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Interpreting Solar and Lunar Eclipses in Your Birth Chart

solar eclipse

Episode 215 features a recording of a live workshop where astrologers Chris Brennan and Leisa Schaim demonstrate how to interpret the astrological significance of eclipses, based on the houses in which they fall in your birth chart.

This is a recording of a meeting of the Denver Astrology Group that was held on Saturday, July 13, 2019, starting just after 3:00 PM, at the Mercury Cafe in downtown Denver.

For the first 30 minutes or so of the meeting we talked in general about the astrological significance of solar and lunar eclipses, and what they mean symbolically in astrology.

Eventually we transitioned into talking about how to determine what specific eclipses will mean for individuals based on which of the 12 houses they fall in in your birth chart.

During the course of the meeting we took examples from the audience, and audience members shared stories about how past eclipses have worked out in their lives, which helped to clarify how eclipses work in a very practical way.

We focused in particular on how eclipses come in pairs, and highlight a specific axis of houses for about two years. For example, the 1st house/7th house axis, or the 2nd house/8th house axis and so on.

This meeting was timely because it fell in between a solar eclipse in Cancer and a lunar eclipse in Capricorn.

We made a special handout which lists all of the eclipse dates from 1950 through 2030:

Solar and Lunar Eclipse Dates List (PDF)

If you have a good story that you want to share about how an eclipse has worked out for you in the past, please post it in the comments section below!

To support the production of future episodes of the podcast like this one, and get access to some great benefits such as early access to new episodes, consider becoming a patron of The Astrology Podcast on Patreon.

To learn more about the approach to astrology demonstrated in this workshop, sign up for Chris’s online course on ancient astrology.

This episode is available in both audio and video versions below.

Timestamps

Here are some timestamps for topics covered at different points in the episode:

00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:35 Beginning local astrology group meeting
00:05:51 Introducing eclipses and interpretation principles
00:25:56 1st & 7th House
00:44:47 2nd & 8th House
00:58:34 3rd & 9th House
01:11:20 4th & 10th House
01:25:34 5th & 11th House
01:42:02 6th & 12th House
2:00:13 Post-workshop reflections and additional comments

Watch the Video Version of This Episode

Here is the video version of our episode on eclipses:

Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 215 transcript

Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode

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16 comments
  • Hello,

    I am Gemini rising, pisce sun and in my first Saturn return. While I am not so sure how this eclipse is playing out. It was a few difficult days. I have been very hard at work. I took on this job because I wanted to have some stability but I realised it doesn’t suit me at all. I almost don’t care about the money and would be prefer to work less or have more flexible hours. I feel trapped having to be responsible and save money aside etc… and wanting to have more time and a better quality of life. Not action was taken at the moment but I feel like I am in pressure cooker yet the steam cannot be let off.

  • Very interesting about eclipses on the H1/H7 axis representing beginning and closing chapters of our lives.
    I’m Cancer rising and around the time of the recent 10° Cancer solar eclipse, I was waiting for something to happened and nothing did!
    I was kind of mystified, until I looked at your handout and saw that there was an earlier eclipse last January in Capricorn (my 7th house) where I broke up with a business partner and suffered many negative ramifications over a months-long period. So thanks to your talk I realized that the recent solar eclipse season marked its end of focusing on the partner and heralded a new positive focus on myself. Indeed, it was an end of a chapter and new beginning!

    Thanks to you and Leisa for sharing, the talk was very helpful in has made me rethink my approach to interpreting eclipses.

  • Thanks for the awesome podcast on eclipses and how they work! I’ve recently uncovered a bizarre chain of events regarding eclipses and the 6th/12th houses. I’ve got my moon at 24Capricorn in the 6th. We’ve had pets from the 1990s, 5 of them that have died since then. There have been 8 eclipses that have aspected my moon over those years, either by conjunction, opposition or square, and every one of the pets died on a day that a fast moving planet triggered the eclipse degree and therefore also aspected my moon.
    DOG…Solar Eclipse on 7/13/18 at 20Cancer and Lunar Eclipse on 7/16/19 at 24Capricorn. Died on 6/25/19 with transiting Mars at 26Cancer. At his last Vet visit a few days before, where the decision was made to euthanize, Mars was at 22Cancer and Mercury at 24Cancer.
    CAT….Lunar eclipse of 4/15/14 at 25Libra, square my Moon in the 6th. Died 7/29/15 with transiting Mars at 23Cancer, oppose my Moon and square the eclipse point.
    DOG….Solar eclipse 1/15/10 @ 25Cap. Died on 7/16/11 with transiting Sun opposing at 24Cancer. This one was a busy eclipse. I also had major surgery when Mars and Saturn at 21 and 24Libra came around to square my Moon and eclipse point on 8/10/12. My mother also died on 9/1/14 (a blessing) with Venus at 24Leo and transiting Moon at 23Scorpio, altho I’m not sure if this links to her death.
    DOG….Solar eclipse of 10/14/04 @ 21Libra and Lunar eclipse of 10/17/05 @24Aries. Died 6/1/05 with transiting Saturn at 24Cancer squaring eclipse points and opposing natal Moon.
    Dog….total solar eclipse of 7/16/2000 was at 24Capricorn….total solar eclipse of 1/9/01 was at 19Cancer….he died on 9/17/01 with Venus at 25Leo, Sun at 24Virgo, Mercury at 21Libra.
    Oddly enough, this dog was co-owned with my roommate, who has Jupiter in his 6th at 1Libra, and the Solar eclipse of 6//21/01 @0Cancer and the Solar eclipse of 12/25/00 at 4Capricorn were triggered on the day of death by Mars at 4Capricorn.
    The associations with pets and surgery with the 6th are obvious, and also the link to the mother with the Moon…..but I think the 12th house becomes involved with the grief associated with all of this. I still work part time, semi-retired in 2009, but couldn’t recollect much that has to do with my job over those years.

  • That was such a great podcast! I was struggling with whole sign/quadrant systems before looking at eclipses in my life. I’ve been attached to my Placidus chart as it’s so literal but I can’t deny the whole sign works betters for these events.
    In 1999 during the Leo/Aquarius eclipses I came down suddenly with meningococcal septicemia on solstice weekend, I contracted it from a person at work. I was in hospital for 2 months, I died at one point and had a NDE, I remember a lot but apparently I was unconscious. After my NDE I had a miracle kind of recovery. It was a major turning point in my life, changes on the soul level, changes on the personality level. I’m a Virgo rising so that was all in my 12th/6th houses.

  • Scorpio rising here with a set of 3H – 9H examples of eclipses. This year my brother helped me obtain a job editing/translating a book on metaphysical matters. That same brother got engaged this year. One day after the solar eclipse in Cancer, I gave my first paid astrology reading. I have my natal sun, moon, venus, and south node in Cancer in 9H, and my natal neptune, uranus, and north node in Capricorn 3H.

  • This was a great episode. Thanks so much for putting it out! I had a few examples I thought I’d share.

    I’m an Aries rising and in 2015, one month after the lunar eclipse in Aries I met my boyfriend and started dating him after being single for 4 years and we have no been together for going on 4 years.

    The craziest example however is with the current set of eclipses in cancer/capricorn which clearly rule my 4th and 10th houses. I live in a rent control apartment in Venice, CA and my landlord passed away late last year. There was some back and forth between his family on who the building should go to and eventually an attorney took over managing the estate. On the day of the eclipse that just happened (July16th) I got an email stating that they’ve accepted an offer on the building and that it was now in escrow. We’ve since had to let the real estate agents, buyers, and probate attorney’s tour our units and I’m most likely being bought out of my apartment and will most likely need to move before the end of the year. I’m also killing it at work and getting a bunch of praise and recognition for my hard work. It was a job that I struggled intensely with for the first 8 months or so of my new position and I’ve overcome the obstacles and have been increasing revenue by almost 40% etc and getting lots of praise from my bosses.

  • Just wanted to share a Cancer/Capricorn eclipse story as requested on the recent ecilpse podcast. A coworker of mine with Sag rising—so Cancer/Cap are 2nd/8th house for him—was able to retire early this month right during these eclipses. He is a Nurse who has been having increasing problems with a difficult female boss in the past few years, but he was the primary breadwinner and could not just quit. He is very caring and outgoing, and he and his partner had been looking after an elderly neighbor without family of his own and who had been housebound for many years…..cooking meals, shoveling his driveway, caring for him after hospital stays, etc. Jose always refused any payment and never expected anything in return. Well, the neighbor passed away this year right after the eclipse in January, and he left Jose a HUGE amount of money to say “thank you” for the years of kindness and caring they had provided to him. At the same time, his terrible boss made changes in his department and did away with his position entirely. He would have forced to take a big demotion and pay decrease…..but instead, he because of this unexpected inheritance, he was able to work it out so that he could retire early instead!!!! And now he’s planning to do some long wished for traveling and other fun things instead of having to go through the humiliation of a demotion and pay cut right at the end of his career!!! I just LOVE a poetic justice story. I haven’t been able to stop smiling about it!!!

  • Just wanted to share an interesting eclipse example… my daughter-in-law’s mother passed away unexpectedly a week after the July 16 2019 lunar eclipse in Capricorn. This is the first time I have experienced multiple correspondences for an astrological event.
    – Her mother’s Sun was in Capricorn.
    – My daughter-in-law’s whole sign 8th house (death) is Capricorn.
    – My son’s whole sign 7th house (spouse) is Capricorn.
    – My whole sign 5th house (children) is Capricorn.

  • Wanted to share my experience with current Cancer-Capricron eclipse series occuring in my 5th – 11th house (Pisces rising, WS house). My children and friends have been going through prominent and/or heavy experiences since the start of this cycle last year – so it is more external manisfestation in my life.

    5th house Cancer manifestations:
    – my daughter, who is Cancer rising herself, is in the midst of lots of changes as we have had to change her elementary school this time last year, followed up by further changes as we prepare for our move back to the US. On the 2 July eclipse date she sat the assessment exam for the school she would like to go to in New York, and overall she has been in the spotlight with teacher evaluations and all sorts of admin related to finding and getting into schools. Preparing for the move has primarily been about organizing things for her and my other kids so 5th house topics have been highlighted throughout these past 6 months and will continue to dominate until we move later this year.
    – minor thing for me but I also started flower arranging as a hobby in the past 6 months as a way to bring more creativity into my everyday life

    11th house Capricorn
    – Several of my closest friends are going through their Capricorn Saturn returns since 2017, and since the eclipse series last year have either gotten engaged, married, changed jobs, or bought houses. All have prominent capricorn signatures (moon in night charts or rising signs) in addition to Saturn return.
    – My best friend, who has early Capricorn Saturn in her 8th house, copresent with Mars, Uranus, and Neptune is in the middle of divorce that started with the January ecplise. She is in her 8th house profection year, and Saturn also rules her 9th house MC in Aquarius and the divorce was percipitated by changes to both her and her ex-partner’s careers. The nature of the divorce is very much tied in with finances: mortgages, debt, and scholarships. Intense time for her but reflected in my chart as well as she is a very close person in my life.

  • Great topic! The current eclipses are hitting my 3/9 axis. Last week I quit my college writing program job. I am planning to move to Spain in December. It may be a temporary move but I’ll see when I get there. I lived there for many years and left in 2007.

  • I have kind of a sad story about July 2019’s total solar eclipse. It was conjunct my 12 Cancer ascendant and unfortunately saw my ex bf breaking up with me. It’s been a hard 6 months. This upcoming Christmas solar eclipse is exactly conjunct my natal Capricorn North Node in my 7th house and I think I’ve already seen the negative effects it’ll bring. I had two dates this past week with a guy I saw potential with, but whom I also felt was too busy to date me. He ended up saying he indeed was too busy, which has left me feeling kind of down and sad, more than I thought I’d be since I really did see potential with him.

  • In 2013 I met my husband five months after having had the first Scorpio/Taurus pair eclipse and almost a month before the next eclipse. It was all happening in my 1st/7th houses axis.

    This year and in the following years he will have the 1st/7th houses axis activated so I’ll be observing how the eclipses affect him (1st) and me (7th house.) He has a couple of business and investment partners (7th house, others) so those relationships might experience changes too.

    • I thought of something else.

      In the last years my 3rd Capricorn and 9th Cancer houses have been activated.

      My 3rd house ruler (siblings amongst other things) is in the 9th house.

      My brother met and ultimately married a foreign women as a result of the events in his life in the last three years. He is now spending many months a year abroad in her country.

  • I think I have an interesting example. Capricorn Sun in the 2th opposing Cancer Moon in the 8th here. Last spring, I fell in love with this Cancer Sun in the 7th guy, whose birthday is on July 2th, the very day of the solar eclipse on that axis. We had been dating for a couple of months, and he suddenly backed out of the potential relationship (after being quite the lover) approximately a week after the eclipse because he wanted to focus on work, school and he had no time to satisfy what he thought I was expecting of him.

    At the time, I was at a place in my life where I was struggling with a job that I absolutely hated and was keen to entertain a relationship to forget about it. To have a younger Cancer tell my Capricorn ass that he wanted to focus on work instead of love felt like an hilariously cruel cosmic joke. What. The. Hell. That’s usually my line, and it was surreal to hear it from someone younger.

    Long story short, I ended up realizing that I was kind of jealous of him and wanted to go back to school too, ambition I had been shoving away for years because my first student loan took years of my life and left me almost PTSD.

    I applied and everything started to make sense and I’m very excited about it, also very nervous because I’m switching from a 2th house secure salary life to a 8th house student on a loan adventure. Right after I made that decision, things started shaking in my professional life, even though I kept it a secret.

    Two weeks ago, I received a mail from university saying they were looking into submissions and I would get an answer soon. That same day, my boss called me his office and said I was basically laid off because of money after six years of hard labour. The timing was so powerful I almost fell of my chair.

    This story is actually just the beginning of a bigger one and I’m still waiting to see how it will unfold, but there’s no denying the power of an eclipse season!

  • Thank you for this episode! It helped clear up a lot about eclipses for me.

    I’m a Taurus rising, and while listening, I immediately went to check eclipses between Capricorn and Cancer since I have a 5 planet Capricorn stellium. I did find a strong example from July 2009 of the axis activated, which makes some sense to me since there was both a lunar and a solar eclipse that month in Capricorn and Cancer respectively.

    It was the summer after my first year of college, and I had planned to take an extra language class over the summer to get that credit requirement out of the way (9th house Cap). That plan got interrupted, though, when my parents told me that we needed to go to Montana (we lived in Michigan) around the same time. My brother was in treatment for addiction issues, and we were expected to participate in family therapy. I was really angry about it at the time because I felt my life was being interrupted. I also didn’t really understand the full extent of it until we got there because no one had really communicated to me what was going on while I was away at college. (As a side note, Chiron and Jupiter are also in my 3rd House Cancer.)

    Interestingly enough, Cancer is my brother’s Ascendant, which of course was probably affecting his sense of identity at the time. He also ended up in this treatment center because during the Leo/Aquarius eclipse cycle (his 2nd and 8th house), he had been selling drugs (2nd house). He only ended up in treatment instead of jail because our father is a lawyer and was able to negotiate his sentence and pay for the treatment (8th house).

    Thanks again! It was really helpful to hear everyone else’s examples, so I thought I would share mine.

  • This ongoing eclipses in taurus and scorpio has been really life changing for me. I am a Sagittarius rising with a moon/pluto/midheaven conjunction in my twelfth house in scorpio, opposing my part of fortune in taurus. Around the first eclipse date in November 2021 I accidentally came across a tiktokvideo about adhd. Since I deeply related to the symtoms explained in the video I started doing research and ended up going through a diagnostic assessment för adhd. During my first visit they told me that they also wanted to evaluate me for autism which was a big shock to me (I was 33 and had at that time been seeing psychiatrists since I was 13 without anyone picking up on any symtoms of autism). I got diagnosed with both autism and adhd in january 2023 when the north node was conjuncting my IC. Apart from this I’ve been through two depressive episodes last year making me incapable of working. The first episode was around the eclipses in April/may of 2022 and the other one has been ongoing since the eclipse in November 2022. This whole diagnostic journey has also deeply affected my understanding of my family who also exhibit signs of neurodivergence (especially my dad who passed away during my saturn return in Capricorn a couple of years ago).