The Solar Eclipse in Aries (20 Apr) steals the show this week. This eclipse not only opens up the first eclipse season of 2023, but it’s also the first Aries eclipse we’ve had since 2015. As with all eclipses, there are three main things to remember:

• They are times of great intensity whether you experience them emotionally, spiritually, physically or mentally 
• They shake things up and instigate great changes in the areas of life indicated by the houses they are activating in your natal chart over an 18 month period
• Anything you do on eclipse days are said to be magnified by 10,000 fold

This year, we have the situation where the eclipses will change signs over the course of the year from the Taurus-Scorpio axis (which it has been in since November 2021) to the signs of Aries-Libra (which it will slowly transition to until March 2025). What this means is that you (and everyone else) will be shifting focus over the course of the year. Think of what the big background story has been for you since November 2021, then consider that this will be gradually phasing out over this year while an emerging new theme comes to your awareness.

This week is a potent week where you will encounter the new emerging theme that will occupy your energy space until March 2025. You may not necessarily identify the new theme this week, but over the next two years, this new focus will become more conscious and consuming in your life. Check out the Aries-Libra houses in your natal chart to see which areas of life this new theme will centre around, or, book in a consult to explore this with me. 

Both eclipses in the new sign of Aries (occurring 20 Apr) and Libra (14 Oct) will be Solar Eclipses – meaning that they are powerful New Moons. These eclipses will have more of an inward energy as the light draws into darkness and we’re called to come back into our own internal centre. So this week, it’s important to set aside the day of the eclipse to (preferably) be by yourself and to put your spiritual / self care practices / wellbeing first as a priority. Using this day to consciously enter into this potent portal can help you to channel these intense energies into a constructive contemplation of the emerging new chapter of life, with all of its challenges and potentials. 

What houses and life areas do Aries and Libra occupy in your chart? Have you avoided or repressed anything related to this area of life? If so, these are likely to come up over the next two years. It’s common to pick up on unfinished business in the areas that eclipses are activating, especially if there’s a connection to events from around nine years prior. Often we change perspectives and take an opposite direction. For example, if Aries rules your 4th house of home you may feel a growing push to pursue personal and private matters such as your home, family and ancestry whereas nine years ago your focus was most likely around public life matters such as career, status and worldly pursuits.

If you were born in 1986 or 1987, the eclipse this week will be especially significant for you because you’ll be going through your Nodal Return. Same goes if you were born in 1967-1969 and 1949-1951. These are powerful times of reconnection with your purpose that can often see fated occurrences and strange encounters with other worlds that nudge you towards your true path. During these Nodal Return years, you may find yourselves stretching beyond the limits of what your normal levels of confidence would allow you to do and hence the potential for a step change towards walking your own truth could be achieved.These are times of great reckoning and karmic resonance.

Pluto’s square to the eclipse (20 Apr) affirms the intensity and change-making qualities of this eclipse. Having recently ingressed into a new sign last month is symbolic of an encounter with the new and unknown paradigms of existence. Pluto’s square also introduces themes of loss, decay, control, power, obsession, resourcefulness and personal power into the new eclipse story for the next two years. At the next eclipse in two week’s time, Pluto will be stationing Retrograde and coming back to meet with this week’s Solar Eclipse square again, suggesting that matters raised this week will be continuing under the scrutiny of Pluto’s detailed eye for the entirety of the year.

The day after the eclipse, Mercury will station Retrograde (21 Apr) and encounter the Sun and Moon again as they travel forward and cross paths. On one level, Mercury’s Retrograde suggests an internalisation or coming inward into the self which aligns to the internal nature of a New Moon. It could also suggest a reversal of thought patterns which could see revisions and new considerations take place. Your Mercury and Virgo houses will point to what you might be reversing. Additionally, with the eclipse intensifying the Retrograde Mercury, there’s a high chance that the usual trickster antics and inconveniences of the Mercury Retrograde may be felt more strongly. As usual, those that rush around are most susceptible to these delays and reversals, so another reason to hermit during the eclipse.

If things have felt hectic and busy over the past few weeks for you, there’s a strong possibility that the pace will slow down with Mercury Retrograde and Taurus season commencing by the week’s end. Use the Solar Eclipse this week as your invitation to bunker down and plod along in your own lane.

Support the Interpsycle Observator

I hope you find this information useful for your week ahead. Feel free to share your experiences and observations of the week in the comments below as this will help us bridge our understanding of the macrocosm and the microcosm of our lives.

You can also help support this project by…

• Sharing this article around
• Referring your friends to sign up to this newsletter (Facebook link / Twitter link / Email link), or,
• Booking in your personal session (www.interpsycle.as.me).

See you next Sunday for the next installment of planetary news.

Shu xx