Eclipse Season September 2025: Social Listening Analysis

FAO: astrology girlies, the mystically curious, people who really like a social analytics deep dive, and anyone with a passing interest in the moon.

Last Monday was the Autumn Equinox and, more importantly, the end of eclipse season.

I've been tracking social conversation around the eclipses since August, and I've made you a deck of my findings.

I'm not going to do a TL;DR here as there are key learnings on the final slides, but I will say that I'm seeing significant cultural shifts underpinning the conversation around celestial events.

When I first started tracking eclipses on social around 5 years ago, the conversation revolved around astronomy and now it's extremely astrology-focused.
Initially, I figured this was due to not including Twitter data this year, but I did include Bluesky (which is where most of the reputable science folks migrated to), so it seems that it is a real conversational shift that we're seeing.

Transcript

1. Kim Townend Studio ECLIPSE SEASON What social listening can tell us about the current cosmic shi ft s
2. Eclipse season tea: • Listened across TikTok, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads and Reddit • Ran the search from August 11th - Sept 23rd • Tracked over 720k mentions • From 568k users • Generating 137,344,068 engagements • The conversation massively peaked around the solar eclipse • There was another much smaller peak around the second eclipse Social Media Mentions 0 45000 90000 135000 180000
3. We’ve identi fi ed six main interest based cohorts who were involved in the eclipse conversation. Astrologers were the most active by far in the social eclipse chat. Who talks about the eclipse(s)? Witches 15% Tarot Enthusiasts 7% Astronomy Types 7% Eclipse Watchers 10% Astrology Folks 41% Spiritual Pros 21% Spiritual Pros (people trying to sell readings) were super active. People were twice as likely to identify as witches, than they were astronomers. Only 10% of the conversation was from ‘regular people’ who were excited to watch the eclipse.
4. Men (are more likely to) talk about astronomy Women (are more likely to) talk about astrology. Women are twice as likely to be talking about the eclipses, in any context, than men. Astronomy Unknown 73% Women 8% Men 18% Astrology Unknown 69% Women 24% Men 6% ; (I know that this seems pretty obvious, but now we have data to prove it) Women rule the conversation, and they wanna talk astrology!
5. TikTok utterly dominated in both mentions and engagements, but Instagram was killing it with engagements, suggesting that: Instagram is the platform where people are most responsive to this type of content, and much more likely to comment. Mentions per platform TikTok Instagram Blueksy Threads Reddit 0 150000 300000 450000 600000 Engagements per platform TikTok Instagram Blueksy Threads Reddit 0 60,000,000 120,000,000 Also Reddit is generating more engagements than both Threads and Bluesky, which is interesting… Platforms, mentions, and engagement.
6. KEY THEMES AND CHATS
7. The overall text analysis suggests a more astrological/woo conversation has replaced the science and space based conversation we’ve seen in previous analysis. ‘eclipse season’ is a thing that people say now, a lot.
8. Although TikTok skews the data, there were no clear dominant themes for speci fi c platforms, instead the conversation clusters were distributed across all platforms. TLDR: instead of clear themes and communities on clear platforms, this conversation is murky and multi platform. TikTok Bluesky Threads Instagram Reddit Blood Moon Eclipse Season Astrology Pisces Energy Equinox Witch Mabon Dreams Ritual Everyone is talking about everything, everywhere at once. 10 of the most popular topics and the platforms they were published on.
9. Only 4 our of the top twenty visual posts actually showed the moon in any form. Instead of people engaging with posts about the visual phenomena, they’re engaging with posts about what the eclipse means. Visual analysis reveals that there’s no one ‘type’ of person who talks about the eclipse, woo is no longer a fringe activity. Very few of the most engaging posts actually showed the moon The most engaging visual posts in our search
10. Looking at the key conversational themes that emerged during September it was very much about the cyclical nature things, of endings and new beginnings. This was supercharged by the equinox conversation, which echoes the same topics as it marks the passing of one season into another. The energy of the moment was another massive talking point. This is interesting because it suggests that this community is comfortable talking outside of the traditional fi ve senses. Cycles and energy are key Most Mentioned Themes C ycles Equinox Energy Em otions M anifestation Ritual D ream s 0 17,500 35,000 52,500 70,000
11. Eclipse effects… The eclipses seemed to be taking their toll on people, there were four main themes that emerged here. Eclipse season was primarily bringing up ALL the feelings. The second biggest theme was people talking about their health and how various fl ares/aches/pains/ailments were surfacing. People were TIRED, with mentions of exhaustion coming in third. For a much smaller cluster of people, mental health was an issue. Most Mentioned Themes Em otions H ealth Issues TIredness M ental H ealth 0 12,500 25,000 37,500 50,000
12. The emotions conversation changed throughout eclipse season, with sadness and overwhelm dominating the chat between the two eclipses, but the conversation changing to joy and relief with the looming of the autumn equinox/Mabon. Using the solar eclipse as an emotional release was a key talking point in this conversation. “After this month I totally believe this astrology stuff. This week I broke up with my bf after a month of self sabotage, and I as a prideful, anxious, and self sabotaging person am finding peace in separation, loss of control, and can see what I need to change and the habits I need to leave behind” Feeling all the feeeelings
13. The moon is where it’s at However, it seems very few people care at all about the solar eclipse, with the lunar eclipse generating 3 times the conversation volume of anything moon based. In every eclipse season, there are two eclipses, a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse, these take place on the full moon and the new moon of the month in question. Sun Vs Moon mentions Sun 23% Moon 77%
14. We tracked over 4.8k mentions of period related content. The comments revealed widespread and unusual disruptions in menstrual cycles, characterised by periods starting earlier or later than usual, o ft en anecdotally syncing with the eclipse alongside unexpected spotting and general irregularity. This was a tiny percentage of the overall conversation, but a big enough volume to be interesting. Most of this content was being posted to TikTok, but it was the comments where things got really interesting. The moon made us bleed!
15. What were the witches saying? Analysing the conversation that the witches cohort was having, and looking at how the topics connected to each other, we can see that. The witches were just as concerned with the equinox as they were eclipse season. Shadow work, and the various types of witchcra ft subscribed to were prevalent in this conversation. TikTok was home to 83% of the witch conversation but only 81% of the comments, but Instagram was where the witches were more likely to engage suggesting that the content on this platform is less surface level and more community focused.
16. Ritual Instagram over-indexes on the ritual conversation. It accounts for: • 33% of ritual mentions • 43% of engagements and • 59% of all views (nearly 20% more than TikTok) We tracked 16.5k posts within the eclipse conversation that talked about rituals. This resurgence in rituals and spells can either be read as people trying to feel a sense of control in tumultuous times, or as a form of empowerment and gratitude. Although TikTok still dominates the chatter…
17. Mabon/Autumn Equinox We tracked almost 75k posts mentioning either Mabon or the Equinox. This conversation was the convergence of witches, astrologers, pagans/ wiccans and people who just love fall. September 22nd marked the autumn equinox, which marks the beginning of autumn. (It’s the equilux - September 25th this year - that marks the day and night being equal.) 22nd is also the Wiccan sabbat of Mabon (the second harvest) in the wheel of the year.
18. PLATFORM BREAKDOWN
19. Instagram Speci fi cs Like TikTok, astrology is the dominant talking point on Instagram, but like Bluesky, Instagram over-indexes on talking about the equinox, with 35% of all equinox conversation originating here. Unlike Bluesky, Instagram doesn’t mention Mabon much at all. Autumn Equinox is very much about Autumn/ Fall and the beginning of Cozy season. Also, the most popular equinox post on Insta is from a man.
20. Over on Reddit r/astrologymemes is the most popular sub r/witchcra ft talked more about it than r/astronomy One third of the top 9 subs are astrology based. The esoteric arts (lol at /astrologymemes being classi fi ed this way) form the vast majority of the eclipse based conversation on Reddit. This in itself, is a big signi fi er of a step towards a more open mindset around celestial events. Top SubReddits astrologym em es new s w itchcra f Astronom y solareclipse D am nthatsinteresting spaceporn Advancedastrology virgoseason 0 55 110 165 220
21. Eclipsetok is all about astrology. The chart opposite shows global data of the hashtag eclipses and the other hashtags it was most commonly used alongside. This data comes straight from the hashtag with no exemptions so we’re still seeing a few extraneous mentions, but there’s a 28% overlap with #astrology and a 13% overlap with #astrologia (which equates to over 40% of eclipse mentions using the main astro hashtag)
22. Threads is still astrology focused, but in a more low key way. Direct mentions of astrology were very low, but ‘eclipse season’ (a term popularised by astrologers) was the biggest topic over here. The convo is also extremely ‘energetic’ On Threads people are sharing knowledge in a non judgemental way. The post opposite was the most engaging post on the platform.
23. Bluesky is more pagan and interested in equinox. Astrology 3% Witches 3% Mabon 11% Equinox 32% The Moon 51% While the moon was still the primary topic of conversation, accounting for 51% of posts, Equinox/Mabon posts combined came in at 43% which is a massive anomaly when we compare it to other social platforms. Astrology and witchcra ft is much less important to the people of bluesky, suggesting that this is Mabon in a seasonal/ old ways context and not a modern witchcra ft context.
24. Outside of our search Obviously, social listening is just one (very large) piece of the cultural puzzle. There are signals happening outside of this social search that point to a convergence around the themes we’ve identi fi ed. NextAtlas identi fi ed the trend of ‘slowness culture’ which is expected to increase gradually over the next year (an indicator of longevity) alongside multiple smaller relevant insights. We’ve also looked to Google search data to capture insights from an older audience, here ‘eclipse season’ a term popularised by astrologers, has increased 820% over the last half decade. TL;DR This conversation is part of a much bigger picture.
25. WHAT WE LEARNED
26. There were fi ve times more comments than there were posts. Outside of brand conversation, people are fi nding community and sharing resources in the comments. There were fi ve times more mentions of astrology than astronomy. This isn’t about a shi ft away from science, but rather a shi ft into cosmology. Women are sharing symptoms and cross referencing with others. We’ve seen this kind of self organising in womens health spaces, but here we’re seeing the connection between the moon and emotions/health/hormones being openly discussed. We didn’t get into it in this report, but there over 10k posts about politics and the eclipses, suggesting a rise in interest around mundane astrology.
27. It’s not about legitimising astrology, it’s that astrology has quietly become an integral part of (younger) women’s lives. They don’t care if you think it’s real or not. This audience views the world in a seasonal, cyclical way. They place equal importance on closing out and clearing space as they do manifesting and creating. Conversation around Mabon/Equinox has increased slightly YoY (esp on Bluesky), this shows that more people are becoming interested in not just connecting with nature and cycles, but marking key events with ritual. This is part of the bigger shi ft around old traditions and folklore that I’m currently investigating.
28. Thanks for reading! kimtownendstudio.com Drop me a DM if you want to learn more about my work, or how my studio could help you.