TRANSCRIPT Ep. 131 | Capricorn Full Moon: No Place Like Home
Listen and read show notes for this episode hereWelcome to The Big Sky Astrology Podcast, with your host, Astrologer and Author, April Elliott Kent.
April: Hello invisible friend, April here, and the date today is July 11th, 2022. Welcome to Episode 131 of The Big Sky Astrology Podcast.
Solar Returns Webinar (July 16, 2022, 11 am PDT)
Before I get started today, I wanted to let you know about a webinar that I’m going to be offering on Saturday, July 16th at 11:00 AM Pacific Time. It’s all about Solar Return Chart, which is something I get a lot of questions about. If you’d like to know more about how to read and interpret your Solar Return Chart, you’re definitely going to want to join me for this. It’ll be a two-hour webinar and I’m offering it for $24.95. It will be recorded, so if you can’t be there live, you will be able to catch up whenever it’s convenient for you. To sign up, just see the link in the show notes, or go to bigskyastrology.com/learning.
This week, Venus makes important aspects to Saturn and Neptune before moving into Cancer. Important matters are revealed at a powerful Full Moon in a conjunction with Pluto. The Sun makes a trine aspect to Neptune and reaches an important moment in its cycle with Mercury. Plus, I answer a listener question about how to make the best use of the Sun’s transits.
US Pluto Return (July 11)
First up today, we have the second exact US Pluto Return, that’s the conjunction from transiting Pluto to Pluto in the US chart. That happens on July 11th. We already had one exact Return on February 22nd, and then there will be one more on December 28th. I’ll just give you a few episodes that you can refer back to if you want to revisit those conversations about this big Pluto Return. It is a very important event in the life of the country. And, we are seeing, unfortunately, some of the really dark qualities of Pluto that have been emerging this year. So, you can look at Episode 111, “The Return of Pluto and a Sect-sy Question”, Episode 65, “Mars, Uranus, And Revisiting The US Pluto Return”, and Episode 29 “Neptune Washing Over All And The US Pluto Return”.
Like all of the planetary cycles of the outer slow-moving planets, this is one that is taking a while to unfold, and it’s not just happening on the particular days that the aspect is exact, it is kind of moving in a gradual way and coloring the entire period of time this entire year. And, I have to say the slower, the planet moves and Pluto is the slowest moving of all the planets, the longer its influence, either side of being exact. We have been seeing some of the energy of this US Pluto Return really beginning at least last year, and we can even go further back than that.
Venus trine Saturn (July 12, 9:28 pm PDT)
Venus makes two important aspects this week that I wanted to mention. It makes the trine aspect to Saturn on July 12th at 9:28 PM Pacific Time. And that is at 24°07’ Gemini and Aquarius. Venus is on this Sabian symbol, 25 Gemini, “A Man Trimming Palms”, and Saturn is on the Sabian symbol, 25 Aquarius, “A Butterfly with the Right Wing More Perfectly Formed”.
What I’m taking away from these Sabian symbols specifically related to this aspect is this sense of trimming away and shaping and perfecting things. Venus does like things to be beautiful. And when it’s connected with Saturn, we tend to appreciate the function of things and whether or not something is really useful and beautiful. Venus trine Saturn speaks of those things.
Venus is still in Gemini at this point, and it has probably gotten, I don’t know, a little lost along the way. Venus is attracted by many different things at the same time. And if we think of it as maybe you are a person who likes to go to yard sales and you go to them every weekend and you keep picking up little things here and there and you think, “Oh, I’ll find space for them. I’ll find some use for them”. But then after a while, you have so many and it’s clear that you’re never going to use them all.
So this is the time to start trimming back a little bit of some of the things that, that bright curious little Venus in Gemini has been picking up in recent weeks, trim down in order to take one or two of these things or ideas that you may have had about things to bring one or two into the nest to really nurture and to grow to fruition. And Saturn is very helpful in this regard, particularly Saturn in Aquarius, which is always looking ahead to the future and anticipating what will be needed, what will be useful or profitable or otherwise enjoyable, because the bottom line with Venus always is, Do we enjoy it? Does it bring us pleasure?
Venus square Neptune (July 13, 2022, 10:24 pm PDT)
The next day, Venus makes a square aspect to Neptune at 10:24 PM Pacific Time at 25°22’ Gemini and Pisces. Together, these two Venus aspects within a day of each other, I think have the net effect of bringing us down to earth a little bit. The symbol for the Sabian symbol of Venus as it squares Neptune is “A Winter Frost in The Wood”. And, the Sabian symbol for Neptune, 26 Pisces is “A New Moon Reveals That It’s Time for People To Go Ahead With Their Different Projects”. So, if we’re thinking in terms of relationship, the symbols of, “Winter Frost In The Woods”, and “People Going Ahead With Their Different Projects”, to me implies a kind of a parting of the ways, the “Frost In the Woods”, you know, speaks of fall going to winter and that the leaves are no longer on the trees and that things are very spare, and there’s not much of the lush adornment of greenery that we anticipate in the woods and then the obvious imagery of people going ahead with their different projects.
Venus in aspect with Neptune can be having our eyes suddenly open about someone or about a situation, this is often the nature of hard aspects to Neptune. That’s the moment when the veil is lifted and we see things as they truly are sometimes for the first time, and then we have to make a decision with the Venus trying Saturn, maybe of, “Okay, that helps us decide what are we taking ahead into the future with us”.
Capricorn Full Moon (July 13, 2022, 11:38 am PDT)
And now for the Moon Report for the week of July 11th. It begins with a Capricorn Full Moon at 21°21’ minutes of Capricorn, on July 13th at 11:38 AM Pacific Time. The Capricorn Full Moon is the time of year when we begin to see how the things that we initiated at the last Capricorn New Moon, are unfolding, progressing, maturing. The most recent Capricorn New Moon was on January 2 of this year at 12°20’ Capricorn. A little bit of a tough beginning to this new year when Venus was still retrograde at that time. In the process of making a series of squares to Pluto, so often at the beginning of a new year, we feel excited about getting a fresh start with a new goal or ambition or objective, very often it has to do with our business or with our personal habits, and it really was a tough time to be initiating new things with that Venus retrograde and the aspects to Pluto. So, that was around the time of that Capricorn New Moon.
The usual work of a Capricorn New Moon is to refine our ambitions, decide exactly what it is we want to accomplish in tangible and quantifiable ways. So, this is the Full Moon where we begin to see what has been possible and what probably practically speaking will not be possible for us during the course of the rest of this calendar year. This Sabian symbol for the Moon is 22 Capricorn, “A General Accepting Defeat Gracefully”. And I think it could be very much the case that at this Full Moon we’re saying, okay, probably, I’m not going to reach X goal that I had for myself this year – and accepting that defeat gracefully. And thinking, you know, maybe I won’t get there this year, but there’s always next year. And maybe just the idea of refining our goals a little bit to bring them down to what is practical.
This is the Full Moon Two of the Lunar Phase Family Cycle that began on January 12th, 2021, so the previous January, that fell at 23°13’ Capricorn. What’s interesting about that was, that was just after the events of January 6th and the attack on the US capital. It’s just now really that inquiries are going on full force. So, we’re just kind of halfway through that very interesting cycle that started at that New Moon on January 12th, 2021, which was in a conjunction with Pluto. And, now we are starting to see the full effects, consequences, and behind the scenes information related to all of that.
Now, interestingly enough, in this Full Moon, we also have the Moon in a conjunction with Pluto and the Sun opposed Pluto. But the Sun is trine Neptune, which we’ll talk a little bit more about later in the episode. And the Sun is on this Sabian symbol, “A Woman Awaiting a Sailboat”. That feels so evocative to me of the Sun in Cancer with Neptune, “The Woman Looking Out to Sea and Waiting for A Sailboat”. We don’t exactly know why she’s waiting. We don’t know if she’s waiting for someone who is going to be on that boat. We don’t know if she’s waiting for a boat so that it can take her away. But there is always with Neptune and with the Sun and the Moon connecting with Neptune a little bit of a yearning and the feeling of really wanting and hoping and desiring.
Now, this Full Moon Chart, of course also incorporates those Venus aspects that we just talked about, Venus trine Saturn, and Venus square Neptune. So, within the context of this Full Moon Chart, and Full Moons, often having something to say about the way we’re relating with other people, I think these Venus aspects take on a particular poignancy and importance at this Full Moon time.
Void-of-Course Moon periods
Let’s take a look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week. The first is on July 11th, when the Moon in Sagittarius makes a square aspect to Neptune at 6:42 PM Pacific Time. It’s void-of-course then for a good long time, for about seven and one quarter hours until it enters Capricorn on July 12th at 2:01 AM. So, here where I’m at on the west coast, again, this is a time when mostly we are winding down our evening or we are sleeping, because this is a Monday, it’s not like it’s a weekend, we’re going and staying out late. So, this is a particularly important void-of-course Moon time for examining Neptune matters. And as I’ve often said, as we’re having these void-of-course Moon periods in the evening, and as we’re sleeping, when the unconscious mind represented by Neptune is particularly sensitive. Then, it’s important what we do in that evening before we go to bed and the kinds of stimulus that we subject ourselves to, and the kinds of imagery and words and pictures that we take in as well to make sure that we’re setting the stage for a good and helpful night’s sleep, a dream state that may be very active, but doesn’t necessarily have to be scary or too intense.
On July 13th, the Moon in Capricorn ends on a conjunction with Pluto at 9:17 PM Pacific Time, it’s void-of-course then for four hours before entering Aquarius on July 14th at 1:13 AM. Here in the United States mostly, this is one that we’re all going to be either getting ready to go to bed or we’re sleeping through. But that conjunction between the Moon and Pluto is very deep and very intense. This would be a night that as you’re having your evening meal, make sure that it’s something that is going to sit well, that it’s not going to disturb your sleep, nothing way too spicy. Perhaps, before you go off to sleep, to do some meditation, listen to some lovely music, do something that releases some of the potentially upsetting or disquieting qualities of Pluto. As Moon comes together with Pluto, I often get the image of putting a glass of milk in the refrigerator with no cover on it and sitting next to Limburger cheese or something with a really, really strong aroma, and the milk takes on the flavor of that really intense flavorful food that it’s next to, so we are very much like milk at that stage on July 13th, and whatever we put ourselves next to, and we will take on some of its flavors.
On July 15th, the Moon in Aquarius, finally, we get a nice aspect, it ends on a trine to Venus at 9:36 PM Pacific Time, and void of course again for about four and one quarter hours, before it enters Pisces on July 16th at 1:18 AM Pacific Time. So, these are sweet dreams indeed. The Moon in Aquarius can be a little jangly and we have to make sure during the day that we get some nice exercise that maybe, a conversation or a text or an email with a good friend, is a nice thing before we head off to bed with that trine to Venus. It’s a nice sociable ending to the Moon in Aquarius period of that couple of days.
Mercury/Sun conjunction (July 16, 2022, 12:38 pm PDT)
The Sun makes a conjunction with Mercury on July 16th at 12:38 PM Pacific Time. Mercury is at its superior conjunction with the Sun. During its retrograde period, its recent retrograde, picture Mercury walking along with the Sun, with dad, and breaking away and running in the opposite direction, and then it gets just far enough from the protection of its father, that it then turns around and starts moving back toward dad, and this is the day that it catches up. So, for a moment they’re walking hand in hand and then Mercury starts running a little bit ahead of dad, more and more, until it gets a little too far ahead and then it turns retrograde on September 9 and begins backtracking. So, this is the day when the Sun and Mercury are together. It is the day that to some extent, I think we catch up with ourselves. We don’t have that sense of our mind either really lagging behind or really racing ahead as we see when Mercury is getting far afield of the Sun. Instead, it’s like Mercury is having a meeting with US and checking in and finding out what it is that we want and how we’re feeling about ourselves and how we want to put ourselves out there in the world, that’s the Sun, and it’s Mercury’s job really to help us tell the story of ourselves out in the world. So, this is the day when we are sitting with our Mercury and we’re catching up and we’re saying, “This is what I’d really like the world to think of me.” And then Mercury can take its notes and then move on ahead of us to spread the word and let the world know that we’re coming.
Sun and Mercury trine Neptune (July 17, 2022, 3:55 pm PDT and 12:52 am PDT)
On July 17th, both the Sun and Mercury make their trine aspects to Neptune, the Sun at 3:55 PM Pacific Time and Mercury, just after midnight, at 12:52 AM. We are moving into the sweetest and the sleepiest time of the year for the Sun as it makes one of its two annual trine aspects to Neptune on the same day as Mercury. And I love, love, love the Sabian symbol for the Sun and Mercury here, which is, 26 Cancer “Content and Happiness In Luxury, People Reading On Davenports.” For those of you who don’t know what a davenport is, it’s a sofa. So, this is basically me in my happiest and most natural Gemini Moon habitat this week, taking some downtime after my webinar to read and to relax.
The symbol for Neptune is the same one that we saw earlier with Venus with Neptune, and the New Moon reveals that it’s time for people to go ahead with their different projects. The fact that we’re dealing with trines here says that, “There’s less of a sense of breaking up or going your separate ways”, and more the idea maybe that, “If you’ve been needing a little bit of alone time, see if you can organize that for this weekend”. Neptune, I think represents that part of us that just wants to be alone for a while. So, use this time, this day, July 17th, to the extent that you can to drink from the well of solitude and to refuel yourself.
Venus enters Cancer (July 17, 2022, 6:32 pm PDT)
Also on July 17, at 6:32 PM Pacific Time, Venus enters Cancer, where it will stay through August 11th. What do you love? What makes you feel good? What do you feel like spending money on right now? These are the questions of Venus. When Venus is in Cancer, it loves home and pets, food, family, so if you’ve got a little extra money in your budget, maybe throw it at your garden or some new sheets or
something for your kitchen or sparkly toys for your pet, this is a really nice time of year to go with that. It’s a pretty tough summer for travel, money is tight, air travel is in chaos, prices everywhere are very high for everything. So I think, well, why not take a portion of the money that you would normally spend on a getaway and consider instead making your home a more delightful place to be, or supporting your local restaurants with some takeout or going out for meals, go to free concerts in the park?
For Cancer, there truly is no place like home. So, even if you’re normally not much of a home body and you always like to be out and about and traveling and all the rest, this is that sort of rare time for you that you can really enjoy the simple comforts of making a home and enjoy.
Listener Question: Transits of the Sun
In this week’s listener question, listener Asher writes, “Transiting Sun conjunct one’s Natal Sun is generally regarded as the beginning of a new cycle in the native’s life. What is reflected or represented at the times transiting Sun is making trines or squares or opposes your Natal Sun? How might the astrological operant make best use of these transits? Is Sun square Natal Sun the time to finally commit to not making those annoying mouth noises when one is eating? Is Sun trine Natal Sun the occasion to attack how to win friends and influence people with a highlighter? Is Sun opposing Natal Sun a license to behave so in-characteristically that people one is well acquainted with will reference the 1976 or 2003 motion picture “Freaky Friday”?”
Thank you for your very colorful question, Asher. Yes, each year within a couple of days of your birthday, the transiting Sun makes its exact conjunction to your Natal Sun, the Sun in your birth chart, it’s called a Solar Return. We’ve talked about it before on the podcast, and of course, this is good moment to remind listeners again about my webinar on Solar Returns, which is coming up this Saturday, July 16th, beginning at 11:00 AM Pacific Time. All your questions about this important annual transit, your true astrological birthday will be revealed and just see the show notes for all the details about that.
But, as you suggest Asher, other transits of the Sun to your birth chart and in particular to your Natal Sun, can be really interesting to watch as well. I think it’s kind of sad that we don’t pay a lot of attention to the sun transiting through our charts other than the Solar Return. And I think that for those of us who love astrology, we resist the over importance that is often given to the Sun through Sun sign horoscopes and this kind of thing, so we overlook what is a really powerful annual cycle. Think of the transiting Sun as a huge spotlight, like those ones they used to put outside movie theaters at premiers and it shines this huge light on your planets and houses as it transits through your chart over the course of a year. For fast moving transits from the Moon through Venus, I don’t normally pay a lot of attention to trines or sextiles personally, although I must say attacking Di Carnegie with a highlighter is always a good idea. And please don’t make those sounds with your mouth because some of us have misophonia and it makes us want to scream!
But, when the Sun squares and opposes your Natal Sun, as it does around the same days as each year, about three months after your birthday, then six months after your birthday, and then nine months after your birthday, approximately, these are times when you will face challenges to your ego, to your creativity, to your physical vitality. Challenges can be extremely motivating though, so these can be some of the most helpful moments in the overall solar cycle. I think that these relatively fast-moving aspects will also tend to trigger any ongoing aspects to your Natal Sun from the outer planets. So, let’s say you’re having transiting Uranus square your Natal Sun throughout the year, those days when the transiting Sun is square or opposed your Natal Sun, can maybe give you a little jolt related to that larger aspect. There can be moments when those aspects are really triggered. The transits of the Sun that I personally pay closest attention to are the Sun’s transits over the angles of the charts. In other words, the cusps of the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th houses, because these points are really sensitive to what’s actually going on around us in the physical world and they are points where the planets are at their strongest influence.
I would invite everyone to take note of the dates each year when these transits take place in their chart and watch what happens within a day either side. And you might also find that important people in your life were born around those days or important life changing events in your life took place around those days. It’s really kind of striking. When the transiting Sun crosses your 1st house cusp, the Ascendant, the spotlight is on your appearance, personality, the way others see you in general, and, usually new challenges are coming your way that you have to figure out how to deal with. As the Sun crosses your 4th house cusp, the IC we see important matters related to your home, your family may be moving, are possible. When the Sun connects with the descendant, the 7th house cusp, look for important developments in your closest relationships. And as the Sun makes a conjunction with the Midheaven, the 10th house cusp, your public self is revealed for better or worse.
Anyway, Asher, I hope that that helps. I think it definitely is worth watching the transiting Sun as it goes through your chart, those important moments when you have the Solar Return, the squares and the opposition, and when the transiting Sun is crossing the angles of your chart.
If you have a burning question about astrology that you would like me to answer on a future episode, please leave a voicemail of one minute or less at speakpipe.com/bigskyastrologypodcast, or send an email to me, april@bigskyastrology.com. And please, be sure to put “Podcast Question” in the subject line.
Thanks to Donors
That is everything I have on my show sheet, so I’m going to wrap this one up. Thanks so much for listening to The Big Sky Astrology Podcast. If you like it, I hope that you will subscribe or follow it in your app of choice. Ratings and reviews are always welcome and I would dearly love it if you would help spread the word by telling an astrology loving friend about the show. You can read show notes and full transcripts and leave your comments about each episode at bigskyastropod.com.
I want to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who’s shown support for the podcast over the past year. Each week, I’m thanking a few of you by name. This week, let’s give a Big Sky Astrology Podcast shout out to Alice Kinsey, Jacinta Armstrong, and my very dear friend, Lori Rodefer!
April: Alice, Jacinta and Lori, thank you so much for listening to the podcast and for supporting the show with your donations. If you enjoy this show and you’d like to make a financial donation, please go to bigskyastropod.com and follow the link.
That’s it for this episode. Join me again, bright and early next Monday. And until then, keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars.
© 2022 by April Elliott Kent
