Eclipses Are Lunations on Steroids
A solar eclipse is a New Moon that lines up tightly with one of the Moon's nodes, blocking the Sun. A lunar eclipse is a Full Moon that lines up with a node, falling into Earth's shadow. The astronomy is straightforward; the astrology is that eclipses carry the themes of a lunation but with a multi-month, sometimes multi-year, after-tail.
Where a regular Full Moon's influence fades in three days, an eclipse's effects can ripple for six months — the full cycle until the next eclipse season. This is why eclipse degrees in your chart matter more than ordinary lunation degrees.
The Four Eclipse Types
- Total Solar Eclipse — Moon fully blocks the Sun for observers on the path of totality. Astrologically the heaviest type; major chapters end and begin.
- Annular Solar Eclipse — Moon is too far from Earth to fully cover the Sun; leaves a ring of Sun visible. Slightly softer than total but still significant.
- Partial Solar Eclipse — Moon covers part of the Sun. Lighter influence; about half the weight of a total.
- Total Lunar Eclipse (also called Blood Moon) — full Moon passes entirely through Earth's umbra. Cathartic, revelatory; what's been hidden surfaces.
- Partial / Penumbral Lunar Eclipse — Moon passes through part of Earth's shadow. Subtler; the penumbral type is barely visible to the naked eye.
How to Read an Eclipse on Your Chart
- House first. The house tells you where the eclipse lands. A 10th-house eclipse shakes career; a 4th-house eclipse shakes home and roots.
- Activation (within 8°) second. If the eclipse degree is within 8° of one of your natal planets, that planet's themes go on a six-month rewrite. We use a wider orb than ordinary lunations because eclipses simply pack more weight.
- Solar vs lunar third. Solar eclipses tend to mark beginnings; lunar eclipses tend to mark endings and completions.
- Eclipse families fourth. Eclipses come in pairs (one solar + one lunar per "eclipse season") and these arrive twice a year, ~6 months apart. The two eclipses in a season often work together as a setup-and-payoff.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Tools
- Full Moon Transit Calculator → — every ordinary New and Full Moon in the year (eclipses are a subset of those).
- Full Transit Chart Calculator →
- Monthly Transit Calendar →