Episode 100 | Aries Full Moon, Scorpio Season, & Our Centenary Celebration
Listen to the episode and read show notes here
Jen: Welcome to the Big Sky Astrology podcast, with April Elliott Kent and me, producer and cohost Jen Braun. Hey friends, Jen here. Today is Monday, October 11th, 2021. And here with me – as we celebrate triple digits – is my friend, astrologer April Elliott Kent. Happy hundredth episode, April!
April: Oh, same to you, Jen.
Jen: Thank you so much. Can you believe it?
April: I’m really excited. I mean, a hundred episodes, it feels like quite an achievement.
Jen: It does feel like a milestone.
April: I know. And, I remember recently I had been listening back to some old episodes to pull some clips for our hundredth episode. And I was telling you, we were adorable from the start. And the show has certainly developed over the last couple of years that we’ve been doing it.
Jen: Yes.
April: But, it is still recognizable as that scrappy little podcast that we started together almost two years ago.
Jen: I can’t believe it’s been almost two years.
April: No, I can’t either.
Jen: Yes.
April: It’s exciting.
Jen: It’s great.
April: At the Sagittarius New Moon, I think we should celebrate two years.
Jen: I think we will. It’s been so much fun.
April: It has been fun. We were talking before, that we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
Jen: Yes. That there was a certain amount of naïveté when we started about how much work it would be.
April: And good thing.
Jen: Yes. Good thing.
April: Because, otherwise you all would not be listening to us today. But it is an enormous amount of work to do it well, and we like to think that we have always tried to do it well. But what I have loved so much about this experience, not only working with you, Jen, which is fantastic. I could not have designed a better podcast co-host and sidekick.
Jen: That’s very sweet.
April: Well, yes, I mean it. And also, that we heard from a couple of people during Podathon, something that really made me happy, which was that the podcast made them feel like part of a group, part of something, that we invited people in to be our virtual friends, our pod pals. And I love that.
Jen: I love that too. It’s like our friendship extends out and people can feel that, I think.
April: I think so too.
Jen: People describe it as: It’s fun to be able to hang out with their friends, April and Jen, and learn astrology. It’s like, just friends hanging out, chatting about astrology.
April: Absolutely. I remember from the earliest days we were talking about doing this show and talking about the podcasts that we liked listening to, because that’s why we decided to do this. We both love listening to podcasts.
Jen: Yes.
April: And the ones that I love are just two people sitting together talking. And, it does not matter even what they’re talking about out. If the chemistry is there and it’s enjoyable, just listening to them chit chat, I will listen to it. And that’s what I hope that we’re bringing people along with astrology each time we bring them a new episode of the podcast.
Jen: I hope so too. These have filled my heart with happiness and doing this with you has been a highlight.
April: For me as well my friend. For me as well.
Jen: It’s really great.
April: Yes. Well, where do we want to begin this 100th episode?
Jen: We should begin with the week of October 11th through the 17th. And how should we start, my friend?
April: Jen, we begin week one as we have begun so many weeks before with, Moonwatch…
Jen: Moonwatch…
April: Play it!
April: Yes, Moonwatch. This week we begin with a Capricorn First Quarter Moon on October 12th at 08:25 PM Pacific time at exactly 20° of Capricorn, on the Sabian symbol, “A Hidden Choir Singing”. Now Jen, this made me think of the many times over 100 episodes that we have entertained the people with our singing skills and our love of song. We thought we would play you just a few examples. Cue it up, Jen.
Way-back machine, followed by excerpts from past episodes:
Excerpt: “April: Fabulous. It’s catchy. It’s got to be great. Mary Tyler Moore lived there on the show. It’s got to be pretty great.
Jen: That’s right, that’s right.
April: One of these days, Jen. One of these days we’ll do a..
Jen: We’ve never met. We should tell people. So…
April: We’ve never met, not even in spirit. Yes. We we’ll remedy that one day. I’ll get up there for sure.”
Excerpt: “April: Actually one of my favorite musicals. So, I don’t…
Jen: I was in that musical in high school!
April: So, Saturn and Pluto are like the Sharks and the Jets. dum-da-da-da da-da da-da Be cool, boy…”
Excerpt: “Jen: There are four acts in this play and we’re approaching intermission number one.
April: Let’s go out to the lobby, let’s go out to the lobby. I think we have to put a link to that little ad in the show notes. It’s one of my favorites….”
Excerpt: “Jen: Here’s a 1970s reference. Do you remember “School House Rock?”
April: Of course!
Jen: Conjunction junction, what’s your function?
April: What’s your function?
”
Excerpt: “April: Even the singer of Tom Jones who’s this very kind of flamboyant…
Jen: Sing it, April. Sing it!
April: “What’s new pussycat? Whoa whoa whooooaaaa” Big voice. You know?
Jen: Yes.”
Excerpt: “Jen: You said total eclipse, and then I thought about…
April: You thought about what?
Jen: This is hitting your Venus.
April: It sure is!
Jen: And then I thought of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
April: Oh, please don’t think of that because now I will be thinking of that all day long.
Jen: Sing it, sing it!
April: “Turn around…..” Well, and that’s very in keeping with the Nodes…
Jen: Every now and then you get a da-da-da daaa da-da da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da….
April: Oh, Jen…”
Excerpt: “April: And then finally on September 6th, Venus again, a planet of relationship, is changing signs, it’s going into Leo. Leeeeeeoooooo…
Jen: Leeeeeoooooo…
April: It’s just fun to sing it!
Jen: It is. And I recently had to text April and tell her that every time I hear Leo on a podcast now, I think of her singing…
April: Yes. She’s thinking, Leeeeeeoooooo…
Jen: Yes. It’s so funny…”
Excerpt: “April: The barometer symbol here, you know, it is a device for taking air pressure.
Jen: It’s also a David Bowie song!
April: It is?
Jen: Isn’t it?
April: Can you sing a little bit of it?
Jen: Under pressure… doo-do-do-do-do-do-do…
April: Oh, okay.
Jen: da-do-do-do do-do do doooo…
April: Alright, folks, with your bingo cards, “spontaneous singing,” check it off. Yes, I remember under pressure. I was trying to think, did he have a song called barometer…?”
Excerpt: “April: We have Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, all square Uranus. And of course, Saturn isn’t exactly square yet, but it will be next week.
Jen: It’s a lot of tension.
April: A lot of pointy bits.
Jen: Pointy bits, exactly! I feel like we should have a song about pointy bits… that we could regularly sing when there are squares!
April: “Pointy bits, oh pointy bits….”
Jen: Pointy bits!
April: I’m playing alto today. It’s fun!”
Excerpt: “April: Think of them as a New Zealand band. And one of my favorite songs of the eighties full stop.
Jen: Crowded house…
April: “Hey now, hey now…don’t dream it’s over….”
Jen: Oh, I know that song!
April: Yes.
Jen: Yes. I know that song.
April: So, beautiful.
Jen: I totally know that song.”
Way-back machine brings us back to present.
Jen: Well, how appropriate that the Sabian symbol is “A Hidden Choir Singing”, and there’s us singing for so many episodes!
April: And hidden! Folks are not able to see as as we are bursting forth in joyous song.
Jen: Oh, good point.
April: I mean, it’s an interesting symbol for Capricorn. You don’t think of Capricorn as being a super musical kind of sign.
Jen: Although I do think of Saturn – which rules Capricorn – as having a beat, maybe.
April: Oh, totally! Very rhythmic and exalted in Libra, which is an artistic kind of a sign.
Jen: Oh, sure.
April: But this is one of the very best First Quarter Moons of the year for breaking ground on important projects. Because the First Quarter wants us to just get moving, just take action. There are times that we give something a lot of thought for a long time and we manage to psych ourselves out of getting started, because we think about… well, like with the podcast, how difficult it’s going to be or how long it’s going to take or how much it might cost. The First Quarter Moon always says, “Well, just do it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be in its ultimate form, but you’ve got to take some action”. And specifically, towards something that you envisioned at the most recent Libra New Moon. But also, going back to the beginning of this lunar phase family, which began with the Capricorn New Moon of January 12th, 2021 at the beginning of this year.
So, it is a good time to sort of take out our new year’s resolutions, brush them off, see how we’re doing with them, see if it is still worth putting that energy into. And if we feel that it is dang it, take some action, get moving.
Jen: So this First Quarter Moon, in other words, brings us back to about a week ago, the Libra New Moon, but it also brings us back to nine months ago and the beginning of that lunar phase family from January, 2021?
April: Exactly. We have had time to gestate the germ of the idea that began in January. Now, here we are ready to take some action.
Jen: First Quarter Moons are about taking action, like you said, but Capricorn also is about working hard and projects.
April: Yes.
Jen: So, I like that connection between the First Quarter Moon and breaking ground on a new project. That makes a lot of sense.
April: Well, yes, and it likes to have a plan. It likes to create a structure. So, this is the right time to if there’s action that you need to take and you don’t know exactly where to start, start with a really good outline. That’s not everybody’s process, but definitely that’s something Capricorn likes to do. It creates the skeleton of something and then you flesh it out as you go along. So, I would say that this is a fantastic for First Quarter Moon to do that kind of work.
Jen: Sweet.
April: Sweet.
Jen: What’s coming up next, pal?
April: This week also the Sun makes a couple of interesting aspects. The Sun makes a trine to Jupiter on October 15th at 04:46 AM Pacific Time, at 22° and 20 minutes of Libra and Aquarius. And then, a couple of days later, it squares Pluto on October 17th, 05:12 AM Pacific Time at 24° and 20 minutes of Libra and Capricorn.
Jen: So, one of those things sounds fun… and one of those things does not sound fun.
April: Sounds fairly wretched, in fact.
Jen: Tell us how those go together.
April: Well, the Sun trine Jupiter is always nice because it suggests that something nice is coming. A reward might be coming. And probably if we look to next week, we’ll talk about Jupiter turning direct, which is going to happen then. But the Sun trine Jupiter is usually about finding the part of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is a real nice aspect. But the Sun square Pluto, this is sort of going to set the stage for a big Mars Pluto aspect next week, and then the Sun entering Scorpio because it’s all centered around Pluto.
What is hard about the Sun connecting with Pluto is it can be hard to see ourselves as important in light of the world’s indifference or criticism from some particular person. And that’s just the nature of Pluto. Pluto wants us accomplish things for the whole planet, not just for ourselves. So, that’s why it diminishes the Sun, the ego, the sense of wanting so badly to get things for ourselves or to develop our individual goals and objectives. Pluto says, “Well, you are like not that important in the great scheme of things. This is about accomplishing something bigger.” But, never forget that each of us has our role to play in that. Whenever you have two planets that are square, each other, each planets concern is equally legitimate. This is not just about Pluto getting its way or just about the Sun getting its way. And ideally what we do with this is, this is a couple of day period, say between the 16th and the 18th, when we’re working through this Sun Pluto imagery, and the goal is to think, “How can I with my unique creative gifts serve the whole, serve the collective more effectively and make it not about me particularly, but use everything that I am in the service of something bigger?”
Jen: Which makes me think of Aquarius… because Aquarius is about moving society forward. Though, society wouldn’t move forward if a whole bunch of individuals didn’t come together around some cause.
April: Yes, that’s exactly true. And Pluto, it’s interesting… I’m not sure I think of Pluto as being a forward moving planet, certainly will be once it gets into Aquarius one way or another. But Pluto is about getting rid of the dead weight, I guess. So that as we are moving forward, there’s less dross that we’re carrying with us – less hubris. Does that make sense?
Jen: That does, because I remember you describing it one time as… I think it was during one of the Pluto return episodes that we were talking about, which I can link those in the show notes… But, you were talking about how Pluto comes in and it’s like the termites, it takes out whatever is no longer authentic or is no longer serving the good of the whole, I guess…
April: Yes. And I think with that, Pluto is less concerned with the future than even just with the here and now. “What’s the real thing… if we take anything down to its framework, what is real about us? What is real about what society needs?” Yes. It’s a pretty tough little aspect, but it is the Sun making the square to Pluto. So, that goes pretty quickly. But, it’s a couple of days that that is the way to be thinking during those days.
Jen: It’s interesting that you brought up, it’s setting up the Mars/Pluto thing, which we’ll talk about in a little while. But it also makes me think about how Mercury just came through and squared Pluto a couple of times, and will again in November. So, there is sort of this Pluto theme playing out throughout late September, October, and part of November.
April: Absolutely true. Well, that is it for week one.
Jen Okay.
April: So, we will mention one more time just how much we appreciated everybody who made a contribution during our fundraising Podathon a couple of weeks ago. And we will be announcing the winners of that drawing later in this episode. But we also wanted to give a special little shout-out for the people who have been our sponsors. We’ve had several wonderful sponsors over the last year.
Jen: Yes, that’s true. And I’ll link them all in the show notes.
April: Wonderful. But, before we had those sponsors, we had imaginary sponsors.
Jen: Let’s listen.
Way-back machine, followed by excerpts from past episodes:
Excerpt: “April: This year… and I’m going to give an unsolicited plug…
Jen: Okay.
April: …For a company called the HoneyComb Collective. And what they do are personalized astrology planners.
Jen: Well, that’s kind of cool.
April: It’s fantastic. And mine hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m super excited about this. So, I think it’s honeycomb.com or something. We’ll put it in the show notes.
Jen: And if Honeycomb.com would like to sponsor The Big Sky Astrology Podcast…
April: Yes. Welcome new sponsors, HoneyComb Collective LLC! Someday, when I move to Minneapolis, Joanie and I, at the beginning of the year, we’ll get out at the dining table and crack open our new planners…”
Excerpt: “April: It’s kind of a healing. It’s the planetary version of The Repair Shop!
Jen:
April: It all comes back to Netflix. Welcome new advertiser, Netflix.
Jen: Our second sponsor Netflix.
April: Yes.
Jen: Because we have recommended other Netflix shows on this podcast. In fact, in Episode Number One, we talked about, oh, I can’t think of the title of it…
April: We talked about The Crown.
Jen: Thank you. The Crown. In Episode One we talked about The Crown.
April: Everything comes back to Netflix on this show.”
Excerpt: “April: So, yes, so that was my Netflix astrological recommendation for the week. We thank ongoing sponsor Netflix.
Jen: We hope. Ongoing sponsor, we hope.
April: Exactly.
Jen: If you’re out there listening and you’re some big wig at Netflix… Hey, you could be our sponsor!
April: Hey, why not us? Why. Not. Us! Why not? This is all we are saying.
Jen: We don’t know who our listeners are!
April: They could be super famous, influential people!
Jen: That’s right.
April: So, get on it, folks.”
Excerpt: “Jen: And, there’s an app called Headspace. It’s a pretty popular app. Have you heard of it?
April: unless you’ve told me about it.
Jen: I don’t think I have, it’s a fantastic meditation app. And we’re not getting paid anything by the way, for me to mention this. But if Headspace would like to sponsor us…
April: Our new sponsor, Headspace! We haven’t had an imaginary sponsor in some time…”
Excerpt: “April: We’ll say instead how refreshing it is to us, and how excited, and how warmly we greet Mercury’s ingress into Aries.
Jen: Welcome, Mercury!
April: Yes. Welcome new sponsor, Mercury in Aries! ”
Excerpt: “Jen: Hi April.
April: Hi Jen. I know you’re laughing cuz I’m making delighted little hand-waving motions. I’m thinking of that Geico pig!
Jen: Oh, yes!
April: If you remember from the commercial – welcome new unofficial sponsor, Geico! But I love the one with the little Geico pig….”
Excerpt: “April: It’s interesting. I’ve been telling Jen for a couple of weeks that we’ve been absolutely obsessed around here with watching “Tiny houses” on YouTube. There’s a channel called “Living big in a tiny house” or something.
Jen: Okay.
April: This person clearly is not going to want to be our imaginary sponsor because I can’t even get the name of his show right! ”
Excerpt: “April: That’s how I’ve been spending my television-viewing hours. What are you watching these days?
Jen: Well, I told you I just finished watching The Mandalorian on Disney plus. Welcome new imaginary sponsor….
April: Yes.
Jen: Disney!
April: Disney plus! It’s true. We haven’t given them a chance at an imaginary sponsorship before now! So welcome Disney plus.”
Excerpt: “April: What else is going on over there?
Jen: Well, I’m watching a great TV show that I think we should pull in imaginary sponsor, Apple TV plus!
April: Okay. Welcome, imaginary sponsor!
Jen: New imaginary sponsor, Apple TV plus!
April: Excellent, yes! We like them very much!
Jen: Joanie and I are watching Ted Lasso.
April: You’ve told us about it. As you know, we blazed through the entire season in two days.
Jen: It’s such a great show…”
Excerpt: “April: I’m going to have to see how that goes. It could just be that you know, more taking to our couches and binging Netflix.
Jen: Perhaps.
April: With salty snacks.
Jen: Welcome unofficial sponsor Netflix.
April: Welcome back…”
Excerpt: “April: We talked quite a lot about Thanksgiving because it was that Thursday.
Jen: It was indeed. We talked about pie.
April: We talked about pie because that’s what we do. And, I realized when I listened back to that episode today, that we were talking about The Crown.
Jen: Oh, and here is season four of The Crown.
April: Season four, our oldest imaginary sponsor is Netflix!
”
Excerpt: “April: We’ll also invite all of you to visit that playlist. And in the comments for each year, you can leave your choices as well. Now, this is on YouTube. We’re not sure about Spotify or the other options available there. I’ll put these on my channel in their own playlist.
Jen: Imaginary sponsor, YouTube.
April: Yes, right!
April: Thank you very much…”
Way-back machine brings us back to present.
April: If you’d like to be an actual sponsor of the podcast, please do get in touch. Just email me april@bigskyastrology.com. We don’t have as many openings for sponsorship as we used to because we are releasing episodes every two weeks rather than every week. But we would love to talk to you about it. And in the meantime, there are just so many imaginary sponsors out there that we hope by invoking them by name, perhaps they could become real sponsors at some point. Who knows?
Jen: We’re looking at you, Ted Lasso.
April: Yes we are. Jen, what do we have going on in Week Two?
Jen: To start out the week of October 18th through the 24th, we have a couple of the planets stationing direct. Jupiter stations direct on October 17th at 10:30 PM Pacific Time at 22°, 19 minutes of Aquarius. And then the next day, Mercury stations direct on October 18th at 08:17 AM Pacific Time at 10°, seven minutes of Libra. Tell us about this, pal.
April: Yes. Well Jupiter has been retrograde since June 20th and during that time it’s been a good time to have inner adventures rather than outward adventures, probably. And now as Jupiter goes direct, it’s time to actually embark on an adventure or take a risk or try something new, I would say. Jupiter is finishing up, this is the last time it will go retrograde in Aquarius and now it’s direct and it’s headed straight for Pisces. It will go into Pisces on December 30th. It dipped its toes into Pisces earlier in the year, so we got a little bit of a sample of what that might be bringing our way, but that will really be the main thrust of Jupiter’s activity in 2022. Will be going through Pisces, which is great. It’s one of its home signs.
Jen: So, is it fair to say that if folks have Jupiter-in-Aquarius tasks that they would like to finish up, that this would be the time to start thinking about those and finishing them a up before the end of the year?
April: Yes. Wrapping them up. This is less about beginning something totally new and more about wrapping up what you’ve been working on in the Aquarius area of your chart. We’ll link in the show notes to my blog post and video that talk about how to find that in your chart, if you struggle with it.
Jen: So, Jupiter in Aquarius themes would be what… friendships, community, long-term planning?
April: Yes. And organizations, and considering how you are part of a collective of people who think the same way or interested in similar things. It’s been a time of wanting a little more of that. It’s been a frustrating time because it’s been harder to have more of that because of the pandemic. But there is a lot more community probably happening online, which is very Aquarian, than there was before. And that has been ruled by Saturn because Saturn’s the traditional ruler of Aquarius. Jupiter doesn’t necessarily kick up its heels in Aquarius. Although they seem to have a lot in common. Jupiter likes to try new things and Aquarius likes to look towards the future. It seems like a pretty good fit. But when Jupiter is an Aquarius, it’s only slightly happier than it was last year when it was in Capricorn. As a Saturn-ruled sign, Jupiter’s kind of… the shoes are a little too tight, you know? Going into Pisces will be much nicer for Jupiter.
Jen: Yes.
April: Mercury has been retrograde since September 26 here in the Pacific time zones, 27th everywhere else. And, it really has been unpleasant. Well, I remember us talking about it because it was bad, even when it just went into the shadow period, Jen. I remember us talking about it.
Jen: Well, when it went into the shadow period, we had our Podathon week, and we disappeared off Spotify, mysteriously. So if any folks are listening to this, you do need to refollow us on Spotify.
April: They got us re-listed fast.
Jen: They did. Yes.
April: But I don’t know how it happened in the first place. So, that set the tone there. And I had my own struggles with technology and my business and a few other things that were just maddening. So, it was a pretty tough Mercury retrograde. I was just talking to Jen earlier about needing to sit down and, because as we record this, Mercury is still retrograde.
Jen: Yes.
April: And that’s the time to go back and really sort of think about whatever plans and objectives you had laid out for yourself. And that’s something I really need to be doing, because I keep planning my life in such a way that I’m way too busy when Mercury is retrograde. And it’s not that Mercury retrograde makes bad things happen, it just, it talks about a moment in time that is better suited to reflection and reconsidering things than it is about trying to push forward and to practically anything. So, my resolution for next year, Jen, is to map out my year and remember to include the Mercury retrograde periods and try to keep things a little lighter then in terms of scheduling. It’s not a great time for scheduling when Mercury is retrograde.
So, anyway, now it is going direct, we’ll have another week or two of shadow, but then we should be back on the right track.
Jen: I think it’s November 2nd or 3rd… is when it it’s out of its shadow. So, we have another week and a half or so.
April: …to stumble along. In the meantime, Jen, do you know what time it is? Well, do you?
Jen: What time is it?
April: It’s time for Moonwatch…
Jen: A second Moonwatch…
April: Play it again! Well we would love to share with you the evolution of our Moonwatch theme. When we started out in the podcast, I think we had the Moonwatch segment almost from the start.
Jen: I think it was part of the initial plan, yes. If I’m remembering correctly.
April: But it soon became clear that it deserved a proper theme, like a breaking news theme. And for a while we just kind of like made little doo-doo-doo-doo sounds. And that never really worked that well.
Jen: It didn’t take off.
April: Anyway, we put together this little sampling of you, of the evolution of Moonwatch through the 100 episodes. Please play it, Jen.
Way-back machine, followed by excerpts from past episodes:
Excerpt: “April: Jen?
Jen: April.
April: Do you know what time it is?
Jen: What time is it?
April: It’s Moonwatch.
Jen: You gotta hum!
April: Breaking news!
”
Excerpt: “Jen: Yes. Well, we have some exciting news this week for Moonwatch.
April: Yes, we have a theme song!
Jen: Let’s play it right now.
”
Excerpt: “April: Well, you know what time it is?
Jen: What time is it?
April: It’s Moonwatch!
Jen: Should I play it?
April: Yes, play it!”
Excerpt: “April: Well, that of course is another thing that has just given us such pleasure. From the very beginning, we knew that Moonwatch needed to be cornerstone of our podcasting content and we felt that it needed something in the way of an exciting introduction. So, at first we improvised verbally.
Jen: Indeed.
April: And it was always such fun to see that come back from the transcriptionist who transcribes our episodes.
Jen: And then a few people have said to me that they used to enjoy when we would make our own drumbeats and whatnot, because they would sing along with us, or hum along, or do the drumbeats with us. So, that’s kind of cute.
April: Well, now they can giggle just because we giggle…
Jen: And we giggle through the whole thing…
April: …every single time we play the Moonwatch theme…”
Excerpt: “April: A star point. So, we will link to both of those things in show notes.
Jen: Absolutely.
April: Alright.
Jen: Well, should we move on to Moonwatch…?
April: Moonwatch…
April: So, not only do we have our theme song, but we’re still heralding the moment for the people that wanna sing along with us that you were talking about…”
Way-back machine brings us back to present.
April: Well, it still thrills us every time we hear that Moonwatch theme.
Jen: I do like that little newscast stinger that we use.
April: I do too.
Jen: Yes, I think it works.
April: It genuinely makes us laugh every time…
Jen: It’s true.
April: …and we’re not even hearing it.
Jen: Only in our heads!
April: When we’re recording, it still makes us laugh. And we love it that so many of you have written to us and talked about how much you enjoy it and how you sing along with us. And, it’s delightful. We love sharing that with you.
Jen: It’s awesome. Yes. Well, what do we have this week for Moonwatch, April?
April: Well, we do have a Full Moon. We have an Aries Full Moon on October 20th, which was the birthday of my old car, “the Go-ape Mobile.” Also, my dear brother, but really mainly the car!
April: Oh, my goodness!
Jen: Even your car was a Libra!
April: I have brand loyalty, my friend…
April: …I have told you: I podcast with one, I married one, I drove one. So…
Jen: Those are three very important relationships in your life!
April: Hey, Hey, I’m in Southern California. It doesn’t get more important than your car!
So, the Full Moon is on October 20th at 07:57 AM Pacific Time and it is at 27°, 26 minutes of Aries and Libra. The Sun is conjunct Mars and Libra at this Full Moon. It’s past it, but it’s still kind of closely in the neighborhood. And they are in a T-square with the Aries Moon and Pluto in Capricorn. A bit of a tough Full Moon. And it will bring relationship themes to a head, to a crisis point, where things are revealed. And we really need to hash things out with people, especially with Mars involved. Mars is about asserting yourself and Pluto is about issues of control or power and this sort of thing.
There are tough couple of planets to have together. Mars rules the Full Moon because it rules Aries, and it’s just a contentious aspect, Mars square Pluto. It’s a closing square in this case. So, it is concluding business that began back at the conjunction, which was March 22nd, 2020. Surprise. And the opposition was at June 5th of this year. We know that Mars together with Pluto is always a pretty contentious aspect of the irresistible force and the immovable object with Mars and Pluto.
Jen: Yes. And you mention those dates because you can go back, and think to March of 2020 and June 5th of this year, and think about what was happening for you. I’ll link the two episodes in the show notes, where we talked about the conjunction and the opposition. And that was Episode 17 “Saturn in Aquarius”, and Episode 84 “Venus enters Cancer”. So, you can go back and hear that whole show, and you hear what was going on. Of course, everyone knows what was happening in March, 2020.
April: Well, and it’s just so striking how people have reacted around the pandemic. And the central theme that has been so divisive for people, at least in this country has been around the right of the individual to do what they want, which is Mars and the need of the collective to have particular things in place. It is all about people talking about their individual rights versus control of the government or whatever it is. This is closing square in this particular cycle of Mars and Pluto. And I don’t know what we’ll see, but I know that as a society, at least here in the US, we’ve now gotten to a point with this where we’re at another critical moment with assessing it with legislating certain things. And it’ll be a little bit of a dramatic Full Moon, I think from that point of view.
So, we’ve talked before Jen, when we have these, what we call T-squares, where we have Sun/Mars opposed the Moon, and all of them are square Pluto, that the exit strategy involves the other sign in that modality. These are all Cardinal signs.
Jen: Right.
April: So, we’re looking for the missing sign in that modality, which in this case is Cancer. And that says, “This is the exit strategy”. So, home, favorite foods, cuddly pets and humans, things that feel familiar… Hazel, Cheetos, this is where I’m going for my Cancerian refuge.
Jen: How appropriate that one of the episodes I just referred folks to was “Venus enters Cancer”. So, you can hear more about Cancer in that episode as well, I’m sure.
April: Very nice.
Jen: I’ll be snuggling some pets on that day, maybe…
April: Me too.
Jen: … a couple of dogs.
April: I know. Well, I told you, a friend of mine is fostering two tiny little kittens.
Jen: They’re so cute!
April: They’re the acme of Cancer cuteness.
Jen: I know.
April: I have to get over and cuddle those kittens.
Jen: Yes, you do.
April: I’ll be very Cancerian. And what do we have to close out the week, Jen?
Jen: The Sun enters Scorpio on October 22nd at 09:51 PM Pacific Time. Scorpio season, April.
April: I love it!
Jen: I like it too.
April: I do too. There’s something about this time of year that is so shadowy and mysterious. Of course, we have Halloween during Scorpio season, and it is a time when the days are starting to contract and get short and the shadows get long and it’s beautiful. It’s just beautiful. It is a season for endings. We see it in nature around us. Well, you do. In California we see nothing.
Jen: Sure. I see it right now. There are leaves falling from my tree right now.
April: Exactly. And they’re beautiful rich colors too.
Jen: Right on.
April: So, it’s a season of endings, but that means it’s also a chance for new beginnings. It’s resetting the seasonal clock. Scorpio is ruled by Mars, so Scorpio signifies how we protect what we care about. It is the protective water sign. And it is co ruled by Pluto. So, Scorpio allows us to transcend the individual ego, like we were saying before, in order to merge deeply with others, Scorpio is about intimacy and merging and really, really being close and connected and interdependent with others. It takes the Libra season and those messages of being sociable, getting to know others, reaching out, being collaborative, and it takes it that one step further. Scorpio season is about who are we going to really bring close? We can’t bring everybody into our inner circle, no matter how sociable and friendly we are. We don’t have enough room in our lives.
So, the Scorpio season talks about those intimate attachments that are really non-negotiable in our lives that people very closest to us. I say, if share an ATM pin with somebody, that’s an intimate relationship. Or, if you’re sharing a bed with somebody, or if they’re the executor of your will. I mean, these are intimate, intimate relationships that require great trust. And that’s another feature of Scorpio.
Jen: It’s about bringing in some deep authenticity.
April: Yes. Getting real. When you get in a long-term relationship with someone, you’re going to see the worst of that person. And the question with Scorpio is “Can you love them anyway, even when you know the worst that they are?” It’s easy to love what somebody, when they’re being their best self. And it’s really challenging to meet them where they are, and that is part of what the Scorpio season and this Full Moon I think are really about. Because, it goes back to that Pluto element in the Full Moon chart. Any other thoughts about that, Jen?
Jen: Yes. This will set off the Saturn/Uranus square that we’ve been talking about all year. It’s the main planetary feature of 2021. Folks can refer back to Episode 69, “Saturn and Uranus: That Escalated Quickly”. I’ll link it in the show notes.
But as the Sun moves through Scorpio – because it’s a fixed sign and Saturn and Uranus are also in fixed signs – the Sun triggers that. And Mars also triggers that once it enters Scorpio at the end of October. But, that’s a few weeks out yet.
April: Yes. On Halloween, we have a square from the Sun to Saturn. Mars will get to that point and start messing with Saturn around November 10th and then throughout the month they catch up with Uranus. And as you say, then we are going to start moving into eclipse season…
Jen: Oh boy.
April: …at the end of November.
Jen: Yes.
April: Yes. So, you can hear more about all of this, actually, if you didn’t get a chance to contribute to the podcast during Podathon – it’s not too late. You can contribute just $5 now and we will send you the link to our special Libra Equinox episode that covers this whole three-month period in exhaustive detail.
Jen: Yes. It’s a long episode, one of our longest ever, and we’ve gotten some really good feedback about it. So, folks can hear that and hear what the main planetary features of that three-month period are.
April: Yes. So, you only have to go to bigskyastropod.com and see our none too subtle link to make your contribution.
Jen: Perfect.
April: And we will thank you for that.
Jen: That’s awesome.
April: Well, my friend, we have made it to the end of our 100th show sheet. Have we done it?
Jen: We’ve done it a hundred times over! Yes.
April:
Jen:
April: Oh my gosh. We’re a little… it’s like after Podathon, we’re limping over the finish line here.
Jen: So true.
April: We thank you so much for listening to 100 episodes of The Big Sky Astrology Podcast. If you like the show, be sure to follow us, leave a rating or a review. And we do hope that you’ll spread the word by letting a friend know about the podcast. You can read show notes and full transcripts and leave your comments about each and every episode at our website, bigskyastropod.com.
Jen: We’re so grateful to everyone who showed support during our recent Podathon. And this week we would like to announce the winners of our raffle.
April:
Jen: Take it away, April.
April: Drum roll, please.
April: This year’s Podathon raffle winners are: The winner of a solar return report from my online store with text by the wonderful astrologer Mary Shea, is Mixy Gregory.
April: The winner of a beautiful astrology poster from The Elegant Universe, donated by friend of the podcast Patrick Blasa, is Tammy Van Ulzen.
April: Two winners will receive a 60-minute reading with moi. The first is Jacinta Armstrong. And the second is Andrea Pintia.
April: And finally, last but not least, the grand prize winner of a full 90-minute reading with me, Marina Vasilic.
April: Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to all of you who donated and made the Podathon such a success!
Jen: Yes, congratulations to the winners, and thank you so much to everyone for your support! It means so much. As a small, independent podcast, it really does mean the world to us. Now, if you missed Podathon – as April said – and you would like to support the show, please go to our website, bigskyastropod.com. If you donate $5 or more, we’ll send you the most recent Equinox episode and we’ll also invite you to our special December Solstice bonus episode as well.
April: That is it for us for the centennial episode!
Jen: Triple digits!
April: Yes, triple digits! Join us again, bright and early in two weeks. And until then, keep your feet on the ground…
Jen: …and your eyes on the stars!
Thank you for listening! To learn more about April Elliott Kent, please check out her website, www.BigSkyAstrology.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter, read her thought-provoking weekly essays, purchase her books, sign up for a personal astrology reading, and more.
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© 2021 April Elliott Kent & Jen Braun
