August 2026 comes with 2 powerful eclipses: a total Solar Eclipse in Leo and a Lunar Eclipse in Pisces. The eclipse season is officially ON! 

Eclipse season is – and you can quote Astro Butterfly on this – THE most eventful, life-altering, news-making time of the year. 

And while some eclipses land more personally than others, there’s something about the collective atmosphere they create that we all end up feeling.

There are plenty of metaphors used to describe eclipses – from portals and thresholds to cosmic wild cards.

And while all of these are true, there’s something about the astronomy of eclipses that makes its core purpose clear.

An eclipse is, fundamentally, a reversal.

At a Solar Eclipse, the Moon overtakes the Sun. The day literally turns into night – at least along the path of totality.

At a Lunar Eclipse, the shadow of the Earth falls across the Moon, and the Moon turns red. The dramatic sight is a perfect metaphor for what happens when the Earth principle takes over the Lunar one.

Basically, at any eclipse, what is supposed to happen is overturned, overruled, and rerouted. Something that was not part of the original plan comes in to flip the script.

And while these reversals can look disruptive from ground level, from a larger perspective, they are realignments.

Eclipses are acts of restoration – call them karmic if you like – where things get recalibrated so that what needs to happen, happens.

No wonder eclipse season is so intense. The script changes, and life moves in a direction we may not have chosen – but is nevertheless needed.

In addition to the 2 powerful eclipses this month, August also features high-intensity Mercury and Venus aspects, as well as a rare, supportive Jupiter-Saturn trine at the end of the month.

But let’s take a look at the most important transits of the month:

August 6th, 2026 – Venus Enters Libra

On August 6th, 2026, Venus enters her home sign – and that’s good news, because when Venus is happy, everyone is happy.

This ingress, however, carries extra karmic weight. Venus will retrograde in October in Scorpio, return to Libra later that month, remain there throughout November, and only leave Libra on December 4th.

So pay attention to the themes that emerge around this ingress, because they may be the opening scene of a much longer story. What begins now may return, reverse, complicate itself, and demand a second look later in the year.

August 10-11th, 2026 – Venus And Mercury Activate The Outer Planets

Around August 10th-11th, Venus and Mercury begin firing aspects at the outer planets. This is one of the most astrologically charged clusters of the month!

As a basic astrology rule, the more exact aspects we have packed into a short window, the more eventful the astrology becomes. 

Does it ‘help’ that all of this happens the day before the eclipse? YES, it does.

Just look at the geometry:

• August 10th: Venus trine Pluto
• August 10th: Venus opposite Neptune
• August 11th: Venus trine Uranus
• August 11th: Mercury opposite Pluto
• August 11th: Mercury trine Neptune

Venus and Mercury activate the Uranus-Neptune-Pluto configuration we’ve been talking about since 2025, pulling our personal stories directly into the larger collective plot.

What was previously operating in the background now gets a tag: “Ah. So this is what it’s about”.

August 11th, 2026 – Mars Enters Cancer

On August 11th, 2026, Mars leaves Gemini and enters Cancer, and our actions become more emotionally driven, protective, and connected to safety and belonging.

To understand Mars in Cancer, think of a warrior – Mars – crossed with a crab – Cancer. This is a crab with a hard shell and a soft belly. 

With Mars in Cancer, we take a “crustacean approach”, where we act tough as a defense against the fear that our needs and vulnerabilities might be exploited or used against us.

Mars in Cancer learns to read the room – very quickly – because it understands at a visceral level that there is danger out there. 

Repeated again and again, what began as a defense mechanism becomes street smarts: knowing what to do, who to trust, and how to be in the right place at the right time.

August 12th, 2026 – Total Solar Eclipse In Leo

By far, the August 12th Eclipse is the biggest event of the month.

This is a Total Solar Eclipse at 20° Leo that will flip the script around who we are and what that means in the real world. 

The Sun is our identity, and Leo is also our identity – not the instinctual Aries drive to exist, but the identity we wear on our sleeve: I’m a mother. I’m a doctor. I’m an artist. 

When the lunar principle comes in and overrides the Sun, our conscious identity becomes flooded with unconscious material we were not aware of, had neglected, or had simply decided wasn’t that important.

But when the dam breaks, the dam breaks.

All those buried needs, desires, and truths come rushing through, demanding to be acknowledged.

The Eclipse cracks us open at an identity level, showing us what is crucial for our development and what MUST be integrated so we can become more fully ourselves.

The Solar Eclipse is trine Saturn, supporting long-term growth and giving structure to whatever is trying to emerge.

And there’s further support: Mercury is sextile Uranus, bringing breakthroughs and new perspectives, while Mars is sextile Chiron, giving us the courage to act on what has been exposed.

August 15th, 2026 – Mercury Conjunct Jupiter In Leo

On August 15th, 2026, Mercury is conjunct Jupiter at 10° Leo.

Think of the most confident, funniest podcast host you know – one of those people who can turn a random tangent into a great story and entertain us precisely because they’re a little bit audacious. That’s Mercury conjunct Jupiter in Leo.

And we can all borrow some of that energy. Say it bigger. Pitch the idea. Make the announcement. Tell the story as if it matters. 

Big ideas, bold statements, confident decisions, and a louder public voice can amplify whatever emerged around the Leo Eclipse – giving it words, reach, and an eager audience.

August 17th, 2026 –  Mars Square Neptune

On August 17th, 2026, Mars at 3° Cancer squares Neptune at 3° Aries.

Mars wants to act. Neptune dissolves the map.

When Mars squares Neptune, direction can feel blurred, energy may scatter, and we may struggle to tell whether what we want to do is realistic – or whether we’re picking up noise in the signal. 

Is it intuition? Fear? Wishful thinking? A genuine calling? Under Mars square Neptune, they can all sound suspiciously similar.

The good news is that, on the same day, Mercury trines Saturn and Venus sextiles Jupiter. Mercury-Saturn brings facts, structure, and common sense, while Venus-Jupiter keeps doors open and people on our side.

So yes, there may be fog – but we’re not driving without headlights.

August 21st, 2026 – Venus Opposite Saturn

On August 21st, 2026, Venus at 14° Libra opposes Saturn at 14° Aries. Reality-check time!

Venus asks, “Do I want this?” Saturn asks, “Can this actually work?”

The Venus-Saturn opposition creates a negotiation table between the 2, where we are asked to define the terms and decide what is and isn’t sustainable.

Saturn challenging Venus doesn’t mean the end of romance, money, or all the good things Venus stands for. 

It’s the moment when something moves from being a beautiful possibility – something that “makes us happy” in our imagination – to something that can actually exist in the real world.

August 22nd, 2026 – Sun Enters Virgo

On August 22nd, 2026, the Sun enters Virgo. Happy birthday to all Virgos out there!

Virgo season shifts our attention from the Leo “holiday season” back to work.

And by work, we don’t necessarily mean chores, obligations, or something we’d rather avoid. 

Virgo is the kind of work that makes us focused, productive, and good about ourselves because something is finally getting sorted out.

If Leo creates, Virgo rolls up its sleeves and makes it work.

August 25th, 2026 – Mercury Enters Virgo

On August 25th, 2026, Mercury enters one of its home signs. 

Mercury in Virgo is the only planetary placement where a planet is traditionally considered both in domicile and exaltation.

That should tell us something about how good Mercury feels in Virgo.

So if you have Mercury activities planned for late August and the first half of September – writing, studying, analyzing, or making an important decision – you’re in luck.

2 days later, on August 27th, the Sun conjuncts Mercury at 4° Virgo. This is the Full Moon phase of our current Mercury cycle – the moment when an idea or project that began around the July 12th Mercury cazimi reaches a culmination or becomes fully visible.

This can also bring a major shift in how we understand a situation. The missing piece clicks into place, the facts line up, and suddenly we can see what was right in front of us all along.

August 28th, 2026 – Lunar Eclipse in Pisces

On August 28th, 2026, we have a partial Lunar Eclipse at 4° Pisces. 

This is a Lunar Eclipse – a Full Moon – so it brings something to a culmination. And because it’s a North Node Eclipse, this is not simply about closing an old chapter; it’s about being pulled toward a future we haven’t mapped out yet.

Things might happen unexpectedly – and unexpectedly fast. The Virgo side of the Eclipse is conjunct Mercury, while the entire Eclipse axis squares Uranus. 

“Lady, if I told you, your mind would explode” – said Louis Armstrong, when a woman asked him what he thought about while he was playing his music.

And sometimes our minds need to figuratively explode, because our existing mental framework is exactly what prevents us from seeing what is really going on.

This Lunar Eclipse is not a time for letting-go ceremonies. A North Node Eclipse wants us to say yes to something – a message, a development, a possibility – even if we haven’t figured out the details yet.

This Eclipse is volatile, surprising, liberating – and once the information lands, impossible to un-know.

August 31st, 2026 – Jupiter Trine Saturn

On August 31st, 2026, Jupiter at 13° Leo trines Saturn at 13° Aries. This is one of the most constructive transits of the month – and, dare I say, of the year.

When Jupiter and Saturn – the 2 architects of the social world – agree on something, the rest is logistics. This is one of those rare times when vision and reality simply click.

On a personal level, we have both the confidence AND the discipline to build something lasting. And for once, the world – instead of placing another obstacle in our path – might actually cooperate.

When the vision is sound, the system says YES. When the structure is bulletproof, Jupiter gives us the confidence to take it further.

The result? Not just wishful thinking. Not just grim responsibility. A YES-YES-YES with an actual plan.

August 2026 is quite a month – several reports dedicated to the Eclipse season will follow in the next few days.

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There’s a shift in our lives that happens around 50 that astrology has a very precise name for: the Chiron return. 

The Chiron return arrives right on schedule around age 50-51, although we can begin to feel its approach as early as our mid-40s, with the themes becoming more active in our late 40s as Chiron begins applying to its natal position.

The Chiron return is significant. It happens only once in a lifetime – unless we live to be 100 – and it comes late enough for us to have lived, lost, chosen, failed, loved, survived, and learned who we are…

… but not so late that there is no time left to do something meaningful with that knowing.

What does the Chiron return mean astrologically?

A Chiron return – and any planetary return, for that matter – happens when Chiron has moved through a full cycle of the zodiac and returns to the same position it was at the time of our birth.

For example, if you were born with Chiron at 0° Taurus, and Chiron is now again at 0° Taurus, in the same place it was when you were born, you are having your Chiron return.

Astrologically, a planetary return marks a moment of completion. The planet has moved through the entire zodiac, passed through all our houses, and made aspects to all the planets in our chart. No stone has been left unturned.

By the time a planet returns to its natal position, we are no longer meeting that archetype as beginners. We have lived it from every angle.

We have seen its shadows, its patterns, its gifts, its blind spots, and its unfinished business.

Example: The Saturn Return

Let’s take the example of the more well-known return: the Saturn return. The Saturn return occurs around age 28-29. This is the age when we fully step into adulthood.

This doesn’t mean we’re not adults at 18, or at 21. Technically, legally, socially – yes, we are. By 18, Saturn has already moved through roughly 7-8 houses of our chart, and by 21, through around 8-9 houses. That’s quite a lot of ground.

By then, the home sector may have already been activated. The relationship sector too. Perhaps career. Perhaps family. But not necessarily identity. Not necessarily money. 

So there’s something about Saturn completing the full circle that makes adulthood real in a different way.

By 29, most of us are no longer playing at life. We get serious, take responsibility, make decisions, commit, build, choose a path – or at least come face to face with the consequences of not choosing one.

The same principle applies to the Chiron return.

Chiron Return And Self-Acceptance

Chiron is often associated with healing. Perhaps a better word for Chiron is self-acceptance.

When Chiron comes full circle at 50, we do what the centaur’s body itself suggests: we integrate the seemingly incompatible parts of ourselves into a whole. We begin to accept the totality of who we are, and find self-acceptance. 

Everything before that, perhaps, we can call healing. Or discovery. Or the long, messy process of getting to know ourselves. 

At 50, with the Chiron return, something shifts. It’s not just healing, or “working through our wounds.” It’s something more complete.

We can call it reclamation – recovering a part of ourselves we had disowned.

We can call it reconciliation – accepting a contradiction that cannot be eliminated, and should not be eliminated, because it is the very tension that gives our gift its shape.

Or we can call it expression – finally living, naming, or sharing something that has been contained for years.

This is why, around the Chiron return, many people find that dormant creative, spiritual, or healing gifts begin to awaken. Sometimes this comes through restlessness, longing, grief, or the uncomfortable feeling that the life we built no longer has enough room for who we are becoming.

Other times, it’s less dramatic. We wake up one day and think: “Of course this is who I am. Of course this is what matters. This is what I was circling around all along.”

Chiron Return and Jung’s Individuation

The Chiron return has a strong resonance with what Carl Jung called individuation.

Individuation is the lifelong process of becoming who we really are – not who our parents wanted us to be, not who society rewarded us for becoming, not who we had to become in order to survive, but the person we were always meant to grow into.

In Jung’s view, the first part of life is largely shaped by adaptation. We learn how to function in the world, we respond to expectations, we build an identity, a role, a career, a family, a life.

But the second half of life asks a very different question: Who am I, really?

Not who am I supposed to be, not what gets approval, not what looks good from the outside. But who am I underneath all the adaptation?

The years leading up to the Chiron return – from our mid-40s to around 50 – tend to bring this question into sharper focus, especially around life direction and vocation.

We can think of this as a second midlife crisis, or perhaps more accurately, a mid-vocation crisis.

The classic midlife crisis is more strongly linked to the early 40s, with the Uranus opposition and Neptune square. That period can feel rebellious, disruptive, disorienting. This is when we want freedom, change, and to break out of whatever has become too small.

The Chiron threshold is less “I need to escape this life” and more “I can no longer betray the person I actually am”.

Research on life and career satisfaction shows a common U-curve: satisfaction is often higher when we are young, then declines through our 30s and 40s, often bottoming out somewhere between the mid-40s and early 50s, before rising again. 

This pattern shows up across the socio-economic spectrum – from executives to blue-collar workers to stay-at-home parents.

Chiron Return – I am Who I Am

Astrologically, this aligns with the Chiron cycle. By the time we reach the Chiron return in our early 50s, we have lived enough life to stop fighting ourselves quite so hard.

The things we once tried to fix – “I’m too sensitive,” “I’m too intense,” “I’m too introverted,” “I’m too different,” “I need to become more like this or less like that” – begin to look different.

At the Chiron return, we see ourselves with new eyes: There is actually nothing wrong with me.

I’ve been given this life, this temperament, this wound, this sensitivity, this strange combination of gifts and contradictions – and perhaps the point was never to overcome them, but to live them fully.

There is usually a deep relief that accompanies the Chiron return. Less need to impress, convince – less hunger for status, recognition, or outside validation.

What begins to matter more is how we feel on the inside. Whether our life feels coherent. Whether our choices are aligned with who we actually are. Whether we are finally living in a way that does not require us to abandon ourselves.

If you’re anywhere from your mid-40s to 49, you’re in the anticipatory phase of the Chiron return.

Chiron is just around the corner, and your psyche is already beginning to feel the pull – through restlessness, longing, questions about vocation, and the sense that something in you wants to be lived more fully.

If you’re 50-51, you are in the middle of your Chiron return. This is the threshold itself: the moment when the Chiron story comes full circle and asks to be understood, accepted, and lived in a new way.

Chiron Return Webinar – August 2nd, 2026

If you’d like to learn more about this important transit, Caro from Astro Butterfly School is hosting a live webinar on the Chiron return on August 2nd, 2026, at noon ET.

You can join us until August 2nd, 11:59 AM ET at the link below:

–> [August 2nd] Chiron Return 90-minute Webinar

PS: If you can’t join live, the webinar recording will become available shortly after.

On July 29th, 2026, we have a Full Moon at 6° Aquarius. The Full Moon is conjunct Pluto, and it’s opposite Jupiter. 

The Full Moon in Aquarius activates the Cradle “everything-at-4-degrees” configuration that peaked in July and got all astrologers excited about. 

Although Jupiter has since moved to 6° Leo, the Cradle involving Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto is still very much active.

And it’s the actual Full Moon in Aquarius that adds the personal element to it. 

Without the Sun and the Moon, without personal planets, the Cradle remains an abstract, collective dream.

Full Moon In Aquarius – When The Cradle Hits The Fan

The Full Moon in Aquarius takes the Cradle out of the ephemeris and brings it into our lives.

What makes it relatable – what makes someone say “ah – THIS is what this is about” is the Full Moon. 

Because:

No personal planets = nothing is personal. Personal planets = things become personal. 

The Moon is at 6° Aquarius – joining Pluto at 4° Aquarius. The Sun is at 6° Leo – joining Jupiter at 6° Leo. 

Until now, the Cradle has been a pattern in the sky – promising, but difficult to grasp. At the Full Moon, it hits the fan – it enters our relationships, decisions, and circumstances. What was collective becomes personal. 

What does this mean? 

Of course, different things to different people. The same aspect hits our charts in different ways, depending on our natal houses, whether or not we have planets around the Full Moon degrees, and whatever else happens in our life. 

For some, a change at home. For others, a career opportunity. Or a discussion that reveals an unconscious pattern running behind the scenes for decades. Whatever it is – it IS significant.

There’s a potency to this Full Moon that gets right in our faces. Something WILL show up. A thought, an event, a turning point – something will reveal what this Cradle – what’s going on at the collective level – has to do with us. 

Full Moons have a way of illuminating things. At a Full Moon, what’s been dark and ungraspable becomes visible.

The Full Moon And The Leo-Aquarius Axis

Leo-Aquarius is the ‘what’s my place in the world?’ axis. What makes me unique, and what do I do with it? 

I’m a good singer (the Leo talent). But how does that voice find its place in the world? Do I take my guitar to the local pub? Do I play in a band? In a choir? Do I join an orchestra? Do I teach others how to sing? Do I develop a music app?

In the context of the Cradle, the Full Moon in Aquarius will reveal the role we are being called to play in this new world that is emerging before our eyes.

Full Moon In Aquarius And The Air-Fire Era 

The world is changing, and it’s changing fast. And while we might not see the full extent of it yet, the outer planets lining up tell us that the tectonic plates have already shifted.

Our lives still carry plenty of residue from the Yin-sign era – Pluto in Capricorn, Neptune in Pisces, Uranus in Taurus. The jobs we do, the structures we depend on, our ideas about who we are were shaped by that world.

But since the beginning of this year, the outer planets have crossed the threshold into a new world – and we have crossed with them. Pluto is now in Aquarius. Neptune, in Aries. Uranus, in Gemini. 

We feel it in our bones – that there’s something out there, something else, that awaits. That the person we have been is no longer the person who can carry us into tomorrow.

And the more aware we become of this shift, the less we try to cling to the past, and the more say we have in what happens next.

Full Moons are the ultimate revelation transits. At the peak of the cycle, the Full Moon takes whatever has been developing and spells it out for us. 

And our job is to see what is being revealed. To recognize it instead of deflecting or doubting. And then take that first step that sets us on a new trajectory.

Full Moon In Aquarius – A child Born Of An Eggshell

The Sabian symbol of the Full Moon couldn’t have been more revealing:

“A child born of an eggshell” 

Not from a womb – from an egg. This child is not born into an existing lineage, with an inherited identity and a ready-made place in the world. It hatches as something unprecedented.

This is not about becoming a better-adjusted version of who we have been. It’s about breaking out of the shell of family scripts, social conditioning, and identities designed for a world that no longer exists.

The child is not here to continue the family business. It is born equipped for what comes next.

The Cradle has set things in a new direction. At the Full Moon, the egg cracks – and something new walks out.

On July 27th, 2026, the Lunar Nodes change signs – the North Node enters Aquarius, and the South Node enters Leo. The Nodes will stay in Leo and Aquarius until March 27, 2028.

Nodal shifts are huge because for 18 months at a time, they shift the focus to an entirely different axis of the chart.

We can’t analyze Nodal transits the same way we analyze a Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn – or any other planetary transit for that matter.

Why?

All planets – by default – have a forward motion. The Sun, the Moon, and all the other planets move forward through the zodiac, from Aries to Taurus, Gemini, and so on.

The Lunar Nodes are the only archetypes whose default motion through the zodiac is backward.

In the past 18 months, they have been in Pisces and Virgo and now that they have reached 0° Pisces and Virgo, they will move to 29 ° Aquarius and Leo. What is otherwise an anaretic degree (29°) for any other planet is the very point of entry for the Lunar Nodes.

What does this mean in practice? 

Think of all the planets moving around the Sun as a movie that develops scene by scene. The character goes through a series of experiences and transformations as they move from one stage to another. Everything flows in the same direction as time itself – forward. 

The Lunar Nodes- The Karmic Editing Mechanism

But then come the Nodes. The Nodes move backward – against time, against the natural progression of the story – as if reviewing the footage from a higher vantage point.

They look for continuity errors: places where the character – the identity we have developed – no longer matches the direction in which life is trying to move.

The South Node reveals what has become repetitive, overdeveloped, or no longer necessary. The North Node introduces the missing piece – the unfamiliar quality that must now be developed for the story to continue.

The Lunar Nodes work together as a karmic editing mechanism, continuously readjusting our identity so that who we have become remains aligned with who we are becoming.

While in Pisces and Virgo, the Lunar Nodes have been reviewing and editing that part of our lives ruled by the Virgo-Pisces axis. 

At a mundane level, they have reviewed and recalibrated everything that has been set in motion by Saturn in Pisces (2023-2026) and Neptune in Pisces (2011-2026).

Now, in Aquarius and Leo, the focus shifts to the changes set in motion by Pluto in Aquarius and Jupiter in Leo – and to the negotiation between our individual identity and the collective systems we belong to.

The Leo-Aquarius Axis

In our natal chart, the Leo-Aquarius axis is a pair of houses – with or without planets – that are locked in dialogue with each other.

If you have a Leo rising, for example, that’s your 1st and 7th house of me vs others. If you have a Taurus rising, that’s the 4th and 10th houses of family vs work.

The Nodes don’t work in isolation. Unlike a regular planetary transit – let’s say Saturn – which focuses on a specific area of life, the Nodes come as a pair and work through dynamic polarities.

It’s not only “me” or “relationships”.  –> it’s how relationships impact me, and how my identity impacts my relationships. 

It’s a higher-order, identity-level adjustment that works in the deeper layers of our psyche. Unlike regular planetary transits, Nodal transits may be less conscious as they unfold, but the transformation they produce is more lasting.

If the Nodes activate your 4th-10th house axis, it’s not as simple as “focus on your family,” “buy a new home,” or “change your career” –> it’s about how these 2 areas, linked by design, influence and readjust each other. 

Maybe the promotion doesn’t just change your career – it changes what “home” needs to look like to support it, and what you’re finally willing to ask for there. Or the shift at home doesn’t just change your family – it changes what you’re able to bring to work, and what you stop tolerating there.

One house moves, and the other reorganizes around it. 

The Lunar Nodes – The Original Opposition

With the Nodal pair, it’s not one house or the other. It’s not even both together. It’s the relationship between them, reconfigured – and that changes everything we thought we knew.

Since the Lunar Nodes are opposite by design, Nodal transits act like an opposition. Even if you don’t have any planetary opposition in your natal chart, you have the Lunar Nodes – and that’s that one opposition we all have. 

An opposition reveals something we were completely blind to – something we may have never considered, simply because, as individuals, we naturally experience life from a “me” perspective.

But the opposition reflects the “me” back to us. From this witnessing perspective, we can finally see ourselves – and the situation – for what they really are.

Back in the day, people didn’t have mirrors. And if they didn’t live near water, they had no idea what they looked like. Imagine their surprise when they saw their reflection for the first time. The person staring back at them was indeed themselves – a face that had been theirs all along, and a stranger, in the same instant.

These are the type of revelations Lunar Nodes – and especially Eclipses, which are the peak points of the Nodal transits – bring. 

Nodal transits don’t “turn our lives upside down” in a way that adds something that wasn’t there before. They simply reveal the truth, the full picture of a situation.

Their Nodal axis gift is the missing perspective. Things finally make sense because we can see the whole story.

Coming back to our movie metaphor, with the character – us – moving through different scenes and stages of development, Nodal transits are that moment when the editor says: “Wait a minute. When I look at this from this vantage point, this no longer makes sense – THIS is what needs to happen next”.

The Lunar Nodes are this continuous adjustment mechanism.

Whether we look at it as some form of divine intervention OR as our own awareness reaching a new level of clarity, the result is the same: a more conscious, authentic, and aligned relationship with the part of ourselves – or the area of our life – that the Nodes activate.

The Lunar Nodes, Jupiter In Leo, Pluto In Aquarius

From a mundane perspective, this Lunar Nodes shift will move our collective attention from Virgo-Pisces axis themes to Leo-Aquarius axis themes. 

In Leo and Aquarius, the Nodes won’t operate in isolation. With Jupiter in Leo and Pluto in Aquarius, 2026-2027 will place a huge spotlight on the tension between the individual (Leo) and the collective (Aquarius).

Until now, Pluto in Aquarius has been doing this work on its own – operating in the background and slowly reshaping systems. 

With the North Node joining in, the Aquarius agenda moves from a background process to a collective imperative: an explosion of everything Aquarius stands for – the intensification of systems, group-centered consciousness, technology, and AI.

At the same time, Jupiter and the South Node in Leo will make the individual stand their ground: “Wait a minute – in the midst of all this, what is left of me? Who am I? What about my identity is non-negotiable?”

South Node And Jupiter In Leo – WHY Am I? 

Jupiter in Leo is Zeus – the king of all gods – and he will not concede his throne lightly. As far as mythology goes, Zeus is still the top dog, so his encounter with the South Node – and the South Node’s mandate to distill everything to its essence – may bring us to a clearer understanding of why we are here.

Not “who am I?” in the simplistic sense of a collection of skills, interests, and hobbies, but WHY am I? What is my unique value proposition? Why am I here?

Under the Jupiter-South Node conjunction, Leo is stripped of the performance, the applause, and the compulsion to be #1. What remains is its real power: the creative fire only authentic Leo can bring to Aquarius – and to the future it is meant to serve.

The most important transits of this 18-month Nodal passage are the South Node-Jupiter conjunct and the North-Node-Pluto conjunction:

• April 23rd, 2027 – South Node conjunct Jupiter at 17° Leo
• November 16th, 2027 – North Node conjunct Pluto at 4° Aquarius

Eclipses Dates, Types And Degrees 2026-2028

And here are 9 eclipses while the True Nodes are in Aquarius and Leo:

• August 12, 2026 – Total Solar Eclipse at 20° Leo
• August 28, 2026 – Partial Lunar Eclipse at 4° Pisces
• February 6, 2027 – Annular Solar Eclipse at 17° Aquarius 
• February 20, 2027 – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse at 2° Virgo
• July 18, 2027 – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse at 25° Capricorn
• August 2, 2027 – Total Solar Eclipse at 9° Leo
• August 17, 2027 – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse at 24° Aquarius
• January 11–12, 2028 – Partial Lunar Eclipse at 21° Cancer
• January 26, 2028 – Annular Solar Eclipse at 6° Aquarius

If you have planets or angles within 2-3° of any of these eclipse degrees, the particular eclipse(s) will be particularly relevant for you. 

Even if you don’t, each eclipse season will still find you – through the breakthroughs, events, and developments that will take you – by choice, by carrot, or by stick – a step closer to the person you’re meant to be and to the life you’re born to be living. 

One way to think of eclipses: each eclipse is another cut in the footage – another moment the editor stops the tape and says: look again. 

And if you watch closely enough, across these 18 months, every eclipse will bend the story in a slightly different direction – away from a plot that has become too small for its protagonist.

The Lunar Nodes Ingress – There WILL Be Signs

To tune into this Nodal ingress, pay attention to what shifts around July 27-28, 2026, when the Nodes enter the new signs.

At a new ingress, the shift may come from within, or it may arrive through news and external developments that open a new path. Sometimes the change in direction is immediate and unmistakable; other times, more subtle. Either way, if you pay attention, you will know. 

A detailed report about the total solar eclipse on August 12th, 2026 – the 1st eclipse with the Nodes in the new signs – will follow closer to the date. 

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At the end of June, we had 2 important ingresses: Chiron moved into Taurus, and Jupiter into Leo. 

Early this month, the 2 formed an exact square, triggering some of our deepest vulnerabilities around rejection, visibility, and the fear of not being accepted for who we are.

What gives this transit its unique flavor is that both planets have just entered new signs. Chiron hasn’t been in Taurus for more than 4 decades. Jupiter hasn’t been in Leo since 2015. 

So this is not just another Jupiter-Chiron square. These 2 ingresses have shifted us into a completely new reality – one that, for many of us, is a total first. 

To understand what makes this Jupiter-Chiron square unique, let’s get back to what Taurus and Leo stand for. 

Taurus Vs Leo

Taurus is the intelligence of the body – discerning what feels safe, nourishing, real, and right – and what’s not. 

Chiron in Taurus has the mandate to restore our somatic intelligence – what the body knows before the mind comes up with an explanation – our ability to feel what’s good for us and what’s not, to sense our boundaries, and to feel good in ourselves without needing validation or external confirmation.

Leo energy is different. It’s not the primal, early, instinctual knowing of Taurus. Leo follows Gemini, the mind, and Cancer, the emotions. So by the time we get to Leo, we have moved through all 4 elements and have developed a more rounded sense of self.

Leo is the developmental process where we learn to stand as individuals and be seen. 

Jupiter in Leo then interprets the body’s truth through a big identity story: What does this mean about me? Who I am, how I am seen, and what’s expected of me? 

And this is where the Chiron square creates the pressure point: “Will I still be seen, loved, respected, and wanted if I follow my body’s truth?”

Leo is ruled by the Sun, the largest body in our solar system by an order of magnitude. We cannot not see the Sun. The Sun is simply there, impossible to ignore, beaming its light and heat.

That’s why for people with Leo placements, being seen for who they are is at the very core of their experience. Not for ego strokes, contrary to some stereotypes. Not for applause. But for the experience of being witnessed.

The Leo Wound

Leo, the fixed fire sign, cannot help but radiate energy. So being allowed to express its fire as it is, without containment or apology, is one of its core needs.

But what happens when that radiance, that pure expression of one’s energy, is not witnessed? Or when it’s questioned?

This is terrifying not necessarily because of the rejection itself, but because it touches the very core of Leo’s identity.

You don’t witness me, so I don’t exist. My heat is not welcome – even if I can’t help but radiate it. If I am not witnessed, if I am turned down, then who am I?

So when Chiron in Taurus exposes our raw body truth, it also exposes the deepest Leo vulnerabilities:

Not feeling seen or appreciated.

Feeling that our sovereignty is questioned.

Feeling that our boundaries are crossed or not treated with respect.

The more Chiron takes us into this vulnerable, no-outcome-guarantee excavation, the more it can trigger Leo’s fear of identity collapse. We may see rejection where there is none, or experience rejection – real or imagined – as a direct ego death.

Jupiter In Leo Square Chiron In Taurus

Chiron in Taurus challenges Jupiter in Leo narratives. Everything we thought we knew about our identity, about who we are, and about what makes us valuable may suddenly be questioned.

As a response to the tension, the tendency can be to retreat, to manufacture worst-case scenarios, to save face, or to act distant in advance, in an unconscious effort to re-establish control.

“I didn’t want this anyway”. “I don’t care”. 

But Chiron’s invitation is not to avoid vulnerability. The reason that deep, underlying wound was triggered was for a very specific reason. 

The power of the Sun is not that it shines all the time – at least not from our geocentric perspective on Earth. 

The Sun gives us heat during the day, and then retreats under the horizon so we can embody, integrate, and rest during the night.

A key lesson for Sun-ruled Leo is learning how to set with grace. To be okay with the fact that its radiant heat, while life-giving and impossible to live without, is not needed all the time.

This means being okay not being the #1 person all the time. Not being seen all the time. Not being needed all the time.

This doesn’t make us less of who we are. On the contrary. It can take away the pressure to perform, the pressure to always be on, the pressure to constantly prove our light.

When we learn to take a back seat and slide into the underworld, anonymous and unseen, it can feel incredibly vulnerable. 

But that’s exactly what helps us relax into being – becoming more, not less, of who we are.

Chiron And Vulnerability

Vulnerability feels scary, especially for a fixed sign like Leo, where consistency is so central.

But vulnerability serves a purpose. Vulnerability is what we feel when the old identity no longer fits, but the new one has not stabilized yet.

It is the part of us that steps into something before the mind has figured out the plan. At some level, we already know that there is “more” out there. 

We don’t know exactly what – hence the vulnerability. But the longing has been awakened, and this makes the old reality impossible to sustain.

Vulnerability requires being a little less sparkly, less polished – and more raw in the truth of the present moment, whatever that is.

Even if it makes us feel smaller, even if it appears to dim our light, even if the outcome is completely unknown. 

We don’t have to always provide. Always be the one others count on. Always be the generous one. It’s ok to pause. The world will not only survive without us – it may also learn to do its own share.

Jupiter Square Chiron – When Truth Triggers Rejection

This vulnerability has a distinct Chiron in Taurus flavor: what actually feels right, right now? What makes my body say yes? Say no? What makes me feel safe? Unsafe? 

These are the types of questions we may have forgotten to ask. Because the pressure to perform a version of life that kept us seen, approved of, or needed also meant that we had to check out from our own somatic intelligence.

Since Chiron entered Taurus, the longing to reconnect with our body, our senses, and our sense of safety, to what feels right, has become increasingly difficult to ignore.

Yet at the same time, because Jupiter in Leo squares this process, we are asked to hold an uncomfortable dilemma.

The longing has been unmistakably awakened – but so have our deepest feelings of insecurity and rejection.

It’s like: “Ah, that’s what feels right” but at the same time “The world is rejecting my newfound truth” – so that truth, while real, also feels inappropriate, inconvenient, or not even possible.

Jupiter Square Chiron – The Story Behind The Discomfort

The invitation with all Jupiter hard aspects is to see the story behind the discomfort. 

Jupiter, the first social planet, is the planet of beliefs – which is really the type of narratives we’ve been brought into – the culture of the time, the customs, the social codes, the unwritten and written laws of what’s right and what’s wrong.

Unlike Mercury, which reads reality in real time through direct observation and individual mental processing, Jupiter is the overarching story we have already been brought into.

The story we may not even be aware of – the story we may have never considered questioning, because it was there from the very beginning.

So when Chiron in Taurus comes with the longing to be more of ourselves, to lean more into what feels right, the Jupiter in Leo story automatically kicks into gear.

Why it’s inappropriate. Why it’s too much. Why it won’t be accepted. Why it will cost us love, approval, visibility, or belonging.

Remember, we are talking about a Jupiter-Chiron square – not a supportive aspect like a trine or a sextile.

But the gift of the square lies exactly in the dissonance it creates. Yes, the discomfort comes. The rejection. The feeling of exposure. The feeling it’s something wrong, that we’re doing something wrong. 

But that is precisely the tension that forces us to look at the story underneath it:

• What if the discomfort is not proof that something is wrong, but proof that an old story is being exposed?
• What if the answer is not to fix the vulnerability, but to stay with it long enough for the body to tell us what is true?
• What if we can trust our inner knowing before we know where it will lead?

The invitation of Jupiter square Chiron is to let the old story crack open, so a deeper truth can finally be felt, trusted, and lived.

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What a month July is! 

Opening with a lightning-bolt Mars-Uranus conjunction and ending with a high-stakes Lunar Nodes ingression, the most striking signature of the month is the outer planets’ synchronization at 4 degrees in their signs.

Even for skeptics, with all the outer planets (+ Jupiter) aligned at the same degree – 4° – this cannot not feel like highly orchestrated cosmic choreography. This is so rare that I don’t recall anything like this happening before, at least not since I’ve been tracking transits.

Now – does that mean something significant will happen in everyone’s lives? Not necessarily. Or better said, not in a way that will be immediately clear to us.

Slow-moving planets are the architects behind the scenes. They dictate the larger trends, set the foundations, and prepare the conditions for what’s eventually going to emerge.

But the key word is “architects”.

Before a building becomes visible, it is designed and engineered in abstract form. So what is being set in motion now is, by no means, insignificant. Quite the opposite. It may be incredibly significant  BUT not in ways that will be completely obvious to every single one of us.

That is, unless your chart is particularly activated by this 4-degree geometry.

Then, you will know. And if that’s you, we’d love to hear from you – leave a comment and tell us what’s unfolding. 

July 4th, 2026 – Mars Conjunct Uranus 

On July 4th, 2026, Mars and Uranus meet at 3° Gemini. This is our first Mars-Uranus conjunction in Gemini since Uranus entered the sign. 

Our minds are literally short-circuited with the new possibilities Uranus has awakened since it ingressed into Gemini. 

Mars conjunct Uranus in Gemini is a signature of breakthrough and clarity. However, our mind might still struggle to accept the information download because it is so far outside the normal script.

This conjunction is also important because it activates the outer planetary alignment – the 4-degree Cradle configuration that unfolds mid-month. Once the possibility is ignited in the mind, everything that follows is the domino effect of that first spark.

July 9th, 2026 – Venus Enters Virgo

On July 9th, 2026, Venus enters Virgo and immediately conjuncts the North Node, now in its last stretch of the sign.

This ingress might come with a final recognition of what actually matters to us – not just in a superficial “I like this”, but in the sense of a deeper calling of the soul.

For the rest of the transit, Venus in Virgo will do what she knows best: refine, improve, attune to the physical world, take care of the seemingly small but “make all the difference” details, and just be the high-discernment, low-tolerance-for-nonsense goddess that she is.

July 13, 2026 – Mercury Conjunct Sun In Cancer

On July 13th, Mercury is conjunct the Sun at 20° Cancer. When Mercury retrograde conjuncts the Sun (a cazimi), we have the initiation of a brand-new 4-month Mercury cycle.

All new Mercury cycles are important, but this one feels particularly significant since it also coincides with the New Moon – so we have 2 brand-new synodic cycles beginning almost at the same time, joining forces for a major personal reset in the Cancer area of our chart.

For some of us, this might speak to literal Cancer themes like home, family, belonging, roots, or emotional safety. For others, the reset will be more specific to the house Cancer rules in the natal chart.

July 14th, 2026 – New Moon In Cancer

On July 14th, 2026, we have a New Moon at 21° Cancer conjunct Mercury retrograde. The New Moon invites us to plunge into the deepest waters of our inner world. 

Occurring just after the new Mercury cycle, New Moon in Cancer initiates a reset that begins with listening more closely to what our inner world has been trying to tell us.

July 15th-July 25th, 2026 – Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Jupiter 4° Activation

Between July 15th and July 25th, all the outer planets and Jupiter align at 4° of their signs. 

Aries, Gemini, Leo and Aquarius are all shaking hands, plotting their agenda for the next – maybe decades? – of our collective reality.

• On July 15th, Uranus sextiles Neptune at 4° Gemini/Aries
• On July 18th, Uranus trines Pluto at 4° Gemini/Aquarius
• On July 20th, Jupiter trines Neptune at 4° Leo/Aries
• On July 20th, Jupiter opposes Pluto at 4° Leo/Aquarius
• On July 21st, Jupiter sextiles Uranus at 4° Leo/Gemini
• On July 25th, Neptune sextiles Pluto at 4° Aries/Aquarius

Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Pluto form a Cradle configuration, which means that 4 successive same-polarity signs draw the focus to one part of the chart. 

While these planets will activate different houses depending on our own natal configuration, at a mundane level, Aries, Gemini, Leo and Aquarius are all outward-moving, self-defining signs. The focus now is on building a type of life that feeds who we really are deep inside.

The missing yang signs – Libra, with its partnership focus, and Sagittarius, with its social rules, beliefs and larger vision – will have to adapt to what’s emerging from this powerhouse of individuality, creativity, and future-oriented will.

A detailed report about the Cradle and the 4-degree activation will follow closer to the date.

July 22nd, 2026 – Sun Enters Leo

On July 22nd, the Sun enters Leo. Happy b-day to all Leos out there! The holidays and fun season can officially start now.

Leo, ruled by the Sun, is the heart – what makes us feel alive. And while we usually associate Leo with fun, leisure and play, Leo can also be the entrepreneurial passion that keeps us 16 hours in front of the computer. 

What Leo really needs is to feel ALIVE, and whatever it is that makes us feel alive is invited into the spotlight during this time of the year.

July 23rd, 2026 – Mercury Goes Direct

On July 23rd, Mercury goes direct at 16° Cancer.

The Mercury retrograde confusion is officially over on July 23rd, when Mercury completes its 3-times-a-year rumination phase. 

In Cancer, the scope of the review has been our emotional undercurrents – helping us face the realities of our inner world, our family patterns, and attachments. The assessment is now complete. You now know what you need to do. 

July 27th, 2026 – North Node Enters Leo, South Node Enters Aquarius 

On July 27th, the Lunar Nodes change signs – the North Node enters Leo, and the South Node enters Aquarius. 

Nodal shifts are huge because they shift the evolutionary focus to an entirely different axis of the chart.

The Nodes are where the collective compass tends to gravitate at any given time – not in the in-your-face way that a Saturn or Uranus transit operates, but more like a vortex that restructures our identities, clears karmic entanglements, and helps us align with our true path.

If in the past 18 months the focus was on the Virgo/Pisces area of our chart, now the focus will gravitate around the Leo/Aquarius polarity. 

July 29th, 2026 – Full Moon in Aquarius 

On July 29th, we have a Full Moon at 6° Aquarius. This is a powerhouse Full Moon conjunct Pluto and opposite Jupiter in Leo.

The writing is on the wall, and you are being officially warned: at the Full Moon, things will burst out of whatever pressure cooker has been containing them.

Fortunately, the Full Moon also trines Uranus, so the release might be surprisingly liberating.

A detailed report about this supercharged Full Moon will follow closer to the date.

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On June 29th, 2026, we have a Full Moon at 8° Capricorn.

Capricorn is the point of no return: “I am in, or I am out.” Capricorn locks action into the future through long-lasting commitments and personal responsibility. 

The Full Moon in Capricorn activates the solstice, Cancer/Capricorn axis. This is where the Sun tips the balance toward either more daylight or more darkness. Nature itself crosses a threshold that cannot be undone – it’s nature’s own point of no return.

This is the “there’s-no-coming-back” shift that demands total course commitment – not only an internal commitment, but one that becomes visible in the choices we make and the life we build.

The Full Moon in Capricorn is square Neptune and Saturn in Aries.

That new personal dream that was initiated back in February with the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at 0° Aries is now stress-tested by the “go big or go home” Capricorn lunation.

What are we going to do about it, like in the real world? 

When something really matters to us, there’s no “I’m 50% there.” Not “I’m 90%,” and not even “99%.” It’s either 100% or nothing. Capricorn knows that extraordinary outcomes don’t come from partial commitment. They come from crossing the line where there is no longer a way back.

You either push your limits to achieve something extraordinary, or you fail entirely with no middle ground.

That being said, the Full Moon in Capricorn is not designed to provide the final solution to the “go big or go home” riddle.

Why? 

Because Mercury goes retrograde in Cancer just before the Full Moon. Jupiter leaves Cancer to enter Leo just after the Full Moon. There’s a lot of shifting going on, and the full picture is simply not there yet.

Timing-wise, the Full Moon sits at the inflection point between Mercury retrograde and Jupiter’s ingress into Leo. The role of the Full Moon is not to find the solution or take the concrete action – but to commit to the vision.

Do you go big? Or do you go home? 

The Full Moon asks us to make up our mind. 

However, this doesn’t mean everything has to happen at once. There’s going to be a staged process:

With Jupiter’s ingress into Leo, the drive to go big becomes irresistibly compelling. When Zeus, the king of all gods, enters the sign of sovereign self-expression, we begin to build a picture of the future that feels fully authentic and aligned with our true nature.

BUT – and this might sound counterintuitive – before going big, we’ll have to go home first.

Mercury going retrograde in Cancer suggests there’s still inner clarity that needs to emerge, details to address, and corrections to be put in place.

Fortunately, the sequence of these succedent transits gives us a clear framework and timeline:

–> Status quo (Saturn conjunct Neptune in Aries): What dream or personal vision was ignited back in February with the Saturn-Neptune conjunction? What do you really want your life to look like?

–> Reality (Full Moon in Capricorn, June 29-30): What commitment do you need to make to move toward that vision?

–> Preparation (Mercury retrograde, June 29-July 14): What loops need to be closed? What needs to be adjusted? What emotional clarity needs to be reached so you can prepare the field?

–> Alignment (Jupiter in Leo, July 2026 onwards): That’s when we step into the new territory. When Jupiter eventually trines Neptune and Saturn in Aries, your vision will receive a cosmic green light to come alive.

In this cosmic sequence, the Full Moon in Capricorn doesn’t ask us to have everything figured out – it asks us to decide whether we’re in or out.

The details can wait; the commitment cannot.

Commit first. Go home and prepare. Then go big.

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The body knows long before the mind understands.

We were born with an inner barometer that tells us, through the body, what is good for us and what isn’t. Most of us have simply forgotten how to read it.

That inner barometer – call it sensing, instinct, deeper knowing, – is the ‘front line’ of truth, and everything builds on it.

Ignore it, and our whole life becomes a lie.

Chiron’s ingress into Taurus on June 19th, 2026, opens the door to restoring it.

With Chiron in Taurus, there’s no more hiding, distracting ourselves, or keeping busy. The time has come to finally come to terms with that part of us that is Taurus.

In a way, we HAVE to do it. We have no choice. In the past 7 years, Uranus has been savaging the Taurus area of our chart, sending electric shocks through it, burning it down, pulling the ground beneath our feet.

Whether our mind agrees with this or not (yet), we needed this shakeup. Like everything that is alive, Taurus cannot survive on stagnation.

Uranus left us with the ashes – and this is from where Chiron is taking over.

Chiron orbits closer to the Sun than Uranus – which makes its energy more accessible to us. Not easy, but workable.

Where Uranus overwhelms, Chiron can actually be met and worked with.

Chiron’s orbit takes around 50 years, which means its return arrives just after the midlife transits – at the point in life when we’re finally ready to face what it asks of us. Something fundamental becomes available to shift.

It makes sense if we look at Chiron’s symbolism: half-horse and half-man, half-animal and half-god, Chiron represents the ongoing process of making nature and consciousness work together.

Without Chiron, we can only live half lives and half truths. Chiron pushes our buttons – he’s called the Wounded Healer, after all – so that we finally address what we’ve been avoiding. The result is not ‘healing’ in a therapeutic sense, but alignment. Restoration. Evolutionary relief.

So how will Chiron express itself during its upcoming 7-year stay in Taurus?

First, this is a rare transit – not the kind we get every other year, where we have the luxury to try and learn.

The last time Chiron was in Taurus was around 50 years ago, from 1976 to 1983. Some of us might remember it, but most of us were either too young or not yet born.

And what is rare is significant. Unless we live for another 50 years, we won’t get another opportunity to heal that part of us that is Taurus.

If there is one thing that the world – and every one of us – desperately needs right now, it’s healing the animal within us.

The Taurus wound is the exile from the body, from the knowing, from the primal trust that it’s safe to be here.

When that primal trust is broken – through early experiences of scarcity, conditional love, having to earn our place, being too much or not enough – the body stops feeling safe – and the knowing goes offline.

When the knowing goes offline, we end up not fully living – running on autopilot, going through the motions.

When Taurus knowing is restored, we just KNOW what is good for us, what makes sense, and what helps us grow. We make good choices. And then all the things we normally associate Taurus with – self-worth, pleasure, money, productivity – follow downstream from there.

Restoring Taurus can be an almost impossible task – that is, if we approach it with psychologizing, affirmations, emotional processing, or in any other non-Taurean way.

OR it can be the most natural thing in the world – if we approach it the way Taurus itself works.

“Chiron in Taurus – Healing Worth, Money, and What Matters” is the framework for restoring our Taurus function.

Here are the details:

→ Chiron in Taurus – Healing Worth, Money, and What Matters

On June 12th, 2026, Uranus exactly squares the Nodal axis. 

While this aspect might easily get overlooked in an already eventful June – with Venus conjunct Jupiter, and both Chiron and Jupiter changing signs – it might actually be the big elephant in the room. 

When a planet is square the Nodal axis – which means it is simultaneously square the North Node and the South Node – astrologers call it a “skipped step”.

The Skipped Step

The skipped step is usually understood as unresolved developmental material from the past that needs to be addressed before a person can fully move forward.

“Unresolved” here is not to be confused with feeling stuck. Instead, it points to a dynamic where the conflict of the nodal opposition gets resolved through an outlet (the planet squaring it).

Just like in a T-square, we can look at the planet that squares the Nodes as the outside catalyst that resolves the tension of the opposition.

Oppositions and squares, while both classified as “hard aspects,” have very different functions.

An opposition is a “number 2” aspect – it divides the circle in 2: either, or. It’s internal, a constant pendulum between options. The tension is never resolved because this tension is exactly what makes the opposition an opposition: “either, or” – “this or that.”

The square, instead, is a “number 4” aspect – it divides the circle by 4, and 4 is the number of matter. This is why squares make things happen. They bring matters into the material world. 

So in a T-square, or a skipped-step type of dynamic, the planet that squares the opposition axis acts as the catalyst that makes things happen (like for real, in the 3D world). It’s like a fuse that suddenly goes off – and the tension of the opposition is finally addressed.

And this reframe of the square invites a slightly different way of thinking about the skipped step itself. 

Perhaps we’ve been taking the skipped step metaphor too seriously – but not literally enough.

And perhaps the easiest way to understand a skipped step is through an actual skipped step.

When you skip a step and stumble upon something, the script gets interrupted.

The skipped step not as something you’ve missed. But literally, as what happens when something occurs on the outside – the square – that resolves the problem of the opposition.

The Skipped Step And Snow White

And this takes us to the Snow White fairytale. 

Snow White grows up under the shadow of a jealous stepmother, the Queen. Unable to reconcile with the passing of her own beauty, the Queen poisons Snow White with an apple, sending her into a death-like sleep.

We could go on and on about the rich symbolism of this fairytale – from the mother-daughter dynamics and the little-discussed jealousy that can coexist with love, yet still poison the next generation with the regret of one’s own unfulfilled potential.

If we look at it through the lens of the Lunar Nodes, the poisoned apple becomes the generational heritage (this could include past-life content if we choose to look at the Nodes this way) that someone is born into.

We all have a North Node and a South Node – this is the one aspect, the one opposition, that regardless of the rest of the natal chart, everyone is born with.

We are all born into some sort of story, heritage, or unprocessed material (South Node) which exists in polarity with our North Node – a symbol of future directions and possibilities. 

The past and the future are continuously renegotiated, but unless a planet comes to activate this axis, nothing happens.

Uranus Square The Lunar Nodes – The Skipped Step

When Uranus squares the Nodes, something will happen. 

It might come as an accident, an unforeseen circumstance, a coincidence, or an unexpected development that somehow changes the trajectory of the story.

In Snow White, one of the prince’s servants skips a step while carrying Snow White’s coffin.

–> The jolt causes the piece of poisoned apple lodged in Snow White’s throat to get expelled. The poison leaves her body, she comes to life, and the spell is broken.

This was not something that Snow White, the prince, or anyone else in the story “did.” It was not some sort of reward for hard work.

It was an accident. A skipped step. An interruption of the script. The servant literally skipped a step. And the problem of the Nodal axis got resolved.

The skipped step is not the problem. It is the solution. 

Uranus square the Nodes is the catalyst that interrupts the looping narrative – and in doing so, frees it.

With Uranus squaring the Nodal axis, nothing “causes” the awakening in a linear sense. Instead, there is a sudden disruption of the existing situation. An unexpected event. A break in the pattern. 

If we look back at our lives, many of our most life-changing moments were not planned or ‘worked through’. They happened by chance – or by what later felt like the mysterious pull of fate.

And while this transit may not require us to ‘do more’, it does require recognition.

What first appears as an interruption may in fact be the thing that resolves a tension that could not otherwise be resolved.

Sometimes the solution to a an “either, or” is not to take another step. Sometimes the solution is to skip a step. 

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