New Moon 20 deg 01′ Leo , at 18h37 BST, 12th August 2026, Total Solar Eclipse 18h 46 BST

‘An eclipse marks timing, not fate. It opens a door; what walks through is yours.’

Those are the words of a wise astrologer and traveller who understands more than most about the nature of the universe we inhabit.

Eclipses are portals. Total Solar Eclipses like this one are super-charged portals. Doors open on eclipses, others close. The nature of these doors and where and how they open (or close) depends very much on where they fall in our birth chart and which planets they make contact with. It also depends on how we interact with them.

When people on Earth first looked into the heavens and witnessed eclipses they assumed they were very bad omens. The luminaries, the lights of our world, were suddenly swallowed by some invisible beast causing darkness. Often those who presumed to look directly at a solar eclipse suffer permanent eye damage, further adding to the themes of misfortune.

In modern astrology eclipses are still considered to be important, and they often coincide with major beginnings and major endings in our lives. This is the first eclipse since the recent shift of the Lunar Nodes into Leo and Aquarius changing our collective direction from service and compassion to how we express ourselves as individuals and what we bring, as those individuals, to the wider groups we move within.

Eclipses happen when the New and Full Moons occur close to the lunar nodes and are usually in the same sign. This is our first eclipse in Leo for 18.5 years.

It’s a Solar Eclipse, and therefore falls on a New Moon.

The Repast of the Lion, Henri Rousseau, Public Domain

A Leo New Moon is about a reboot in the realms of identity and self-expression – who are we really and how do we express our authentic selves in this rapidly changing world? Does something need to be reset to bring us back to ourselves? To remind us, perhaps, of who we are and what we stand for?

The eclipse doubles down on this. Something may be hidden that is yet to be revealed, or something that seemed so real, may unexpectedly be eclipsed from our world. Either way, we have to shift – our perspective, our expectations – and change how we approach the world, how we interact with it.

This New Moon sits in a Leo-laden sky – Sun, Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and the South Node are all present there, supported by Aries Saturn. This suggests that something profoundly creative and bold may be born around this eclipse. Something which carries responsibility and which we may need to gently guide towards positive growth.

There is enormous emphasis on authenticity, on self-expression, on individual creativity, on children (as expressions of this) and with Venus, Uranus and Pluto in airy signs, on rational discussion around options, contracts and opportunities.

Mercury-Hermes is involved, the god who walks all the worlds. He is full of great ideas and can talk the talk, but can he direct the affair to the desired outcome?

Mercury and Jupiter come together on 15th August. This could be a great time for saying honestly what you mean and being heard. It suggests expansion and opportunity which is perhaps connected to seeds that began to germinate at the eclipse on 12th.

Leo is also about leadership. This eclipse might ask us to take charge, to step into a new role that will bring something different to society and enable us to more fully embody our creative potential. 

Leo is only one side of the axis, however. What we create we must offer up to the service of the whole (Aquarius). Just as we send our actual children out into the world to help it evolve.

Mars has recently moved into Cancer and connected with Chiron so we may have been wondering where we belong, or been concerned about family, and/or those close to us. These issues may still be present but now we have the courage to take a new direction and approach them differently. 

Leo speaks of courage and heart. What we do now, what we begin, must be heartfelt.

Resources are in the spotlight for many of us, not just finances, but water and food. In the northern hemisphere we are watching our planet struggle with heat and flames. Leo, a Fire sign, understands heat, but Fire needs to be managed and contained. It needs to work with Earth and Air and Water if it is to create something enduring.

The practical element of Earth is lacking in this eclipse chart so it is up to us to provide it and ground our creative projects in something fertile to ensure they grow.

Leo is generous and optimistic but sometimes its grand schemes lack detail and may feel like just another gust of hot air. The stamina of Saturn in Aries must be harnessed to give our ideas substance and staying power.

This eclipse falls at 20° Leo, so any planets or angles between 19 – 21 degrees of the Fixed signs – Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, will be impacted. 

Check out where 20° Leo falls in your chart to better understand where you may need to begin something new, do something differently, or let something go to clear space for what is coming into your life.

If the eclipse touches planets or angles then the energies of this planet will probably be involved. If it’s Venus, that will be your relationships, resources and values. If it’s the Moon it might be about your mother or a mother figure, where you come from or what you have inherited, or how you nurture yourself and others. With Mars it might be about how you assert yourself and get what you want.

Planets around these degrees of the Fire signs – Aries and Sagittarius will feel the effects more gently, perhaps more as a boost than a choice or change in circumstances. Conjunctions, where the eclipse falls on your planet or angle, are the most powerful.

Like all New Moons, this eclipse is a seed moment, though much more powerful than most. In Moon family theory the projects and ideas we begin now may be harvested in January 2027.

And think back to what happened 18-19 years ago (and 18-19 years before that) to discover themes that maybe repeating now. This could be another chapter in that story.

Eclipses come in series – the Saros cycles – and these span centuries, repeating as resonating themes, new chapters in repeating stories, every 18.6 years. Your pre-birth eclipse will probably be an important eclipse series in your life, offering pointers to your direction in this lifetime. 

This eclipse belongs to Saros series 126. Consider what was happening around these dates; 22^nd July 1990; 1^st Aug 2008; 12^th August 2026

Solar eclipses – New Moons – are more concerned with external events.

Lunar eclipses may be experienced more as internal shifts and decisions, as fits the solar/lunar symbolism.

Eclipses and Leaders

And finally, the Sun is traditionally associated with Kings and leaders so prominent people may fall from power around Solar eclipses, and others rise suddenly to prominent positions. Think back to the Solar Eclipse that toppled Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, earlier this year.

Eclipses are often exceptionally significant for those born on them. Trump and Netanyahu for example, also Prince William and Princess Catherine. This eclipse falls exactly on her natal Ascendant and makes an awkward but exact aspect to her natal Sun/Moon opposition, suggesting a change, perhaps one she would not willingly have chosen,and wasn’t expecting, in the way she approaches the world.

This eclipse falls in Trump’s 12^th house making a favourable connection with his Sun and Nodes. This may only serve to increase his megalomania and desire to expand his power. The 12^th house has no limits. Hot air can be dangerous.

It falls on Zelenskyy’s IC in 2^nd, suggesting that for him, this is all about resources.

For Netanyahu it falls in his 9^th, harmonising closely with his 11^th house Libra Moon. This could be about groups, networks, alliances and what he considers to be just. Netanyahu has no planets in the feeling Water element in this birth chart, suggesting that compassion and emotion require effort and may not come easily. He may tend to process his feelings through the rational, Air sign, Libra, which is dominant, focussing perhaps, on what in his view is fair.

Saturn is his only planet in Earth, suggesting Earth – land, resources, the material world – may be an issue for him, an area where he feels lacking and, perhaps fearful. These perhaps offer clues to the motivation behind his actions.

Finally, it’s important to remember, that for each and every one of us, wherever we are on our journey, an eclipse, especially a solar eclipse, offers potential for growth. Meet it with your eyes open and be open to its challenges.