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By David A. Wheatley https://www.bridges.academy/astrologycorner.html 
In March of this year, there is a penumbral lunar eclipse on March 25th, followed on April 8th by a total solar eclipse. Almost everyone knows how dramatic and awe-inspiring these events can be, whether one has seen them or heard testimonials about them over the centuries from those who have seen them. There were and still are great expectations stemming from the impacts of any eclipse, particularly a total solar eclipse, because of the drama witnessed in the blocking of the Sun by the Moon.
What are the effects of an eclipse on a person's astrological chart? 
Eclipses have always fascinated people because they are spectacular events involving two hugely significant heavenly bodies we live our entire lives with and whom our ancestors revered. These are real events in the sky, with meaning to all cultures, including today in a world where we tend to strip Nature of her magic. We voluntarily give power to eclipses by the awesome respect we hold for them. There’s a lot of excitement around a total eclipse passing over the country one lives in, with the shadow of the Moon passing over and temporarily blotting out the Sun during the day.
Thanks to ancient chroniclers of this phenomenon, there are records of eclipses going back centuries. One of the best and earliest was Confucius, who noted eclipses of his day but also had access to records kept before his time and included these records in his notations. The earliest record in China dates to around 2205 BC. Subsequent records in China and elsewhere suffer an adjustment in the calculation for precision by astronomers on the messy business of old calendars we have to adjust for. The dates that far back are not exactly as given. However, this is not so critical given that modern astrology has been more careful to delve into what an eclipse can potentially stir up in a natal chart.  Sepharial (1864—1929)
A very detailed book by Sepharial, bridging traditional and modern astrology, was written in the early part of the last century and published in 1915: Eclipses Astrologically Considered and Explained.
(At the end of this article you'll find an opportunity to download a free pdf or purchase a copy of the book.) In more recent decades, more astrologers have studied their effects and meaning, but not many. Some astrologers treat them with the same importance as a normal transit by the Sun or Moon. I tend to see them as more important than that, but less dramatic than astrologers of centuries past who expected earthquakes served up for every eclipse.
Mention of eclipses in the Bible, ancient Egypt and the Middle Eastern empires before the modern era also vary in the accuracy of the dates. In more recent centuries using the calendar we are more familiar with, the observations by astronomers and astrologers are more detailed and precise. We shall see though that the effect of an eclipse in a chart is not tied to the date it occurs. An eclipse depends upon a catalyst to release its potency into the mundane world.
The desire to feel a connection to the divine, or at least to phenomenal nature and the universe hidden behind the veil between physical and nonphysical, keeps human beings fascinated with an eclipse. The shadow of the Earth on the Moon or the Moon on the Earth still feels magical, and in those moments of experiencing it, we are transported just a little to something that feels out of this world. We are reminded about the scale of the solar system. More exact = more potent. Subtle energies are laser-like.
The general rule in astrology is for an eclipse to have a meaningful impact in a chart, it must fall precisely on the degree of a natal planet or cluster of planets with a small orb of influence, 2 degrees or less from the exact degree of the planet or point where the eclipse is happening. That’s stretched a little depending on the planets involved in the natal chart, such as a cluster of natal planets within a few degrees or an outer planet in the natal chart. The major outer planets have a huge aura, sometimes spreading to interact with an eclipse over more than 2 degrees, compared to the closer inner planets and their orb of influence, which has to be very tight. The further away within those two to three degrees, the weaker the interaction. A cluster of planets in a natal chart collectively have a wider orb, including abstract points such as the Ascendant or Midheaven. Using a little intuition works to discern if an eclipse is making a close enough contact to stir the pot, but I would recommend being strict about it and considering 2 degrees or less for a conjunction of an eclipse on a natal planet. An eclipse in the physical world is seen as a phenomenon of light and dark, the light of the Sun and the shadows it casts. But the subtle energies involved that we don’t see are more laser-like. The more exact they are by degree, the more potent the effect in a chart, and that effect falls off rapidly when the eclipse degree is a little more than two degrees away.
An eclipse that is conjunct or in opposition to a sensitive point in a chart is the most potent. The effect of any other aspect is weaker, beginning with a square aspect, then even less for the other aspects. But if an eclipse makes a conjunction or opposition to a natal planet or sensitive abstract point and also makes any other aspect (square, sextile, trine, etc.) then they all become more potent. The house position tells a great deal about where the effect will be in life.
An eclipse that makes a conjunction or opposition to any of the outer planets in your natal chart, beginning with Saturn, is making an aspect to a slower-moving planet and thus will impact millions of people who have that slow-moving planet in the same place. Though it may affect people in different houses of their chart and life, the important thing is any astrological event that affects a slow-moving planet and thus affects millions of people or even a generation of people will be an event in the world that affects your personal life. If the eclipse is conjunct or opposed to a natal inner planet, beginning with Jupiter and inward towards the Sun (Mars, Venus, Mercury, Moon), the chances are the impact is more personal and not shared widely. Another key to understanding the impact is to consider the Decan of the sign in which the eclipse occurs.
Each sign has 30 degrees. Each sign is divided into three decans (or decantes), each of ten degrees. Each decan is a mini-sign within a sign. This is a little too hair-splitting, perhaps, but it’s only meant to be a minor spice added to a recipe. The March lunar eclipse is along an axis from around 5 degrees and seven minutes of Aries to 5 degrees of Libra. This is in the first decan of both signs, within the first ten degrees of each. The first decan of each sign is influenced by the same sign as the sign itself. The first ten degrees of Libra is Libra ruled, the second decan of Libra is Aquarius. The third decan of Libra is Gemini, thus Libra has the other two Air signs as decan rulers within it. This same formula applies to all signs, by Element: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. This is an analytical detail; for the eclipses in March, we only need to consider the one that applies, the first decan.
Both upcoming eclipses are in the first decan of Libra or Aries. This makes it more focused as purely a Libra and Aries event. (Had it been in the second decan the eclipse would be in Libra with an Aquarius touch, and Aries with a Leo touch.) Fortunately, for this description, we are looking at an eclipse in Aries and Libra in the first decan with the same sign decan influence. In traditional astrology of centuries past, an eclipse in the first decan of Aries that’s true to the potential of Aries is associated with battles and war. A lot more depends on the transiting planet that will come along and catalyze the degree of the eclipse by conjunction and what that transiting planet brings. Modern astrology doesn’t go to the extreme of literal wars, metaphorical maybe, but it’s one possibility on the spectrum of what Aries nature can produce. If the transiting planet is one of the inner, swifter moving planets, the whole episode of the effect will also come and go in a shorter period of time. If it’s an outer planet like Neptune that catalyzes the energy inherent in the eclipse, it moves along slowly, and the effects will stretch out over a longer period, possibly as much as two years. The lunar eclipse in March is an annular eclipse, not technically a total eclipse. The Sun is in Aries and the Moon is in Libra, 180 degrees away, with planet Earth in between. The solar eclipse is when the Moon has swung around to be in between the Earth and the Sun, hence the Sun and Moon are in the same sign, still in Aries. This is a more intense focus, this time in Aries. The total solar eclipse in April takes place at 4 degrees 28 minutes of Aries, in the first decan of Aries and thus is purely an Aries event. Consider the Catalyst.
The usual thing is to consider the dates of the eclipses as the dates when any related astrological phenomenon will happen. Typically, though, the chemistry of the event is triggered or brought into our lives in events when a catalyst transiting planet conjuncts the degree of the eclipse not just on the day of the eclipse but weeks before or after. Mercury is never very far from the Sun by sign in the daily transits and is often the catalyst. Mercury brings something related to the eclipse into our thinking mind that we will talk about. Venus or Mars are less frequent catalysts and bring their character influence to the manifestation of the eclipse energy. More rare is an outer planet being the catalyst, but if so they make it something we might not recognize right away, perhaps not until months later, because the outer planets are more active behind the veil of daily consciousness, not out front. These energies exist in more than our third-dimension world, though we regard them as an eclipse in the physical world because we see it with physical eyes. Astrology follows the physical planets that indicate where subtle energies we do not see with physical eyes are relating to each other. Observing physical planet movements is the beginning of learning about the hidden meanings they represent. Our daily existence is firmly rooted in the five senses being constantly online and often obscuring more subtle intuitive perceptions. The physical planets make relationships in physical space, and that is what we follow. But they represent energies within the psyche that are not visible. They are other-dimensional. For this reason, because the energies are not strictly limited to physical existence, they can manifest weeks before or after the eclipse actually happens in physical space and time. If for example Mars or Mercury in particular come along and pass over the degree where the eclipse will happen weeks before or after the day of the physical eclipse, they catalyze the qualities of the eclipse in our charts and the effects manifest then because the subtle energetic chemistry of the eclipse is hanging like ripe fruit waiting for the physical dimension to line up and get with it.
These two eclipses are not equal in potency, lunar and solar, but as we should know by now, the impact of something more subtle or less dramatic should not be underestimated, nor should we over-estimate the impact of an event that seems more visibly dramatic, comparing lunar and solar events. The Moon is smaller by far than the Sun but very close to us. The potency of an eclipse depends heavily on the connections made in a natal chart. In this case, these eclipses fall within a degree of each other, simplifying the task of trying to understand the impact. One might as well simply focus on the impact of a power surge on a natal planet’s position and not get hung up on whether it’s a lunar or solar eclipse; both the Sun and Moon are involved each time in a different order of conjunction with Earth. The lunar eclipse takes place along an axis from Aries to Libra, and the more intense laser-like focus of the solar eclipse takes place in one location, more or less the same degree in Libra. But, as it is with any event in a chart, you have to look along the axis at the opposite point in the opposite sign to fully appreciate the importance. Any chart with a planet or abstract point within two degrees of where these eclipses are happening in the zodiac (in Aries or Libra) is going to see the eclipse play out in their life. The eclipse effect is not the same as a major planet’s transit, which proceeds on a mathematically predictable path year in and year out.
First of all, a planetary transit approaches, conjuncts, and departs in general with a gradual increase and decrease of influence. What an eclipse does is more abruptly interrupt the path you felt you were on. It could be a detour off that path to which you will later return altered by the journey of the detour. To you it’s an internal change; to someone looking at you, it was merely a detour and you look the same. Your life may resume the shape it had, but you have changed. This detour can send some people off the path completely, but usually, it is only a detour and does not immediately alter the path.
If exact in your chart, the laser-like potency of a total solar eclipse can spin your head around.
You might find yourself taking a position contrary to your usual behavior that seemed highly unlikely weeks or months before. What comes of this event or experience alters something internally, and that can create new perspectives and new tangents to be taken on the path you were on. Months or years later, one might look back and say how that unplanned detour reshaped an area of life, depending on the house position. You may find yourself going over to the other side of religious, political, philosophical, cultural, economic or sexually established norms for you. While in centuries past, eclipses were associated with earthquakes, we can keep this association but consider it a metaphor. Our lives and our world can experience an earthquake without a tremble in the planet. An eclipse could manifest as a literal earthquake, but more often the earthquake is a metaphor.
In recent weeks a software glitch cut phone service for AT&T customers, on the same day that three extraordinarily strong solar flares erupted. It didn’t matter to the people who lost phone service what the cause was, solar flare or software. At the time of the AT&T failure, the Sun was semi-sextile (mild stress) to the upcoming eclipse degree in Aries, and the planetoid or asteroid Ceres was in Capricorn at the midpoint of the upcoming eclipses - a mild square to the two points at either end of the March lunar eclipse axis in Libra and Aries. Ceres is an Earth mother nature goddess. Generally, she is nurturing and supports all life. In a square, it might be Earth mother goddess with a complaint, discordant with supporting life. The explanation is there was a software problem at AT&T, the service failure was not a result of the three X class solar flares. It’s possible the energetic discord behind the AT&T software issue and the flares are one and the same, registering on the Sun at the same time as impacting AT&T in a software glitch. I am told some phone carriers in Central America also were down at the same time as well. We will have the opportunity to watch in the next few months as the two eclipses are rolled out and whether there are coincidentally solar flares of similar magnitude simultaneous to any astrological event, or software glitches. A major flare such as we had is a tremendous quantity of energy capable of affecting our technology or our brain. The largest of the three flares was an X 6.3. Impact of the eclipses on the US natal chart.
The US natal chart has no natal planets, nor the Sun or Moon, that make conjunction or opposition with the upcoming two eclipses. The eclipses do however make a square to the US natal Venus in the 7th house. This is tension in relations. The 7th house is close partners and relationships, and for the US that would be internal relations as well as with foreign allies. It’s not an intense square because the eclipse makes no conjunctions or oppositions, but it will be a tense period of heightened struggle to work in a constructive way, more businesslike than the usual expectations around Venus. Since everyone understands how business is conducted with more pragmatism than warmth, this is not a difficult square to get through, but it’s a stressful period of walking a fine line with decisions and concessions being made in a businesslike way.
The eclipses make minor connections on the natal chart of Israel.
I say minor in contrast to what broader astrological events are unfolding. What is present in Israel’s chart and ongoing beyond the eclipse season, is a growing opposition from transiting Pluto to Israel’s natal 10th house Moon which culminates in 2025 and lasts two more years. Pluto, the agent of profound transformation as the holder of unconscious material stored forever and behind everything, will oppose and conflict with the established cultural attitudes of the homeland represented by the Moon. Sources of past comfort to the soul are in conflict with evolution. This is a deeply conflicted aspect between the Moon and Pluto, a very deep programming stirred up by the need to meet evolutionary challenges that require regeneration. Almost immediately after this and overlapping with it, transiting Pluto will oppose Israel’s natal 10th house Pluto, a deeper chapter of the same dynamics just mentioned. It is an incredible struggle to keep core old beliefs and habit patterns while adjusting for today's and tomorrow's world.
Transformation must take place; Pluto is calling for it. How does Pluto in transit work? Usually, it grinds down what it touches and then, using the same raw material, it rebuilds over time. Following that, transiting Pluto opposes Israel’s natal Saturn, another version of structural rehab taking place under pressure over several years. For individuals and nations, it is pointless to resist what is being called for when Pluto makes a hard aspect bringing deep fundamental change. It’s more painful to resist. Better to go forward and shape the changes than be shaped by them.
In April, the conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus builds up and comes out suddenly in mid to late April by making a conjunction to Israel's North Nodes in the 7th house. This has great meaning.
The Moon's North Nodes in any chart point to where one's individuality is evolving to. It's a fateful indicator of a destiny one must work towards, around or reject. In the 7th house, this indicator says that relationships are the pivotal area of one's destiny. For Israel, one can easily speculate about relationships not just with the Palestinians but with other nations sharing their neighborhood and with other nations sharing the world, such as the USA. Jupiter always expands how and what one thinks or is thought about, and Uranus flashes into reality something bound up or concealed, blocked out. Why there were obstacles is not the point now; this conjunction suddenly brings something out in the open, perhaps in the form of a major announcement or event that, like a flash of lightning, illuminates the landscape in a new way. Jupiter isn't into acts of terrorism; Uranus would be if combined with Mars and/or Pluto. Jupiter and Uranus do something more like releasing pressure and expanding everything. Suddenly, things happen, or things happen rapidly regarding Israel's relationship with its own integral parts or its neighbors: a new alignment. Jupiter's impacts are impressive, but not without some limits. The North Nodes are an abstract point, not a fixed point in physical space like a planet. The chemistry of late April will expand understanding, formulating something new never seen before. Ideas are also abstract; documents and agreements are abstract ideas shared with hopes for a future relationship. This is likely a key moment for some agreement catching people by surprise, (Uranus). Siblings.
There is no Palestinian state, but there is a Palestinian entity and identity that was created and shares a birth chart with its twin Israel. They were both born by mandate, and whether it was cast in Jerusalem or where it was issued in Algiers, they are twins. They are siblings. Reading the analysis for Israel's chart is very similar for the Palestinian entity, which is not just Gaza but includes it. There's a schism in the twin births of Israel and Palestine, and then again within Palestine and Gaza. Gaza was established in 1948 but, at the time, was presumed to be under the influence of Egypt. A few wars and decades later, the Palestinian Authority began to establish the Gaza Strip as part of a hoped-for future Palestinian territory or, eventually, a nation. This hasn't happened yet; the Palestinian entity is still not fully born. When it is eventually established, which I believe is not soon but is slowly happening now, it will have a new birth chart as a new nation with a new identity.
The abuse suffered by the Jewish people, citizens of Israel, is a healing process struggling to happen just as it would be for siblings who were abused by their parents and then visited abuse upon each other. There is a lot of psychological damage that was done for generations and is being done to all these people in a generational way, as it happens to individual children who suffer abuse from bad parenting and then perpetuate it on their descendants and each other. Astrologically, I look at the chart for Israel and also read a parallel recitation for the Palestinians with their perspectives. There is a Palestinian entity and territory but not yet a nation. It's like they were delayed in being born, so we have a chart that is workable for now, but one day, when they have established themselves as a sovereign nation, it will have a new birth chart. Whether an individual or a collective, the struggle for identity with so much complicated history asks human beings to raise their game to a higher level. The upcoming struggles facing Israel in its chart with huge challenges from Pluto and Saturn to natal positions, especially to that of the natal Moon, are no less intense and wrenching than what their sibling, the Palestinian people, will be struggling with. As it is with individual people, born twins, there are minor differences in erecting a natal chart to distinguish them, but for general commentary, if one were to rely on a natal chart without a birthtime, we would consider the charts of these two entities as close to identical. This is a major reason why it is so tragic that they can't, as siblings should, help each other. Without a doubt I believe they are being forced in the immediate future to work in real terms towards being neighbors, with the status of two nations. As mentioned, the unfolding transits will push them to work together because there is no other choice. As I said above, it is pointless to fight the processes that Pluto insists on. The way to reduce the stress and be constructive is not to resist but to take the reins and try to help the child be born. Impact of the eclipses on Ukraine's natal chart. Astrodienst - chart of Ukraine
In Ukraine’s natal chart there are also no conjunctions or oppositions from the eclipses, but there are a few more positive aspects made by the eclipsing Sun and Moon involving natal Venus, the Sun and Saturn. I expect that they get the economic support they need. Ukraine also has had to face and is currently facing an opposition from transiting Uranus to its natal 9th house Pluto. Jupiter will join Uranus in this opposition in later March or in early April. This feels like a surge from Russia, but it’s also a surge from within Ukraine to meet the 9th house foreign presence represented by Pluto. The foreign actor is forcing Ukraine to change internally.
By late spring, Jupiter begins to square Ukraine’s 7th house (relationships) natal Sun, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter. It’s a square, implying that an abundance of probably vital support is finally coming, though as a square aspect in this case, it might seem like the order is being filled late, a setback. Jupiter also trines Ukraine’s natal 8th house Mars at the same time. Powerful forces and effort are streaming in to add strength to their struggle. Jupiter also makes a trine to natal Uranus and Neptune. This is the turning point for the year. Unfortunately, Jupiter's opposition joining Uranus to oppose natal Pluto in April indicates a Russian surge and setbacks for Ukraine that might have been less costly if they had been resupplied earlier. Impact of the eclipses on Biden’s natal chart.
There’s a conjunction/opposition from these two upcoming eclipses to Biden’s natal Neptune in his 10th house and a trine/sextile to his natal Pluto in his 8th house. The intense impact of the eclipse alters his 10th house of public image. There are both negative and positive in these aspects. He may be regarded increasingly as a wise council for others; that’s an inspiration, but his vitality will likely be drained at least short term, during which he will be seen as the old man he is. He has resources from his 8th house Pluto: investments of experience and energy made over the course of his lifetime which will be called upon to make a wise but difficult choice. While he may suffer a setback the trine/sextile to his natal Pluto suggests he will be able to transform a negative into a positive.
Trump has no relation in his chart to the two eclipses.
What he does have growing throughout 2024, culminating in February of 2025, is transiting Saturn square his natal Sun and Uranus in his 10th house, suggesting to me that the cosmic cop Saturn is increasingly restricting his freedom and tamping down his vitality. Saturn, as the planetary factor that insists on karma being administered, isn’t a positive fit for a man trying to evade the law. That it happens in his 10th house is, unfortunately for him, playing out where everybody can witness it, in public. Transiting Saturn is also trine his natal Saturn and Venus in his 11th house, suggesting he continues to have the support of his core fans. Leading up to May of 2025, Saturn will oppose his natal 12th house Mars and that is confinement, possibly jail time. This would only apply if he is not president or is unable to pardon himself or be excused from legal restraints.
On Vladimir Putin’s natal chart.
There is the possibility of a mild aspect to Putin's natal Moon, but since we do not know his precise birth time, I can’t go there. By the same token, depending on his natal Moon position, he may be having now or soon will be having a transiting Saturn square his natal Moon. Based on his recent several months, I would say it hasn’t happened yet. That would lead to darker feelings of depression than his recent victories in Ukraine. I don’t think the Saturn square to his Moon has happened because he’s been uplifted watching Ukraine's allies in the USA flounder.
In May of 2025, transiting Saturn is square his natal Mars from then into the following year. This will be very frustrating for him. I can’t say more precisely in what area of his life it frustrates him because of the uncertainty of his birth time. Transiting Saturn simultaneously makes inconjunct aspects to his natal Pluto, Sun, Saturn, Mercury and Neptune. This will be when he must make critical decisions and likely will be negotiating and manipulating. His natal chart describes a man capable of charm and deception. A trine to Uranus at that time suggests a wild idea of his, the cat using up another of its nine lives.
Contact David at [email protected] for a personal astrological consultation.
Click here to return to the Astrology Corner index page. Eclipses Astronomically and Astrologically Considered and Explained, by Sepharial
“This little work is designed to instruct the mind as yet unacquainted with the phenomena of eclipses, and to counteract the prejudice which affirms without examination that these phenomena are in no way connected with mundane events. In dealing with my subject I shall have occasion to speak of eclipses of the Sun and Moon not only in their physical causative relations, but also in their symbolical and prognostic relations.” From the Preface, by Sepharial
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