Eclipses are the one astrological event that reliably makes the news. A few times a year, the headlines announce one, social media fills with warnings, and people who never think about the Moon suddenly have strong opinions about it. The honest answer to "what does this eclipse mean for me?" is usually a question in return: where does it fall in your chart?

An eclipse happens at a particular degree of the zodiac. If that degree sits on one of your planets, it is personal. If it sits fifteen degrees away from anything of yours, it is someone else's eclipse, and you are free to simply enjoy the view. Our eclipse report is built around that distinction, and it adds a second point the birth chart does not show on its own: the Moon you were born under.

What an eclipse is

Twice a month the Sun and the Moon line up: at the New Moon, when they are together, and at the Full Moon, when they are opposite. Most of the time the Moon passes a little above or below the Sun's path, and nothing dramatic happens. But the Moon's orbit crosses the Sun's path at two points, the lunar nodes, and when a New or Full Moon falls close to one of them, the shadows line up too.

A solar eclipse is a New Moon near a node: the Moon passes in front of the Sun. It can be total, annular (a ring of Sun around the Moon), hybrid or partial. A lunar eclipse is a Full Moon near a node: the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon. It can be total, partial or penumbral, the faintest kind.

Because the nodes move slowly, eclipses come in seasons about every six months, often a solar and a lunar eclipse about two weeks apart. In astrology, an eclipse is read as a lunation with extra weight: a New or Full Moon that matters more than the others.

The Moon you were born under

Before you were born, there was a last New Moon or Full Moon, whichever came later. Astrologers call it the prenatal syzygy, or the prenatal lunation. It is one of the oldest points in astrology: Ptolemy used it, long before charts looked the way they do today. The idea is simple. The lunar cycle that began, or peaked, at that moment was still running when you took your first breath, so the degree where it happened is treated as a sensitive point in your chart for the whole of your life.

When the prenatal lunation was an eclipse, people often call it the prenatal eclipse, but the point is the same either way: the last New or Full Moon before birth.

Our report finds it from a minute-by-minute ephemeris and gives you whether it was a New or a Full Moon, the date, how many days before your birth it happened, and its sign and degree. With a birth time, it also gives the house it falls in. For a New Moon, the degree is where the Sun and Moon met; for a Full Moon, it is the Moon's degree.

Then it checks whether any of your planets sits on that degree, or directly opposite it, within three degrees. That is where the prenatal lunation speaks loudest. Imagine someone born four days after a New Moon at 18 degrees of Taurus, with natal Venus at 17 degrees of Taurus. Their Venus sits on the lunation they were born under, and an astrologer would read Venus as central to that life: values, affection, beauty and what the person is willing to work for. Many charts have no planet on the prenatal degree, and that is ordinary. The degree is still sensitive; it is simply quieter until something in the sky comes back to it.

The eclipses ahead, and which are yours

The second part of the report lists the coming eclipses, the next eight solar and the next eight lunar, with the date, the kind of eclipse, its sign and degree, the house it falls in if your birth time is known, and its saros.

Above that list, the report picks out the eclipses that land on your chart: those within three degrees of one of your planets from the Sun to Pluto, or your North Node. It checks both the eclipse degree and the point opposite it, because an eclipse sits on an axis. A Full Moon at 20 degrees of Libra falls just as much on a planet at 20 degrees of Aries. Each eclipse shows which of your points it touches, how closely, and whether it is conjunct or opposite.

If no coming eclipse falls within three degrees of anything of yours, the report says so plainly. That is not a disappointment; it means the next eclipse season belongs to other people, and you can watch it without reading anything into it.

What the saros is

Each eclipse belongs to a saros series, a family of eclipses that repeat every 18 years and 11 days, each one shifted a little further along the zodiac. The report shows the series and the eclipse's number within it. Astrologers sometimes compare an eclipse with the one of the same series eighteen years earlier. If you remember what was happening in your life then, it can be an interesting experiment, and occasionally a slightly alarming one.

How to read an eclipse that touches you

Start with what it touches. An eclipse on your Sun is about direction and identity; on your Moon, about home, feelings and needs; on Venus, about relationships and what you value; on Saturn, about responsibilities and structures; on your North Node, about the direction you are growing in.

Then look at the kind. A solar eclipse, a New Moon, is traditionally read as an opening: something begins, or a door appears. A lunar eclipse, a Full Moon, is read as a culmination: something comes to a head, becomes visible or ends. In practice, both usually mark something that was already building rather than starting it from nothing.

Next, the orb. An eclipse within half a degree of a planet is much stronger than one at two and a half degrees. And if your birth time is known, the house tells you which area of life is involved, which is often what decides whether the eclipse is felt at work, at home or in a relationship.

Finally, read eclipses together with the slower techniques: a progression, a return or a slow transit running at the same time is what gives an eclipse something to work on. If you want it all in words, a button asks the AI astrologer to read your prenatal lunation and your eclipses.

What you need

The prenatal lunation needs only your birth date, and the eclipse dates need nothing of yours at all. A birth time adds the houses, and it makes the Moon's position, and so your natal points, more precise. If your chart is set to the sidereal zodiac, the degrees are shown in that zodiac.

As with everything in astrology, an eclipse describes a period, not a verdict. It can bring a matter to a head, but how it resolves is still up to the people involved.

When you are ready, find your prenatal Moon and your eclipses here.

Frequently asked questions

What is the prenatal lunation, or prenatal eclipse?
The last New Moon or Full Moon before your birth. Its degree is treated as a sensitive point for life, and planets or eclipses that later return to it are read as marking important periods.

Does every eclipse affect me?
No. An eclipse becomes personal only where it falls. Our report counts an eclipse as landing on your chart when it is within three degrees of one of your planets or your North Node, either on that degree or opposite it.

What is the difference between a solar and a lunar eclipse in a chart?
A solar eclipse is a New Moon and is read as an opening; a lunar eclipse is a Full Moon and is read as a culmination or an ending. Both usually date something already in motion.

What does saros mean?
A family of eclipses that repeats every 18 years and 11 days. Two eclipses of the same saros, eighteen years apart, are often read together.

Do I need my birth time?
Not for the prenatal lunation or the eclipse dates. You need it to know which house an eclipse falls in, which is often what decides the area of life it touches.