Transcript Ep. 253 | Podathon Day Four: Pluto in Scorpio with Gwen Yi! (9.5.24)
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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 5th, 2024. Welcome to Episode 253 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast, and Day 4 of the 5th Annual Big Sky Astrology Podathon.
This is the week each year when I bring you five daily episodes complete with the big astrological news of the week and, this year, with interviews from five wonderful astrologers of different Pluto generations. I hope you’ll be inspired to tune in all week to hear each of these fascinating conversations.
Before we get started with today’s episode, let me just take a moment to say thank you to those of you who’ve helped support 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 continue to listen each week and that you find value in the podcast. I enjoy bringing each week’s episode to you.
But there are costs associated with producing this weekly show, and I’d much rather turn to my listeners to help cover those costs than to take on advertising. I spend hours each week listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos, and streaming shows, and I cannot believe how many ads I’m being bombarded with. It really interrupts the flow and enjoyment of these shows, and I’ll bet that many of you feel the same. And so, once a year, during Labor Day week, I bring you Podathon, one week of asking for your donations – and then the rest of the year we don’t have to talk about fundraising.
If you’d like to help out, you can make a one-time donation in any amount or become a regular monthly contributor. Just go to BigSkyAstropod.com and to encourage your donations, here are this year’s fantastic giveaways.
First, everyone who donates $25 or more, as well as my ongoing monthly Podpal contributors, will be entered in a drawing to win one of these cool prizes: One grand prize winner will win a 90-minute reading with me, a $275 value. Two lucky listeners will win a 60-minute personal astrology reading with me. That’s a $215 value. Three lucky donors will win a copy of my Followed by a Moonshadow eclipse report – three years of eclipses, a $35 value, to help you get ready for this fall’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. And that’s the midnight between September 9th and September 10th. The drawing will be held on September 10th, and winners will be notified by email.
If you can’t contribute that much, I’m also offering donors of only $10 or more a new bonus for this year: a series of private YouTube videos. They might be covering New Moons, going in-depth on big planetary transits, or maybe giving a review each quarter.
I also would like to say that I know not everyone can contribute financially, which, don’t worry, I understand. Rent must be paid. Cats need new toys. So, here are a few easy, free ways you can show your love and support for the podcast.
If you like the show, please subscribe or follow the show on your app of choice. I know I mention this every week, but this truly is one of the best ways you can support the show and help it get seen by other listeners, and it doesn’t cost a cent. You could also leave a 5-star rating, or write a nice review, either on Apple Podcasts, or any of the other platforms that allow comments. Besides being very gratifying for me personally, sometimes reviews can make a difference in whether or not someone decides to sample a podcast. I know because many is the time I’ve read a review about a podcast that looks interesting and decided whether or not to listen based on the reviews. Finally, consider recommending the show to an astrology-loving friend.
However you choose to show your appreciation, please know that I am deeply grateful for your support. And now for today’s episode.
Today’s Astrology Highlights
In this week’s special daily episodes, I’m covering the week’s major astrological news, along with lunar happenings and an interview each day with a fellow astrologer, each one of them born in a different Pluto generation. Today, I’m featuring a conversation with Astrologer Gwen Yi, who’s representing the Pluto in Scorpio generation. But first, a look at today’s planetary news.
Today’s Moon in Libra, conjunct Venus (2:12 am PDT)
It begins with the Moon Report, and this is an exceptionally quiet day in the skies, with the Moon gliding gently through Libra all day, and making only one aspect: a conjunction with its ruling planet, Venus, at 2:12 am Pacific Time. When the Moon is in Libra each month, the focus is on getting along with others. You might find yourself striking up conversations in line at the supermarket, chatting with your UPS driver, having coffee or lunch to catch up with a friend. When the Moon is in this sign, we like to dress well and take extra care with our appearance. Diplomacy, playing nice, and negotiating are the watchwords for the day, and if you find yourself in conflict with someone, you’ll usually try hard to find a fair and gentle solution.
All of this is accentuated by the Moon’s conjunction with Venus. It’s a romantic combination as well, and I’ll let your imagination fill in the details there.
The Pluto in Scorpio Generation
As you know, this week I’m featuring interviews with astrologers from each of the Pluto generations that are currently in practice. Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. I hope you’ll listen back to my previous interviews with Pluto in Leo astrologer Linea Van Horn, Pluto in Virgo astrologer Armand Diaz, and charming Pluto in Libra astrologer Kirstin Vasgaard.
Today’s interview will be of particular interest to you if you were born as part of the Pluto in Scorpio generation between November 5th, 1983 and November 10th, 1995. Just be aware that Pluto briefly retrograded into late Libra between May 18th-August 27th, 1984, and glimpsed into Sagittarius between January 17th and April 20th, 1995. Overall, Pluto was in Scorpio for a little over 11 and a half years.
People born between 1983 and 1995, while Pluto was in Scorpio, are typically considered to be part of the Millennial Generation, also known as Generation Y. This generation follows Generation X, born roughly between 1965 and 1980, and precedes Generation Z, born roughly between 1996 and 2012.
Millennials are known for growing up during the rise of the internet and digital technology, all of which has significantly shaped their experiences and perspectives. They’re often associated with traits like being technologically savvy, focused on education, with a strong sense of social and environmental responsibility.
This generation is also dedicated to truth and to facing whatever is difficult and transcending it. That was a big part of my discussion with Pluto in Scorpio astrologer, Gwen Yi, also known as The Asian Astrologer. Gwen is a practicing astrologer, writer, and swing dancer based in Malaysia. She’s been running her astrology practice full-time since 2023, writing newsletters, giving natal chart readings, and helping people fall in love with the stars. She believes that astrology is a tool that helps bring us back in alignment with our true selves.
In a previous life, Gwen was the founder of an empathy training company, and wait til you hear the story of how that began! She gave TED Talks and worked with clients like the Obama Foundation. These days, you’re more likely to see her on a dance floor or looking up at the stars.
Here is my conversation with Gwen.
Interview with Gwen Yi
April: How did you get into studying astrology and what has your path been up to now?
Gwen: I feel like it ties in so beautifully with the whole Scorpionic theme of Pluto being in Scorpio. So the very long story short is that I’ve always been really deeply interested in the human condition. I’ve always felt a little bit weird, a little bit out of place, and specifically, when all the weird things happen in my life, you know, like family dysfunction, all those things, I just really wanted to feel less alone, right? So I was interested in psychology, not so much the esoteric side, but just really wanting to understand people and relationships and how things work.
In 2016, I was studying in the States and I burned out and I dropped out of university. I came home to where I am now in Malaysia and I actually did this thing which is very Pluto in Scorpio. I started hosting dinner parties for strangers. With one rule, no small talk. So it’s like, let’s all come together and do group therapy, basically.
And at that time – this is 2016 – there was no mental health awareness, empathy, like none of that was a thing. Not in Malaysia, where I’m from. So I think me initiating that and trying to create those connections between people, just for me to feel less alone, but obviously everyone else was also feeling that connection and that catharsis.
I think that is, after I found out about astrology, I’m like, oh, that’s, that’s so indicative.
April: Oh, that is…. I’ve never heard of anyone doing such a thing. I am so impressed by your boldness!
Gwen: Thank you!
April: Maybe it’s the Moon in Sagittarius.
Gwen: Probably. Let’s speak truth to this.
April: So then you found out about astrology. How? Was it a book or something online?
Gwen: In Malaysia, we would have horoscopes in the newspapers and my little Pisces Sun would actually look it up. I would be interested in it. I understood nothing about it, but every week I would be like, ‘Oh, what’s going on?’ and obviously we all know you don’t read for your Sun sign, but obviously that’s what I only knew at that time. And I would look up my little Sagittarius crush’s horoscope as well and I would read that. So that’s when the interest started.
But I only started studying astrology officially in 2022. And long story short, again, there was a lot of tumult going on in my life, a lot of relationship stuff, family stuff.
And I think I really kind of was drawn to wanting an explanation for things beyond my control. Again, a very Pluto in Scorpio theme. Let’s just try to understand this, because it seems like there’s something deeper that’s unfolding that’s beyond my human comprehension. And yeah, and that’s when astrology became really loud in my life.
Just following all the Instagram accounts, all the different people online, listening to podcasts like yours. I think that’s how I found my way into studying it officially as a path and a career.
April: Yeah. I think that timeframe during the pandemic and the lockdowns and everything, we saw a huge boom in interest as professional astrologers at that time. We were all comparing notes. “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Because people had the time. The thing that we found about the pandemic that was so interesting – ’cause I’ll say that to a lot of people and they say, yeah, everybody must have wanted to know when it was going to end and all that.
I said, not really. They had the time finally to step off the hamster wheel and they wanted to investigate what was going on in them. What did they want from their lives?
Gwen: I love that word, investigate.
April: Yeah. ‘Let’s look into it, shall we? Let’s look into it.’ So that makes sense and so, you dug in and you went deep and you went fast.
Gwen: Fast. Real fast. Oh yeah. And the system that I was a part of, the school, their whole thing is that, okay, there are so many disparate parts of astrology, but let’s help you bring things together with a solid enough base so that you can get the experience you need doing readings. Because as we both know, that’s how you actually gain the confidence and experience of synthesizing charts, right?
There’s always something to learn about astrology, but through this system, I was able to start my practice really soon, by the start of 2023. After graduating, I was already doing readings and doing it professionally. And I think that really ties in again, with this whole Pluto in Scorpio theme of almost merging the esoteric with the psychology. I really believe in a reading setting, it’s almost like a therapeutic space where you’re holding that space for the client, which I had kind of built up that experience from doing the dinner parties with strangers.
April: Yeah, no kidding. That’ll give you some skills.
Gwen: Yeah. So, it isn’t just like the synthesis of astrology, right? But it’s also the ability to hold space and kind of like read between the lines and understand, okay, what is this dark – pardon my French – that is lying underneath the surface? And I think that really speaks to not just me, but this generation that believes in going below the surface. It’s okay to talk about the hard thing. It’s okay to look at the thing in the dark and not just the light.
April: I find that when I talk to Pluto in Scorpio people.
Gwen: Oh, absolutely. One thing I really notice about, for example, the Pluto in Sag generation is the irreverence at which they take so many things. They joke about death, they joke about all these things, but it’s because they have been confronted with the reality of things like climate change and all these things in such a visceral way throughout their childhood.
That exposure to the internet that if you don’t use humor, it’s not making light of it, but humor is kinda like this shared language, this shared context of we’re all in this together. I think that’s a very Sagittarian way of connecting, contextualizing things.
I think the thing about this, this generation, the Pluto in Scorpio generation, is that we want people to understand that we know pain intimately, we know trauma and we believe that the best way for us to confront this and to deal with this and to heal from this is to talk about it, is to kind of alchemize it through conversation and through calling it out, whether it’s through humor or through deep dialogue.
Or even through art, you see so many amazing artists. Taylor Swift is the Pluto in Scorpio generation. All these artists alchemizing their truth and going through that whole ‘Phoenix Rising’ process of turning their pain into their gift, into their art, and expressing it, not being afraid to express it.
And I really, I feel that very strongly with this generation of us kind of being the ones to pioneer the way forward of, let’s talk about therapy, let’s talk about sexuality, let’s talk about all these things that maybe in previous generations, were kind of swept under the rug, but now it’s okay for us to start talking about it. Which I think has paved the way for Sag to make fun of it, almost, but I think the genesis started here.
April: I was reminded today by my Pluto in Leo colleague of just what a shocking time that was. It was just at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and people talking about a lot of things that previously would have been very taboo. And also as she said, well, it’s the first generation since the development of penicillin for whom sex was a potential death sentence. And that’s a really heavy thing to step into.
What do you think your generation is really doing to change the field of astrology as you look at it? And what are probably the strengths and maybe a few of the drawbacks to your approaches?
Gwen: I feel like this generation, and of course, I can probably only really speak to my own experience of it and what I see in my circles, but it really is, like I said, I don’t know what that term is, like the synthesis, the combination of mixing psychology with astrology, the psyche with spirituality, therapeutic practices and ethics, and being able to hold that space while still having that deep knowledge of the cosmos.
And what I mean by this is, I feel like because this generation is able to start those conversations and to actually not so much talk about like the niceties or the pop astrology, but kind of really wanting to go beyond the surface of that, we are able to bring in it. Almost that humility. It’s not like, ‘Oh, I’m the astrologer. I’m the coach. You tell me your problems and I will tell you what your chart says about you.’ It’s more like, ‘Hey, we’re in this together. I built trust with you by sharing my own first, right?’ Whether that’s through social media, through blogs, through podcasts, through newsletters, we built trust with you by airing out our own skeletons in the closet.
Of course, within bounds. But that’s how that trust is built because personally, I feel like it’s a very intimate space. It’s a very vulnerable space when you’re in consultation with a client. And this generation really craves that feeling of, Oh, you have gone through it as well. Like, you have gone through your own experiences and I can trust you with mine. We can go deep together because I know you have done your work as well. So it’s not just, you know, the whole spiritual bypassing of, oh, kumbaya, whatever. But it, yeah, we see the light because we also have seen the dark. I feel like that really is the defining quality and the strength of this generation.
April: In the time that you’ve been studying and practicing, which hasn’t been real long, but from what you have observed of the Pluto generations ahead of you, what are some of your thoughts about those generations and in either similarities to your own or things that you feel like, yeah, we’re doing this really differently?
Gwen: Each generation sets it up for the next one. So just how in the Scorpio generation, what kind of breaking the norms of what is and isn’t taboo to be talked about in society, which has set up the next generation of Sag to be able to basically like reject the binary, reject the status quo, almost entirely. They’re all entrepreneurs. They’re all just living life on their own terms.
The Libra generation has set up the Scorpio generation. They were really focused on justice and peace. And like you said, relationships. And kind of like the digging into that of trying to understand what is fair. Why are things the way that they are?
And almost like that questioning has set it up for Generation Y, which is the Scorpio generation, to actually openly ask, Why? And that’s how it set it up for us to start even having those taboo conversations in the first place. But I really feel like the genesis was from the one before and I’m sure you can tie it back to, let’s say, the generation before, in Virgo, for Libra and so on and so forth.
April: What are the things that you would hope to see in astrology, I don’t know, in the coming years? What do you feel needs to be redressed maybe or that you would like to see moved in maybe a more helpful or more positive direction?
Gwen: I’ll try to see if I can articulate this. Because of that strong focus that I have on the human condition, I really hope for us to get to a point where esoteric practices like astrology are not separate from the day-to-day application of human life and human understanding. I really feel like this is a beautiful system that almost depersonalizes certain things about ourselves so that we can get that bird’s eye view of our own internal psyche and systems, right?
You need to see it to heal it or to fix it or to grow from it. And I feel like the way to do that is to maybe even take out a little bit more of that esoteric lens and to look at it from more of that application lens, that practical lens of, okay, yes, great, this planet is squaring that planet and, you know, some people, they get so caught up in tracking the transits and trying to interpret how it influences their life that they don’t see the system for what it can do in terms of their actual self-healing and acceptance and that personal growth.
Which is obviously, as you can tell, my focus and my purpose in my practice and my own personal practice as well. And I really hope to see that. And I feel like the generations to come are the ones that are probably going to be able to bring that forward of making this a bit more applicable and actionable in the practice of personal development and growth through that lens as opposed to using it to figure out what’s going on and then almost externalize that responsibility from yourself. Like, oh yeah, of course my life is Mercury is retrograde. Mercury is retrograde like three to four times a year! Stop blaming the transit!
April: People need to get a little perspective! But I think there’s so many astrologers that write from a very negative point of view because they will get clicks and people will also sometimes, with astrology, try to make everything very much about them and very exaggerated in its influence and it’s interesting and compelling but I don’t see personally how it’s super useful, I have to say.
What do you think the Pluto in Capricorn people are going to be like?
Gwen: I was actually reading up about this in preparation for this podcast. I think I read an article about how that generation, I mean, we’re still churning them out, especially when Pluto retrogrades back into Capricorn for the last time.
But I think generally speaking, I think I read somewhere that like self-professed Luddites, in that they are actually outright rejecting technology because they have seen how it affects their parents, which is actually my generation, or even I think the generation before. And how we are so occupied with, you know, our phones and our technology, and they are just overwhelmed at this point.
So they are the ones that are choosing to actually journal by hand. So it’s really, you get to see the cycles of time come back around. And it’s like, like they have that self-awareness to say, ‘Oh, I don’t think this is working really well for us. Let’s take things back.’
April: What you’re saying is so interesting because, in the last, gosh, maybe 10 years or something, it’s been notable, this rise in going back to vinyl LPs for music and definitely doing the minimalism and that movement. And people that are now going back to portable typewriters instead of computers.
Gwen: Exactly! Capricorn is such a traditionalist sign as well. So it makes sense that they are literally going back to the archaic ways of doing things.
April: Is there anything else that we haven’t touched on that you’re burning to share about your Pluto in Scorpio generation or about Pluto generally and your astrology?
Gwen: I think the last thing that I would just want to say about Pluto is that there is nothing to fear about the dark because we all have an equal amount of light and dark within us. And what’s important is realizing we are not alone in it. And I think that is the message of the Pluto in Scorpio generation. We are not alone. We can talk about it and we can support each other through it by sharing our honest lived experiences.
April: Thank you so much. And we will put in the show notes for this episode, we’ll be sure that we put any information on where people can find you. Do you have any events or projects coming up that you want to let people know about?
Gwen: No events specifically. I do have a substack that I’ve been writing for the past year. So I actually started it on the eclipse, the Scorpio eclipse, interestingly enough, in May 2023. And yeah, I think that’s where I do all these Scorpionic things of being really vulnerable and really intimate in my writing about the stars and my personal experiences. So yeah, you can check that out. It’s The Asian Astrologer at Substack.
April: Great. And your Instagram is fabulous. You are so bright and warm and effervescent on there. I always love to see what you’re posting on there. So we will ask people to check that as well.
Thank you so much, Gwen. It has really been such a pleasure to speak with you at last, after being connected on social just a little bit. So thank you.
Gwen: I’m the biggest fan of this podcast. It’s the one I regularly religiously listen to. So I am so, it feels like almost like a dream come true that this is happening. So, so much love to you, April.
April: Oh, that is so kind of you! Thank you so much. Oh my goodness!
I hope you enjoyed listening to this interview. Gwen has such a soulful presence. And I love that the Pluto in Scorpio interview is the only one this week that has required bleeping!
Wrap-Up
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 this Fifth Annual Podathon.
This weekly podcast is audience-funded, and your generous donations help me keep the podcast coming to you ad-free. 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 coming year. And if you donate $25 or more, you’ll automatically be entered in my raffle for a chance to win a 90-minute reading, a 60-minute reading, or a copy of my exclusive, personalized, Followed by a Moonshadow Eclipse Report.
Thank you very much to all of you for joining me for this 5th Annual Podathon. Join me again bright and early tomorrow morning for another episode, including my interview with Pluto in Sagittarius astrologer, Anna Hull. 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.
