TRANSCRIPT Ep. 229 (April 8, 2024)
Aries Solar Eclipse: The Power of Giving!
Hello Invisible Friend, April here, and the date today is April 8, 2024. Welcome to Episode 229 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast. This week, the Aries New Moon Solar Eclipse asks us how we can be of service to others; Mars makes a conjunction with Saturn, demanding discipline and commitment; the Sun makes a conjunction with Mercury; and I answer a listener question about Chiron in the chart of the solar eclipse.
Aries New Moon/Solar Eclipse (April 8, 2024, 11:21 am PDT)
The week begins with the Moon Report, and the Aries New Moon Solar Eclipse on April 8th at 11:21 am Pacific Time. That’s at 19º24’ Aries. The Sabian symbol for this degree is 20 Aries, A young girl feeding birds in winter.
By the time you listen to this episode, it will probably be getting close to eclipse time. And if you have traveled someplace special to see the event, I hope that you have beautiful visibility and that you’re with people that can really enjoy it with you. What a magnificent and exciting event.
In astrology, eclipses and in particular solar eclipses are a little bit unsettling and their placement in your birth chart, so the degree 19º24’ Aries shows what area of life you’re maybe being a little bit shaken up in.
The idea of the shake-up is to move us from the complacency that we can often experience at the South Node of the Moon and to move us farther along the path toward the North Node and this is because eclipses occur when we have a New or Full Moon very close to one of the lunar nodes. In the case of this solar eclipse, it answers the question that was posited at the Full Moon lunar eclipse on March 25th in Libra, which is, are you giving too much of your agency and autonomy to others, rather than pursuing the thing that is meaningful to you personally?
Now, to pursue our own path doesn’t mean that we have to ignore others. And it’s something that I like about the Sabian symbol for the solar eclipse, this young girl feeding the birds in winter.
It reminded me of a TED Talk that I watched recently by the founder of an organization called 365Give. She says, “It started as a simple idea to teach my three-year-old son how to be kind, compassionate, and happy. We started with just one small, intentional act of giving every day. 365 days later, we changed the world.” I’ll link to this video for you in the show notes. It’s a really simple but very beautiful story about how this one woman’s project with her son spread throughout their entire community and eventually touched people all over the world.
The point of the project, she said, was about being a happier person. And she discovered through her research that giving changes the brain and actually wires us for happiness. What can we do at this eclipse to “feed the birds in winter,” to give food or love, a laugh, kind words, inspiration, or anything else that might be meaningful and helpful to someone in your life who really needs it? And it doesn’t have to be anything huge or grand. It can be the simplest gestures.
This eclipse has a strong connection with the past, since the eclipse point is in a conjunction with Mercury, which is retrograde. And we’re asked to look back, and in particular, at previous years when there were solar eclipses near this point in recent history. That was a solar eclipse on April 8th, 2005, and a solar eclipse on April 9th, 1986.
Those are timeframes that could be meaningful to you now, because there is a connection between this eclipse and those eclipses. Look to the house of your birth chart, where 19º24’ of Aries falls. That gives you a clue as to what area of life you need to more strenuously pursue your purpose, and to make sure that it’s a purpose that is also beneficial and helpful to others.
The eclipse point doesn’t make a lot of aspects, other than that conjunction with Mercury, and also a conjunction with Chiron, which I’m going to talk about during the listener questions segment. But Mars, which is the ruler of Aries, is making a conjunction with Saturn, and I think that has great bearing on this eclipse. I’ll be talking about that a little bit later in this episode, but it certainly has an influence. And so do Jupiter and Uranus, which are getting ever closer to their conjunction on April 20th.
Lunar Phase Family Cycle
This New Moon initiates a lunar phase family cycle, so the story that begins now, the eclipse story of change, it’s activated at three different points in the next few years. Nine months from now, there’s a First Quarter Moon on January 6th, 2025, very close to the degree of this eclipse. That’s when some kind of action or forward motion is taken with something that we initiated at this eclipse. Nine months after that, on October 6th, 2025, at the Full Moon, there is an opportunity to get a bigger perspective, a bigger picture of what is really necessary to complete this story. And, on July 7th, 2026, there’s a Last Quarter Moon that gives one last opportunity to refine this story, this message, and to take whatever action is needed to bring it to completion.
Because they involve the Moon, these lunar phase family cycles can sometimes be pretty subtle. So, what I’ve been doing lately is keeping a journal, and I note everything that’s going on in my life around each new Moon, however trivial it might seem, so I can look back every nine months at these important phases and find out how they connect with what was happening at the New Moon.
Void-of-Course Moon periods
Let’s look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week.
On April 8th, the Moon in Aries makes a conjunction with Mercury, which is retrograde, at 7:39 pm Pacific Time. It’s Void of Course for about eight-and-three-quarter hours, and then enters Taurus on April 9th at 4:23 am.
The Void-of-Course Moon periods, I think, are special because they show opportunities to make changes in our rituals and routines and our beliefs. A Void-of-Course Moon period that begins when the Moon is in a conjunction with another planet shows there’s some kind of intense feeling of pressure and the pressure here is the fact that feelings and instincts, represented by the Moon in Aries, are catching up with thoughts and cognition. One way this might be happening is that something that was said, some information that we received around the time of the lunar eclipse on March 25th, when Mercury was near this degree, now the feelings are beginning to set in about that communication.
We’ve all probably found ourselves in a situation where information comes at us and we turn our feelings off so that we can handle what’s coming in. And then later on, after the fact, we begin to have the feelings. So, that is a possibility with this Void-of-Course Moon period. But it also says it is a time, it’s a pretty good chunk of time, 8 hours, where we can start to rewire ourselves to try to say what we feel when we’re feeling it.
On April 11th, the Moon in Taurus sextiles Neptune in Pisces at 3:04 am Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for a little under three hours and then enters Gemini at 5:58 am. Sextiles bring an invitation or an opportunity, new information coming in. The invitation or the opportunity at this Void-of-Course Moon period is around getting our practical daily routines in place so that they support Neptune functions.
Neptune functions are about intuition and imagination and living a life that’s a little more creative or a little bit off the beaten path. Because if we don’t do that, then Neptune can take us down the road of being in denial of procrastinating and these other negative qualities.
On April 13th, the Moon in Gemini squares Neptune at 7:46 am Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for about 3 hours and then enters Cancer at 10:45 AM. When we see the Moon in a square aspect beginning a Void-of-Course Moon period, we know that there is conflict that needs to be resolved. And the conflict here is about how busyness, chattiness, flitting around from thing to thing can really make it hard to settle down and explore the quieter and more contemplative side of life, which is symbolized by Neptune. So during this Void-of-Course period, it’s good to ask: Do you tend to think your feelings rather than feeling them? And what kind of changes might you make to bring that into a better balance?
Mars conjunct Saturn (April 10, 2024, 1:36 pm PDT)
On April 10th at 1:36 pm Pacific Time, Mars makes a conjunction with Saturn at 14º40’ Pisces. This is on the Sabian symbol 15 Pisces, An officer preparing to drill his troops. The last conjunction between Mars and Saturn – it only happens every couple of years – was on April 4th, 2022. And it was in the sign of Aquarius.
Mars and Saturn together are about restraining our Mars impulses toward impulsiveness, impatience, self-centeredness, anger. And when we put Mars together with Saturn, we’re kind of putting it into a playpen for a timeout. We put boundaries around it so that we remain safe and also so that Mars is more effective.
We need to have Mars in our lives. It’s the thing that really keeps us moving, going after what it is that we want, and protecting ourselves and protecting the people that we care about. So, we don’t want to get rid of Mars altogether, but what we want to do is temper, restrain, and train him so that he can use all of his qualities for good and in a responsible way.
Saturn brings the self-control, the sacrifice, and the discipline that are necessary. In order to serve a meaningful cause, which I think is really, ultimately, what Mars and Saturn both want when they’re in the sign of Pisces. I love that image of the Sabian symbol, An officer preparing to drill his troops, and they’re all lined up in a row, and he is getting ready to put them through their paces so that they can show him what they have learned, and the result of their training.
Now, any planet that is placed in Pisces needs to know where the escape routes are in any given situation. Pisces is a sign whose only ability to defend itself is escape, and this is a Mars together with Saturn that really has no escape zone. It has given up its autonomy and its agency to Saturn, to a strong boss, to a strong leader, to a situation where hopefully it can attain its highest purpose. But that comes with that sacrifice of having to stay put and do what somebody else is telling you to do. Never a happy feeling for Mars, even if it’s in Pisces.
Mars, together with Saturn, then, can be a little bit of a frustrating transit when it comes our way. And this is especially so in the few days leading up to the exact aspect. So between about April 7th and the 10th, about the same time we’re going through this very important eclipse, Mars – which is the ruler of the eclipse, because it rules Aries – is in this conjunction with Saturn. It’s a lot of intensity and a lot of pressure, but this is a transit that shows us, are you prepared to commit and to give up some of your personal autonomy in order to serve something bigger than yourself?
Sun conjunct Mercury (April 11, 2024, 4:03 pm PDT)
And then on April 11th at 4:03 pm Pacific Time, Mercury and the Sun come together in a conjunction at 22º32’ Aries. Anytime a planet comes together in a conjunction with the Sun, it initially loses its potency. It’s drowned out by the strong light and intense heat of the Sun. But the closer it gets, and as it gets to that exact moment of conjunction, 4:03 pm Pacific Time, when they are closest together, Mercury enters a condition we call cazimi, which means it is in the heart of the Sun, and this is an opening for mental clarity and powerful insights.
This is Mercury at its strongest, so if there is something that you’re working on that is of the nature of Mercury, let’s say a new project, something you’re writing, an important connection that you hope to make with someone, say a job interview or something of that nature, go for it!
Try to time it as closely as you can to this cazimi moment at 4:03 pm. I would say probably an hour or two leading up to this and maybe a little bit after are the peak moments for this.
The Sabian symbol for the conjunction is 23 Aries, a pregnant woman in light summer dress. The pregnancy is the key here. It is a moment pregnant with promise and whatever big project we are carrying around and gestating is now ready to be revealed.
Listener Question: Solar Eclipse with Chiron
In this week’s listener question, listener Anna writes, “Hello April, I truly enjoy your podcast, especially the bonus episodes for supporters.” That’s great. Thank you, Anna. “I wanted to reach out about the upcoming April 8th eclipse at 19º24 minutes Aries, and how it sits next to Chiron. My Chiron is 24 degrees Aries, and lots of people around my age are having a Chiron return.
I wonder if you have any thoughts about whether the April 8th eclipse has special significance for those of us in our late 40s and early 50s. We Gen Xers aren’t known for our sunny outlook, so I’m curious how this might resonate with us. Thank you!”
Anna, I want to thank you so much for this question. I will be honest, I almost never work with Chiron. So, I completely overlooked the fact that it is in an exact conjunction to the minute with the Sun and Moon at this upcoming eclipse. And that does strike me as being significant indeed.
Now, one of the few times I consistently work with Chiron in a reading is when the individual is turning 50, because that’s roughly the age of the Chiron return, when it returns to the same point it was in your birth chart. Often, it has resonance for matters such as health and I found it really helpful to use in those kinds of situations.
Now, if you don’t know much about Chiron, it is not a planet. I believe it’s technically classified as a minor planet. It originally was classified as an asteroid. But a lot of people do work with it and find it very useful.
Now Chiron is sometimes called the Wounded Healer. And what I’ve always found a little maddening is that people have tended, I think, to emphasize the woundedness of Chiron and not so much the healing part. Chiron in myth is a healer. He suffered a deep emotional wound. He was a child of assault and he was rejected by his parents. And there was also a deep physical wound. He was wounded in the thigh by an arrow from Heracles. And because Chiron was immortal, he couldn’t escape the pain through death but he did find within both of his wounds the source of inspiration and purpose. And he actually became a great teacher. So in the birth chart, Chiron signifies pain, but more importantly, pain as a source of inspiration and purpose.
This purpose begins with understanding the pain. And I would say if we haven’t begun the healing part of the process by the time of the Chiron return, then this is a time where we have a lot of work to do. And if we are farther along this healing path, this is the time we really have to embrace being the teacher.
The sign and house placement of Chiron in your birth chart defines the shape of these wounds. What I’ve found somewhat seems to resonate with my clients with Chiron in Aries, who were born roughly between March 1968 and March 1977 with a couple of gaps, is the sense of feeling in some way unworthy of taking up space in the world and putting yourself and your own goals first.
And this is in contradiction to our usual understanding of Aries. It’s a sign that goes far beyond feeling worthy. It just simply never occurs to Aries that it’s not worthy, unless Chiron or to some extent Saturn are present in this sign. This kind of wound can be especially hard to fix. Because all other sources of confidence derive from our basic sense of assurance that we’re okay and we deserve to be here.
But remember that Chiron was the most accomplished of the centaurs. He was born half man and half horse. And a very, very brilliant teacher, and through sheer grit and a strong sense of dedication and service, he soldiered on through his pain and shared all of his qualities of brilliance with others.
Everybody’s Chiron sign seems hard to fix, to them. It’s a little like Saturn. My own Chiron placement is pretty miserable, especially in synastry, when someone else’s planets come together with my Chiron; inevitably, there is some kind of pain that’s caused. But we have to have faith that not only can we live with our pain, but that we can be instructed by it, and then we could use it to help and instruct others who have a similar pain.
As for this eclipse point sitting precisely together with transiting Chiron, I believe that the purpose of eclipses is to shake us up. It’s the cosmic equivalent of shaking up a can of soda, and you know when you flick the tab, there’s going to be something of a small explosion. In this case, Chiron is going to get some of the overflow from that explosion.
But consider this. This eclipse is in a conjunction with the North Node of the Moon. And eclipses that happen at the Moon’s North Node, ultimately, are shaking us up with the purpose of pointing us in the most productive direction. And maybe that comes through exploring our pioneering side, our courageous side.
The Aries side that refuses to be held back and that by doing this, that’s how we gain a sense of strength in the positive ego and the conviction that, as Saturday Night Live’s Stuart Smalley used to say, “We’re good enough, we’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like us!”
Keep your eye and your imagination on the Sabian symbol for this eclipse degree, and it’s Chiron’s degree, too: A young girl feeding birds in winter, and in that cold and dark and wintry environment of Chiron in this sign, its pain, its learning, and its teaching lie in kindness and selfless giving.
Anna, thank you so much for your question, and warmest wishes to you at this eclipse time and for your Chiron return!
And if you, Invisible Friend, have a question you’d like me to answer on a future episode of the podcast, just leave a message of one minute or less at SpeakPipe.com/bigskyastrologypodcast, or you can email me at April (at) BigSkyAstrology.com and be sure to put “podcast question” in the subject line.
Donor Thanks
That is everything I have on my show sheet, so I’m going to wrap this one up. Thank you for listening to the Big Sky Astrology Podcast. If you like what you’re hearing, please 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 by telling an astrology-loving friend about the podcast. You can read show notes and full transcripts and leave your comments about each episode at BigSkyAstropod. com.
I want to thank everyone who’s shown support for the podcast, and especially during my September Podathon. On each episode, I’m thanking some of my financial donors by name. This week, let’s give a Big Sky Astrology Podcast shout-out to Tammy Van Ulzen and new donor Chris Williams!
Chris and Tammy, thank you so much for listening to the podcast and for supporting the show with your donations.
If you’d like to support the show and receive access to my bonus episodes at the Equinoxes and Solstices, including my recent episode for the Aries Equinox, please go to BigSkyAstropod.com and make a contribution of $10 or more. You can make a one-time donation in any amount or become an ongoing monthly contributor.
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.
Writing and images © 2017-24 by April Elliott Kent
For more on this week’s planetary news, read my weekly column!
