Transcript Ep 251 | Podathon Day Two: Pluto in Virgo, with Armand Diaz! (Sep. 3, 2024)
Announcer: It’s Podathon Week on the Big Sky Astrology Podcast, and for five big days in a row, we’re bringing you special episodes that put the fun in fundraising. Including the week’s planetary news, a closer look at the Moon, and special Podathon surprises. Plus, your chance to win prizes, people! So many prizes!
And now, here’s your host, astrologer and author, April Elliott Kent!
April: Hello, invisible friend! April here, and the date today is September 3rd, 2024. Welcome to Episode 251 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast, and Day 2 of the 5th Annual Big Sky Astrology Podathon.
This is the week each year when I bring you five daily episodes during Labor Day week, complete with the big astrological news, and this year, interviews with fabulous astrologers of different Pluto generations. I hope that you’ll be inspired to tune in each weekday to hear what they have to say.
Of course, this is also the week each year when I make my appeal for donations, which help me cover the cost of producing the podcast. Before we get started, I really do need to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who’s helped the show over the past year, whether by making a donation, leaving a review, or just by tuning in. I’m thrilled that so many of you are listening to the show each week and finding value in it, and I love publishing each week’s episode, but there are costs associated with producing this weekly show, and I would much rather turn to my listeners to help cover these costs rather than to take on advertising.
These days, I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts, watching streaming services, and I feel like I’m hearing and seeing far more advertisements than I have in years. It really interferes with my enjoyment of these programs, and I’m going to assume that many of you feel the same. So once a year, during Labor Day week, in a nod to the Jerry Lewis telethons of my youth, I bring you Podathon! One week where I ask for donations, and then the rest of the year, we don’t have to talk about fundraising at all.
You can make a one-time donation in any amount or become a regular monthly contributor by going to BigSkyAstropod.com. And to encourage your contributions. Here are this year’s fantastic giveaways.
First, everyone who donates $25 or more, as well as our ongoing monthly PodPal contributors, will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win one of these prizes:
One grand prize winner will win a 90-minute reading with me. That’s a $275 value. Two lucky listeners will win a 60-minute personal astrology reading with me. That’s a $215 value. And three lucky donors will win a copy of my customized, Followed by a Moonshadow Eclipse Report – a $35 value – that’ll help you get ready for this September and October’s eclipses.
To be entered in the drawing, you need to make your $25 donation at BigSkyAstropod.com no later than midnight on Monday, September 9th. The drawing will be held on September 10th. And the winners will be notified by e mail.
What if you can’t contribute that much? Well, I’m glad you asked. To everyone who donates just $10 or more, I’m offering a bonus that’s new this year: A series of private YouTube videos. Maybe covering New Moons, going in depth on Big Planetary Transits or giving a quarterly review.
I also want to say, I do realize that not everyone can contribute financially, and I completely understand. Here are a few easy, free ways that you can show your support for the podcast.
Please subscribe or follow the show on your app of choice. It is free, and this is the very best way you can support the show and help it get seen by other listeners. You could also leave a 5-star rating or write a lovely review, either on Apple Podcasts or any of the other platforms that allow comments. Besides just really making me feel great, these might inspire others to listen to the show.
And finally, please recommend the show to any astrology loving friends. However you show your appreciation, please know that I’m deeply grateful. And now for today’s episode.
In this week’s special daily episodes, I’m covering the week’s major astrological news, including some things about the Moon that I might normally not have time to talk about on a weekly podcast. And this year I’m also offering an interview with a fellow astrologer, each born in a different Pluto generation, Pluto in Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius.
Today, Astrologer Armand Diaz, who will represent for the Pluto in Virgo generation. But first, let’s take a look at today’s planetary news.
Today’s Moon in Virgo
We begin with the Moon Report. Today’s Moon is still in Virgo, and it begins the day with an opposition to Saturn at 5:37 am Pacific time, and then a square to Jupiter later in the morning at 11:4 am Pacific.
Each month when the Moon is in Virgo, the smoothest path leads through work, organization, and attending to details. That stack of papers in the corner of your office is not going to file itself, and this is the Moon sign for tackling them. That opposition to Saturn that begins the day can mean that all of these things that the Moon in Virgo wants to get squared away, don’t necessarily go all that smoothly. The morning just doesn’t flow in the easiest way.
And as we move toward the square to Jupiter around lunchtime, Pacific time, energy can get scattered. Or maybe we realize we’ve tried to tackle too large of a project for the time allotted.
Venus conjoined the South Node
Also today, Venus in Libra makes a conjunction with the Moon’s South Node. Old relationship and financial patterns beckon – that is the mood of the South Node. But instead of taking a step backward, returning to thoughts of an old relationship that didn’t work, when it might have been for very good reasons, or revisiting ideas of a large purchase that you at some point wisely talked yourself out of….Instead of taking a step backward, take a moment to appreciate everything you’ve learned from your past relationships, your past financial missteps. The key to Aspects with the Moon’s South Node is to appreciate your strengths without getting caught up and stuck in what is comfortable, familiar, and easy.
Interview: Pluto in Virgo, with Armand Diaz
Today’s interview will be of particular interest to you if you were born as part of the Pluto in Virgo generation. This was a relatively short generation, only 14 and a half years, between October 19th, 1956 and July 30, 1972. Pluto also retrograded into Leo between January 14th and August 18th, 1957, and between April 11th and June 10th, 1958, and it peeked into Libra between October 4th, 1971 and April 16, 1972.
In non-astrological terms, this generation is sometimes lumped in with the baby boom, with which it actually doesn’t have that much in common. Major reference points for the baby boom were free love, rock and roll, the Vietnam War. But while Pluto in Virgo kids grew up watching the war on the evening news, we were in no danger of being conscripted.
Our developmental reference points were probably a little closer to Watergate, the Reagan era, the AIDS crisis. And we were the first generation that really didn’t remember life before television. Despite famous Pluto in Virgo natives like Prince, Madonna, Barack Obama, Tom Cruise, this rather workmanlike generation is easy to overlook, as I discussed today with fellow Pluto in Virgo astrologer Armand Diaz.
Armand is a consulting astrologer, author, and speaker. He is a self-professed astrological GP. He’s the former president of NCGR and is currently a contributing editor to NCGR e news and member letter book reviewer. He can be reached via his website, ArmandDiaz. com.
April: Well, Armand, we know that you have Pluto in Virgo, which is why you’re here today. Do you have a particular specialization as an astrologer?
Armand: No. I am the general practitioner of astrology, really. That’s the way I would describe myself. If you’ve got something and it seems like I can do it, I’ll give it a try. I do a lot of relationship stuff, a lot of career stuff. My approach is very much modern, western astrology. Koch House System, and the ten major planets. I’m not much of a chiropractor, I don’t look at Chiron all that much, but sometimes. And the four goddess asteroids. Basic, modern, western astrology.
April: How long have you been in practice?
Armand: Oh, I suppose now a bit more than 20 years, I got certified by NCGR 20 years ago, and I was working before that, so more than 20 years at this point.
I started learning astrology at the Uranus-Jupiter conjunction in 1997, which… Ann Whitaker, Scottish astrologer, she wrote a whole book, and a lot of people learned astrology at that time. They conjoined in Aquarius, and it was just a great time for learning astrology.
April: What do you think makes the Pluto in Virgo generation stand out, especially as astrologers? What do you think – we share the same Pluto sign, and how would you characterize what we’re bringing to the field?
Armand: Well, first of all, Pluto in Virgo, we don’t really stand out. That’s the thing. The Pluto in Leo generation took care of that for us, right? We are the spiritual and sometimes the literal younger siblings of the Pluto in Leo generation.
They’re out there, and they were the ones who proclaimed all the messages. They were the revolutionaries in creativity, and then as Pluto went through Virgo, they were the revolutionaries in terms of all the social causes, and the civil rights movement, and the women’s movement, and the gay rights movement, and then when Pluto went into Libra, they were all about relationship changes and style, and they were the ones proclaiming the message.
We’re the worker bees who sort of follow through, you know, they were the ones who plotted the revolution and we are the ones who work at the glorious People’s Tractor Foundation. But yeah, I mean, we don’t really stand out that much. I think the job for Pluto in Leo generation is rock star, and for Pluto in Virgo, social worker.
You know, we’re kind of the worker bees of the whole spectrum, I think. But we are great worker bees, and I think that we do carry forth a lot of the really great messages, and I think that we have really worked to integrate astrology.
Right around the time we were born, and a little bit past then, astrology really hit the ground in a big way in Western culture, and most of the astrology organizations started back then and all of that. And we embody that. We really take it pretty seriously, I think, and we do good work, and we really strive to learn our craft very well and to practice it with a very high standard, and I think that that’s what we’re really good at. That’s our specialty in the whole scheme of things.
April: Yeah, I think I would agree with you on that. And the Leo generation really did open up a big mainstream conversation about astrology was great. And I love their courage and their confidence to go out and say, astrology is great. And they weren’t backing down from opponents or people that disparage astrology. And they took us a long way.
Yeah, I think the Virgo astrologers do put a great premium on doing it well. Between the Leo generation and then the Pluto and Libra generation, which were very good at marketing astrology, they were the first astrologers I remember seeing that I was so impressed by it. Wow, look what they’re doing out there.
And with Virgo, it always felt like, no, we’re not into that. We’re doing this as quality work as its own reward, right, with Virgo.
Armand: Well, Virgo, purity of purpose. Yeah, I don’t think that the Pluto in Virgo generation in Astrology and anything… not the most vocal self-promoters, and yet, very, very much determined for, like, right? We’re in service to the ideal, and we’ll work harder and we’ll yell and shout a little bit, gently, politely, for things that we really care about.
April: How do you think the Pluto in Virgo generation has changed or is changing the field of astrology in our own quiet little way?
Armand: Hmm.
April: Or are we?
Armand: Well, yeah, that’s, that would be the first question to ask. Are we changing it? I don’t feel that we… you know it’s funny, ‘cause we were born, more or less, we’re talking about the 60s, with this period of incredible revolution with Uranus and Pluto conjoined in the sign of Virgo, and it seems like we should embody that revolutionary energy. And I believe that we do, but we do it in such a very, very subtle way.
I always talk about the Pluto in Virgo generation as the cosmic sleeper cell. Like at some point in time, you know, maybe with the Pluto Uranus square in the last decade, maybe at some point in time, we were going to just wake up and just show up like, here we are, you know. That really didn’t happen. As time goes on, it seems less and less likely that it’s going to happen. Other than the fact that we really do put in the work, and we sort of maintain, you know, Virgo, we maintain a standard for astrology.
And we are involved in course correcting when astrology goes a little bit too far to one side. And we kind of rein in some folks when they seem to be going a little, you know, “I know astrology because I read a book,” that type of thing. We’re good with that. But, you know, I don’t know that we have done too much in the way of really putting our mark on things, like, oh yeah, that Pluto in Virgo generation, they really… nah, not so much.
April: It’s a little harder to define it, really, isn’t it? Because it’s easy to see with Leo and Libra. And I don’t know, too, if it’s just that demographically, there are just more people in those groups. I mean, certainly the LEO. But Virgo is tucked happily in between. And I think probably we are really effective on those organizational boards, and the ones that are getting there and rolling up our sleeves and doing the work. And I think we’re good teachers.
Armand: I agree very much about good teachers. And I agree very much about the board work, doing things for organizations and so on. Because again, this is, it’s a sign of service. It’s the sign of, okay, you know, I can contribute to something.
If it’s something I believe in, then it is something that I will put my effort towards. And it is okay for Pluto in Virgo to say, well, maybe I’m not going to be the superstar in the whole picture, but I will have a contribution to make. I would guess that we will probably at some point in time see the same thing from Pluto in Capricorn folks.
April: In the time that you’ve been practicing – you’ve been in the game professionally for 20 years or more – what are the biggest changes you feel that you’ve seen in the field of astrology? And obviously there’s, you know, computers and all of that kind of thing. What is it about the approach that we’re taking to astrology or big trends like that, that have really stood out to you?
Armand: Well, the first thing I have to say is that the Uranus and Neptune in mutual reception for all those years in Aquarius and Pisces really opened things up with the internet and the way we communicate. And that affects everything as well as astrology.
What I find though, is before that became a thing, before social media and dominance of the internet, astrologers seemed to have a little bit more of like a live and let live kind of attitude to things. If you did Uranian astrology and you ran into somebody that was doing some other type of astrology, well, that’s cool. You know, it’d be like, oh, well, this group does that and this group does, and it seemed to be kind of like a live and let live, “let a thousand flowers bloom” kind of thing. After the internet, when now it became kind of like you get a lot more exposure to different things, and you could respond from the comfort of your keypad, and just… things became a little bit less…. There became a little bit more contention in astrology, a little bit more of that sense of, “Who’s right?”
And that was really, really fueled by the advent about 25 years ago of the big revival of traditional astrology, which is very, very appealing to younger folk. You know, I don’t think Pluto in Leo, Pluto in Virgo, and Pluto in Libra necessarily grab that. Perhaps Pluto in Libra’s sort of split on the issue.
But I don’t think that they grabbed into the traditional astrology as much as Pluto in Scorpio and Pluto in Sagittarius, it seems to be younger people seem to be more attracted to traditional astrology.
April: What do you think that’s about?
Armand: I honestly don’t know, beyond the speculation that the quest for certainty seems to be a big thing for those folks and I can understand it.
I’m talking about the Neptunian Capricorn generation and they might really appreciate tradition a little bit more. Uh, they actually have Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn, so they might really be drawn to it. I don’t know. I… the funny thing is about traditional astrology is that if you go to the sources and if you go to folks like Chris Brennan, you do not get this kind of rigid, this is the way things are and have to be, in a way, you don’t get that really rigid traditionalism. But I think a lot of the people who are attracted to it do have that approach to it.
April: That thing of coming up in such uncertain times and something that feels stable and connected to an old tradition and something they feel they can hang their hat on, maybe. But that was brought to us by, as pointed out to me by my Pluto in Leo guest, that was brought to us by Pluto in Leo astrologers.
Armand: Yeah, yeah, they did. Yeah, that’s a really good point. They did go back and they did, they went in there to explore and bring back the treasure that way. Yeah, that’s a really good point. And yet, it has caught on with younger people far more.
But, you know, but that’s the thing about astrology. People will hate to hear this, but it’s not really which one is right, it is what is right for this person, this astrologer, this question, at this time, you know, there’s, there’s multiple frames of re… that’s my whole Integral Astrology, I mean, that was the whole point of my book there, was to say, you know, it’s not really that there’s one right answer. It’s not that it’s a free for all, but you have to look at the context, that’s where you see what works.
April: I think that anything that gets you closer to the client seems to be a good approach, seems to be a good technique. Does it work? And by that I mean, not that you can put it to a test and replicate it in all situations. But rather, does it work in terms of getting us closer to who we’re talking to and what their main concerns are?
Armand: Whatever techniques might help me to get in there and do something productive for the person. So, I would say that that is one of the biggest changes that I’ve seen. And more recently, in recent years, and I think it is a reflection of the shift towards Aquarian energy, there is a, a bit of a rebellion, I think, against any kind of hierarchy in astrology, any kind of organization. And I think largely, younger astrologers… it’s funny, they’re kind of rejecting the more local tradition that would help them to learn astrology, even as they embrace the ancient techniques. Everything is now extremely diversified. There’s not a lot of centrality in anything, right?
I mean, look at music. 40 years ago, you could list five genres of music, and you’d pretty much cover everything that was out there. I mean, today, you could list 30, and you wouldn’t be halfway through your list of different genres. And it’s true of everything, which is great because it opens things up. But on the other hand, it becomes very difficult to say, okay, what is the standard?
What is there? You know, and we do have people that are reading a book and, “Now I’m an astrologer.” There is no mechanism, you know, and astrologers, I mean, in the best of times, it’s like herding cats to get them to agree to anything anyway. And now it’s really out there. So I don’t know what the long range effect of that is going to be, but….
April: It’s the same as it’s always been. People connect with the astrologer whose personality and message resonates for them. And over time, I think things probably do shake out. And then you have people who kind of rise to the top because they’re good at what they do. And they’re good at connecting. So we’ll see what the long range forecast for that is.
But I’ll tell you, I can remember from the time I started out in 1991 or whatever it was, that there was a great frustration among young astrologers who were really wanting to get in and speak at conferences and getting their articles in the Mountain Astrologer, and it was very tough with all the gatekeepers.
So, I think that impulse has always been the same, probably. “We really want to get our voice out there and be heard, and why don’t you older Pluto astrologers get out of the way and let us take our turn.” And we’re like, we just got here, you know, it really feels like we just got here! So…
Armand: But the difference now is that the organizations, they’re not what they used to be, and the Mountain Astrologer’s a lot thinner publication than it used to be.
Maybe there were a few prestige outlets that it was hard to get into them. But what’s happened now is there, and this is the Aquarian vibe, there really are no prestige…. And so, you know, if you’re a young astrologer and you have your own YouTube channel, you could be immensely popular and all that, you know, and that’s the shift.
It’s like everybody’s off on their own, doing their own thing. And I suppose, as you say, you know, the cream will rise to the top, but yeah. Yeah.
April: Cause now it’s just, how many followers does somebody have?
Armand: Yes.
April: That’ll really, that’s the gauge. That’s the prestige. And in a way that’s kind of good because you’re more in charge of that as an individual astrologer. That is a big shift for me, too, in the time that I’ve been doing this.
I think at least with Virgo and Sagittarius, I think something that I see in common between those signs is we do love nature. We do value and love the world. And with the Virgo generation is like, how are we going to preserve it and how can we clean it up and all of that? The Pluto in Sag people seem very devoted to being outdoors and enjoying the natural world and all of that, so maybe that’s something that can unite us. That would bring us together.
Armand: That would be nice. My nephews are Pluto in Sag. They play video games every free moment.
April: Oh, yikes! When I was looking online for Pluto in Sag astrologers, they’re all scaling mountains and hiking.
Armand: Well, it’s a dual sign after all, right? Dual signs go two ways.
You can look on any issue and you’ll always see it be split between two different approaches. So yeah, that’s a… you know. That would be great, though. That would be great. And, you know, as an active sign, a fire sign, you know, we’ve got some hope for Pluto in Sagittarius there.
April: Well, it’s been so great to talk to you. Thank you so much for taking the time.
Armand: Oh, thank you so much, April. It was a lot of fun.
April: Well, how can people get in touch with you and find out more about your work?
Armand: ArmandDiaz.com.
April: For all of your Armand Diaz needs.
Armand: Yes, exactly!
April: We will put that link also in the show notes for this episode so everybody can get to you.
Armand: Okay, great, thank you. Thank you.
April: I hope you enjoyed this interview. I find Armand so delightful every time I speak with him. I really enjoyed bringing this to you. This interview and a couple of others were about an hour long originally. And it was really hard to decide what to cut out for the podcast because I try to keep these episodes about a half an hour each.
It is possible, as I said yesterday, that I could make the full interviews available to donors in the coming months. I’m not going to actually promise that because that would still be a big job, but it’s a possibility. If you think you’d be interested in that, send me an email.
Wrapping Up
Well, that is everything on my show sheet, so I’m going to wrap this one up. Thank you for listening to the Big Sky Astrology Podcast and joining me for the second episode of this gala Fifth Annual Podathon!
This weekly podcast is audience funded and it’s your generous donations that help me keep the podcast coming to you free of advertisements. To make your donation, please go to BigSkyAstropod.com. Anyone who donates $10 or more will receive access to a series of private YouTube videos throughout the year. And if you donate $25 or more, you will be entered in my raffle for a chance to win a 90-minute reading, a 60-minute reading, or a copy of my personalized Followed by a Moonshadow Eclipse report.
As long time listeners know, I love to thank all my financial donors on the air over the next 12 months. If you do not want me to mention your name, please let me know. Email me, April (at) BigSkyAstrology (dot)com. You’re also going to receive a donor email that will have this information, but I wanted to make sure to mention it here, too.
Thanks again for helping me kick off this 5th Annual Podathon. Join me again bright and early tomorrow morning for another episode, including my interview with Pluto in Libra astrologer Kirstin Vasgaard. And until then, keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars!
Announcer: That’s it for today. Don’t forget to make your donation at BigSkyAstropod. com and join us each Labor Day weekday for another very special episode of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.
