Eclipse Season Is Coming And It's Crazier Than Mercury Retrograde

Sunday, July 23 was the new moon in Leo, which initiated us all into eclipse season. Eclipse season means that on Aug. 7, we'll have a full moon eclipse in Aquarius followed by another new moon in Leo on Aug. 21, which will happen on the eve of the solar eclipse. If this all sounds like a bunch of witchcraft, let me translate: We are all about to undergo a courageous life change, somehow related to the changes we went through in Feb. 2017.

"Eclipse season" is really just what astrologers call it when we have more than one eclipse within a month, and this one has two. Eclipses always bring about a major life change, for better or worse. You can think of it like the unclogging of a drain; your life is drained of the things that are keeping it from moving forward, and sometimes this feels good, but other times it's just messy and uncomfortable. Not only are there two eclipses this month, but they're happening while mercury retrogrades on Aug. 12.

While mercury retrograde can be a pain in the ass for us all, with two eclipses in one month, you'll barely notice the effect of mercury on your schedule and communication.

The New Moon: July 23

While it's already passed, you might have noticed that around Sunday your mind was set on formulating goals that could enhance your life. These goals may have been extremely Leo-themed, built around our romantic life, creative endeavors, and on building our confidence in ourselves.

It's appropriate to use this time leading up to the full moon lunar eclipse to improve those areas of our lives. It's time to awaken our personal power and find ways to creatively express ourselves that we can be proud of.

Nobody, not even you, has fully grasped how infinitely powerful you are. Now is the time to realize it, to go inward and remember all you have forgotten about what an incredibly powerful being you are.

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipse In Aquarius: Aug. 7

The full moon on Aug. 7 asks us to take the goals we've been formulating and put them into action. However, the fact that this is also a lunar eclipse suggests that there is a chance this won't be easy. Eclipses are a time when we either willingly let go of something in our lives, or when something is taken from us, in order to help us along in our spiritual growth.

This lunar eclipse is in Aquarius, an innovative sign that learns the rules of an institution or society so that it can eventually break them. So, depending on the area of life this is happening in in your natal chart, there is a chance that you may have to make the decision to let go of some socially "acceptable" behavior in order to set yourself free.

There is usually some focus on a relationship when the lunar eclipse occurs, even if the changes it brings about are centered in your career or finances. It's the moon, and the moon rules over our closest relationships.

Perhaps you feel stuck in an office job that you feel restricted in, but it's the career you parents would have wanted for you. If you have felt unable to leave that job you may be laid off, or you might suddenly find the courage to leave it and pursue what you really want for yourself, even if you don't know what that is. This is the kind of change that an eclipse can bring out in people's lives.

The New Moon in Leo, Aug. 21

The second new moon in Leo is happening on the solar eclipse. Solar eclipses are known for removing the familiar, the safe, the status quo -- although only temporarily (because everything is temporary). This encourages us to consider ways and means of getting what we want that we might not explore otherwise, and since the eclipse is happening on the new moon, it's advantageous.

Although we might feel as if our lives are going through the wash and dry cycle, rest assured that all this change is contributing to major growth and expansion in the areas of your life that are being affected. Now is the time to make plans to jump into the unfamiliar, to dig deep and find the courage in your heart to boldly go where you haven't gone before.

Think of this time as a goal setting session, a reset after the life-changing events that came around the lunar eclipse. You've got to take inventory of where you are now and adjust your goals, and you might find you're free to set them a little higher now that the eclipse has shifted the circumstances in your life.

While eclipse season can feel like a cosmic gut-punch, knocking the wind out of us a little bit, it gives us the push we need to follow the voice we all have within.

The voice that tells you you can do more, be more than you are right now. It's saying you have more to offer to yourself and to the world, if only you would act like it.