the solar eclipse in leo: the banality of love & horoscopes for the rising signs

Sometimes eclipse season is worth the hype. I do everything in my power to ground the seemingly sensational transits into something that we universally experience, especially when a transit is explicitly common or routine. However, eclipses often do mark some of the more dramatic moments in our lives, and in Leo-Aquarius, ‘drama’ is probably the perfect word. 

Like anything we talk about here, it always depends on the individual chart. The personal birth chart is the difference between someone’s life-changing moment and someone else’s random Wednesday that vaguely sets off tiny adjustments. How wild the transits are is not up to us and the nodes, in particular, are under contract with Moira.  

If you have fixed sign placements (Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio) between 17º-24º, you may feel the Solar eclipse on August 12 more profoundly than others. 

For the Lunar eclipse on August 28, mutable sign placements (Pisces, Virgo, Gemini, and Sagittarius) between 0º-8º may feel this one more strongly. The 28º-29º fixed signs might get caught in this one too. 

Consider the planet or point activated. It will tell you more about what is being “eclipsed” in your life. Remember that these changes take about 6 months to fully manifest themselves.

ECLIPSING LEO

To be “eclipsed” is to be overshadowed by something more important or prominent. In understanding the symbolic function of these transits, our own plan for our lives is pushed into the background by something more divine. It’s not always what we want, but that’s not the point.

The only real aspect that we’ll see to the Solar eclipse in Leo is a trine from Saturn in Aries. No one planet is ever telling its story alone and I think this aspect is a good reminder of that. All of the planets are contained within one Solar system and are interpreted by their relationship to the Sun. Even when we can’t see it, they are often conspiring to accomplish something with cohesion. 

The South Node “decrease” in Leo paired with Saturn-Neptune “pliability” in Aries both point toward softening the masculine principle. Not doing away with it, because of course, we need the masculine parts of us for ordering, initiation, and establishing security. Instead, it’s an acknowledgment that these concepts have been distorted, they need a guiding light back to equilibrium. 

One example might be the collective obsession with “maxxing”, adding this word onto anything we want to optimize. Sustaining, not maximizing, seems to be what the planets are begging us for. This is just one small reflection of our current condition, it’s the roots of our whole system that are rotting, and Saturn is working to trim away the dead stuff. 

Aries shares rulership with Leo through the Sun’s exaltation, these two are both here to define identity in their own uncharted ways. There’s been such emphasis on beginning something completely different and new, this has been happening slowly in increments since Saturn and Neptune ingressed Aries in Spring of 2025. Now that so much has been pulled up and the groundwork has been laid, the nodal shift to Aquarius-Leo (since July 26) comes in for phase 2. 

In the last article, we discussed the dichotomy between the North Node in Aquarius, the need to create a diverse network to survive a dream, and the South Node in Leo, showing us where we’re still over glorifying one singular achievement or goal. 

But Leo is also about fun. 

All of the fire signs are, and while sustainability or devotion may require us to sacrifice some of our fun, the paradox is that the things that sustain us over time are often the things that we genuinely enjoy. 

Clearly there is a flip side to this. Padding our lives to the brim with sugar and fluff is not nourishing. Too much candy will still give you a stomach ache, but just as well, forcing rigidity is a recipe for an eventual crash. 

The Solar eclipse in Leo may be a reminder that we must fall deeply in love– with our jobs, our partners, our homes, our routines– if we are to actually participate in them. We have to passionately identify with the thing that we’re building or it will not make it very far. 

That might be the missing piece in the Saturn in Aries journey, and this could be a turning point in the story, we might find that something is not working. Not because we’re doing something wrong or because we’re not optimizing enough, but because we’re not in love. 

Love is not very logical though, is it? It doesn’t consider what would be the most financially sustainable or the most convenient. This is the acknowledgement from Saturn that we can’t live off of love alone, but if this is the priority, the banal sacrifices are worth it. Getting up early, long hours of study, pay cuts, or uncomfortable self-reflection, it all suddenly feels a bit easier when you know that you’re where you want to be. 

This eclipse season will likely ask us to consider if we love who we are and where we are, and if not, what it might take to fall in love. 

SUPPORTING TRANSITS

I think this is an important lead into the upcoming Venus retrograde. Venus is already in Libra, and while it won’t reach its pre shadow until August 30, we’re going to be considering Libra (and Scorpio) all throughout the fall season. Venus retrograde is naturally a time where we are transformed, but particularly through the things we love, desire, and value.

Speaking of, we should all be very grateful that Venus will only make one opposition to Saturn as it occurs on August 21 before Venus hits its station degree. If the opposition had happened just 9 days later, we would’ve had triple aspects!! 

Still, with Venus opposing Saturn right in the middle of eclipse season, this is yet another aspect asking us if what we love and value are being accurately reflected right now and it may ask us to give up anything that is unsustainable. 

What this eclipse season keeps returning us to is the need for both: Love and sustainability. If anything is one-sided, or feels more like sugar than fiber… it’s asking us to move on. Venus-Saturn is keeping us in check, especially when it comes to the delicate balance in our relationships. 

Mars will also ingress Cancer on August 11 just before the first eclipse and this is continuing the lessons from July’s Mercury retrograde in Cancer. Now that we’ve oriented ourselves to considering our needs and what nourishes us, Mars is asking us to execute those things. It’s not enough to simply be aware, we have to assert our non negotiables. This pairs nicely with Leo’s journey to identity. 

Mercury in Leo will be opposing Pluto in Aquarius at the time of the eclipse, this echoes the Jupiter-Pluto opposition that perfected July 20 and the Sun-Pluto opposition on July 26 just before our last Full Moon.

Mercury’s activation adds another complication: what happens when our identity has to survive another person’s interpretation of it? Mercury in Leo wants to speak from the center of itself. It wants to name what it loves, what it believes, what it has created, and perhaps even what it deserves. Pluto in Aquarius is less interested in preserving the individual’s preferred narrative. It exposes the power dynamics inside the group– the ideology, the audience, the collective opinion that can suddenly make us question whether we are allowed to take up as much space as we thought we were.

This opposition could make conversations feel unusually consequential. We may become aware of the ways we edit ourselves before anyone has even asked us to, anticipating rejection before it arrives. There is another side to Mercury-Pluto, too. Sometimes the truth only becomes available once the polite version of the story has stopped working. The question is not simply whether we can speak, but whether we can continue to recognize ourselves after someone else disagrees with what we have said. That is, do we trust ourselves?

LEARNING TO TRUST

Leo is about trust. I think all of the signs can explore this theme, but let’s look at it through the fixed sign (Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, Aquarius) archetype.

Some definitions of trust include: 

• Assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. 

• One in which confidence is placed.

• Belief in.

There are other definitions too, like to be dependent on someone or something. That’s the Scorpio-Taurus axis. Like the financial arrangement of a “trust fund”, these are signs that deal with investment and dependencies of all kinds. 

The Leo-Aquarius axis speaks to the trust or confidence we have within ourselves. 

When we struggle to trust others, it’s often because we will abandon what we need or love for another person or entity. When we have trust in ourselves, we are less dependent on external validation, we can always rely on our own abilities (Leo) regardless of another’s support (Aquarius). 

This is an incredibly relevant piece to the whole “sustain what you love” theme, because the only reason why we might not being investing in what we love in the first place is because we don’t trust ourselves. 

Maybe we don’t trust that it’s possible to be responsible and have fun at the same time without losing ourselves in one or the other. Or maybe we don’t trust that abandoning mediocrity will leave something better waiting. Leo, at its core, is a sign about courage. You must have courage to be authentic and to express what you love openly, there’s always the chance that you’ll meet rejection or delays. 

Leo-Aquarius does not actually ask us to become completely independent of one another. That would be a distortion of the axis. Aquarius reminds us that we need communities, networks, collaborators, and people whose perspectives differ from our own. The real question is whether participation requires self-abandonment. Can we belong somewhere without handing the group complete authority over who we are? 

We are being asked to build lives that can last, but nothing lasts for very long if we have to abandon ourselves in order to maintain it. Sustainability without love becomes another form of survival. Love without structure eventually burns itself out. Somewhere between the two is the life that we are actually willing to keep choosing.

We have to be brave enough to become who we are, while also accepting that who we become will always exist in relation to something larger than ourselves. Others may not always understand us, our plans may be eclipsed, the things we thought were permanent may change without our permission.

But trust is not the belief that nothing will change, it’s the belief that even when it does, we will not immediately abandon what is true, and ultimately, what we love. 

 RISING SIGN HOROSCOPES

Read for your rising (ascendant) sign, you can calculate your birth chart here.

Aries Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 5th house of creativity, pleasure, romance, and self-expression, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius pull you toward your 11th house of community, networks, and the larger future you're building. Saturn in Aries in your 1st house supports this eclipse by asking you to make your joy sustainable through discipline and consistency. The tension is between creating something because you love it and creating something that has a place in the collective. You don't have to choose: this is about trusting that what genuinely lights you up can become part of something bigger without losing its authenticity.

Taurus Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 4th house of home, family, roots, and emotional foundations, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius move through your 10th house of career, visibility, and public life. Saturn in Aries in your 12th house quietly supports the eclipse by teaching you that sustainable success requires a private foundation you can actually live inside. You may be caught between the life you want behind closed doors and the life you're building in public. The lesson is to trust that your definition of home and security doesn't have to compete with your ambitions; your outer life becomes more sustainable when your inner life actually nourishes you.

Gemini Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 3rd house of communication, learning, and your voice, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 9th house of beliefs, publishing, higher education, and worldview. Saturn in Aries in your 11th house asks you to give structure to the communities, audiences, and long-term visions your ideas are meant to reach. You may feel the tension between saying what is personally true and saying something that has a wider impact. This eclipse asks you to trust your own voice without losing sight of the larger conversation you're entering.

Cancer Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 2nd house of money, resources, values, and self-worth, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 8th house of shared resources, investments, obligations, and trust. Saturn in Aries in your 10th house brings a practical, career-oriented pressure to make your values sustainable in the real world. You may be reconsidering what you're willing to keep, share, invest in, or sacrifice for security. The lesson is that sustainability isn't about accumulating everything you can; it's about trusting yourself enough to build security around what you genuinely love and value.

Leo Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 1st house of identity, embodiment, and self-definition, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 7th house of relationships and partnership. Saturn in Aries in your 9th house supports the eclipse by asking you to turn your beliefs into something you can actually live by. You are being pulled between becoming more fully yourself and learning how to remain yourself in relationship with other people. This is a major lesson in authenticity: you don't have to abandon your individuality to belong, and you don't have to reject connection to prove that you are independent.

Virgo Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 12th house of solitude, surrender, and the private parts of yourself that aren't visible to everyone, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 6th house of work, routines, and daily life. Saturn in Aries in your 8th house asks you to take a more mature approach to shared resources, obligations, investments, and the things you cannot control alone. The push-pull is between retreating inward and becoming more intentional about how you participate in everyday life. You are learning that rest and productivity don't have to be enemies, and that a sustainable routine must leave room for the parts of you that cannot be optimized. Life is supposed to be fun!

Libra Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 11th house of friendships, community, audiences, and the future, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 5th house of creativity, pleasure, romance, and self-expression. Saturn in Aries in your 7th house brings discipline and reality checks into your partnerships. The tension is between your individual creative desires and the communities or collective movements you want to participate in. You are learning that belonging doesn't require self-abandonment– and that the right people can help your creativity become more sustainable without taking ownership of it.

Scorpio Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 10th house of career, reputation, and public identity, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 4th house of home, family, roots, and private life. Saturn in Aries in your 6th house asks you to build the daily systems required to sustain whatever you're becoming publicly. You may be questioning whether your ambitions are actually compatible with the life you want behind the scenes. The eclipse asks you to trust that success isn't sustainable if the person living it is miserable; what you're building publicly has to be supported by a private life you genuinely love.

Sagittarius Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 9th house of beliefs, meaning, education, travel, and publishing, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 3rd house of communication, learning, and your immediate environment. Saturn in Aries in your 5th house asks you to take your creativity and personal passions seriously enough to give them structure. You may be moving between the big vision and the small, everyday steps required to express it. This eclipse asks you to trust your own philosophy while remembering that a meaningful worldview has to eventually become something you can communicate, practice, and live. Less distance, more proximity. 

Capricorn Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 8th house of shared resources, investment, trust, and deep entanglements, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 2nd house of money, values, self-worth, and personal resources. Saturn in Aries in your 4th house asks you to build a stronger private foundation from which to make these decisions. You may be confronting the difference between what you own, what you share, and what you feel responsible for maintaining. The lesson is to trust your own value enough to create agreements that are sustainable rather than continuing to invest in things simply because you've already invested so much.

Aquarius Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 7th house of relationships and partnership, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 1st house of identity and self-definition. Saturn in Aries in your 3rd house asks you to become more deliberate about how you communicate what you need and what you believe. The push-pull is especially strong between “me” and “we”: you are being asked to deepen your relationships without allowing them to eclipse your individuality. Trust that authentic partnership doesn't require you to become less yourself; it requires you to become honest enough that the other person can actually meet you.

Pisces Rising: 

The Leo Solar eclipse activates your 6th house of work, routines, health, and daily life, while the North Node and Pluto in Aquarius activate your 12th house of retreat, surrender, and the unconscious. Saturn in Aries in your 2nd house asks you to establish practical values and resources that can support the life you're trying to build. The push-pull is between doing more and knowing when to withdraw, between productivity and restoration. This eclipse asks you to trust that your everyday life can be both disciplined and nourishing; sustainability isn't squeezing more out of yourself, but creating routines that leave enough of you intact to actually enjoy your life.