TRANSCRIPT Episode 184 | Libra First Quarter Moon: The True Inner Knowledge! (6.26.23)
Listen and read show notes hereHello, invisible friend, April here, and the date today is June 26th, 2023. Welcome to Episode 184 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.
This week, the Libra First Quarter Moon prompts us to get out and share what we know. Venus and Mars in Leo square Uranus promise the unexpected in money and love. Mercury enters quiet Cancer, and along with the Sun, it aspects Jupiter and Saturn; Neptune turns retrograde. Plus, I answer a listener question about out-of-bounds planets.
Libra First Quarter Moon (June 26, 2023, 00:50 am PDT)
The week begins with the Moon Report, and the Libra First Quarter Moon on June 26th at 12:50 AM Pacific Time. The Moon is at 4º29’ Libra, and the Sun is at 4º29’ Cancer. The Sabian symbol for the First Quarter Moon is 5 Libra, Man teaching true inner knowledge.
The Cancer season generally is one that’s encouraging us to incubate, to gestate particular ideas until we can bring them to a point where they’re viable to take them out in the world and do something with them. But the First Quarter Moon always impels us to take action, and in this case, being in Libra, it is that impulse to share something that we’ve been thinking about.
And it’s not necessarily that we have to launch something out into the world full scale, but it does say, at least take it to one trusted person. Libra is very much symbolic of one-on-one interactions with people. So discussing an idea that you’ve been sitting on with somebody else in your life that you trust that can give you some really good ideas.
And in the case of this particular Libra First Quarter Moon on this Sabian symbol, Man teaching true inner knowledge, specifically, I think we’re called upon not only to share what we know with the world, but also to be willing to listen to other people and what they have to say. And somewhere between your point of view on things and their point of view on things, there is the true inner knowledge.
Neptune is now at almost 28º Pisces. I don’t know when that happened. It suddenly seemed to go from 22 degrees to 28 in the blink of an eye, and that means that it is within orb of being in aspect to the Sun and Moon at this First Quarter. Symbolically, it’s almost in Aries. So the First Quarter Moon in Libra would be opposed Neptune, and the Sun in Cancer would be square Neptune.
And this brings a different dimension into this idea of “the true inner knowledge”. Libra’s sense of knowledge tends to be very cerebral and very logical. But this speaks of a knowledge that is deeper within us, and I always think that’s symbolized by Neptune. Neptune is about what we perceive that isn’t necessarily obvious to our senses.
So this First Quarter Moon does tell us, as a First Quarter always does, take action. In this case, get out and have a conversation with at least one other trusted person. And furthermore, follow your instincts. That’s not necessarily something that Libra is going to be inclined to do in and of itself because again, it’s a sign of the mind. It’s an air sign. But Neptune coming into the picture says, don’t be afraid to trust your hunches and your instincts.
Void-of-Course Moon periods
Let’s look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week. The first is on June 28th when the Moon in Libra squares Pluto at 1:19 AM Pacific Time. It’s void-of-course for about 36 minutes before it enters Scorpio at 1:55 AM.
And this is our old friend again, we’re now seeing Void-of-Course Moons beginning with aspects to Pluto, and it’s Pluto at the end of Capricorn. So this is taking us back a little earlier in the year when we were working with these same kinds of themes at the Void-of-Course Moons. And when the Moon in Libra is square Pluto, the theme is something like, is it more important to please other people or to be truly myself?
So the Moon in Libra does want to get along with others. Pluto in Capricorn really couldn’t care less about that. So this is a void-of-course Moon time that leads us to contemplate that dynamic. Am I being myself, my true self, or am I trying to please others? And conversely, is it such a bad thing to try to negotiate and get along with other people? Does that make me any less my true self?
Now this is a very short Void-of-Course Moon period, 36 minutes is not a lot. If you live in a place where this Void-of-Course Moon is happening during waking hours, pay attention to the subtleties of this half hour period and see if something shows up in the world around you that plays out this aspect. It could be an interaction you see between two people on the street. It could be something you see on television or in a movie, something you hear on a podcast, so it can show up that way. But you yourself might also be confronted with the choice of pleasing somebody else versus feeling true to yourself.
On June 30th, the Moon in Scorpio sextiles Pluto at 7:20 AM Pacific time. It’s void-of-course for about 39 minutes before it enters Sagittarius at 7:59 AM. So this is another short void-of-course period when, if you pay attention, you could discover helpful and possibly sensitive information, both of which are symbolized a bit by Scorpio and by Pluto.
There’s also an opportunity to gain control and mastery of your very strong emotions. When the Moon is in Scorpio, we’re very sensitive, and we’re feeling things very deeply. The sextile to Pluto in Capricorn gives the opportunity to gain control and mastery over those feelings – because Capricorn is an earth sign, it’s very practical, and it’s not going to dwell in emotional places in the same way the Moon in Scorpio is. So here is a little fleeting opportunity where you can choose, am I going to give fully into my emotions and let them control me? Or am I going to choose to try to be a little more dispassionate and perhaps even with the element of Capricorn to do something practical in response to your feelings rather than just dwelling within them.
And finally on July 2nd, the Moon in Sagittarius squares Neptune at 6:33 AM Pacific Time. It’s void-of-course for about four-and-three-quarter hours before it enters Capricorn at 10:20 AM.
I always feel that the natural square between the signs of Sagittarius and Pisces is fundamentally about belief versus faith. And Sagittarius is more a sign that feels it knows certain things and it believes in them. Pisces doesn’t necessarily feel it knows anything, but it has faith that particular things will work out or are true.
This Void-of-Course Moon period invites us to think about the difference between the role that each of these, faith and belief, plays in our lives. Sagittarius can be a little impatient with what it sees as Pisces being a bit blurry around the edges. And Pisces can have a hard time with Sagittarius when they feel that it is being dogmatic.
So that is the crux of what we’re examining during this Void-of-Course Moon period within ourselves. What are the ways that we get so invested in being right and knowing things that sometimes we overlook the bigger picture of the things that we take on faith because they’re essentially unknowable?
Mars square Uranus (June 26, 2023, 2:23 am PDT)
On June 26th at 2:23 AM Pacific Time, Mars squares Uranus at 21º29’ Leo and Taurus. Mars is the planet of action, and Uranus is the planet of unexpected developments. This can be considered an aspect that symbolizes accidents. I have to say, I have seen this happen with Mars and Uranus, but I’ve also seen this combination as leading to inspired action and doing things that may seem a little out of the ordinary – zigging when others expect you to zag – so it can be a time of inspiration in your work. The Sabian symbols for this combination both involve birds. The Sabian symbol For Mars is 22 Leo, A carrier pigeon and Uranus is on 22 Taurus, White dove over troubled waters – traditionally a symbol of peace and also a peaceful influence during troubled times. Which is a little bit of a funny fit with Uranus, which usually causes the troubled waters.
This could be a sign, I think, these two symbols in combination with each other, of taking actions – Mars – that improve communication and smooth over problems in relationships, or even within ourselves. And I’m getting the part about communication purely from that Sabian symbol for Mars, A carrier pigeon, which is taking messages from one place to another. Mars is still in Leo, which is a very creative but not a terribly collaborative sign. So I think this Sabian symbol of carrier pigeon actually is kind of a nice indication that at this Mars-Uranus square, some of the inspiration that we take from this combination could come from working with, listening to, or in some other way, collaborating with other people.
Mercury enters Cancer (June 26, 2023, 5:24 pm PDT)
Later on June 26th at 5:24 PM Pacific Time, Mercury enters the sign of Cancer and it will be in Cancer through July 10th. Arabian astrologers called Cancer one of the mute signs along with the other water signs, Scorpio and Pisces, because they’re symbolized by creatures that don’t make any sounds. What can we take from this idea of Cancer being one of the mute signs and Mercury going in it because Mercury’s the great communicative sign?
I think what it means while Mercury is in Cancer is that we will tend to speak a little more carefully, a little more protectively. And going back to the idea of watching a crab make its way down the beach and it kind of moves from side to side, it doesn’t go in a straight line, is part of the way that it protects itself because you don’t exactly know where it’s going to go next.
Mercury in Cancer keeps secrets both its own and other people’s. And this is a time when people can be especially sensitive to getting their feelings hurt by things that you say. Err on the side of gentleness and caution. If you’ve been feeling like you really need to clear the air with somebody in your life, and it’s time for some straight talk, believe me -I have tried that approach with people who have Mercury in Cancer and it does not go well. So while Mercury is transiting this sign, be a little gentle and be a little careful and approach things in kind of a sideways fashion.
This can be a terrific time for getting in touch with your family. Here in the United States, maybe over the 4th of July weekend, it’ll be a nice time to get together and catch up with the people in your life. Mercury, Cancer, because it’s so sensitive, it’s really a very creative placement for Mercury. It just doesn’t necessarily lend itself to things that you’re going to share with a lot of other people, at least not right away, but this is a lovely time to catch up on things like journaling or catching up on correspondence with people that you care about.
Sun trine Saturn (June 28, 2023, 6:42 pm PDT) | Mercury trine Saturn (June 29, 2023, 11:23 pm PDT)
On June 28th, that’s 6:42 PM Pacific Time, the Sun will trine Saturn at 7º06’ Cancer and Pisces. Then the next day, Mercury will try and Saturn at roughly these same degrees. I love the Sabian symbol for eight degrees Cancer, the position of the Sun and Mercury: Rabbits dressed in clothes and on parade. I just love that visual of the little bunny rabbits dressed up and parading down the street. The Sabian symbol for eight degrees Pisces is one we’ve seen a couple of times recently, A girl blowing a bugle. I’m taking from this combination that it’s a pretty good time to dress up and show off. These are two days when it’s very likely to be acknowledged for your achievements, your leadership, and your maturity.
On May 28th when the Sun was in Gemini, it made a square to Saturn. In Pisces, that might have been a time when you encountered obstacles and tests of your commitment. So now is the time when you give yourself a gold star, and so will Saturn for having done a good job of persevering and of overcoming the obstacles in your path.
Mercury has been covering really similar ground, and while Mercury was in Gemini and flooding along at warp speed, we were trying to get a whole lot of things done at once because while Mercury was in Taurus for an extended period of time, including a retrograde, it was a little bit tough to press ahead with things like paperwork or following up with the water company about why your bill is so high, that Mercury and Gemini really excelled at. But especially around the middle of June when Mercury was square Saturn, we were consistently coming up against blockages and barriers that come with tackling that kind of work. Being on hold for 40 minutes, getting transferred to three different departments. As Mercury is trine Saturn, it’s not the best time really for reaching out, making a bunch of phone calls and that kind of thing, but again, this is the time that Saturn will tend to reward us. And maybe those things that we were working so hard at earlier in the month finally come to fruition and get worked out.
Neptune stations retrograde (June 30, 2023, 2:06 pm PDT)
On June 30th, at 2:06 PM Pacific Time, Neptune stations retrograde at 27º41’ Pisces. Neptune is where we seek a sense of what is true about the world, what is the meaning of being here, and what happens when we are no longer on earth. In a horoscope, it can talk about the things we believe in and the things we hope are true. We have a vision of how we want the world to be and the way we want things to go for us. Maybe we have a vision in mind of a beautiful family that we want to build with our perfect partner. And that’s a very Neptunian vision, because it very much requires a lot of moving pieces to come together in a particular way, in a way that is perfect and beautiful.
When Neptune turns retrograde, which it does for about five and a half months out of each year, it’s a time when we need to look inside for our faith, for our sense of clarity, to be inspired by what we find within ourselves. And it’s also an important time to course correct and think, where are you deceiving yourself? Where are you demanding a picture of the world that is absolutely perfect in a particular way – whether or not it’s reasonable to expect it to turn out that way? How can you find inspiration within yourself, and how can you love your own imperfect life just as it is?
During the roughly one half of the year that Neptune is retrograde, we are rewarded for making time to be quiet, to retreat, to catch up on our rest, and to apply ourselves in devotion to something in our lives. So if you don’t have, for example, a ritual practice of some kind to ground you in your daily life, this is a really nice time to establish something like that. For some people, it’s going to church. For other people, it would be doing a meditation every morning. For still others, it could be taking a walk outside with your dog. Whatever it is, if it attunes you to spirit and to your own sense of what’s important in the world, really devote yourself to that during the time that Neptune’s retrograde. It turns direct on December 6th, 2023, so you have a good amount of time to get this going.
Sun conjunct Mercury (June 30, 2023, 10:06 pm PDT
Mercury sextile Jupiter (July 1, 2023, 00:10 am PDT)
Sun sextile Jupiter (July 1, 2023, 3:26 am PDT)
The Sun and Mercury come together this week at 9º08’ Cancer on June 30th at 10:06 PM Pacific Time. And just a couple of hours later on July 1st, they sextile Jupiter. Mercury first, at 12:10 AM Pacific time, followed by the Sun at 3:26 AM. I think these are days when it’s going to be easier than usual to get what we want because the Sun and Mercury are connecting with Jupiter, which is a very fortunate symbol – but you will have to ask for it, and that’s the Mercury part.
It’s a little hard. Again, Mercury in Cancer, it’s a mute sign. We don’t particularly want to just come out and ask for something. But the sextile to Jupiter does encourage that. It says, go ahead and ask for things, even things that you are not sure you’re completely ready or qualified for. And I get that from the Sabian symbol for the Sun and Mercury, which is 10 Cancer, A large diamond, not completely cut.
So we’re diamonds in the rough. even though we’re not completely finished and polished. Nevertheless, we are more ready than we probably think we are.
Venus square Uranus (July 2, 2023, 7:33 am PDT)
And finally, on July 2nd at 7:33 AM Pacific Time, Venus squares Uranus at 21º46 Leo and Taurus. As always, when we see Venus come together with Uranus, the question is, are we going to get the thing that we want, or are those efforts going to be interrupted by something unexpected?
And the answer depends largely on the nature of the aspect. And even if we feel we’re really on track to maybe get a raise or get a date with a person we’re really interested in – whatever it is that Venus symbolizes for us at this time. And Leo square Uranus says very often something comes along and knocks us off track.
And I always think with squares that the question is, how much do you want something? And I see this especially with the hard aspect to Saturn, but I think it probably applies here as well, because if you will stick with something, even when you keep getting knocked off track, it probably means you really want it.
And if you don’t, well then probably it wasn’t the right thing for you to begin with. Okay. Generally during the days around a Venus Square two Uranus, you can see some financial surprises often. Sometimes they’re good ones, sometimes they’re not so delightful, and also changes in relationship. And of course, this is especially true if you have.
Been kind of teetering on the brink in a relationship to begin with, and this is one of those fast-moving aspects that can make you decide it’s time to bring things to a conclusion.
Listener Question
In this week’s listener question, listener Deborah asked via SpeakPipe:
Listener Deborah: April, I have tried and tried to understand the concept of out-of-bound planets, and I just can’t. And I’m wondering if you could explain it. I’m sure if you explained it, it would make much more sense.
April: Deborah, thanks so much for that great question, and I’m really delighted that you’re enjoying the podcast. So thank you. I know that I’ve talked about out-of-bounds planets on past episodes, but it is well worth repeating and let’s see if I can present it in a way that makes sense for you.
So the expression is “out-of-bounds,” and I think a good place to start is to first define what are the bounds that we’re talking about, and then what it means when a planet is outside of them.
The bounds refer specifically to the Sun as it’s making its way through the Zodiac each year. At each solstice at the Cancer in Capricorn solstice, as I talked about last week the Sun is reaching its maximum elevation in the noonday sky, and then in the winter it’s exactly the opposite.
It’s at its lowest point, and as it travels within that, what we call the ecliptic, which marks the apparent path that the Sun takes through the zodiac, that’s where we get the Sun moving into Cancer, the Sun moving into Leo. About once a month, it moves into a new sign along this ecliptic.
And if you look at a globe, you will see the tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. They’re marked about 23 degrees and 26 minutes north and south of the equator. You can follow those two lines all the way around the globe, and the space between them represents the bounds within which the Sun travels throughout the year. So you could just kind of picture it as this big cigar band circling the earth at an angle with the signs of the zodiac painted along the sides. And these boundaries lie between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn.
Now this is critical. The Sun is the king. We call it a solar system, after all. He is the king of our whole system, his path along the ecliptic. The Zodiac band represents the accepted boundaries of this kingdom. The celestial rules. And the Sun symbolizes the organizing principle of the personality in a similar way, such as this is what makes me, me, and not you. It defines this whole system of boundaries.
But some planets can wander a little bit north or south of this boundary, and when they do, we say they’re out-of-bounds. In a sense, they’ve gone rogue. They are outside the acceptable limits as set by the Sun. And when a planet exceeds those limits, it’s kind of on its own. It’s outside of the king’s control, but also outside of his protection.
So a planet that’s out-of-bounds, whether in the birth chart or by transit, is a little bit unpredictable because it is not bound by the king’s rules. This kind of planet might represent acting out of character in the areas of life that are symbolized by that planet. And we might be very independent and very creative, but we might also appear a little bit eccentric in these areas of life. It might help to think of what the planet would be like if it were in a close aspect to Uranus, which is the planet of rebellion.
For example, transiting Mercury will be out-of-bounds between June 24th and July 7th of this year. And this will be a good time for outside the box thinking, for speaking up for what’s important to you, even if it makes you unpopular. But you might be a little more apt to say things that you might later regret or that cause offense. This is influenced, of course, a little bit by the fact that Mercury will be out-of-bounds in Cancer, which is again, a little bit of a quieter sign for it. But it also means that as Mercury is moving through Cancer at this time, it might be a little less Cancerian than we’re used to. Then it might be a little more outspoken.
There are some planets and points that are never out-of-bounds. The Sun, by definition, cannot be out-of-bounds. They are his bounds, his motion sets the bounds. Saturn and Neptune are never out-of-bounds, and Jupiter is very seldom out-of-bounds. But there are some planets that are pretty regularly out-of-bounds – the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus, and Pluto.
It’s actually relatively easy to find out when a planet is out-of-bounds using an ephemeris that shows declination. Declination, again is relative to the equator. And if you find a planet whose declination exceeds 23 degrees and 26 minutes, either north or south, then you are looking at an out-of-bounds planet – and it acts a little bit out of character.
In the show notes, I’ll post a link to Astro.com’s, 9,000 year ephemeris, specifically the one showing declination. I’ll use the one for this year so you can see what this looks like.
Deborah, I hope that helped, and thank you for the great question!
Now if you, my invisible friend, have a question that you would like me to answer on a future episode, please leave a message of one minute or less at speakpipe.com/big Sky astrology podcast. Or you can email me at april@bigskyastrology.com and be sure to put podcast question in the subject line.
Donor Thanks
That’s everything I have on my show sheet, so I’m gonna wrap this one up. Thank you for listening to the Big Sky Astrology Podcast. If you like what you’re hearing, be sure to subscribe or follow the show in your app of choice. Leave a rating or a review, and I hope that you’ll help spread the word about the show by telling an as astrology loving friend.
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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!
© 2023 by April Elliott Kent
