It's eclipse season. What are you ready to release?

Oh hi.

I know that common wisdom is to just pick up and get going without calling attention to or explaining my absence, but I just can’t be wise in this case.

As many long-time readers know, 2023 was a super disruptive year for me, since both of my parents died—Dad in the beginning of March, and Mom in the middle of July. (She always did love the summer.)

Turns out that even when relationships aren’t everything you might have liked them to be, the loss of them can still knock you sideways, and I lost most of last year and half of this year to grief. And I also had a sequence of my own health issues earlier this year that led to surgery to remove my appendix, and a breast biopsy with a “watch and see” result.

Amidst all of it, I got quiet.

Like, really quiet.

I’d love to say that I finally could hear my inner voice and now I’ve got all the answers, but that would be bullshit.

However.

I do know that part of what I need to lean into is working with the natural cycles of things a lot better, which brings me to today’s post about eclipse season.

The Lunar Eclipse in Pisces occurs on September 17, 2024.

Why is this part of a cycle? Because roughly twice a year (and on rare occasions, thrice), we get a pair of eclipses: one is lunar, one is solar. Sometimes the sun goes first, sometimes the moon. And they tend to bring disruption of norms with them.

The first eclipse tells us the theme of what we might be wanting to work on, then there’s about a two-week period for us to do some of that inner work until the second eclipse comes along to close the (metaphorical) gate.

Tomorrow’s eclipse is in Pisces, which is a water sign, meaning that a lot of emotions are probably attached. (And the moon is all about emotions anyhow.) In astrology, Pisces is the twelfth house—the close of the circle, and all about secrets and things that are hidden.

Eclipses can move things out of our lives, so it’s a good time to ask yourself what you are ready to let go of. Maybe it’s time to move on. Or maybe someone or something else is moving on without you, and you will have to adjust/deal with it.

The solar eclipse that is coming on October 2, 2024 is in Libra, which is all about establishing balance. Libra is an air sign, so it impacts thoughts and beliefs, and it is associated with the seventh house of partnerships—it governs all sorts of relationships, whether professional, romantic, or platonic.

Taken together, that means look for possible disruptions in relationships. Maybe it means that things are off at work, or it’s time for you to finally look for that new job you have been pretending not to want (because it takes effort to change). Maybe it’s time to jettison one (or more) of your relationships, or to set boundaries in place, because the way things have been going isn’t working for you.

Since this eclipse is in Pisces, it is an excellent time to start digging through your own closet: getting rid of shame for things in your past, getting support if you need it (in the form of coaching or counseling), unpacking all the thoughts and wishes and fears and feelings that you have stuffed away. It’s time to unpack it all and face it in the light of day, so you can banish what needs to be banish and start to deal with what needs to be dealt with. After all, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

I have created a four-page workbook for you that contains some info on this eclipse season, and that contains four journaling questions to help you deal with the shadowy stuff that you’ve been shoving under your bed or into your closet.

I’d love to know whether the journaling questions resonate for you, so leave me a comment and let me know!