TRANSCRIPT Ep. 275 (1.27.25)
Aquarius New Moon: Fleeting Popularity!
Hello, Invisible Friend, April here, and the date today is January 27th, 2025. Welcome to Episode 275 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.
This week, the New Moon and Mercury enter Aquarius. Mercury comes together with Pluto and dredges difficult subjects to the surface, but the Sun basks in the flow of optimistic Jupiter. Uranus stations direct and Venus brings a soothing conclusion to the week with aspects to inspiring Neptune and the North Node. Plus, I answer a listener question about finding motivation. Can astrology help?
Mercury enters Aquarius (Jan. 27, 2025, 6:53 pm PST)
Mercury enters Aquarius on January 27th at 6:53 pm Pacific Time. It’ll be in this sign through February 14th. Some say that Mercury excels in the sign of Aquarius, and it really does have its strong points. It’s well suited to science, technology, and long-range planning. So, draft your plans for the future using this cycle, or at least for this year.
Mastering new technology could be easier now. If you’ve been wanting to try your hand at a new app, or a piece of software, this is a really good time to figure it out. But part of what makes Mercury in Aquarius so effective at things like science and technology is that it is completely unencumbered by emotional baggage. If you need to have a heart-to-heart talk with somebody, I would wait a few weeks, if you can, until Mercury moves into Pisces.
Mercury conjoined Pluto (Jan. 28, 2025, 11:52 pm PST)
On January 28th at 11:52 p.m. Pacific Time, Mercury makes a conjunction with Pluto at 1º 58’ Aquarius, on the Sabian symbol, 2 Aquarius, An unexpected thunderstorm.
When Mercury and Pluto come together, you can’t hide from the truth. It’s a little bit like Mercury in Scorpio, in that way. Anything that’s hidden tends to get dredged up so that we can deal with it and sometimes it seems to come from nowhere, as suggested by this Sabian symbol for the conjunction 2 Aquarius, An unexpected thunderstorm. Pluto can also bring out obsessive qualities, compulsions, addictions. If you need a healthy outlet for this, look to repetitive and absorbing activities that are fairly benign, like knitting, doing puzzles, even video games.
But this is a very fast transit. It’s really only a strong influence for this single day. So use it maybe to research problems with things like bills and bank accounts, or to look into your investments and fine-tune things. Especially with that Mercury in Aquarius, it’s a great combination for digging into new technologies that you’ve been wanting to try out but that might take a little bit of patience and persistence.
Aquarius New Moon (Jan. 29, 2025, 4:36 am PST)
And now for the Moon Report. And it begins with the Aquarius New Moon on January 29th at 4:36 am Pacific Time, at 9º51’ Aquarius. It’s on the Sabian symbol 10 Aquarius, A popularity that proves ephemeral. The New Moon initiates a 29-and-a-half-day lunar cycle, and also a three-year lunar phase family cycle. These are good times for thinking about what we’d like to cultivate in our lives, whether in the short term over the next month, or over the longer term. And with the New Moon in Aquarius, we can begin by asking ourselves how we can best influence the world: By shaking up the status quo, or by persuading the world to be better, braver, and more compassionate than it thinks it can be?
Aquarius is the sign of shared creative activity, so it’s a good time to gather together with like-minded individuals and hold hands, and walk toward the future. This is a really effective cycle for joining a group, club, or other organization with people who share your interests. Look for an astrology group in your area, maybe, if you’re interested in this podcast, that might be of interest to you.
Even joining a book club with some friends or going to a local meetup is the kind of thing that makes Aquarius happy. At this New Moon, the Sun and Moon are in a stellium in Aquarius with Mercury and Pluto. A stellium just means there are, I think, usually four planets involved in the same sign. It just means that the Aquarius symbolism is particularly strong at this New Moon.
The combination of the Sun and Moon with Mercury and Pluto are also a reminder that joining together with others requires that we be very honest and authentic and that we keep an eye on power dynamics.
Now, Pisces also has a strong presence in this New Moon chart with Venus, Saturn, Neptune, and the North Node of the Moon all in this sign. So see during this New Moon cycle, if there isn’t a way that you could join with others, not just in community, but in service, and in projects that require kindness, commitment, and idealism. If you have given any thought to volunteering for a local nonprofit or some organization that you care deeply about, this would be a good time to do that.
The Sabian symbol, A popularity that proves ephemeral, reminds us to remain humble during these moments that things have really gone our way and we feel kind of popular and people are looking at us. We tend to project our ideals very often onto celebrities, and by celebrities, it’s not just people in show business, it’s people in all walks of life that we tend to look up to. But underneath the glamour of popularity, we’ve got just another imperfect person, I guarantee you, in all cases. Aquarius is more about equality and the things we all share in common rather than individual qualities that we venerate.
Lunar Phase Family Cycle
This is the New Moon in a lunar phase family cycle that will expand out over the next three years.
The New Moon, of course, has those qualities of Aquarius, in this case of Mercury and Pluto in Aquarius as well. And the mood of this New Moon is one that’s going to extend out over time, not just in the coming month. The First Quarter in this lunar phase family cycle comes on October 29th of this year, with the First Quarter Moon at 6º30’ Aquarius. That is a cycle when we will feel especially drawn to act upon our Aquarius intentions that we formed at this New Moon. The Full Moon in this cycle comes on July 29th, 2026, also at 6º30’ Aquarius. That is when we’ll begin to get a bigger and clearer picture of what we initiated at this New Moon. The Last Quarter is on April 28th, 2027 at 8º19’ Aquarius. That is when we make a final decision or choice or push to help complete this entire Aquarian cycle. And then it goes on for another nine months within that Last Quarter phase of wrapping all of this up.
So, know that whatever intentions or wishes that you set at this New Moon are things that don’t have to get completed in just 29 and a half days. You can have larger dreams, larger intentions. And set out a kind of a path over the next few years to achieve bigger things with your Aquarian dreams.
Void-of-Course Moon periods
Let’s look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week. On January 28th, the Moon in Capricorn sextiles Neptune at 7:48 am Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for three hours, 43 minutes, and enters Aquarius at 11:31 am Pacific time.
When the Moon begins a Void-of-Course period on a sextile to another planet, it gives us a window during which there is some kind of opportunity or invitation that comes our way. This combination brings the serious and sober Moon in Capricorn together with more imaginative Neptune, which is willing to just let things unfold as they will.
This is an opportunity, no matter how heavy your life might feel, to just sit and look out the window for a while, watch how life gets on, pet the cat, do something to get yourself off that highly scheduled Capricorn treadmill, to just experience life as it is. That’s a very good habit to get into.
On January 30th, the Moon in Aquarius squares Uranus at 3:29 am Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for 11 hours 23 minutes and enters Pisces at 2:52 pm. It’s a pretty long Void-of-Course Moon transit, and some of the work that we can do during this Void-of-Course period is to practice getting in the back seat for a change. Both Aquarius – the Moon in Aquarius – and Uranus in Taurus are fixed signs. They have a reputation for getting pretty set in their ways, being inflexible in social situations. And this can come from a desire to control your environment and the people who are there with you in that environment. Use this Void-of-Course Moon period to think about how you can let others make the decisions for a change and allow yourself to view things from a different perspective.
And on February 1st, the Moon in Pisces makes a beautiful conjunction with Venus at 2:06 pm Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for three hours and four minutes and enters Aries at 5:10 pm. A Void-of-Course Moon period that begins with the Moon in a conjunction with another planet talks about the assimilation of that planet’s qualities into our daily lives and our daily routines.
This is a very lovely aspect for a Saturday, which is Saturn’s day, and it can feel a little bit heavy like there are a lot of chores we have to get done. Use this Void-of-Course Moon period, perhaps, to establish a habit or routine of bonding with the women in your life. Maybe having a regular monthly lunch date or brunch date with the women who are important to you, or maybe going to a wine and cat lounge such as we have down the street from me. Immerse yourself in art and beauty and establish some new habit that makes that a part of your regular everyday routine.
Uranus stations direct (Jan. 30, 2025, 8:22 am PST)
Uranus stations direct on January 30th at 8:22 am Pacific Time, at 23º15’ Taurus. It’s been retrograde since September 1 2024. When a planet changes direction, we feel them a lot more than usual, at least within a day either side. Some themes of Uranus in Taurus to be on the lookout for in the zeitgeist include the distribution of wealth and property through society and ways to make that more equal, which is a concern of Uranus. The movement of land – we might see a significant earthquake, maybe, or mudslides, especially after those terrible fires in Los Angeles. If they’re getting rain up there by this time, we will probably begin to see those mudslides.
Sun trines Jupiter (Jan. 30, 2025, 2:59 pm PST)
And also on January 30th, which is shaping up to be a pretty busy day, at 2:59 pm Pacific time, the Sun in Aquarius trines Jupiter in Gemini. This could be one of the very best days all month for putting yourself forward, exploring your creativity, getting the attention that you deserve, and generally just for having fun. Good opportunities can present themselves, and this is especially true if you have planets around 11º of the air signs, Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra. You can have more confidence, feel more popular, and be more willing to take risks. This is probably true as well if you have planets in Leo, ruled by the Sun.
The Sabian symbol for the Sun is 12 Aquarius, People on stairs graduated upward. Which is a symbol, I think, of how in society we’re not always at exactly the same point. And the symbol for Jupiter is 12 Gemini, A slave girl asserting herself to her mistress. The Sun Sabian symbol really attests to the ideal that we have, especially in the U.S., about how we are all created equal. And that may be true, but it doesn’t mean that at every moment we are all on equal footing. I picture people on an escalator. And Jupiter’s Sabian symbol is really about the freedom of the mind, casting off the mentality that we have that says that just because we’re not at the top of the escalator, we are lesser than. So, it’s a very positive aspect, the Sun trine Jupiter, but I think there are interesting messages here in the Sabian symbols, and they remind us, be careful not to overdo it as we are wont to do under Jupiter’s influence. Don’t overdo it in the sense of, “I really need to advance and be upwardly mobile,” or asserting ourselves to the degree that we offend and that we damage our opportunities.
Venus conjunct Neptune (Feb. 1, 2025, 8:33 am PST)
Venus makes a conjunction with Neptune on February 1st at 8:33 am Pacific Time. It’s at 27º59’ Pisces on the Sabian symbol, 28 Pisces, A fertile garden under the Full Moon. This conjunction takes place on the degree of Venus’ exaltation, 27 Pisces. As I covered on a listener question, I think some episodes ago, there are signs in which each planet is exalted, but also a specific degree within that sign of exaltation where it’s very strong. And Venus is making the conjunction to Neptune on this exaltation degree, and it’s on this very beautiful Sabian symbol, 28 Pisces, the fertile garden under the Full Moon. It can be a very rewarding transit for creative and artistic or spiritual practices.
But you have to guard against Neptune’s effect of kind of hypnotizing us and deceiving us, especially in the areas of relationships and money, both ruled by Venus. This is a great day to go to the spa, but it’s not necessarily the very best one for getting clarity with important relationships and finances.
All Venus problems begin with a lack of faith in ourselves. Neptune wants to heal that, and at the end of this transit within a couple of days after, we should have a pretty good idea of what we’re worth and what we need to let go of that is draining us.
James Burgess says of this Sabian symbol that it speaks of the great lesson that “to have enough is a feast.” This reminds me of a concept called the Fulfillment curve. I ran across this idea decades ago in the book Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. We’ll link to that in the show notes.
The Fulfillment Curve is about the relationship between money, consumption, and life satisfaction. It’s a figure of a curve, it’s like a bell curve and it represents the idea that after you’ve reached a certain point of meeting your basic needs and achieving a certain level of comfort, any additional money or material goods will contribute less and less to your overall fulfillment. The Fulfillment Curve encourages us to focus on achieving enough to live comfortably and meaningfully without constantly chasing more material wealth. To instead, prioritize fulfillment through relationships, personal growth, and life experiences.
Venus conjunct the North Node (Feb. 1, 1:42 pm PST)
On February 1 at 1:42 pm Pacific Time, Venus makes a conjunction with the North Node at 28º09’ Pisces. This is the first of three conjunctions Venus will make with the North Node due to her upcoming retrograde period. The other two are on April 1st, 2025 at 27º21 Pisces. That’ll be while Venus is retrograde. And on April 23rd at 26º54’ Pisces when Venus has gone direct again.
Venus says we are inspired by beauty or by love, and especially so because it’s in Pisces, a sign in which it’s very strong. When it comes together with the North Node, we reach for an achievement that feels completely unattainable. It always does with the North Node. It represents what’s unfamiliar, so it looks kind of like, oh, I could never have that. But then we find that it really isn’t so unattainable after all.
Relationships, of course, play an important role in what we can accomplish. So, look to others in our lives that we’re close to for support in reaching after the object of our inspiration and look to others who might be able to help us by showing a good example or even collaborating with us.
Listener Question: Motivation
In this week’s listener question, listener Idaho Barry writes: “If my personal role model, Fozzie Bear, could get Beverly Sills to tap dance on episode 409 of The Muppet Show” – and let me just say that listener Idaho Barry has sent a link to this on YouTube, and you better believe we’re going to link to that in the show notes – “perhaps you’d be willing to field a not strictly astrological question about motivation.
In relishing my favorite vice, computer role-playing games, also called RPGs, I find that I’m perfectly willing to carefully prepare, to perform repetitive tasks, and to try, try again, after calamitous defeat, in order to secure completely imaginary artifacts, houses, wives, etc. How might I bring the excitement and engagement I experience in computer games to my actual life goals, without turning folding laundry, do 500 push-ups, etc, and crush janitor job interview into quests. Can astrology help?”
Idaho Barry, let me first say that for me, my sister, and my oldest friend, one of our most quoted movie lines is from The Muppet Movie when Fozzie Bear on a road trip with Kermit extols the pleasures of being “a bear in his natural habitat, a Studebaker.”
It’s funny you should ask this question because a passion for the New York Times crossword puzzle has recently taken hold of my household. These days, after dinner, instead of sitting mindlessly binging various TV shows with gunplay and witty detectives, my spouse and I tirelessly work through that day’s puzzle. Nothing will deter us from completing it. This pastime, as well as our passion for Jeopardy!, places us firmly beyond the demographic most craved by advertisers. But we are having the best time solving these puzzles together.
Anyway, I share your curiosity about why this passion can’t seem to be transferred to mundane tasks, such as laundry, tidying up, balancing the Quicken accounts, and even more mysteriously, why are there certain days, certain moods, that suddenly make these humble tasks seem very appealing?
I suppose the question of motivation has to do with, what are we getting out of an activity? A puzzle passion is probably a matter of keeping the mind limber in the face of advancing age, but also about learning and verbal wit. In other words, a need for more Mercury, astrologically speaking.
Something like a computer role-playing game sounds very much like a combination of Mercury with Uranus, maybe Neptune, that desire for playing a different persona and inventing your own world. A fantasy writer whom I follow on YouTube is a big RPG gal and delights in writing novels in which she has created her own world in lush detail, all of which sounds very much like Neptune to me. And then there’s another YouTuber who’s obsessed with cleaning up horribly messy houses and has turned it into a living. I suspect there’s some Pluto in there somewhere.
The essential motivations are connected to what planet or planets in your chart or in your transits may be calling to you. Because that will be a great motivator. If you’re having a tough time with a long Mars transit, like the current one with Mars retrograde, you might suddenly find great satisfaction in those 500 pushups, or building the perfect fire in the hearth, or watching gladiator movies. And then it may fade out in a few months when the transit is finished.
As for mundane tasks, the ones that never go away, the question is partially one of focusing on what you will get out of the result. Clean socks that match. A bed that doesn’t make you feel like a loser every time you pass through your bedroom and see crumpled bedclothes. The ability to generate detailed reports of your spending habits to see if maybe you have more money for dinners out than you might have imagined.
When we were kids, some of us had parents who linked our allowances to chores and there’s a very good reason for that. Most of us are motivated by getting things we want and money makes that possible. Venus, as the ruler of money, and things that are delicious and make us feel good, is an excellent motivator. So much of our lives is run by the desire for nice things and appealing partners.
I wonder whether we’d be more satisfied doing our chores if we pay ourselves an allowance to do them. Not money, necessarily, but maybe something like a nice dinner out if we blaze through a list of chores during the week. Or maybe, since you enjoy your role-playing games – and that kind of speaks to a Neptune component – maybe you could save your favorite podcasts like this one, maybe, or especially podcasts about role-playing games and that world… save them to listen to when you have finished the chores, or while you are doing the chores that don’t inspire you.
Idaho Barry, I hope that that gives you some food for thought. I can’t claim to be a motivational expert, but as my husband recently observed, I am pretty diligent about getting stuff done, whether I particularly want to or not – including figuring out the answers to obscure crossword clues about the intersection of “los” and “larva.”
If you have a burning question you’d like me to answer on a future episode of the podcast, leave a voicemail of one minute or less at speakpipe.com / bigskyastrologypodcast or send me an email: April (at) Big Sky Astrology (dot) com and be sure to put “Podcast Question in” the subject line.
Listener Thanks
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. If you like what you’re hearing, be sure to subscribe or follow in your app of choice. Leave a rating or a review, and I hope that you’ll 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.
Thanks very much to everyone who’s shown support for the podcast over the past year, 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 Elizabeth Boone and Sandy Ochin!
Sandy and Elizabeth, thank you so much for listening to the podcast and for supporting the show with your donations.
If you would like to support the show and receive access to my periodic bonus video episodes, 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 column!
