Category: astrology

14 – 20 September 2026

The main planetary picture is this: the Sun is moving through late Virgo, Mercury is in Libra, Venus has just moved into Scorpio, Mars is in Cancer and Jupiter is in Leo. Saturn and Neptune are retrograde in early Aries, Uranus is retrograde in Gemini and Pluto retrograde in Aquarius. This gives a fascinating mixture of practical clearing and deep emotional transformation, while the outer planets are still working backwards through the enormous structural changes of 2026.

The strongest feature at the beginning of the week is Mercury in Libra trining Uranus in Gemini. That is an excellent signature for unexpected information, sudden connections, unusual ideas and seeing a problem from an entirely different angle. But Mercury then moves toward an opposition with Neptune in Aries, so there is also a danger of seeing what is hoped for rather than what is actually there. Venus in Scorpio adds depth and intensity to relationships, money and values, while its developing tension with Pluto can expose what has been hidden underneath apparently settled arrangements.

The Sun also makes a useful sextile to Mars around the middle of the week, giving the new Virgo Moon cycle some practical propulsion. Mars in Cancer makes the action personal: home, family, security, land, belonging and emotional foundations are particularly activated. Jupiter in Leo continues to enlarge questions of creativity, confidence and self-expression.

And there is a beautiful astronomical counterpart. Venus reaches its greatest brilliance around 18 September, making this an unusually conspicuous Venus week in the actual evening sky. The Moon is also moving through the evening sky between 14 and 20 September, providing several close encounters with stars and planets.

So the underlying story for 14–20 September is: the new cycle begins to reveal what it actually wants to become. Information arrives, hidden motivations become harder to ignore, emotional foundations are stirred, and something that was only an intention around the New Moon can begin becoming concrete. It is a transitional week rather than a quiet one, particularly because the following week brings the equinox, when the Sun crosses into Libra and the whole balance of the chart shifts again.

Change is now

Milky Way over mountains with zodiac chart labeling Spica

The week of 31 August to 6 September opens with a striking mixture of consolidation and volatility. Jupiter at about 13° Leo makes an exact trine to retrograde Saturn at 13° Aries on 31 August, a fire trine that can turn vision into structure, while Mars in Cancer squares Saturn on 1 September, bringing the practical consequences of emotional, domestic and environmental pressures sharply into view. At the same time Mars and Uranus are moving through early Gemini territory, with their earlier conjunction still resonating: the nervous system, communications, transport, technology and the movement of information remain highly charged. The Sun moves from Virgo through the first degrees of the sign, Mercury is also in Virgo, Venus moves through late Virgo into Libra, Jupiter remains in Leo, Saturn and Neptune retrograde in Aries, Uranus in Gemini and Pluto retrograde in Aquarius, while the North Node has newly moved into Aquarius and the South Node into Leo.

In Geo-Zenith terms this is the great fire and air pattern meeting Earth and water: Leo wants expression, Aries initiation, Gemini rapid change and Aquarius systemic transformation, but Virgo asks what can actually be repaired, measured and made useful.

Astronomically, the sky reinforces that movement from spectacle towards discernment. Venus is exceptionally bright in the western evening sky and passes within about 2° of Spica, the principal star of Virgo, on 31 August and 1 September, with the closest passage on 2 September. Spica is therefore particularly relevant to the Geo-Zenith reading: traditionally associated with harvest, refinement and the gathering of what has been brought to maturity, it gives this week a very different tone from the fiery Leo eclipse season. The waning Moon moves away from the Pisces eclipse field, reaches Last Quarter on 4 September, and by 6 September begins the next sequence of close encounters with the planets. The deeper message is therefore not another explosion of events but integration: after the extraordinary eclipse and meteor activity of August, the heavens begin asking what remains when the spectacle has passed. Geo-Zenith sees this as a threshold between planetary acceleration and planetary accountability: the future is arriving rapidly, but the work now is to decide which parts of the old system are worth carrying into it.

The way through this configuration is to stop trying to carry the old into the new simply because it is familiar. Emotionally, allow grief, anger and uncertainty to move through without letting them dictate your choices; psychologically, question the patterns, beliefs and loyalties that keep repeating themselves and ask whether they still serve the person you are becoming. Practically, make small deliberate changes in what you buy, build, support, consume and give your time to, because the new is created through repeated action rather than wishful thinking. This is a week for choosing consciously: keep what has life in it, release what has become dead weight, and put your energy where you want the future to grow. Time to act.

The blood moon

Red moon above storm clouds, lightning, mountains, and windblown trees

This lunar eclipse is a remarkable threshold, and the astronomy itself gives it unusual weight. At 06:12 CEST on 28 August, Earth places its shadow across the Full Moon, with about 96 percent of the lunar disc entering the darkest part of Earth’s shadow. In tropical astrology the Moon is at 4°51 Pisces opposite the Sun at 4°51 Virgo, with Mercury close to the Sun and Uranus in Gemini squaring the eclipse axis. Pisces, Virgo and Gemini create a powerful pattern of perception, discernment and information. We are living through an extraordinary flood of information, misinformation, revelations and competing realities, while old explanations are increasingly being challenged. Uranus brings disruption and sudden insight, Pisces asks us to listen beyond the obvious, and Virgo demands that what we perceive is examined carefully.

The eclipsed Moon sits almost exactly upon Fomalhaut, one of the four ancient Royal Stars, associated with the Southern Watcher, vision, spiritual perception and the necessity of distinguishing illumination from illusion. This feels particularly significant now. Human beings are not detached observers of Earth but living systems embedded within its electromagnetic, gravitational and environmental fields, while the planet itself is experiencing extremes of heat, drought, fire and sudden inundation. At the same time, people are questioning old political structures, inherited beliefs and the narrow definitions of what constitutes legitimate knowledge. Pisces represents permeability and sensitivity, Virgo discrimination and Gemini the vast information network through which humanity now communicates. The eclipse therefore asks us not simply to acquire more information, but to become better listeners and more discerning perceivers.

Beyond the visible planets, Pluto in Aquarius continues the transformation of collective power and civilisation, while Haumea brings regeneration, Makemake creation and relationship with the living world, Eris the excluded voice demanding recognition, and distant Gonggong the mythology of water and overturned cosmic order. These long orbital bodies add a remarkable mythological layer to the eclipse. The larger story is one of dissolution and regeneration, ecological consequence, changing power structures and the widening of human perception. This does not require us to abandon science; rather, it asks whether science itself can become sufficiently open to investigate the full range of human experience. We may be approaching a period in which intuition, embodied awareness, subtle perception and forms of consciousness previously dismissed are examined with new seriousness. The eclipse marks the closing of a long Pisces cycle and asks humanity to learn the art of listening: neither believing everything nor dismissing everything, but becoming capable of seeing what is actually there.

After the eclipse

Image from internet – lovely aurora borealis (please tell me who made this)

The eclipse has passed, but the week of 17 to 23 August is not a return to ordinary skies. We are now living in the aftermath of the 12 August Leo solar eclipse, with the newly changed Aquarius–Leo nodal axis still setting the direction and the Sun completing its passage through Leo before entering Virgo on 23 August. Mercury and Jupiter remain together in Leo, carrying forward the great question of the eclipse: what kind of leadership, creativity and collective future are we actually prepared to build? Pluto is retrograde in Aquarius and has now gone out of bounds, adding an unusually powerful, unruly quality to the transformation of collective systems, while Uranus in Gemini continues to break open old assumptions about information, communication and intelligence. The eclipse was the fulcrum; this week begins the process of living with what it revealed. The Perseids are still active until 24 August, although their peak has passed, so Earth is still moving through the debris stream of Swift Tuttle while the sky gradually changes from the darkness of eclipse week towards a waxing Moon.

The physical heavens remain unusually active. A magnetic filament erupted from the Sun on 14 August and launched a CME towards Earth, with models predicting a glancing encounter around 17 August and possible G1 geomagnetic storm conditions; the Met Office likewise expects CME arrival on the 17th, followed from the 18th by coronal hole high speed solar winds. This means the week opens with Earth still inside a disturbed solar environment, with the possibility of auroral activity at northern latitudes as the solar wind changes. Astrologically, the same layering continues: Saturn retrograde in Aries asks us to reconsider what we are building, Neptune retrograde in Aries dissolves old certainties, Pluto retrograde in Aquarius turns the collective transformation inward, and Chiron retrograde in Taurus keeps returning us to the wound of land, resources and physical security. Mars in Cancer brings the question of protection, water, home and nourishment into the foreground. On 17 August Mercury trines Saturn and Venus sextiles Jupiter, offering something the eclipse week lacked: a chance to give the new vision structure, while Venus in Libra seeks cooperation rather than conflict.

Then comes the grounding. The First Quarter Moon arrives on 20 August and passes through Scorpio before moving into Sagittarius, bringing increasing emotional intensity followed by a need to understand the larger picture; on 19–20 August it passes close to Antares, the red heart of Scorpius, while later on 22–23 August it moves through Sagittarius towards the centre of the Milky Way. On 21 August Venus opposes retrograde Saturn, asking what relationships, agreements and values can actually withstand reality, while the Sun approaches the end of Leo and finally enters Virgo on 23 August, bringing the enormous symbolic fire of the eclipse down into practical earthly work. This is the crucial movement now: from revelation to application, from seeing the future to doing something about it. The world may still feel suspended between what is ending and what has not yet fully arrived, but the direction is changing. The eclipse opened the door; this week asks us to walk through it, take stock of what remains, and begin the painstaking work of making the new world habitable.

Scorpio 3 – 9 August 2026

Fiery Scorpio constellation with eclipse Earth Sun background

For Scorpio, the week of 3–9 August 2026 arrives under an intense and volatile sky, with the world reflecting the heat of transformation. Astronomically, the Sun continues through Leo while the Moon moves towards the total solar eclipse of 12 August, building a powerful Sun–Moon–Earth alignment. From a Geo-Zenith perspective, this period highlights pressure points across the planet, with extreme heat, wildfires, environmental disruption and social tensions creating a sense that many systems are being tested. Scorpio’s natural ability to see beneath the surface becomes a valuable strength now, allowing you to recognise hidden motives, overlooked truths and the deeper causes behind visible events.

Astrologically, this is a week for precision rather than force. Scorpio is often associated with power, crisis and regeneration, but the higher expression of this sign is the ability to transform through insight, integrity and courage. As old structures are challenged, you may feel called to stand up for justice, defend what is right and question situations where truth has been obscured. The approaching eclipse asks you to choose your battles wisely: not every conflict requires confrontation, but some principles require a clear and unwavering voice. Your greatest influence comes from knowing exactly when to act and when to allow events to reveal themselves.

Way through: Use your sharp perception with compassion, stand firmly for truth and justice, and let accuracy guide your actions rather than anger or force.

Libra 3 – 9 August 2026

Night sky showing the Libra constellation labeled with star names against a backdrop of stars and the Milky Way

For Libra, the week of 3–9 August 2026 brings a search for equilibrium as the world moves towards the total solar eclipse of 12 August. Astronomically, the Sun continues its journey through Leo while the Moon advances towards its precise alignment with the Sun and Earth, creating a period of increasing celestial focus. From a Geo-Zenith perspective, this eclipse build-up highlights the delicate balance between human activity and planetary systems, with shifting patterns in climate, resources and collective decision-making. Libra, as the sign connected with harmony, justice and relationships, may feel especially aware of where imbalance exists — both in personal life and in the wider world.

Astrologically, this is a week for reassessing partnerships, agreements and the way you create peace without sacrificing your own needs. The approaching eclipse can expose areas where compromise has gone too far or where old expectations no longer fit the future you are moving towards. Libra’s strength is the ability to see different sides, but this period asks for clearer boundaries and more honest choices. True balance is not avoiding conflict; it is finding a fairer structure where everyone has room to grow.

Way through: Create harmony by being truthful about what you need, choosing cooperation over conflict while building a more balanced future.

Leo 3 – 9 August 2026

Leo constellation, burning hillsides, Earth ablaze foreground

For Leo, the week of 3–9 August 2026 arrives under a sky that mirrors your own element: fire, visibility and transformation. Astronomically, the Sun is travelling through Leo while the Moon moves steadily towards the total solar eclipse of 12 August, creating a powerful Sun–Moon–Earth alignment that has been observed by cultures for thousands of years. Across the planet, heat extremes, wildfires, political tensions and environmental pressures create a backdrop of instability, while from a Geo-Zenith perspective the eclipse build-up highlights Earth systems that are already under strain. Astrologers often associate Leo periods with leadership, authority and the question of how power is used, and this week asks whether leaders respond from ego or from responsibility.

Astrologically, Leo is being called to embody the higher expression of the sign: courage without domination, confidence without arrogance, and visibility used for the benefit of others. The approaching eclipse suggests that old forms of leadership and recognition are being challenged, both personally and collectively. You may feel a stronger urge to act, speak out or create change, but the most effective Leo influence comes through inspiring rather than controlling. This is a time to protect your energy, channel passion into constructive action, and remember that true leadership is measured by what it nurtures, not what it conquers.

Way through: Stand calmly in your power, use your fire to illuminate rather than burn, and lead by creating hope, courage and practical solutions for those around you.

Cancer 3 – 9 August 2026

Cancer constellation overlay with labeled stars and solar eclipse in night sky

For Cancer, the week of 3–9 August 2026 is one of emotional reorientation as the sky prepares for the total solar eclipse on 12 August. Astronomically, the Sun continues through Leo while the Moon steadily closes the gap between Earth and Sun, strengthening the alignment that will culminate in the eclipse. From a Geo-Zenith perspective, this build-up highlights shifting energy across coastlines, weather systems and regions under environmental or political pressure, making many Cancerians especially sensitive to the changing emotional atmosphere around them. The week favours listening to your instincts while observing rather than reacting to external events.

Astrologically, your focus turns towards personal values, security and the people you trust most. Family matters, finances or long-standing emotional patterns may ask for gentle attention as you prepare for the new cycle the eclipse will bring. Chiron’s retrograde also encourages healing around self-worth, reminding you that lasting security comes from inner confidence as much as external circumstances. By the end of the week, you may recognise that releasing an old fear creates space for a stronger future.

Way through: Trust your intuition, strengthen what truly supports you, and allow emotional clarity to arrive before making important decisions.

Taurus 3 – 9 August 2026

Add Taurus bull figure prominently

For Taurus, the week of 3–9 August 2026 turns attention towards your foundations and the structures that support your life. Astronomically, the Sun continues across Leo as the Moon steadily approaches the total solar eclipse of 12 August, tightening the alignment between the Sun, Moon and Earth. From a Geo-Zenith perspective, this growing alignment concentrates energy through shifting terrestrial zenith lines, drawing attention to places experiencing heightened political, climatic and geological activity. For Taurus, these Earth-linked patterns resonate with home, family, property and your sense of security, suggesting that events in the wider world may prompt reflection about where and how you wish to live in the future.

Astrologically, this is a week for strengthening rather than expanding. Practical matters, finances and domestic responsibilities deserve careful attention before the eclipse opens a new phase. Long-term plans may require adjustment as fresh information emerges, and you may recognise that stability sometimes comes from adapting rather than resisting change. Trust your instincts, but allow developments to mature before making commitments that are difficult to reverse.

Way through: Build solid foundations now, remain flexible where circumstances are shifting, and let patience become your greatest strength.

Aries 3rd – 9th August 2026

Fiery ram representing Aries constellation with stars Hamal, Sheratan, and Mesarthim labeled and diagram of lunar eclipse phases

The Aries constellation depicted as a fiery ram alongside stages of a lunar eclipse

For Aries, the week of 3–9 August 2026 is one of growing anticipation rather than immediate action. Astronomically, the Sun continues its passage through Leo while the Moon moves through its monthly cycle towards the 12 August total solar eclipse, gradually increasing the gravitational and symbolic emphasis on the Sun–Moon–Earth alignment. Although the eclipse has not yet arrived, its influence begins to build, drawing attention to creativity, children, romance, personal projects and the courage to express your authentic self. Conversations and opportunities may hint at changes that will become clearer over the following fortnight.

Astrologically, this is a week to notice what inspires you rather than what drains you. Situations that have felt stalled may begin to show where fresh energy wants to flow, while relationships reveal who genuinely supports your ambitions. Resist the temptation to force outcomes or rush decisions simply because momentum is increasing. The approaching eclipse is preparing a new chapter, but the details are still unfolding.

Way through: Stay confident, finish what you have already started, and allow the right opportunities to reveal themselves before making your next bold move.

Before the eclipse

From 3–9 August 2026 the astrological atmosphere feels like the gathering of a tide before a major wave. The Sun continues its journey through Leo, emphasising leadership, identity and the creative expression of purpose, while Mercury’s movement encourages reassessment of plans rather than impulsive decisions. Although the total solar eclipse does not occur until 12 August, its influence is already building. Eclipses have long been regarded as periods when events accelerate and hidden situations move rapidly towards revelation, and many astrologers consider the days leading into an eclipse to be as significant as the eclipse itself. Collectively this week may bring increasing political tension, market uncertainty, environmental concerns and sudden announcements that have been developing behind the scenes for months. Individuals may experience a growing feeling that an important chapter is ending and another is preparing to begin. Rather than forcing outcomes, this is a week for careful observation, completing unfinished business and listening to intuition before decisive action becomes necessary.

From an astronomical perspective, the approaching eclipse is a precise alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth, with the Moon moving directly between Earth and the Sun on 12 August. Totality will be seen best across Greenland, Iceland and northern Europe, with a small portion of Portugal also lying within the path of totality. Much of Europe, including the Netherlands, will experience a deep partial eclipse of around ninety per cent, while large parts of North America, Canada and north-west Africa will also witness a partial eclipse. As the Moon’s shadow races across Earth at thousands of kilometers per hour, scientists will study the Sun’s corona, atmospheric changes and subtle effects on Earth’s upper atmosphere, while sky-watchers experience one of nature’s rarest spectacles. Astrologically, eclipses symbolise moments when familiar patterns are interrupted, allowing new directions to emerge. Whether viewed through astronomy or astrology, this week invites us to recognise that change often begins quietly before it becomes unmistakably visible.

Barbault’s Basket

The Barbault Basket reaches its greatest precision between 19 and 21 July 2026, with its point of maximum symmetry occurring around 20 July. At that time Jupiter (4° Leo), Uranus (4° Gemini), Neptune (4° Aries) and Pluto (4° Aquarius) all occupy the fourth degree of their respective zodiac signs. The four planets simultaneously form a network of harmonious aspects: Jupiter opposes Pluto, Uranus trines Pluto, Neptune trines Jupiter, while Uranus and Neptune are linked by a sextile. We regard this as one of the most elegant planetary geometries of the decade and as a significant expression of the long-term Uranus–Neptune–Pluto cycle which corresponds with periods of major historical reorganisation according to the famous French astrologer André Barbault.

From an astronomical perspective, the planets themselves are widely separated in the Solar System, but when viewed from Earth they are projected onto different regions of the celestial sphere, as we all know.
Jupiter, in early Leo, appears against the rich stellar fields bordering Cancer and Leo, looking outward through the Orion Spur of our Milky Way. Uranus, in early Gemini, lies in the direction of the Galactic anti-centre, beyond which are numerous open clusters including Messier 35. Neptune, in early Aries, is seen against comparatively sparse foreground stars in the direction of the Andromeda region, while Pluto, in early Aquarius, is projected towards the Pegasus–Aquarius field, beyond which modern surveys reveal immense numbers of distant galaxies. The stars and galaxies behind the planets provide the vast cosmic backdrop against which the configuration is observed.

The repeated emphasis on the fourth degree is one of the features that has attracted considerable astrological attention. Traditionally, the number four symbolises foundations, structure, manifestation and the establishment of lasting forms. Many astrologers therefore interpret the four planets occupying four degrees of their respective signs as indicating that the developments associated with this period are likely to become embedded in practical reality rather than remaining temporary or theoretical. Whether viewed symbolically or geometrically, the repeated fourth degree gives the configuration an unusual coherence and signifigance.

Comparable configurations are exceptionally rare. The exact combination occurring in July 2026 is unique within recorded historical times. Ephemeris studies identify 19–21 July 2026 as the period during which the Basket is exact, with the closest alignment around 20 July. Broader planetary arrangements involving the same outer planets have occurred at other periods, including the early 1920s, but they do not reproduce this same pattern of planetary degrees and aspect relationships. Because the orbital periods of Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto differ so much.

Humanity now has an extraordinary scientific presence extending from interstellar space to the surface of the Sun. We also have unique technology and a wealth of historical knowledge to draw from – which has never been so before – Taken together, these observatories, spacecraft and intelligence technologies form a continuously operating system spread across the Solar System, each part contributing a different piece to our understanding of our origin, evolution and present activity.


This precise geometry does not repeat on any simple historical cycle, making the 2026 Basket a particularly rare event in planetary chronology. This time is unique – we are now able to change the pattern and put anything in the basket – this reset is our opportunity to create the beautiful world we all know is possible .

After the hiatus

Returning to Astrology Crucible –

There was need of a pause – for me, personally – that is now over

We resume our work here with a feeling of new found peace
The recipe remains the same – only the flavoring is a little different

Things change as we cycle through the universe in our endless spiral of learning and enlightenment. We are now in a tricky phase – where every choice matters – where the layers of truth and reality become one whole – and our choices really matter – all our choices matter – from the deeply personal to those that are most public.
We are navigating a moment in space-time that is unique – the planets are in unique positions – we will never be in this exact position again – as our planet, our solar system, even our galaxy spirals through the universe towards the great attractor.
For us, the flight into this change can feel deeply disturbing, or equally liberating, as if the cage is gone – and this is what is happening – we must learn to fly or fall – this is the fulcrum of our evolution

The cage is disintegrating before our eyes – there is nothing to stop us and nothing to protect us,
from this point on – we are on our own.