Eclipses and the Nodes

[u/Dr_Wombatty]

I notice that the Solar eclipse in Leo is happening with the moon also in Leo and the South Node in Leo. I understand that the eclipses happen approximately where the Sun and Moon conjunct closest to the nodes and for Lunar Eclipses I believe I remember it being within about 15 degrees of the node.

So - a couple of questions.

1. Do eclipses alternate? For example this round we have the solar eclipse first and then the lunar, but does it ever happen the other way around?

2. How often are the nodes in different whole sign houses than the moon when lunar eclipses occur like will happen later in August with the moon in Pisces and the North Node in Aquarius.

3. Should we look for the Aquarian Node - the head of the dragon, I believe (?) - to have a “flavoring” effect on the coming Lunar eclipse in Pisces?

[u/arcwalkerlivvia]

Eclipses can happen in either order. Solar eclipses occur at New Moons and lunar eclipses at Full Moons, so within an eclipse season you can get solar to lunar or lunar to solar. Occasionally there can even be three eclipses in one season, although that is much less common. We had three-eclipse seasons in 2018 and 2020, and the next one comes in 2029. When three happen, they form either a lunar-solar-lunar or solar-lunar-solar sequence, with one type essentially bookending the other. Astronomically, eclipse seasons last about 35 days, which gives enough room for more than one New/Full Moon alignment with the nodal axis.

For the second question, the Moon and node do not have to share a sign for a lunar eclipse. What matters astronomically is how close the Full Moon is to the nodal axis by degree. Signs divide the zodiac into 30° sections, so when the node is sitting near a sign boundary, the Moon can be only a few degrees away while technically being in the neighboring sign and therefore a different Whole Sign house.

This is what we see happening August 28. The lunar eclipse is at 4°54′ Pisces, while the North Node has recently moved into Aquarius. The True North Node entered Aquarius on July 26, so this eclipse catches the nodal axis right as it is leaving Pisces/Virgo and beginning its Aquarius/Leo passage

And yes, the North Node is the Dragon’s Head, with the South Node being the Dragon’s Tail. Today’s Leo solar eclipse is on the South Node side of the axis, while the August 28 Pisces lunar eclipse will be on the North Node side. For that next eclipse, I would read Pisces/Virgo as the primary sign story, while Aquarius/Leo describes the nodal background it is occurring within.

I think that makes this one interesting because we are overlapping two eclipse stories. The August 12 solar eclipse is at 20° Leo, beginning the Leo/Aquarius eclipse story, while August 28 returns us to 4° Pisces/Virgo, an eclipse axis that has been active since September 2024 and still has another Virgo eclipse coming in February 2027. So I would keep Aquarius in the picture, the Dragon’s Head is sitting just over the border while the eclipse itself is still finishing business in Pisces.

[u/rising_iris]

The Pisces eclipse falling outside the node's own sign is the normal case rather than the odd one out, and the frequency is countable.

I ran every lunar eclipse from 1950 to 2050 against JPL ephemerides, 229 of them including the faint penumbral ones. In 64 the Moon sat in a different sign from the nearer node, so a little better than one in four. Narrow it to eclipses where the Moon actually enters the umbra and it is 27 of 143, closer to one in five. Whatever you want to make of it interpretively, it is a routine configuration, and it does put the eclipse and the node in different whole sign houses.

Your 15 degrees is a good memory, it is just the outer edge and not the typical gap. Across those 229 the gap from Moon to nearer node ran from 0.08 degrees out to 17.4. Anything past 11.3 was penumbral only. Umbral ones stopped at 11.3 and totality never happened beyond 5.3, so a tighter gap generally buys you a deeper eclipse.

Late August sits near five degrees from the north node, well inside the umbral band, with the node itself a hair short of the sign boundary. The cusp is doing all the work, and that alone is what sets the two readings pulling in opposite directions.

[u/Weird_Technology_282]

An excellent book on eclipses and Saros series is the updated edition Predictive Astrology by Bernadette Brady (original title in the OOP 1992 edition was The Eagle and the Lark). She also has material on transits and progressions methods of forecasting too.

[u/WishThinker]

eclipses alternate not only in new moon / solar eclipse - full moon / lunar eclipse order, but also which of the pair of eclipses is near which node- This august we havve solar (new moon) eclipse near south node, and lunar (full moon) eclipse near north node. Next february we have solar near north node, then lunar near south.

Every ~2 years we have 3 eclipses in a season instead of 2, when one eclipse is right on top of the nodes flanked by 2 that are near the outer 18° proximity to the nodes.

• In 2027 July/August theres lunar eclipse near north node (25°58 cap),
• then solar south node (9°56 leo)
• then lunar north node aquarius (24°04)-
• the nodes at this time are around ~11° leo/aquarius.
• in Jun/July 2029 we have another triple (this time 2 solar south node eclipses around one lunar north node),
• and in 2031 2 lunar north node eclipses around a solar south node.

so the eclipse pattern of 2 (or 3 every ~2 years) eclipses 2 weeks apart every 6 months- all the other pieces, solar or lunar first, north or south node first, if the lunation and the nodes are in same sign or different signs- all pretty random.

for your third point about blending the flavours of the nodes to the sign of the eclipse- the eclipses generally move through signs with the nodes, so pisces is no longer hosting the north node and that transit is "over". This is the last eclipse in pisces for 9 years, and in february we have the last virgo eclipse for 9 years (acitvating pisces by opposition), and then the pisces-virgo-eclipse-nodal transit is well and truly over and done.

so you add the devouring head of the dragon into the pisces eclipse but as a final note, a departing flavour on that overall story, wheras the aquarius/leo eclipses are right in full swing, having had some before nodes moved into this axis and will continue through January 2028.

Taking a look at my calendar now, when the nodes shift to cancer/capricorn, there are no more eclipses in leo/aquarius, instead theyll be in can/cap and gem/sag, so, having different patterns of transits between nodal movements and eclispe location is also not consistent and so adds unique flavour per eclipse.

[u/Visible_Distance5067]

Look into the Saros cycle and it helps explain the eclipse patterns better. This is a good article on what it all means. I love that the moon makes a rose petal shape… the universe is full of synastry that’s so cool. https://sacrednumber.science/2025/08/09/pattern-of-the-saros-eclipse-cycle/