TRANSCRIPT Ep. 259 | Sun trine Jupiter: A Genie Granting Wishes!

TRANSCRIPT Ep. 259 (10.7.24)
Sun trine Jupiter: A Genie Granting Wishes!

Hello Invisible Friend, April here, and the date today is October 7th, 2024. Welcome to Episode 259 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.

This week, eclipse season is over, and we get a little bit of a reprieve this week with some nice aspects. The First Quarter Moon in Capricorn is one of the best all year for taking action on a plan. The cosmic lovers, Venus and Mars, meet in a steamy trine. Mercury connects with Jupiter and Pluto before entering Scorpio, the sign of the private detective. And, Jupiter and Pluto change direction. Let’s enjoy some optimism and maybe a little bit of luck as the Sun makes a trine to Jupiter. And I answer a listener question about cazimi planets.

Venus trine Mars (Oct. 8, 2024, 3:22 am PDT)

Venus in Scorpio trines Mars in Cancer on October 8th at 3:22 a.m. Pacific Time at 18º38’ Scorpio and Cancer. Venus is on the Sabian symbol 19 Scorpio, A parrot listening and then talking, and Mars is on 19 Cancer, A priest performing a marriage ceremony. And if these two symbols don’t sound just like a marriage ceremony, then I don’t know what does.

Venus is the planet that symbolizes what we want, what we desire, and Mars represents how we go about getting it. When they meet together in a beautiful, easy flowing trine aspect, it’s easier to get what we desire. And since both of them are in water signs, we’re really talking about emotions and interpersonal relationships.

They’re also still connecting a little bit with Saturn in Pisces, and we had the exact trine between Venus and Saturn last week, so as I believe I noted then, the combination of Venus and Mars, two of the relationship planets, with Saturn, the planet of longevity, does really symbolize relationships that have staying power.

Mercury trine Jupiter (Oct. 8, 2024, 5:23 am PDT)

Also on October 8, at 523 a.m. Pacific Time, Mercury in Libra trines Jupiter in Gemini. Mercury is the planet of communication and socializing, describing how we get our message across to others, how we take in the messages that are coming our way, and how we do something interesting with them. When it connects with Jupiter, what is nice is we have Mercury that is in charge of details and small things, and we have Jupiter which is the planet in charge of putting them all together. And the image I often get for this aspect is of quilting, and you have all these tiny little pieces of fabric which represent Mercury and you sew them all together in a beautiful pattern that looks like more than the sum of its parts when you have it together, and that’s what Jupiter symbolizes. So, anything that we have been collecting in our lives, little ideas, perhaps, that you now make into a composition of some kind, or little bits and pieces to furnish your home, which now seem to all come together in a very satisfying whole.

That is what is symbolized really, I think, by Mercury coming together with Jupiter here. This is a day for good vibes. It starts out in the morning, 5:23 a.m. And we have the Venus trine Mars, and then we have this Mercury trine Jupiter. So, start your day, perhaps by paying a little act of kindness, buying a stranger a coffee at your local cafe, feeding the traffic meter for more time than you need during your stop, this kind of thing.

Mercury is on the Sabian symbol, 22 Libra, A child giving birds a drink in a fountain. And that always is, to me, such a charming picture of generosity and the desire to help.

Jupiter stations Retrograde (Oct. 9, 2024, 12:05 am PDT)

Jupiter turns retrograde on October 9th at 12:05 a.m. Pacific Time. It’s at 21º 20’ Gemini, on the Sabian symbol, 22 Gemini, A barn dance. Jupiter will turn direct again on February 4th, 2025.

Jupiter’s themes include hope, optimism, luck, justice, expansion, and adventure, and overall, seeing the big picture. When Jupiter is retrograde, we need to look within to find these qualities. We can’t expect that the world is going to dance and sing and entertain us any more than it normally does. We can look within ourselves to find sources of hope and optimism. Consider reducing your news intake. While Jupiter is retrograde, maybe look around, use your powers of observation, and consider how can you improve your current circumstances.

What are all of the things in your life that are working well, and what do they all add up to? What is the picture that presents itself to you of what your life can be like in the coming months?

Capricorn First Quarter Moon (Oct. 10, 2024, 11:55 am PDT)

And now the Moon Report, and it begins with the Capricorn First Quarter Moon on October 10th at 11:55 a.m. Pacific Time. It’s at 17º 57’ Capricorn, and this is a lunation that features a T-square configuration. Capricorn First Quarter Moon is at roughly 18 Capricorn, Mars is in the sign opposite, Cancer, at almost 20ºof Cancer, and we have the Sun at 18ºLibra.

So we end up with this configuration that pits the Sun against the Moon and both of them against Mars. It just indicates a lot of stress.

A T-square is made up of at least three planets in three signs of the same modality – cardinal, fixed, or mutable. And these are in the cardinal modality. I consider the sign in that modality that’s not represented in the T square – inn this case, Aries – as being an important release point, because we have three of the cardinal signs involved, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, but Aries is the other cardinal sign, and there’s nothing in Aries. Consider working off some of the stress that is built up in a configuration like this, ideally through physical exercise, for example.

The best use for any First Quarter Moon – and in particular this one, because Mars can also be very motivating – taking the first steps toward achieving our New Moon goals or intentions. The New Moon for this lunation cycle was a solar eclipse close to the south node of the Moon, and that was on October 2nd.

Was there anything released for you during that eclipse? Now is the time to take some action toward recovering from the eclipse season or, or maybe reconciling with someone close to you. It’s a time to accept the changes that may have occurred, especially at that big eclipse, so that you can begin to move on. And there is no better Moon than a Moon in Capricorn for initiating a plan and implementing a strategy.

Lunar Phase Family Cycle

This is the First Quarter in a lunar phase family cycle that began at the New Moon on January 11th, 2024, at 20º44’ Capricorn. Think back to the beginning of this year, what were your plans for the calendar year?

What were your two or three big goals? Now, at this First Quarter in that lunar phase family cycle, it’s time to get moving and to start taking some step to implement those goals. You don’t have to know exactly how it’s all going to work out, but just taking some step is really helpful.

Then the Full Moon in this cycle comes along on July 10th, 2025. That’s the time when you’ll really get a clear picture of what it is that you put into place. And then the Last Quarter Moon in this phase comes along on April 9th, 2026. And that is when you can fine tune, make any adjustments and make a final push toward achieving those goals.

Void-of-Course Moon periods

Let’s look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week.

On October 8th, the Moon in Sagittarius squares Neptune at 10:54 p.m. Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course then for 3 hours and 44 minutes, and then enters Capricorn on October 9th at 2:38 a.m. The Moon in Sagittarius, it is very fun loving, it is very upbeat, it is very optimistic. It is also a little bit blunt, not usually with a bad intention, but just sometimes says things that it hasn’t thought through real clearly. And when it comes together in a square with this Neptune, there can be some hurt feelings sometimes.

If this is a pattern for you, if this is something that you tend to do on a regular basis, kind of the foot-in-mouth disease, this is a Void-of-Course Moon period to try to change that habit. To try to think a little bit more before you speak, or just make it a habit to only say things that are kind.

Now, this does happen pretty late in the evening, into the early morning hours here in the United States. So, what we usually say with this kind of Void-of-Course Moon period is write something down before you go to bed, make some kind of intention and a hope to change direction with this habit.

On October 11th, the Moon makes a conjunction with Pluto at 8:53 a.m. Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for 38 minutes, then enters Aquarius at 9:31 a.m. Moon and Pluto coming together at this very last degree of Capricorn is an important time to rewire any tendency you have toward negative self-talk. Also, people in authority could be a bit troublesome for you at this time. And it’s a good time to lay low, just know that these difficulties will pass soon enough.

But again, Void-of-Course Moon periods are for changing patterns or habits. So if it’s a habit for you to constantly be feeding yourself negative self-talk or getting more entrenched into power struggles with people in authority in your life, then this is a time to step back from that, stop any moment where you hear yourself saying something negative to yourself or negative to someone in authority and let it pass and try to make a new pattern.

And on October 13th, the Moon is square Uranus at 7:11 a.m. Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for 5 hours and 44 minutes before it enters Pisces at 12:55 p.m. This is a nice, long Void-of-Course Moon period, and it’s early in the day, into the early afternoon. So, this is a good one to work with this week. And the pattern involved has to do with a conflict we have between wanting to be part of a group and to fit in versus the desire to just speak your mind regardless of how it impacts anybody else. If you have a habit or an ingrained pattern of saying things that, while they’re true and you have every right to say them, can hit people the wrong way… Here is an opportunity to change that pattern and that habit.

I’m thinking of a scene in the movie, When Harry Met Sally. And Harry has gotten angry and gone off at somebody, and Sally says to him, “Harry, you need to learn that you don’t have to express every thought that you have, every minute that you have it.” And that does make me think a little bit of this little Moon square to Uranus.

Pluto stations direct (Oct. 11, 2024, 5:32 pm PDT)

On October 11th at 5:32 p.m. Pacific Time, Pluto stations direct a 29º38’ Capricorn, on the Sabian symbol, 30 Capricorn, A secret business conference. This is the very last time any of us will ever experience Pluto stationing direct in Capricorn. And on this degree, which is a degree that under the surface has this hint of power, and it’s Pluto in Capricorn, and here we have the business conference.

It’s a little bit of a sobering symbol to see Pluto turning direct on. When a planet stations direct or retrograde, especially these slow-moving planets, like Pluto, their presence is stronger than usual. They really jump out at us, and especially on the day that the station takes place, we will see a strong presence of Pluto in the world around us.

Pluto is the symbol of power and control and transformation. Issues about wealth, about wealth inequality, about banking, about the stock market even, could be very loud around the time of this Pluto station. Pluto has been retrograde since May 2nd of this year. So, like all the outer planets, it’s retrograde for a pretty long time. And now it’s kind of coming to life and coming awake.

Mercury square Pluto (Oct. 13, 2024, 7:03 am PDT)

Mercury squares Pluto on October 13th at 7:03 a.m. Pacific Time. And any connection of Mercury with Pluto reminds me of the power of names and labels. When Mercury is trine Pluto, as it was recently, it can mean that in a really upbeat way, we’re able to change something about what we call ourselves.

There are all kinds of reasons people might change their name. It can be a change of title. Maybe you have become a parent for the first time and you get to call yourself a mother or a father. At the square, it’s a little more fraught. It’s more about rejecting old names and old labels. Words are powerful, names and labels are powerful, and knowledge is powerful with Mercury and Pluto together.

With this particular aspect, ask, how can you use what you know for the betterment of all? And what is it that you think about yourself? And this goes back to a little bit earlier when we were talking about negative self-talk, how can we reject the things that no longer reflect who we really are or how we really think about ourselves.

Mercury enters Scorpio (Oct. 13, 2024, 12:23 pm)

Later in the early afternoon of October 13, at 12:23 pm Pacific Time, Mercury enters Scorpio. It’ll be in this sign through November 2nd. The square that happened just a few hours earlier is really kind of a precursor to Mercury being in Scorpio. There are certain commonalities between the Scorpio and Pluto archetypes. Mercury in Scorpio is pretty blunt. It is ruled by Mars, so it doesn’t usually pull its punches. It can be even a little ruthless, a little bit raw, and at times that we really need to get to the heart of a matter so that it can be resolved, this is a very helpful sign for Mercury. Think of a doctor who has to lance an abscess. It is a really brutal and painful, but necessary process in order to promote healing.

And for similar reasons, this is a good transit for psychological breakthroughs, for working through and getting to the heart of things that have been on your mind and weighing you down for some time.

On a practical level, Mercury’s travels through Scorpio are terrific for research and for investigation of all kinds. If you have been working through some kind of troublesome problem that has been hard for you to understand, Mercury in Scorpio gives that laser focus and that x-ray vision that can help us see what’s really going on.

Sun trine Jupiter (Oct. 13, 2024, 8:52 pm PDT)

And also on October 13^th, at 8:52 p.m. Pacific Time, the Sun in Libra makes a beautiful trine to Jupiter. They are at 21º17’ of Libra and Gemini, and we have them on the same Sabian symbols that we had during that Mercury trine to Jupiter and Jupiter turning retrograde even earlier in the week.

The Sun is on 22 Libra, A child giving birds a drink at a fountain. And Jupiter is on 22 Gemini, A barn dance. Both of these symbols suggest such generosity and fun and play. This can be a time when it’s much easier than usual to get the notice that we wish for, to get the genie to grant our wishes, and at the very least, to feel good, to feel our hearts open in generosity and a desire to connect with others in a fun way.

Listener Question: All about Cazimi Planets

In this week’s Listener Question, Listener Elliott asks via SpeakPipe, “Hello, April and Big Sky Astrology Podcast fellow fans, it is Gemini Sun listener and question czar, Elliott. And I want to know about cazimis because today is Mercury cazimi the Sun and I started thinking about how we hear about Mercury cazimi the Sun in the astrology news a couple of times a year, but I don’t hear as much about Venus cazimi, though I have heard some, but I never hear about other planets cazimi. Why is this? Is it less important? Is it not a thing? What are the rules?

The second question is, when you say that cazimi is 17’ within the exact minute of the Sun, is that 17’ total or 17’ either side? Because either side would be more of a 34 minute range. So, what’s the math on that? Okay, bye!”

Elliott, those were a great couple of questions, which fortunately have pretty straightforward answers.

A quick recap about cazimi. It refers to the condition of a planet that is within 17’ of arc of an exact conjunction with the Sun. And although a planet that’s within, say, 7 or 8º of the Sun is considered debilitated – it’s “combust,” or, burned up by the rays of the Sun – there are a couple of mitigating factors for this. One is if the planet is in its own sign. So for example, if you have Mercury in Gemini or Virgo, it can be pretty close to the Sun without being cazimi and still be able to withstand this withering quality of the Sun.

The other consideration is when the planet is in that exact conjunction with the Sun, within about 17’ of arc, then it’s said to be cazimi, which means “in the heart of the Sun.” And it benefits from its proximity to the Sun.

As for Elliott’s first question, all planets, including the Moon, experience cazimi periods, just as all planets, other than the Sun and Moon, experience retrograde periods. But really, you hear about Mercury cazimi much more often than other planets, for the same reason you hear about its retrograde periods more than those of the other planets: It just happens more often. Mercury is in a conjunction with the Sun about six times each year. Compare this to Venus, which joins the Sun only once or twice a year, and Mars, which is cazimi only every couple of years. And because the Sun takes roughly one year to travel through the zodiac, it makes the conjunction to Jupiter through Pluto about once a year.

IT is based on the faster moving planet, and in the case of the Sun with Jupiter through Pluto, the Sun moves more quickly. The Moon is actually cazimi more than any other planet, once a month for about one hour. It’s just that instead of calling it cazimi, we call it the New Moon!

Now, as for the distance from the Sun that the planet must be to be considered cazimi, it’s traditionally 17’ of arc, or a little over one quarter of a degree. And yes, it’s 17’ either side of the exact conjunction.

Now, I’m noting, because people might not get the difference between the minutes that I’m talking about and the minutes on the clock. This is not 17 minutes on a clock. This is 17 minutes of orb, and that is as a percentage of a degree, which has 60 minutes.

The length of time that the planet is cazimi varies depending on the speed of the planets involved, and even in the case of Mercury, 17’ of orb is considerably longer in clock time than we might imagine. I’m recording this on the day that Elliott was talking about, where Mercury is cazimi, and it will be within 17’ orb of the Sun between 5:35 a.m. and 10:47 p.m. or about 17 hours, with the exact conjunction being at 2:09 p.m. Pacific Time.

Some astrologers simplify this by saying cazimi occurs when a planet is within one degree of the Sun. My problem with that is in the case of say Mars, which is cazimi for a couple of days at a time as it is, if we keep the orb to 17’, it doesn’t seem like a very strong distinction to call it cazimi if it’s going to be cazimi for about a week – which would be the case if we considered one degree of orb cazimi.

Elliott, I hope that that helps. I see you are putting the Mercury cazimi to good use by sending in this very interesting question! Thank you so much.

And if you have a burning astrological question you would like me to answer on the podcast, leave a voicemail of one minute or less at speakpipe.com/bigskyastrologypodcast, or just drop me an email at April (at) bigskyastrology (dot)com and be sure to put “Podcast Question” in the subject line.

Donor Thanks

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