Pisces Total Lunar Eclipse Sep 2025

Something I have always gotten confused by is understanding the difference between seeing eclipses through the lens of a Saros Series versus the Metonic cycle. What IS the difference and why does it matter?

The former is born of a saros period, which is exactly 223 synodic months (the time it takes from one new moon to the next, or one full moon to the next), or 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours. 

The Chaldeans recognized this period as denoting a time in which lunar eclipses seem to repeat themselves (it turned out this was true for solar eclipses as well).

There is a great explanation of what a Saros cycle is astronomically from this eclipse summar from NASA (https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros.html). Consider:

"Any two eclipses separated by one Saros cycle share very similar geometries. They occur at the same node with the Moon at nearly the same distance from Earth and at the same time of year. Because the Saros period is not equal to a whole number of days, its biggest drawback is that subsequent eclipses are visible from different parts of the globe. The extra 1/3 day displacement means that Earth must rotate an additional ~8 hours or ~120º with each cycle. For solar eclipses, this results in the shifting of each successive eclipse path by ~120º westward. Thus, a Saros series returns to about the same geographic region every 3 saroses (54 years and 34 days)."

The Metonic cycle, on the other hand, is a period of roughly 19 years (or 235 synodic months) after which we can see a lunar phase recurring at the same time of the year. In fact, this was a way of coordinating a lunisolar calendar and the 19 year cycle is still used today to calculate the date of Easter every year.

So the Saros cycle eclipse is describing a repeating of geometry whilst the Metonic cycle is describing a repeating lunar phase (but not necessarily the geometry involved).

As such, the Metonic cycle can be useful for time-keeping purposes by (nearly) synchronizing the lunar month and solar year, while the Saros cycle is really describing a FAMILY of eclipses.

Now let's consider today's Total Lunar Eclipse in Pisces through the lens of its Saros cycle, belonging to Lunar series 128.

This family of eclipses began in June 1304 and started off as a penumbral eclipse and continued as such in subsequent years. From September 1430 to May 1827, the eclipses occurred as partial eclipses. Most importantly, though, from May 1845 to September 2043 (keep in mind that Pluto first leaves Aquarius on 31 August 2043 before retrograding back in January 2044), the eclipses are all total lunar eclipses on the ascending node.

So this gives us a larger picture of what these eclipses might be indicating on a more mundane stage--that is thinking about the astrology of history and world events.

But let's zoom in on more recent eclipses from this series. They include the following: 6 Aug 1971 at 13°41' Aquarius, 17 Aug 1989 at 24°13' Aquarius, 28 Aug 2007 at 04°47' Pisces, and today's eclipse, 7 Sep 2025 at 15°24' Pisces.

It might be worth thinking of events or other pieces that caused some kind shift in consciousness around those times. Given that these are North Node lunar eclipses, we can think about material changes (as opposed to egoic shifts that we would expect with a solar eclipse) that were occuring around those times in relation to the house topics associated with the sign in which the eclipses occurred.

To give you an example from my own life, in 1971, my family and I moved from rented accommodation to a house where we remained for the next 9 years. Aquarius is in my 4H.

In 1989, I moved internationally from the US to Japan, and this cemented what would become a life-long love-affair with Japanese language, culture, and history. Note that in the 1971 eclipse, this was not really aspecting any prominent planets, but in 1989, the eclipse was happening within 3 degrees of my natal Sun placement.

The following eclipse moved into Pisces in my 5H and occurred close to my IC. This was right after a traumatic miscarriage left me feeling I could not continue doing IVF and resigned to not having children of my own. I had decided to be a mama to fur-babies and Dylan the Beagle joined his half-sister, Pepper, within weeks of this eclipse, Little did I know that this would also prove to be a turning point in my fertility journey and that I would become pregnant before the year was out.

It's worth noting that eclipses don't always have to precipitate events immediately, but I do find that when things do happen, it's almost as if Time has somehow 'sped up', for lack of a better way of putting it.

Eclipses do seem to compress Time, so that things that normally might unfold over a period of time seem to happen suddenly, out of the blue, and/or quickly. It is also worth giving thought to events that happen a few months before and after an eclipse as the change that is being precipitated often will occur in that window (as opposed to within just a few days of an eclipse, although that can happen, too!).

So in thinking about the upcoming eclipse, think about the house topics Pisces encompasses in your chart. Take into consideration whether the eclipse is happening in aspect to a personal natal placement. And perhaps reflect on what occurred in the August 2007 eclipse for echoes of what happened then that might come up now....

Do you have any eclipse stories for Saros series 128?

Bringing Dylan Home Sep 2007

Dylan snuggling with Pepper

Pepper & Dylan Visiting a Japanese Temple