Hi friends.
The much-anticipated Lunar Eclipse in Pisces is here this week, launching us into a September of Chaos… or…. *cough cough*… Divine Realignment.
Eclipses happen a couple of times a year, when the sun, moon and earth align around the Nodes of Fate, which are the points in the Moon's elliptical orbit where it is closest (perigee) and farthest (apogee) from Earth.
Eclipses happen in pairs (or sometimes threesomes), and eclipse seasons are the times of the year leading up to and between the eclilpses. This lunar eclipse is a North Node eclipse, meaning we’re finding a culmination and hungering for something new, and the South Node solar eclipse on September 21 is a time of releasing something that is no longer in alignment with our life path.
For me, the message that is coming through loud and clear for this eclipse season (which really started on the last New Moon in Virgo) is surrender. Release. Allow the universe to work it’s magic.
Ok, sure… but what does that even mean? How does one do that?
For someone raised in a culture where logic is really the only approved way of knowing, it can be difficult to understand the concept of surrender. If we’re only using our logical left-brains to understand the world, surrender is equated with collapse. Giving up. Waving that white flag and admitting you’re a failure.
But when we expand our ways of knowing beyond the left hemisphere of the brain, and allow space (and hell, even reverence) for the creative right brain, for the gut-brain, for the resonant heart… surrender starts to make sense. Surrender starts to feel like the only way to truly evolve. Because in surrendering, we’re loosening the grip of control that our conscious minds crave so badly. So badly, in fact, that our obsession with control leads to co-creating a world that has no room for magic. A world where the outcome is not what we actually want.
To surrender is to listen to the universe.
That’s it. Letting the universe speak to us. And during eclipse season, that’s the ritual.
We spend the majority of our time dancing with the cycles of the moon and the sun focused on conscious manifesting (sun) and emotional attunement (moon). Eclipse season shows us that there is more to the picture than our feelings and thoughts. During eclipse season, our mother Earth makes herself known, and reminds us that we, too, are of the Earth.
We are connected to an interwoven tapestry of evolutionary becoming, rooted in the present moment, the here and now, the dank composted remains of past cycles. During eclipses, Earth subtly nudges “pay attention to me... notice where you have become overly disassociated from the grounded reality of the soil, through both your emotions and your mind.”
Next Sunday, the sun’s light on the full moon will be eclipsed by the shadow of the earth. The moon will be in Pisces, in Human Design Gate 63: The Gate of Doubt/Curiosity and the sun will be in Gate 64: the Gate of Confusion/Imagination.
On a normal full moon, this would be a kind of puzzle-illumination axis. The Sun in 64 (Confusion → Imagination) radiates the raw mystery, the cloud before clarity, and the Moon in 63 (Doubt → Inquiry) reflects back the testing, the frameworks, the pressure to make sense of it all. A full moon here is about weaving together paradox: the mind’s doubt and the imagination’s openness to possibility.
But in a lunar eclipse, the Earth intrudes between the Sun and Moon. Instead of the Moon purely reflecting the Sun’s light, the material body (Earth, representing collective reality, survival needs, form, material reality) interposes.
The shadow of the Earth says: this isn’t just a mystical dialogue, this has consequences in the material realm. In other words: the pressure of doubt (63) isn’t just theoretical or emotional; it’s obscured, and brought into the body and into the earth plane. It becomes less about “Can I see the mystery clearly?” and more about “Can I live with the shadow of not knowing?”
In a lunar eclipse, the earth’s shadow shows up on the moon, blocking the light of the sun, and in a solar eclipse, the moon blocks the rays of the sun from shining. Looked at in this way, I feel like all eclipses are times where the material reality of the earth is in conversation with our closest celestial neighbor, the moon. Our bodies are listening to our emotions more, not just our monkey minds. The channel is open.
Your emotional frequency is your surfboard in the waves of chaos.
When I feel into it, I believe that the only real difference between surrender and collapse is the feeling behind how we enter that state. In a state of collapse or giving up, we carry with us the emotion of defeat, of depression, or of fear. In a state of surrender, we carry with us the emotion of peace, acceptance, and even abundance. This is where we get to have a say- not in the what/why/when/how of conscious planning, but in the emotional frequency that we’re tuning into the rest of the world with.
And since we’re SO used to having our minds in the drivers seat, we need tools to access that emotional knowing, that frequency of acceptance and abundance.
This eclipse falls on my solar return by exact degree and gate (my birthday is September 8/Gate 64), so this eclipse is falling directly across from my sun, blocking the light of my sun, in effect. As a Leo rising, the sun is my chart ruler, so this feels extra potent. I’ll admit that I’ve been feeling a lot of different emotions about this upcoming lunation, including fear and trepidation. I talked to a friend whose sun is in Gate 63 and asked her how she’s feeling about this eclipse on her sun, and she said “nervicited” - an emotion her daughter had described when she was 5. Me too, girl, meee too.
Feeling into the shedding, the need for release, the obscuring of the dynamic interplay between doubt and truth all feels very spot on for the nervicited feeling. We ALL know we’re ready to release something that is holding us back. We all are ready to start planting fresh seeds for a better future. But our pasts hold ways of being that are super comfortable to our well-trained minds, and shedding our skin is not a painless act. It makes logical sense to be afraid right now.
And this is where the tools come in. While I don’t recommend conscious manifestation or ritual during eclipse season, I do recommend finding something that can help you surf any waves of chaos that you encounter this season with confidence, trust, and faith that it’s gonna be ok.
There are many ways to resource ourselves, and now is the time to find one or two things that have worked for you in the past, and use them. Be consistent, and if nothing comes to mind, simply rest more than you normally would. The key here is to stay receptive, stay in beginner’s mind. It could be an embodied practice like tapping, humming, running, or breathwork. It could be a picture of something that brings you peace that you put on your bathroom mirror. It could be a comfort food or drink (ideally of the non-intoxicating variety, but you do you). A good cry or laugh, some solid alone time (Virgo is connected to the Hermit in tarot after all), a kickboxing session…. whatever works for you, just try to stick with it ovsaer the coming weeks.
For me, my chaos-surfboard is a special song that I’ve been playing on repeat and singing along to. (Here’s a wonderful article about the healing power of singing).
I’m Brave, I’m Strong, I Know Where I Belong
My partner is an audio engineer, and he has a recording studio home office in our house. My 6 year-old daughter has always loved to sing, and has recently taken it to the next level. About a month ago, out of nowhere, she put on her coolest rockstar outfit, went into the studio, and proceeded to record a whole album in one take. There were several great tracks, including “Fire it up” and “Love in my body”, but the the hit single (if I had to choose) is called “I’m Brave, I’m Strong, I Know Where I Belong”. It’s a power ballad that has become my anthem when things feel scary, my surfboard for the waves of change.
She gave me permission to share it with you all today. Take a listen if you’re called. She’s a powerful little one.
It might help you enter the field of eclipse season with courage to surrender to the beautiful mysteries of this life, too.
<3 <3 <3
This morning my daughter told me: “All my songs are prayers, mama”. I feel it. They certainly are.
(Also: sending bravery and strength to the flotilla that is embarking on Gaza with supplies during this Pisces Eclipse!)
This Wednesday: Virgo Season Breathwork Journey
If you’d like to learn more about the energies of Virgo season and resource yourself with some embodied breathing, I’m hosting a Virgo Season Workshop & Breathwork Journey this Wednesday at 5pm MST.
In these monthly sessions, we chat for about an hour about the archetype of the season, and then I guide you through a 45-minute conscious-connected revolutionary breathwork session. This week we’re tapping into Virgo’s compassionate sovereignty and service.
(Paid subscribers/ Embody the Revolution members, remember to use code EMBODY for a free ticket).
I was recently listening to my friend Jonathan Koe’s podcast Healing the Spirit, and I loved how he started off with a channeled message first, and then dove into the astro-human design later, so that folks who are not self-proclaimed astrology or human design-nerds could gracefully tap out but still listen to the first part.
Going forward, I’m going to experiment with a channeled forecast for the week ahead, and dive deeper into the specific transits and gates and beyond below the fold of my $8/month paid tier. I love doing these deep dives and hope that those of you will consider supporting my work, as I put a lot of time and energy into these weeklies! <3
This Week in the Wheel of the Year:
MEDICINE WHEEL Direction: WEST
WUXING Element: EARTH
PAGAN Season: LAMMAS/LUGHNASSA
ZODIAC Season: VIRGO (August 22-September 22)
I’CHING Hexagram/HUMAN DESIGN Gate:
Friday, August 29- Wednesday, September 4:
Gate 40: Thunder over Water “Deliverance (Liberation)”, aka the Gate of ALONENESS
Thursday, September 5- Tuesday, September 9:
Gate 64: Fire over Water “Before Completion”, aka the Gate of CONFUSION/IMAGINATION
MOON Phase: Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Pisces (Gate 63: Doubt)
PLANETARY DANCES:
Monday 9/1: Saturn Retrogrades back into Pisces
Tuesday 9/2: Mercury enters Virgo
Wednesday 9/3: Jupiter trine North Node in Pisces
Saturday 9/6: Uranus stations Retrograde in Gemini
Sunday 9/7: ECLIPSE!
The sun moves through the Gate of Aloneness and into the Gate of Confusion/Imagination
Let’s get into the Human Design of the week ahead: The Sovereign (Gate 40: Aloneness) moves into The Imaginal Cell (Gate 64: Confusion/Imagination).
Mon-Thurs: Gate 40 (Aloneness)
Human Design: Located in the Heart Center, Gate 40 is known as the Gate of Aloneness. It carries the theme of needing rest after labor, and the challenge of balancing work with genuine nourishment. It links to Gate 37 to form the Channel of Community, yet on its own it often feels the pull toward solitude. It’s the place where we ask: am I giving from true fullness, or am I drained and overpromising?
Gene Key 40: Richard Rudd describes the Shadow as Exhaustion, the Gift as Resolve, and the Siddhi as Divine Will. This key shows how overwork and striving lead to depletion, but when exhaustion is honored as a teacher, it reveals the deeper strength of aligned willpower — not the will of the ego, but the divine will moving through us.
I Ching Hexagram 40 - Deliverance: The image is of a storm passing and clarity returning. Deliverance comes after tension has been released. Yet it also warns that the relief of freedom is only temporary if one falls back into the old patterns of struggle.
Theme of Gate 40: Rest, relief, and the restoration of authentic giving. A recognition that true resolve does not come from constant labor, but from alignment with something greater.
Friday-Tuesday: Gate 64 (Confusion)
Human Design: Gate 64 sits in the Head Center, the pressure to make sense of overwhelming fragments of thought and experience. Known as the Gate of Confusion, it is not about solving but about sitting in the unfinished, letting images and impressions swirl until clarity arises. It pairs with Gate 47 to form the Channel of Abstraction — the movement from confusion to realization.
Gene Key 64: The Shadow is Confusion, the Gift is Imagination, and the Siddhi is Illumination. Confusion is not a failure; it is a sacred process that disorients the mind in order to open deeper perception. The Gift of Imagination takes the raw fragments and turns them into art, story, and vision. At its highest, the Siddhi of Illumination sees the whole pattern.
I Ching Hexagram 64 — Before Completion: This is the very last hexagram of the I Ching. It speaks of the unfinished nature of existence — the sense that things are always in process, never fully resolved. It advises caution: at the threshold of completion, don’t rush, don’t assume. The story is still unfolding.
Theme of Gate 64: Confusion as the necessary ground for imagination. The unfinished moment that precedes illumination.
The Transition: 40 → 64
As the Sun leaves Gate 40, the lesson of exhaustion and deliverance gives way to the fertile chaos of Gate 64. The Sun moves us from trying to control the body’s limits to confronting the mind’s limits. Here in Virgo season, both gates strip us of ego-driven control. First through exhaustion, then through confusion, until only trust remains.
Some takeaways:
Let exhaustion teach you where you’ve overextended.
Let confusion teach you that clarity cannot be forced.
Trust that both states are sacred thresholds: exhaustion restores resolve, and confusion births imagination.
This movement sets the stage for the 2 September eclipses, where both Doubt (Gate 63, the September 7 lunar eclipse) and embodiment (Gate 46, the Sept. 21 solar eclipse) are obscured. Together, these eclipses remind us that realignment doesn’t come from pushing harder or thinking faster, but from resting, waiting, and trusting the process of becoming.
This Week’s Planetary Dances
This week unfolds like a tide that pulls us backward into the oceans before it sweeps us forward into a brave new future.
On Monday, Sept 1, Saturn retrogrades back into Pisces, reminding us that certain lessons can’t be rushed. Boundaries, discipline, and faith all need to be reworked in the liminal waters of Pisces before Saturn moves into Aries for the next 2 years in February. We are asked to revisit old ground (think March 2023-May 2025) to restructure what has felt too slippery to hold.
By Tuesday, Sept 2, Mercury enters it’s place of home and exaltation, Virgo, and cuts through the haze with sharp mental precision. The mind becomes more exact, words get cleaner and clearer, and the details start to come into full focus again. What Saturn in Pisces unravels, Mercury helps us sort, organize, and articulate.
On Wednesday, Sept 3, Jupiter forms a trine to the North Node in Pisces, offering a surge of grace and expansion. The larger current of destiny comes into view, carrying us toward visions that feel bigger than our immediate frameworks. This is a reminder to trust the dream, even if it isn’t yet rational.
On Saturday, Sept 6, Uranus stations retrograde in Gemini, heading backwards for it’s final hurrah in Taurus. Disruptions to thought, communication, and technology may jolt the system, but the purpose is clear: to shake us out of stale mental loops and into new ways of thinking.
This week’s progression of transits reminds us that real growth come from staying flexible enough to surf any chaos that the eclipses may usher in.
3..2…1… ECLIPSE
Moon in Pisces, Gate 63 | Sun in Virgo, Gate 64
Trine Jupiter in Cancer & Black Moon Lilith in Scorpio
The September 7 lunar eclipse in Pisces forms a network of supportive trines and sextiles that soften its intensity. With the Moon and North Node in Pisces trine Black Moon Lilith in Scorpio, hidden emotions and ancestral shadows surface more easily, offering the chance for honesty and release. A simultaneous trine to Jupiter in Cancer adds a sense of protection and grace, suggesting that even in vulnerability, nourishment and belonging are available.
Meanwhile, both Jupiter and Lilith sextile to the Sun and Mercury in Virgo, giving a grounded outlet: what arises in the shadows can be sorted, articulated, and integrated into clear values and practical choices. Together, these aspects turn the eclipse from a purely destabilizing event into an opportunity for emotional depth, healing, and meaningful reorientation.
This eclipse falls directly on the axis of gates and 63/64. These are the last two hexagrams of the I Ching, spanning the polarity of Doubt and Confusion. Together they hold the archetype of the mind at its limits: the pressure to prove (63) and the swirl of unfinished fragments (64).
In a normal full Moon across 63/64, the Sun’s conscious identity (64) shines the field of possibility through leaning into confusion and imagination, while the Moon reflects the doubt, inquiry, and curiosity of Gate 63. Together, the dialogue is about weaving confusion into imagination and doubt into truth.
But under a lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the two luminaries. The Moon’s light (Gate 63’s doubt/inquiry) is eclipsed by the Earth’s shadow. The material world interrupts the mental pattern. Instead of reflecting clarity, the Moon goes dark.
This eclipse reveals:
The insufficiency of trying to prove your way into trust.
The futility of needing certainty before stepping forward.
The invitation to let imagination (64) lead, while the old structures of doubt dissolve into shadow.
The Earth’s shadow on the Moon humbles the pressure of 63, forcing us to ground into lived faith without asking for proof. Across the sky, the Sun in 64 illuminates the field of confusion, reminding us that imagination and vision are the seeds of what comes next.
You will not find certainty by questioning harder. You will not resolve confusion by analyzing faster. The mind is eclipsed so the heart can trust, the body can lead, and imagination can open the way.
To read my Eclipse Season Horoscopes for your rising sign, click here.
See you on the other side!
xo
Alison
Stay in touch!
Website: Book astrology and human design readings with me at astrosomatics.com
IG: @cyclesoftimepodcast and @astro.somatics ,
Substack: Subscribe at cyclesoftime.substack.com to get the pod in your inbox every Monday.
Current Offerings » »
This Wednesday: Virgo Season Breathwork Journey
If you’d like to learn more about the energies of Virgo season and resource yourself with an embodied breathwork experience, I’m hosting a Virgo Season Workshop & Breathwork Journey this Wednesday at 5pm MST.
In these monthly sessions, we chat for about an hour about the archetype of the season, and then I guide you through a 45-minute conscious-connected revolutionary breathwork session. This week we’re tapping into Virgo’s compassionate sovereignty and service.
(Paid subscribers/ Embody the Revolution members, remember to use code EMBODY for a free ticket).
Virgo Season Guidebook
++ MyVirgo Season Guidebook (a 46 page e-book with journaling prompts and somatic exercises for each week of the next month) available for purchase, so if you’d like to get one for yourself or a friend you can do so on my recently-updated Etsy shop!
OR even better: if you’d like to get one of these workbooks every month (AND get free tickets to my monthly Zodiac Workshops & Breathwork Journeys), join the crew as a paid subscriber here:
Embody the Revolution Membership
Cycles of Time is a labor of love! To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber to the Embody the Revolution membership and get all the goodies listed below.
The Embody the Revolution membership includes:
a detailed guidebook for each Zodiac season delivered to your inbox
a monthly live breathwork journey on Zoom to tap into the energies of the season,
a calendar of all the astrology and human design transits of 2025/2026
access to the chat to ask questions and share in community
To join, click the button below to become a paid subscriber for just $8/month.
