The Church Inside of You
What do you believe? What’s your creed, your set of deepest convictions? And where did they come from – your parents, the religious tradition in which you were raised, the books you read?
Jupiter is the planet that awakens questions about the way the world works; and this week, as Jupiter enters its 4-month retrograde period (Nov. 11, 2025, 8:41 am PST, through March 10, 2026), the answers to those questions must be sought from within. Think of this as attending the church inside of you.
While Jupiter is direct, we go to church, study with a guru, take courses to help us pose better questions about life and answers about what comes after it. But during this precious third of the year, while Jupiter is retrograde, it’s important to focus on the beliefs that emerge organically from inside you. Of all the things that you believe, what has been given to you by others, and what comes from your own sense of what is true?
The Intoxication of Excitement
Each Last Quarter Moon is an opportunity to review, reassess, and revise our plans for achieving our New Moon goals. The Leo Last Quarter Moon (Nov. 11, 2025, 9:28 pm) wants to frame our individual journeys in heroic terms. In this long calendar year of constant change, how have you been heroic? Have you shown an example of positivity, continued creating, shone your warm light on others who needed shoring up?
The Leo Last Quarter Moon at 20º04’ is on the Sabian symbol 21 Leo: Chickens intoxicated. With so many planets changing sign this year and the world feeling unsettled, we may feel a bit like intoxicated chickens staggering around, trying to find our center. Of all the lunar phases in the year, the Leo Last Quarter Moon summons us to find our confidence and push toward our intentions with the intoxication of excitement and creative zeal, shining our Leo lights brightly.
Soapbox Sermon
Eons ago, at my first job, a timid co-worker was being bullied by several other employees. One day, I’d finally had it, and I stood up and read them the riot act. Oh, the clean, hot rush of self-righteousness, of wielding the sword of moral indignation! But my approach didn’t exactly win me, or the co-worker I championed, a lot of friends. Blame my Sagittarius Ascendant, elevated Mars, and Mercury in the 9th house!
And similarly, here’s the thing about Mercury conjoining Mars in Sagittarius (Nov. 12, 2025, 3:15 pm PST): It can feel good – can be good – to stand up for your convictions, to leap upon on a soapbox and deliver a sermon from the heart. But it doesn’t always have the desired effect…unless your desire is to piss people off.
Mercury is in its detriment in Sagittarius. It has little of Mercury’s curiosity – mostly, what it has is conviction. Mix this Mercury with some retrograde misunderstandings and entangle it with hot-headed Mars, and you’re just a few words away from a holy war or a full-on crusade. This week, choose those words carefully.
Luck
Why do some people seem to be so lucky? I don’t particularly believe in fate, but I do sort of believe in luck. How else to explain those people who seem to have a miraculous ability to deflect bad fortune and attract wealth and support? Then again, I suspect that a lot of what seems like luck may come most readily to those with an accepting, cheerful attitude.
Astrologers associate Jupiter with luck, and certainly there seems to be an element of good fortune in the lives of those with Jupiter or its signs, Sagittarius and Pisces, prominent in their birth charts. This week, we get a chance to put Jupiter’s luck to the test, as the Sun in Scorpio trines Jupiter in Cancer (Nov. 16, 2025, 9:08 pm PST, 25º06 Scorpio and Cancer).
See if you can grab a piece of Jupiter’s luck as it swims by. Those with the strongest will and the greatest confidence will likely do best, but this cosmic windfall is accessible to everyone – just look to the Leo house of your chart, ruled by the Sun, for some happy solar fallout. And if your birthday falls during this week, you can probably expect a little something extra in your stack of cosmic birthday presents.
Writing and images © 2017-2025 by April Elliott Kent
