also falls in his eleventh house.
It doesn’t hit any of his natal placements very prominently, though I did notice that the lunar eclipse on October 28, 2023 will fall in his sixth house and will be within a degree of his Lot of Fortune and 4 degrees from his Moon. It’s also opposite (by sign, not degree) his stellium in Scorpio. The sixth and twelfth house axis is a health axis, especially with both of the luminaries and his Lot of Fortune there. Overall, that lunar eclipse is not a good indicator for his health.
Looking at Canada’s chart, the solar eclipse on October 14, 2023 falls in its seventh house, only 5 degrees from the Descendant.
So, this eclipse will be very pivotal in Canada’s foreign relations and perhaps its open enemies. Israel is an ally of Canada so I expect Canada will send aid to Israel and generally offer support. However, I think this eclipse might also be very key in the tense relations that Canada has right now with India, and there will be an unfolding of that over the next year and a half with some key developments occurring this month.
Finally, the solar eclipse occurs within 4 degrees of Justin Trudeau’s natal Uranus in the second house, which is in a very close opposition to his Moon in the eighth.
I don’t see the solar eclipse affecting him a lot personally, but might bring about some change to his own finances or resources. Opposing his Moon in the eighth isn’t a great health indication, and might suggest a sudden diagnosis or accident. But overall, I think it will be more about his finances and resources than anything else.
I’ll leave it there because this post is already very long. I wish everyone a safe and healthy eclipse season. If you want to talk about eclipses (or any astrological transits) and how they will affect you personally, book a consultation with me.
For more information on eclipses, please check out my previous blog posts and podcast appearances listed below:
Daytime Darkness: The Astrology of Eclipses
Martial Spring, Venusian Fall: The Astrology of 2023’s Eclipses
Talking Eclipses and 2023 Astrology on Nightbird Radio
Astrological Remediation: Solar and Lunar Eclipse Mitigation