TRANSCRIPT Ep. 368 | Sun Square Pluto: Burning Away What Isn’t You!

TRANSCRIPT Ep. 368 | Sun Square Pluto: Burning Away What Isn’t You!

Hello, invisible friend, April here, and the date today is October 26th, 2026. Welcome to Episode 368 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.

This week, the Sun squares Pluto, revealing where it’s time to clear out parts of your personality that don’t really belong. Mercury squares Mars and asks us to review where we might have been overly blunt in the recent past. And the Leo Last Quarter Moon squares the Sun in Scorpio, inviting us to be a little softer in our approach in order to join in fellowship with others. And I answer a listener question about which house system to rely on when it comes to interpreting our transits.

Sun square Pluto (Oct. 26, 2026, 5:11 am PDT)

The Sun squares Pluto on Monday, October 26th at 5:11 a.m. at 3 degrees 5 minutes Scorpio and Aquarius. It’s one of two times each year when the Sun makes this aspect to Pluto and offers an opportunity to discover which parts of you are true and which ones may just be habits that you’ve adopted to make life easier rather than more authentic. When the Sun squares Pluto, it gets a lot easier to tell which is which.

At this square, the Sun is on the Sabian symbol 4 Scorpio, A youth holding a lighted candle. A symbol of light and fire. As my colleague Michelle Gould once said, Pluto is like a fire that burns away whatever isn’t true about the planet that it connects with. And in the case of the Sun, it’ll burn away whatever is not truly you. In your personality and in the life that you’ve built for yourself, there are almost certainly some qualities that just don’t match who you are on the inside and your sense of integrity.

Maybe you’ve adopted certain behaviors to fit in, to keep the peace, or make life more manageable. That may have served you once, but does it still serve you now? Here’s an opportunity to figure out which ones have outlived their usefulness and to start cleaning out the closets of your personality and your life. I love that image of the young person holding a candle. A candle doesn’t illuminate everything at once. It gives us just enough light to see what’s immediately around us. Sometimes that’s how these moments of self-discovery work.

You don’t have to overhaul your entire life with one gesture. Start by noticing one thing that you’ve been doing out of habit rather than conviction, or one place where you’ve been compromising your integrity. What would it look like to let that go?

This transit only makes itself felt for about a week, but it can be a powerful influence. It can light up what has become clutter in your life and help you decide what needs to change. The goal isn’t to destroy everything that isn’t perfect or authentic. It’s just to make room for more of what is.

Mercury square Mars (Oct. 30, 2026, 10:20 am PDT)

Mercury squares Mars on Friday, October 30th at 10:20 a.m. Pacific time at 17 degrees 58 minutes Scorpio and Leo. Mercury squared Mars pretty recently, on October 2nd. That’s when Mercury was direct. And it’ll make one more additional square to Mars on December 9th after it’s gone direct again.

This time around, we might look back to the period around October 2nd and find that maybe we made a tactical error or two. Mercury square Mars can describe using words that are a little too direct or cutting or just being very blunt, and that isn’t always the most helpful thing in all situations. Now that Mercury’s retrograde, it’s a good time to review these things and consider how you might choose your words a little more carefully in the future.

Mercury is on the Sabian symbol 18 Scorpio, A woods rich in autumn coloring, and Mars is on 18 Leo, A teacher of chemistry. Now both of these symbols invite us to think about chemical processes. Leaves change color in autumn because the days are shorter and the temperatures are cooler, and this contributes to the breakdown of chlorophyll, and that reveals other pigments that were there all along.

Mars’ symbol, A teacher of chemistry, could no doubt explain this connection better than I can, but the astrologer in me would put it this way. Mercury and Mars in a square have a particular effect on each other. They rub each other a certain way and potentially produce a kind of chemical reaction. In the signs of Scorpio and Leo, Mercury’s sharpness can injure Mars in Leo’s pride, and this can lead to a little crankiness on both sides. The colors that emerge in fall were hidden beneath the green of summer, and sometimes it takes changes in conditions for us to see what was there all along. Maybe there were conversations around October 2nd that revealed something about ourselves or about somebody else that we hadn’t fully realized before. Maybe we discovered that a minor disagreement touched off a larger nerve or that maybe our own certainty about something made us overlook somebody else’s point of view.

Mercury Retrograde offers a chance to revisit those moments, not to beat ourselves up over what we said or didn’t say, but to understand the reaction that we set in motion. What was the real issue beneath the argument? Did we need to be so blunt or were we simply reacting to something? And if we had the conversation to do all over again, what might we say differently? The next Mercury-Mars square comes in December and it gives us another opportunity to work with this combination of mind and action. We may not be able to prevent every flare-up, but we can learn to recognize the chemistry and become a little more careful about what we mix together.

Leo Last Quarter Moon (Nov. 1, 2026, 12:28 pm PST)

And now it’s time for the Moon Report. And as always, we begin with the major lunation of the week. This week, that’s the Leo Last Quarter Moon on November 1st at 1228 pm pacific time at 9 degrees, 26 minutes Leo and Scorpio.

The Last Quarter Moon is the moment in the lunar cycle when we take a look at what we set out to accomplish at the New Moon – in this case, the October 10th Libra New Moon – and decide whether we need to make some changes to produce the outcome that we had hoped for.

Leo brings great warmth. And if you were hoping to, say, form new relationships or improve old ones at the Libra New Moon, here’s an invitation to bring some fun and charisma to the table.

The Leo Moon’s Sabian symbol is 10 Leo, Early morning dew. And the Sun is at 10 Scorpio, A fellowship supper. That Leo symbol is so tender and innocent, and so quiet for a symbol in Leo. I picture Leo in private, maybe refreshed after a night’s sleep, not yet in the spotlight or trying to be noticed. And that’s the insight for the end of this Libra New Moon cycle. That maybe the best way to be in relationships, is just to be natural and warm without trying too hard to impress anybody. The Sun’s symbol is the scene that comes later that evening when everyone gets together for a fellowship supper, relaxed and warm and friendly.

It’s the kind of situation where Leo might be tempted to hold forth and tell a good story. But fellowship doesn’t really work like that. A fellowship supper is about sharing something with other people, not being the star of the show. Here’s an opportunity for Leo to express itself a little differently, more open, more generous, interested in everyone around the table.

So at this Last Quarter Moon, think about how you might bring a little more of that “early morning dew” Leo to your relationships. You don’t have to be entertaining all of the time. Sometimes just relaxing and being yourself can be the best way to connect with other people.

Lunar Phase Family Cycle

This is the Last Quarter in a lunar phase family cycle that began with the New Moon on August 4th, 2024 at 12 degrees, 34 minutes Leo. The Leo New Moon season each year is one where we make some kind of resolution to be more truly ourselves in the coming 12 months. And being more truly ourselves doesn’t mean we have to be a showman. We don’t have to jump up on top of a table and put a lampshade on our heads. Basically, it’s about being who you are.

And at the First Quarter Moon in this lunar phase family cycle on May 4th, 2025 at 14 degrees, 21 minutes Leo, that might’ve been an important time to initiate some action toward maybe a hobby or an interest or some kind of pursuit that makes you feel more truly yourself.

Nine months later at the Full Moon of February 1st, 2026 at 13 degrees, three minutes Leo, all was revealed. What was it that you truly started at that Leo New Moon? And what do you understand better about it now? How is it that you can more fully express the person you are and the person you would like to be?

Nine months later, we’re at the Last Quarter Moon at nine degrees, 25 minutes Leo. And as we talked about earlier, I was talking about the softness that comes with Leo at 10 degrees of the sign, maybe a little gentleness and a way to be yourself in an unguarded way instead of feeling that you have to perform. It’s an interesting way to think about the Last Quarter Moon, because we tend to think of this phase as very action oriented, but action can happen in a fairly subtle way. And that’s how I see us bringing this particular phase family to a place of completion.

Void-of-Course Moon periods

Let’s look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week. On Tuesday, October 27th, the Moon in Taurus squares Jupiter and Leo at 7:51am pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course for 10 hours and 11 minutes, then enters Gemini at 6.02pm. The Moon finishes up in Taurus on a square to Jupiter in Leo. And that is a challenging aspect. The crux of this particular challenge between these two signs is that Leo wants to be noticed and Taurus tends to be wary of someone who is seeking attention. In your day-to-day life, this could mean that people in general will tend to react in a Taurus way.

So avoid calling attention to yourself in a big loud Jupiterian fashion. As I mentioned at the Last Quarter Moon, just let yourself relax into a quiet warmth, more like a candle than a bonfire. And those that you come in contact with will tend to respond in a friendly way.

On Thursday, October 29th, the Moon in Gemini trines Venus and Libra at 2:43pm Pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course for four hours and 22 minutes, then enters Cancer at 7:05 p.m. When the Moon makes a trine to another planet as it’s going Void-of-Course, it kind of brings a gift or a reward. The Moon in Gemini loves to talk, but it also loves to listen. It enjoys stories and it doesn’t always have to be the one who’s telling them. As the Moon makes a trine to Venus in Libra, there’s a little more emphasis on hearing what the other person has to say. What’s their story? What are the things that they enjoy? It doesn’t have to be just one other person either. Everywhere you go on this afternoon, enjoy listening to other people – and make this a habit. You don’t have to pry, but show interest and ask the natural follow-up questions.

And on Saturday, October 31st, the Moon in Cancer squares Venus and Libra at 2:59 p.m. Pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course for six hours and 19 minutes and enters Leo at 9:18 p.m. Happy Halloween! This is a Saturday, so trick-or-treating and Halloween celebrations will be at their peak. Venus is in Libra, which enjoys socializing, but the Moon in Cancer kind of prefers being quiet at home. And there’s a conflict that marks this Void-of-Course Moon period, symbolized by that square.

When the Moon is square another planet, both of them have to their needs honored. An obvious way to do that at this Void-of-Course Moon is to celebrate Halloween at home with a small party and take turns opening the door to trick-or-treaters. Void-of-Course Moons are good for changing old habits and adopting new ones. So if you tend to be an extreme homebody, like say Cancer, or constantly out and about socializing like Libra, here’s an opportunity to look at the other point of view and try to adopt a little of it.

Listener Question: Which house system to trust for timing transits?

In this week’s listener question, listener Quinn writes, “My birth chart shifts dramatically when I switch from Placidus houses to whole sign houses. Which one should I trust when it comes to timing of transits?”

Well, thank you for your question, Quinn.

I hear a variation on this question on a pretty regular basis. Generally, it’s from astrologers who are trying to learn about different house systems, but they can end up getting completely confused if they jump back and forth between a couple of them. For those who don’t know, the major difference between Placidus and the whole sign house systems is that whole sign splits the chart into 12 houses of exactly the same size, with an entire sign falling within each house.

Placidus doesn’t work that way. Depending on the time of year you’re born, the place where you’re born, houses can be very different sizes and some signs might not appear on the cusp of a house or might appear on more than one cusp. Switching back and forth between the two systems is especially confusing if you were born with the ascendant in a late degree of its sign.

Whole sign houses begin the first house at zero degrees of the ascendant’s sign, which can be a shift of almost the whole sign. Say you have 27 degrees Sagittarius on your ascendant and a bunch of planets in Capricorn in the first house. In whole signs, you would have zero degrees Sagittarius on the cusp of the first house and those Capricorn planets would move into the second house.

Anyway, that’s a quick recap of the two house systems and how your chart might end up looking quite different in them. But to go to Quinn’s question, which should you trust when you’re looking at transits, progressions, and for that matter, where things fall in your birth chart? Quinn, you specifically asked about transits, so let’s begin there. And I will begin by disclosing my bias.

I favor the Koch house system, which is pretty similar to Placidus, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s the perfect house system for anything. In fact, for a long time, I kept a spreadsheet on my desktop that showed my house cusps by degree in sign calculated in four house systems, Koch, Placidus, equal houses, and whole sign houses. I began by noting days when very important things that happened in my life and whether there were any transits that were connecting with the house cusps in any of those systems.

And then I noted current transits and when things that were kind of significant took place and any transits that were connecting with the house cusps in any of those systems. And you know what? Not a single one of those house systems got a hundred percent score. Now, before you begin to complain that I didn’t use Campanas or Porphyry or any other house system, let me say, that’s fair enough. And if you have your own spreadsheet and included your house cusps in those systems, it would be very interesting to hear about that.

But my larger point is that if you look up in the sky, you don’t see any lines up there that are marking the houses of the horoscope. House systems are to some extent arbitrary, however sound the reasoning might be for choosing a particular one, or however old the system might be.

I tell my students that when they are first learning astrology, when they’re just getting comfortable with things like transits, they’d be better off sticking to one house system for at least a couple of years while they’re letting the other fine points of astrology fall into place in their minds. And two years gives you two full cycles of the Sun, a full cycle of Mars, almost a quarter cycle of Jupiter, and so on that you can use to fill up your spreadsheet.

And if after that you’d like to mess around with another house system, well, choose one and try it out for a couple of years. Basically, you owe it to yourself to really sit with one house system for a while before you toss it out for something new. It’s kind of like studying tarot and maybe you choose a card that doesn’t seem to answer your question and you toss it aside and you pick up another one. We need patience when we’re trying out different techniques. to make sure that we’ve gotten everything out of it that we can.

Quinn, I hope that that helps. I know how exciting it is to experiment with different house systems and I really encourage you to do that. But especially if you’re a little newer to astrology, it’s a pretty good idea to work with just one of them at a time.

If you have a burning astrological question that you would like me to answer on a future episode of the podcast, leave a message of one minute or less at speakpipe.com / bigskyastrologypodcast. Or send me an email to april (at) bigskyastrology (dot) com and be sure to put podcast question in the subject line.

Donor Thanks

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