Episode 287 (7.21.25)
Mars and Pluto Crash the Taurus New Moon Party!
Hello, Invisible Friend! April here and the date today is April 21st, 2025. Welcome to episode 287 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.
This week, Venus joins up with Saturn and both of them make inspiring connections with the Moon’s North Node. But power struggles arise when the Sun and Mars interact with Pluto and disrupt the usually mellow Taurus New Moon. And I answer a listener question about scary Pluto transits.
Saturn conjunct North Node (April 21, 2025, 4:31 am PDT)
Venus conjunct North Node (April 23, 2025, 9:35 pm PDT)
Saturn makes a conjunction with the North Node on April 21st at 4:31 am Pacific Time, and Venus also makes a conjunction with the North Node on April 23rd at 9:35 pm.
This is the first conjunction between Saturn and the North Node since September 2013. This one is on a hopeful Sabian symbol: 27 Pisces, A Harvest Moon. At the Harvest Moon, we have plenty of light to work into the evening gathering the fruits of our labors, our planting, our cultivation, and as Saturn transits the North Node, you might experience truly life-changing success sometimes. You might succeed in a way that you have envisioned and hoped for, but sometimes the success comes in a form you never could have imagined, but which makes perfect sense in hindsight.
If you’ve been working hard toward cherished goals, as Saturn wants us to do, this is a transit that should open doors for you, and all you have to do is walk through them.
Venus, together with the North Node, can indicate that close friends or partners are helping you arrive at this success. And it also talks about your willingness to invest time and money to get where you’ve been going, and that that is really paying off. Now at these conjunctions, we reap what we’ve sown. And as a reward for our hard work, we get that much closer to realizing our fondest dreams.
Sun square Pluto (April 23, 2025, 10:10 am PDT)
The Sun squares Pluto on April 23rd at 10:10 am Pacific time, at 03º47’ Taurus and Aquarius. The Sun and Pluto symbolize very different things. The Sun is the symbol of that joyful life force, physical energy, the need to express ourselves, but Pluto tends to tamp all of that down. Pluto is much less concerned with the individual than with what the collective needs.
Sometimes when Pluto connects with the Sun, we get this message that we just aren’t very important, and we have to fight back against that and claim our own importance. The Sun’s Sabian symbol is 4 Taurus, The rainbow’s pot of gold. Let your light shine in a joyful and abundant way.
You might have a couple of days this week when you feel as though the color and contrast are turned down on the television of your life, a couple of days when it’s hard to find your energy. You feel depleted. You feel as if your life doesn’t have a lot of meaning or purpose.
Now, fortunately, while this aspect is an influence during this week, by next week, the Sun will have moved on. For this week, let’s deal with this Pluto influence as positively as we can, and that means being willing to let go of waste, clutter, anything inside or outside yourself that you no longer really need.
The process of letting go of what isn’t needed will make us feel lighter, and to the extent that we can let go of any emotional baggage, we will find that having nothing to hide is very empowering. This is all suggested by Pluto’s Sabian symbol at this square, which is 4 Aquarius, A Hindu healer and this is a symbol that speaks of healing yourself, especially of anything that is making your life unbalanced.
Venus conjunct Saturn (April 24, 2025, 5:02 pm PDT)
Venus makes a conjunction with Saturn on April 24th at 5:02 pm Pacific time, at 27º13’ Pisces. This is the third and final Venus-Saturn conjunction in a series that began on January 18th and repeated on April 7th. So, do you see any through lines that connect those periods of time with this one, especially related to relationships and financial matters that requires seriousness and responsibility?
Are you any clearer about what you really want in relationships and in the way you earn your money? If you have been wanting commitment and stability, well, it’s been kind of a tough few weeks for financial stability, but perhaps during this period of time you’ve gained more clarity about what is important for you, what is truly necessary for you to get by, and what is worth investing in, and that’s both in terms of money and in terms of love.
When times are tough financially, a few Saturn tactics can usually help. First is to make a plan. Evaluate very realistically what you need versus what you want, and create a realistic budget and stick to it. Manage the things that you do have more wisely.
The Sabian symbol at this conjunction is 28 Pisces, A fertile garden under the Full Moon and it reminds us that just to have enough is a feast. Abundance begins with the feeling of not being a slave to living beyond our means. As long as we are doing that and we’re saving extra aside for a rainy day, we can generally weather most financial storms. And this is also an aspect that asks us to be very realistic about relationships in our lives and the ones that are worth investing more time in, and the ones where maybe we’ve fallen out of step with each other.
Mars opposes Pluto (April 26, 2025, 6:05 pm PDT)
Mars opposes Pluto on April 26th at 6:05 pm Pacific Time at 03º48’ Leo and Aquarius. This is the second time Mars has opposed Pluto since Pluto went into Aquarius. The previous opposition between them was on January 2nd at 01º08’ Leo and Aquarius, when Mars was retrograde. And the next one, the last one, will be on October 3rd, 2026, when Pluto is retrograde.
The usual interpretation of Mars with Pluto has to do with power struggles. There are times we encounter situations or we see messages in our environment about the limits of individual control and power. It can seem that the harder we push to try to get what we want, the more the universe seems to push back.
No matter how hard Mars fights, how angry you get or how hard you work, sometimes things happen that are just beyond your control, and there are forces that have more power than you do over what’s happening. What matters most in these situations is how you handle powerlessness, anger, and frustration.
Mars’ Sabian symbol, 4 Leo, is A man formally dressed and a deer with its horns folded. It’s a symbol that I think describes proving yourself without becoming overly prideful or aggressive. The man formally dressed is very constrained and civilized. Even the deer has folded its horns. The best way forward right now is a combination of self-respect and self-restraint.
Pluto’s Sabian symbol is sometimes written as, A Hindu Yogi demonstrates his healing powers, and maybe confronting these forces of control and opposition is actually a way of healing ourselves of the need to push so hard for power and control.
Taurus New Moon (April 27, 2025, 12:31 pm PDT)
Now it’s time for the Moon report. We begin, as always, with the week’s major lunation. This week, it’s the Taurus New Moon on April 27th at 12:31 pm Pacific Time, at 07º46’ Taurus.
The Moon is exalted in the sign of Taurus, so this is one of the most powerful New Moons of the year. I think that the Moon is considered especially strong in this sign because the Moon, by its nature, is so changeable and inconstant, but Taurus is a fixed sign. It’s very stable, and it helps give some grounding and some guidance to the Moon’s emotional nature.
At this New Moon, however, the Mars-Pluto opposition is square the New Moon point, and that makes this a little more of a tumultuous and even stressful New Moon, especially more so than we would expect in Taurus.
If you find yourself in conflict with other people around this New Moon, look to Taurus’s opposite sign Scorpio for some coping techniques and this would include spending some time by yourself, keeping your feelings close to your chest, digging into some spiritual or metaphysical or creative interests, and really working on controlling your emotions.
Now, we will see plenty of happy opportunities at this New Moon as well. The New Moon in Taurus always represents forming a really healthy, positive relationship with your body and with the physical world generally. Focus on ways to enjoy your body and make happy use of it. Enjoy the things of the senses, especially good food, time spent in nature, dancing, listening to music. Taurus is ruled by Venus and it does love the arts.
I think the guideline with Taurus is always about when we’re having too much of a good thing, and the way you will know with Taurus is if your body isn’t feeling well, if you’re eating too much of the good food, rich food, if you’re drinking a lot of alcohol, not getting enough movement with your body, then your body is gonna give you immediate feedback through not feeling well in your body. You know that you need to rein it in a little bit.
The Sabian symbol for this New Moon degree is 8 Taurus, A sleigh without snow. I like Lynda Hill’s take on this image. It implies that you have a vehicle, but not necessarily the fuel, the gas, the energy to get the vehicle going. You may have to make the most of some situations without a lot of help. So look for adjustments or improvisations that can be made, and most of all, wait until the time is right before you act.
Lunar Phase Family Cycle
This New Moon begins a lunar phase family cycle that will unfold over the next three years. At this New Moon, make a careful note of what your intentions are, of what you would like to ideally achieve in your physical health, in your financial abundance, in your sense of security, all of these lovely Taurus things.
And look also to the placement of Taurus in your birth chart, what house or houses does it occupy and influence, because that is also an area of your life where you can make some important changes over the next few years.
Nine months from now, on January 25th, 2026, there will be a First Quarter Moon at 06º14’ Taurus, almost the same degree as this New Moon. That’s when some kind of action will usually take place that will further these New Moon goals. Some of these changes might be ones you make intentionally, some may just spring up organically in your environment.
Nine months after that, at the Full Moon of October 25th, 2026, at 02º45’ Taurus, you begin to get a real sense of where you are in achieving or going after some of these important Taurus goals in your life. You can see how far you’ve come, and you can also see how far you have left to go to really reach those goals. And then nine months after that, there’s the Last Quarter Moon on July 26th, 2027, at 03º29’ Taurus, which is another action point in this cycle where something usually comes about that symbolically shows that you are wrapping up the cycle and what you need to do to complete it to your satisfaction.
Void-of-Course Moon periods
Let’s look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week. On April 22nd, the Moon in Aquarius squares Uranus at 2:55 pm Pacific Time. It’s Void-of-Course for 7 hours, 12 minutes, and then enters Pisces at 10:07 pm.
When a Void-of-Course Moon begins with the Moon square to another planet, it tells us there is a conflict that we’re trying to overcome. When the Moon is square Uranus, the need to feel safe, which is the Moon, comes into conflict with the forces of change represented by Uranus. The Moon in Aquarius, we would tend to think likes change pretty well. But again, Aquarius is a fixed sign and doesn’t really love a lot of change.
The Moon in Aquarius feels safe in a crowd, and during this Void-of-Course Moon period, you may find yourself having to step out of that safety zone to do particular things on your own.
On April 24th, the Moon in Pisces makes a conjunction with Venus at 7:57 pm Pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course for 4 hours, 27 minutes, and then enters Aries on April 25th at 12:24 am.
When the Moon comes together with a planet as it’s going Void-of-Course, it says, here’s a Void-of-Course Moon period that is about assimilating the qualities of the planet that the Moon is aspecting. This conjunction takes place at 27º16’ Pisces, which is actually the exact degree of Venus’ exaltation. So Venus is very strong just now.
Use this really lovely Void-of-Course Moon period to get into the habit of letting yourself enjoy all of the Venusian things life has to offer, every once in a while. Socialize more with especially the women in your life. Surround yourself with beautiful objects and art. Take baths. Listen to your favorite music, meditate. Go to the spa. Just don’t go overboard, which Pisces can sometimes do because it is traditionally ruled by Jupiter, so don’t go overboard. Saturn is standing by and it is just itching to hand out some consequences.
And on April 26th, the Moon in Aries makes a sextile to Jupiter at 9:18 am Pacific time. It’s a good long Void-of-Course period, 14 hours and 59 minutes, and then the Moon enters Taurus on April 27th at 12:17 am.
Sextiles from the Moon to other planets represent an opportunity or an invitation. The Moon in Aries is happiest when it’s in motion, moving swiftly towards some very specific direction.
As this Moon connects with Jupiter in Gemini, there’s a great feeling of optimism of doors opening to you. Jupiter is a very generous planet. So the habit to get into at this Void-of-Course Moon period is to be sure to share the good things that come your way and to remember to offer encouraging words to other people.
Listener Question: Scary Pluto Transits
This week’s listener question comes from listener Pomahoba, who writes, “Transiting Pluto makes a connection to my Venus. Venus rules the seventh House and Pluto, the first house.” Now, I will say tangentially that I tend to use the traditional rulerships. So if Pomahoba has Scorpio on the first house, I would say that’s ruled by Mars.
They continue: “I became afraid that my partner would die, although there are no prerequisites for this. We have been married for 25 years, and these thoughts haunt me. Or that I’ll get cancer. Moreover, clients with the Venus-Pluto opposition in the natal chart began to appear around. And this is the beginning, there will be a few more touches. Pluto usually erases the identity to the ground, will I turn into a beacon that will attract all the most terrible things? Is it possible to do something to appease Pluto? For example, burn old things, wear black clothes, listen to loud music, etc?”
Oh, Pomahoba. Thank you for your question. I sympathize because of all the planetary aspects that people fear, a Venus-Pluto aspect seems to be the scariest. It seems to threaten loss in the areas of life that bring us the most pleasure and satisfaction, including relationships, marriage, property, and finances.
I can show examples where a Venus-Pluto transit showed the death of a spouse, and I can also show plenty of examples where it did not show that at all.
I had this aspect in 2009. I think it was the opposition from transiting Pluto, and my marriage was fine. It came out of the whole thing fine, but one of our cats got very sick. Venus rules my sixth house of pets. And the cat survived, but she needed daily treatment for the remaining 10 years of her life.
So, Pluto can inalterably change things in our lives for sure. It puts us in touch with powerlessness, and it’s really natural to be concerned about things you can’t control, like the loss of a partner or major health crisis.
When Venus-Pluto aspects impact a relationship, the main issue seems to be that the two people involved need to review their relationship and circumstances in the most honest terms. One woman I know had a Pluto-Venus conjunction the year her marriage went through a huge transformation, and she also lost her business and had to declare bankruptcy.
Of course, in this instance, Uranus was crossing her ascendant as well. There are always a lot of transits and progressions going on at any given time, and one can affect the other. I think this one-two planetary punch definitely brought out the worst in that woman’s particular Pluto-Venus transit.
One thing I would suggest doing is looking at your secondary progressions and your solar arc directions to find previous connections between Venus and Pluto, because they might give a good idea of how your chart specifically tends to respond when those two planets interact.
Isn’t it so interesting how clients show up who are dealing with similar issues that you are, or who have these same signatures in their birth chart? It happens to me all the time! I think sometimes, especially with the oppositions, we learn best about our own transits by helping other people take a close look at theirs.
In terms of taking steps to appease Pluto, one thing that does seem like a good idea whenever Pluto connects with something in your chart is to get rid of things that you no longer need. Cleaning out closets, divesting yourself of old objects you don’t need, sends a good message to Pluto that you are willing to let go. And when Venus is involved and you are a person who is in middle age or older, make sure contingencies are in place. Because, as much as we hate to think about it, someday, either you or your husband will pass on. And this transit is a reminder to make sure that your will and all of your end-of-life directives are in place, that both of you have detailed instructions about how to access things like your bank accounts. These are not the most cheerful things to think about, but they are really good, positive use of Pluto’s symbolism.
One thing is usually true: By the time we are finished with a Pluto aspect of something in our charts, that our lives don’t look exactly the way they did before, but it doesn’t have to mean they look terrible. All of the best of luck to you, and thank you for your question!
If you have a question that you would like me to answer on an upcoming episode of the podcast, leave a message of one minute or less at speakpipe.com/ bigskyastrologypodcast. Or you can just send an email to me at april (at) bigskyastrology (dot) com, and be sure you put “Podcast Question” in the subject line.
Donor Thanks
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That is 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 © 2017-25 by April Elliott Kent
For more on this week’s planetary news, read my column!
