The in-between places are often the most revealing. This week rests between last week’s intense Total Solar Eclipse at 20° Leo—which, for many, stirred unexpected events wherever that degree falls in the chart—and what begins to unfold next during the August 28 Lunar Eclipse (Full Moon). It may offer a small but welcome breather: a chance to exhale after everything that surfaced and left so many feeling worn down. For me, it was literal. I lost my voice and could barely speak for almost a week—an especially strange place to be when you have so much to say but cannot say it aloud. It actually served me personally – because I got much needed rest.
So, what has shifted as we approach next week’s Lunar Eclipse on August 28, 2026, at 5° Pisces? There will be one more eclipse in Pisces and Virgo after that —the final one arrives in late February 2027—so this upcoming eclipse asks us to prepare for the boundaries we may need to set in 2027, streamlining the things in our lives that don’t work for our own personal health and growth. Those boundaries can help us stay aligned with the next goal, rather than being pulled off course by unnecessary drama.
Fortunately, Mars has moved into Cancer, which may feel less anxiety-producing than its recent weeks in Gemini. Venus has also slipped into Libra, one of the signs it rules, and I hope this makes communication more possible between parties at odds. Nothing can move forward when everyone remains fixed in their own corner— one challenge of the North Node moving through Aquarius, which began on July 26.
Years ago, I worked with a brilliant therapist who, noticing my Aquarian energy, gently reminded me that there is often a much larger middle ground than we imagine when we think, work, or respond from extremes. I still remember her bringing her hands together and then slowly separating them to show that spacious “big middle.” As we move toward next week’s less fixed eclipse—Pisces and Virgo are mutable, adaptable signs—it may be possible to repair misunderstandings, miscommunications, or missteps that occurred in the dark shadow of that intense 20° Leo eclipse. In the Sagittarius section of Leo, responses that were too blunt or too direct may have taken a toll.
Two things are worth watching on August 20: transiting Mercury—the planet of communication and the god who moves in and out of the underworld unscathed—crosses last week’s eclipse point. The first planet to cross an eclipse carries that planet’s archetypal energy with it. I find Mercury’s staff, with its two snakes, especially meaningful because, in the Rosicrucian image, they represent both peace and commerce. Mercury remains neutral as the messenger, and when we choose to open a dialogue, everyone has the potential to benefit. But that requires choosing dialogue over the comfort of staying fixed in opposing corners. As humans, we have a choice: do we want to keep our connections healthy? If so, it takes effort—and above all, listening—which is an important challenge of Saturn transiting Aries.
Less evolved Aries energy does not always listen easily, and with Saturn in Aries for another two years, the lesson is clear: listen more deeply, process fully, and then choose a constructive, strategic response to any challenge. Look at your own Mars and consider how you might strengthen its power by practicing exactly that. I’ll speak more about this in my Rulership lecture at UAC in Chicago this September. My best to you all.
Keep an eye out here on the website: the 2027 Starcycles Cheat Sheet is nearly ready and should be released any week now, along with a short newsletter announcing it. I’m happily surprised that we finished it ahead of mid-September, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it over the past twenty years.
