If you’ve ever experienced a solar eclipse in action, you might associate the astronomical event with wearing cool glasses that resemble 3D movie-theater specs and staring at the sky as the sun seems to disappear from view. The short answer for what a solar eclipse really is? A phenomenon that occurs when the moon passes directly between the sun and the Earth, partially or fully obscuring the light of the sun.
But when you dive into the meaning of a solar eclipse, you’ll discover it’s so much more than an uncanny blip in daylight. Solar eclipses are both astronomically rare and astrologically significant. In fact, astrologer and tarot reader Megan Skinner, co-host of the So Divine! podcast, puts eclipses at the top of her list in terms of big astrological events, noting that any solar eclipse is “an incredibly powerful time to be awakened and align with ourselves on a deeper and higher level.” (More on the meaning of solar eclipses in astrology to come below.)