I always say there’s something about autumn that makes the invisible visible. The trees strip down to their essential architecture, the light slants differently, and suddenly you can see things that were hidden all summer long. (Like your neighbours!) 

This year, the cosmos seems to be following the same script, but with much higher stakes.

I’m back on the line with astrologer Marielle Croft, and this time the conversation feels different. Heavier and more electric. Like we’re translating a love letter written in lightning. 

She’s tracking planets that are testing new waters, eclipses that are demanding soul-level renovations, and a collective purging that’s been building for months. This isn’t just seasonal shift. It’s preparation for something none of us have seen before. And it starts with letting go of almost everything we thought we knew about how change happens.

Jonni: Marielle, here we are at the threshold of fall, and I can already feel something different in the air. The Fall Equinox officially arrives Monday, September 22nd, and I know this isn’t like any other equinox we’ve experienced. What makes this one so unique?

Marielle: Yes, Jonni, the Fall Equinox arrives on Monday, September 22nd at 11:21 am PDT, when the Sun leaves Virgo for Libra. But this equinox is landing right in the middle of eclipse season, which immediately gives it a deeper, more transformative quality. We’re not just moving into a season of balance. We’re being asked to rebalance from a much more fundamental level.

Jonni: Eclipse season during the equinox feels like the universe isn’t messing around. And I know there was significant lunar activity leading up to this moment, right?

Marielle: Exactly. We had a Full Moon, with a total eclipse of the Moon, on September 7th with the Sun in Virgo and Moon in Pisces, right at the heart of both signs, 15 degrees each. This was also a super Moon, so its influence was amplified. But what made it particularly potent was the south node conjunct with the Sun in Virgo. The south node always speaks to release, purging what no longer serves.

Jonni: “Purging” is such a visceral word. When I hear you say that, I feel it in my body. It’s not just cleaning out the junk drawer (though that probably needs doing too). This feels like soul-level composting, doesn’t it?

Marielle: Yes, and it’s intensified by Saturn at 29 degrees of Pisces, the very end of the zodiac. Twenty-nine degrees of any sign represents completion, but at the end of Pisces, it’s the end of everything. Saturn here is demanding what I call “the great detachment.” We can’t carry the baggage that doesn’t fit what’s coming. The clock is ticking, and we must travel light. It’s like the newborn leaving behind the comfort of the mother’s womb to enter into the world, naked and available for what life will offer. They’ll embrace it with their talents and innate qualities.

Jonni: I love this image of travelling light. It reminds me that spiritual growth often looks like subtraction, not addition. We’re not gathering more wisdom so much as releasing what blocks us from the wisdom we already carry. And then there’s this New Moon happening right before the equinox?

Marielle: The New Moon, with a partial eclipse of the Sun, occurs the day before the equinox, with both Sun and Moon at 29 degrees Virgo, right before they both shift into Libra. Again, we’re at an ending point. In Virgo, this is about harvesting the fruits from our experiences and our work while detaching from the details that got us here. What can we distill from our long journey that becomes true wisdom?

Jonni: So we’re essentially being asked, “What’s the gold you’ve extracted from all this experience, and what’s the slag you can finally release?” This feels like such a mature spiritual moment that’s not about acquiring new insights, but refining what we’ve already lived through.

Marielle: Precisely. And this New Moon is exactly opposite Saturn retrograde at the end of Pisces. It’s really our last chance to align and prepare for the new wave that begins this winter 2026. The entire fall season becomes devoted to this purging while keeping our eye on Libra’s gifts of balance, grace, and harmony.

Jonni: Speaking of balance, I’m curious about this opposition between the Sun in early Libra and Neptune retrograde in early Aries on equinox day. That feels like a conversation between the relational and the pioneering parts of ourselves.

Marielle: On the day of the equinox, the Sun at zero degrees Libra is in exact opposition to Neptune retrograde at zero degrees Aries. Neptune in Aries is nurturing what I call “new dreams”, but these are young dreams without experience. Mistakes could be made. That’s why our clear choices and commitments matter so much right now. Who do we want to be? How do we want to develop? What role do we welcome in creating this new world?

Jonni: This is where I feel the soul-level invitation so clearly. We’re not just passive recipients of some cosmic shift. We’re being asked to consciously participate in authoring what comes next. The new dreams need our intentional collaboration, don’t they?

Marielle: Absolutely. Living consciously is now essential. We can’t operate on automatic anymore. And what I’m seeing is that heart coherence, the alignment of heart, mind, and spirit becoming the essential tool. More and more people are developing this mastery, and that gives me real hope.

Jonni: That’s beautiful. Even in the midst of all this cosmic intensity, there’s this thread of benevolence, of humans stepping into their wisdom. Now, I know Mercury goes retrograde in November. How does that factor into this fall journey?

Marielle: Mercury goes retrograde from November 8th to 29th, moving from 6 degrees Sagittarius back to 20 degrees Scorpio. It starts with a conjunction to Mars, an opposition to Uranus, and a trine to Neptune-Saturn. The temptation will be to take shortcuts in projects, travel, communication, etc. Impulsivity won’t serve us here. When triggered, breathe and wait another day before acting.

Jonni: So Mercury retrograde becomes another opportunity to practice this “travelling light” wisdom, to slow down, not rush to the new, but let it happen naturally. What about all these other retrograde planets? It feels like half the sky is moving backward.

Marielle: We have quite a retrograde party happening. Jupiter begins its yearly retrograde in Cancer from November 11th to March 11th, 2026. It’s time to strengthen family and community relationships. Saturn continues hovering between Aries and Pisces through November 28th, testing the waters. Uranus is going back and forth between Gemini and Taurus, seeking new forms of communication and innovation for our systems, until February 4th, 2026.

Jonni: It’s like the whole cosmos is in a state of review and revision. Not moving backward, but consolidating our gains before the real leap forward.

Marielle: Exactly. And Neptune is also retrograding between Pisces and Aries through December 10th. With Neptune back in Pisces for the final time, it’s about developing that heart-brain coherence I mentioned, entering a path of higher consciousness before we step into something entirely new.

Jonni: And then there’s Pluto, who you’ve mentioned is really settled into Aquarius for the long haul…

Marielle: Pluto completes its annual retrograde on October 12th, and has been in Aquarius since November 2024. It’ll stay there for about twenty years, patiently waiting for the other players to move into their new signs so they can begin to work together towards new directions. Uranus then in Gemini, Saturn and Neptune then in Aries. All those planets will remain in the first degrees of these signs for a few years, marking an inevitable global new cycle. A “new cycle” is very young and inexperienced, but we’ll need to draw from the profound and innate knowledge of our old souls, to be guided toward as long-term vision as possible. What Uranus in Gemini, and Saturn and Neptune in Aries does is bring about what we can’t really see yet. This is the long-awaited Age of Aquarius and it’s ready to reshape us in ways we can’t imagine from our current perspective.

Jonni: This is what I find so humbling and beautiful about this moment. We’re being asked to release our need to know exactly what’s coming and instead to cultivate the qualities that will serve us in any new landscape. Experience, heart coherence, conscious choice-making, and the ability to travel light.

Marielle: Yes, our only option is to follow along with an open heart and as much wisdom as possible. We’re at the threshold of something we cannot fully grasp with minds trained to think in the patterns of the world we’ve known.

Jonni: What strikes me most is how this isn’t just about personal transformation. It feels like collective preparation, like we’re all being asked to show up differently for whatever’s coming.

Marielle: Yes, and the beautiful thing is seeing how many people are naturally gravitating toward heart coherence, toward conscious living. It’s as if souls are remembering something important just when we need it most.

Jonni: There’s something oddly comforting about not knowing exactly what we’re preparing for. Like the mystery itself is part of the medicine.

Marielle: Exactly. Sometimes the not-knowing creates space for something better than anything we could have planned.

Jonni: Well, Marielle, here’s to a season of sacred unknowing and conscious release. I have a feeling this autumn is going to teach us things we didn’t even know we needed to learn.

Marielle: I agree. Here’s to trusting the process, even when, and especially when, we can’t see where it’s leading.

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If you’ve been feeling like you’re standing at the edge of your old life, looking into a fog where your new one is supposed to be, you’re right on schedule. (Gold star for cosmic timing!) Fall 2025 is asking you to get really, really good at letting go.

This is the season for releasing with intention, finding your balance in the midst of cosmic turbulence, and for keeping your heart soft while everything around you restructures itself.

The old world is composting. The new one is germinating. And you get to be the conscious gardener of your own becoming.

Jonni

PS: If this conversation about preparation and soul-level composting is landing in your bones, you might be interested to know I have 1 final spot remaining in my Fall offering of a 45-day email correspondence container that starts September 15th. It’s designed exactly for this moment when your soul has been preparing for changes your mind hasn’t caught up to yet, and when you need companionship through the kind of releasing and restructuring that can’t wait for scheduled appointments. Six weekly themes guide the experience, but your real life becomes the curriculum. So often the biggest deepest shifts happen when we stop trying to figure it out alone and start trusting what wants to come through conscious conversation. If you’ve been feeling like you’re standing at the edge of your old life looking into fog where your new one is supposed to be, let me know and I’ll shoot you off the info (It’s not on the website).