New Moon at 28 deg 49’Aquarius, at 12h01 UT, 17th February 2026; Annular Solar Eclipse 12h12 UT

Eclipses are super-charged New and Full Moons. This is a new one. They symbolise change, both personally and globally. And changes can be shocking and take getting used to – even good ones.

New Moons are new beginnings, and this one will impact whichever area of your birth chart 28 degrees Aquarius falls into. New beginnings mean letting go of the old stuff that’s no longer serving… and this can be difficult.

So this time might be challenging. Eclipses are like spirals which suck things in or swirl them to the surface. During eclipse season, time feels speeded up.

This is the first eclipse of the new Leo/Aquarius cycle so this is another ‘new beginning’. Eclipse cycles change signs with the lunar nodes every 18 months or so, although they can. like this one, overlap the Nodes. Beginnings and endings tend not to be clear cut.

Eclipses can be restless times when we might not be feeling too good. They can be frustrating and confusing. We can feel like we’re being bounced around in limbo – until a curveball comes in and shocks us into (re)action.

Aquarius is a detached and intellectual sign. It doesn’t always take the real world or real people into account in its idealistic plans. Emotions can be confusing for the Water Bearers. This is a time for us all to work on staying grounded and not overreact. Aquarius loves the natural world. Being in nature always helps.

It’s best not to make big decisions around eclipses because things can change so fast. Instead watch and wait, especially with Mercury turning retrograde on 26th February, which may cause us to rethink anyway.

Aquarius is about friends, about the groups we join, about society and how we want it to be. This could be a good time for checking in with friends and making sure they’re okay. Venus is in Pisces which urges us to connect.

The eclipse is square Uranus but this surprise or challenge is in the recent past. The Moon will soon move on to make its first post-eclipse connection with Venus in Pisces. Venus sits together with the North Node directing us to the future. Nearby, Mercury has just made a harmonious aspect to Jupiter, who is optimistic and thoughtful in Cancer.

All this tells us that true meaning is found through love and connection. Our relationships with partners and lovers, friends and groups, like-minded individuals, our family and ‘tribe’, our beloved animals, are often the ways in which we transcend our own egos and connect with that ‘something’ greater than ourselves.

Perhaps we also find this sense of greater this connection through the planet, through the environment we live in and through appreciation of all the beings (including the people) who live there with us.

Saturn newly in Aries is joint-ruler of this eclipse. There is something here about acknowledging our place in the universe, and our shared responsibility for its future.

Finally, eclipses come in 18 year cycles. The last time they fell across Leo/Aquarius with North Node in Aquarius, was 2008/9. Think back to that time. Are there any stories from back then that you might be picking up on now?

Image; Chatgpt (it’s getting better).