TRANSCRIPT Ep. 351 | Capricorn Full Moon and Jupiter Enters Leo!

Transcript Ep. 351 | Capricorn Full Moon and Jupiter Enters Leo! (6.29.26)

Hello Invisible Friends, April here, and the date today is June 29th, 2026. Welcome to Episode 351 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.

This week, Mercury begins its latest retrograde period, followed by a hard-working Full Moon in Capricorn. A few hours later, Jupiter enters sensational Leo. And within a few days, Mars in Gemini makes a conjunction with unpredictable Uranus, a friendly sextile to Neptune, and a trine to powerful Pluto.

Now, I’d like to make a quick announcement, and that is that I’m going to be taking most of the month of July off for a little seasonal rest. So, I’m only going to publish two podcast episodes in July. The first is going to be on Monday, July 13th. That’ll cover the New Moon and that two-week period. And then the next on July 27th, when we will talk about the Full Moon and the things that are happening during that period of time. So don’t miss me too much. You will get a couple of episodes in there, and I hope that you have a wonderful and restful July as well!

Mercury stations Retrograde (June 29, 2026, 10:36 am PDT)

On Monday, June 29th at 10:36 a.m. Pacific time, Mercury stations retrograde at 26 degrees 15 minutes Cancer. This is the first transit of a busy day, astrologically speaking.

Mercury’s stations retrograde, the Capricorn Full Moon is exact, and Jupiter enters Leo for a one-year stay. Mercury turns retrograde at 26 degrees 15 minutes Cancer, and Cancer is a water sign, and is therefore connected with emotions and especially memories.

Mercury retrograde always invites us to look back and to contemplate what’s happened in the past. The things that we’ve done, maybe the things we haven’t done, and the things we wish we might have done a little bit differently. So, it doesn’t mean it’s a time of living in the past, but it’s a time for appropriate reflection. And I think this is especially true when Mercury is retrograding in Cancer, because it is a sign of the past, of thinking of what has gone on previously in our families, in our heritage, in our communities.

There are certain practical things we should keep in mind when this planet is retrograde, especially things related to Mercury issues like communication, scheduling, and travel. It’s not that things invariably go off the rails while Mercury is retrograde, but it is a time that favors being a little more flexible in our activities, in our routines, in our schedules.

If we’re not able to do that, if we have to hit certain points on the timeline of each day in a very particular fashion, Mercury retrograde can sometimes manifest as these stereotypical problems like missing phone calls, writing things down wrong on your calendar, missed appointments. I always think when Mercury is retrograde, it’s a great time to, first of all, allow twice as much time as we think we’re going to need to get things done. If we’re traveling, it’s a good idea to negotiate the lowest penalties possible in case you need to change your plans.

And with Mercury retrograde, keep your sense of humor. Mercury is something of a prankster and we can expect unexpected things to come along even if we’ve done everything possible to avoid problems.

Mercury stations retrograde on Sabian symbol 27 Cancer, A storm in a canyon. This is a symbol with a little more seriousness than I would often ascribe to Mercury retrograde. It does suggest something of a crisis that could be coming our way in the next few weeks and leading hopefully to a positive transformation. Mercury will station direct on July 23rd at 16 degrees 19 minutes Cancer, and it will leave this sign for Leo on August 9th.

Capricorn Full Moon (June 29, 2026, 4:56 pm PDT)

And now it’s time for the Moon Report and we begin, as always, with the week’s major lunation. This week, that’s the Capricorn Full Moon on Monday, June 29th at 4:56 p.m. Pacific time. It’s at 8 degrees 14 minutes Capricorn, on the Sabian symbol, 9 Capricorn, An angel carrying a harp. This Full Moon is in Capricorn, which, of course, is a sign that is ruled by Saturn, the planet of responsibility, of maturity. And the Sun and Moon both are also making squares to Saturn in Aries as well as to Neptune.

So, this is a double dose of Saturn with this Full Moon. It doesn’t have to be a terrible thing. The Sabian symbol is quite lovely, An angel carrying a harp. It says that somebody up there is looking out for us! But Capricorn and Saturn are heavy symbols. And it’s interesting, of course, Jupiter is sitting at its anaretic degree of Cancer in this Full Moon chart. It’s at 29 degrees 58 minutes Cancer. And in fact, later in the day, it changes sign to go into Leo.

What we have here is a lot of seriousness and a sense of tying things up as we’re moving on to the next chapter of Jupiter’s story. If there’s anything in your chart between about 8 degrees and 14 degrees of the Cardinal signs, in other words, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, this is a Full Moon that is well worth looking closely at and keeping track of.

And we’ll talk in a moment about the lunar phase family cycle that this Full Moon belongs to. But it’s part of a much bigger story, a story of family connectedness, whether it’s your birth family or a family of your own choosing, or also about the responsibility we bear out in the world as professionals, as leaders. And what is it that we have been needing to do, wanting to take care of for quite some time. And now there’s a lot of pressure to really bring that ship to port.

Lunar Phase Family Cycle

This is the Full Moon in a lunar phase family cycle that began with a New Moon on December 30th, 2024, at 9 degrees 43 minutes Capricorn. So, this is the Full Moon in that larger story.

What were you planning? What were your ambitions? Very often at the beginning of each year, when the Sun is in Capricorn, we make big plans for the year ahead. We often even have something like a checklist for each month, where we say, ” This is my big goal for this year.” And in each month, there is a particular task that I’m going to try to complete to get a little closer to that big, ambitious goal.

Of course, when a New Moon initiates a new cycle, it’s really also initiating a three-year cycle, the Lunar Phase Family Cycle. So, the things that we initiated at that New Moon on December 30th, 2024, could have been a really big goal, something far bigger than anything we could complete in a particular month or even a single year. We are in many ways at this Full Moon at the apex of this particular Capricorn story.

There was also a First Quarter Moon in this cycle on September 29th, 2025, at 7 degrees 5 minutes Capricorn. And that was a moment we might have initiated action on those big goals that we set forth at the end of 2024. And sometimes it’s an action that we deliberately take, and sometimes the universe has a way of moving us forward in the story.

Now we’re at the Full Moon on June 29th. And this is when we can really begin to see what has come to fruition from those seeds we planted at that Capricorn New Moon at the end of 2024.

And this is the moment that we are looking at it and saying, this wasn’t exactly what I thought I was planning at that New Moon. It isn’t necessarily terrible or even really disappointing. But we have clarity now that we didn’t have up to this point.

And because this Full Moon squares Saturn, we also see the hard work and possibly even sacrifice that needs to take place in order to find our way to that goal. But it also says if we haven’t gotten as far as we had hoped to get, it could very well be, first of all, we were not mature enough yet. That is a message of Capricorn. It could have been even that we didn’t work as hard as we could have, or we didn’t focus our attention on exactly the right things. So, this is just a moment of accountability and reckoning.

Then nine months from now, at the Last Quarter Moon on March 29th, 2027, at 9 degrees 6 minutes Capricorn, there is a final action point in this overall lunar phase family cycle. And it’s saying now is the moment when, if you want to get anywhere close to completing those old Capricorn goals from the end of 2024, now is your opportunity. What is it that you have been afraid to do or putting off doing that now, if you take those steps, can bring you exactly to the point that you hope to get to?

Void-of-Course Moon periods

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

In modern astrology, the Moon is considered Void-of-Course when it’s finished making all of its major aspects in its sign, and then it’s Void-of-Course until it goes into the next sign. And I find these Void-of-Course Moon periods really exceptional for living out of regular time and breaking habits that really have not been working well for us, or initiating new habits that we want to continue. If the Moon isn’t approaching any aspects in its sign, then symbolically, there’s nothing to push us off course in something that we have begun. So, it’s a really good time for starting new habits.

On Wednesday, July 1st, the Moon in Capricorn opposes Mercury at 4:51 a.m. Pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course for 7 hours and 42 minutes, then enters Aquarius at 12:33 p.m. Full Moons are times of awareness and of illumination. This could be a time to have an important conversation with a significant other. Since the Moon’s in Capricorn and Mercury is retrograde now in Cancer, there’s a chance that this conversation would not go necessarily exactly the way we’d hoped, which indicates that the topic of the conversation will almost certainly come up again, maybe next month. Use this Void-of-Course Moon period to establish a routine or a habit of talking about what you’re feeling without being overwhelmed by your emotions.

On Friday, July 3rd, the Moon in Aquarius opposes Venus in Leo at 10:27 a.m. Pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course for 13 hours and 3 minutes and then enters Pisces at 11:30 p.m. With Venus in Leo and the Moon in Aquarius, personal desires as indicated by Venus in Leo could bring us into conflict with others and cause social situations especially – since we’re talking about Moon in Aquarius – to feel strained and uncomfortable. I would use this Void-of-Course Moon period to try to, in some way, build stronger mutual connections with others by in some way demonstrating the willingness to practice give-and-take.

On Sunday, July 5th, the Moon in Pisces trines Mercury at 10:21 p.m. Pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course then for 9 hours and 46 minutes, then enters Aries on Monday, July 6th at 8:07 a.m. So that’ll take us into early next week.

The Moon making a trine to another planet as it’s preparing to go Void-of-Course indicates that this Void-of-Course period offers a gift or a reward. With the Moon in Pisces and Mercury in Cancer, we’ll be considering non-verbal forms of communication, a way to try to express what we are feeling, in particular, but not necessarily doing that with words. Use this Void-of-Course Moon period to get in the habit of releasing very strong emotions through maybe artistic means with the intention of bringing joy and inspiration to others.

Jupiter enters Leo (June 29, 2026, 10:52 pm PDT)

Jupiter enters Leo on Monday, June 29th at 10:52 p.m. Pacific time, and it will be in this joyous sign until July 25th, 2027. Jupiter was last in Leo between July 16th, 2014, and August 11th, 2015. For a good idea of the areas of your life that will be awakened by Jupiter at this time, look back to those dates and see what you can remember about what was happening, and in particular, in the Leo house or houses of your chart.

When Jupiter enters a new sign, what it does is awaken a desire for more in that area of life. When it enters Leo, there is a strong desire for more attention, more self-expression, more fun. Now, does that mean we’re going to get all those things? Not necessarily, but having noticed that they are to some extent missing in our lives, we’ll be a lot more likely to pursue them.

Bear in mind that the Moon’s South Node will also enter Leo on July 26th for about an 18-month stay. The South Lunar Node points toward tendencies or qualities that might actually be holding us back. So how do we reconcile this tremendous Jupiter push, a push from what is considered the most fortunate or benefic of all the planets… How do we reconcile this with the South Node’s instruction to back away to some extent from Leo’s characteristics?

Well, there’s Leo, and then there’s Leo. Jupiter in Leo is an invitation to reclaim joy and creativity, and heart. And the South Node cautions against negative Leo traits. Traits like dominating the room, being too eager for applause, or tying our sense of self-worth to being seen. The sweet spot between them is going to be about creating and celebrating because it feels meaningful and makes us feel alive – and not just out of a sense of a need for constant validation.

Jupiter says “grow” and the South Node says “don’t cling,” and together in Leo, they will ask us to shine, but without making the spotlight the entire point.

Mars conjunct Uranus (July 3, 2026, 11:08 pm PDT)

On Friday, July 3rd at 11:08 p.m. Pacific time, Mars makes a conjunction with Uranus at 3 degrees 52 minutes Gemini, and this is a transit that can provide a catalyst for shaking things up. I had a client recently who was talking about being really apprehensive about the need to travel within a day of this aspect because it does have a little bit of a reputation this combination for being about accidents. I have seen that happen, but I wouldn’t say that it’s the entire point of this combination.

When they’re in a conjunction with each other, Mars and Uranus are asking us to figure out how we can pursue the new things, the exciting things. How can we shake up our lives a little bit? Mars is a planet that wants to just go after what it wants, and not hesitate, and not delay. And the reason we can consider it a little bit accident-prone when it comes together with Uranus is because Uranus has that tendency to pull the rug out from under a little bit, so Mars can be moving really quickly and stumble across something that Uranus has put in its path.

Why does Uranus do this? It’s not just to make us fall. What Uranus is trying to do is just shake us up and say where in the Gemini house of your chart – in the Gemini area of your chart – have you become a little too complacent and possibly a little too determined to do things in a very particular way? In your own way, at your own speed? The idea of this disruption, as Mars comes in a conjunction with Uranus, is just to say, where are you stale and where is it that you really need to shake things up? So, look to that Gemini house of your chart.

If it were something like the fifth house, we might say, creatively, you have become really stale even if you are a creator in your life. Maybe you’re covering a lot of the same territory that you have covered again and again creatively. Think in that area of your life and of your chart, where do you need to shake things up? And I always believe in making things happen with the planets instead of waiting for them to act upon us.

Mars sextile Neptune (July 4, 2026, 5:44 pm PDT)

The next day, on Saturday, July 4th, Mars sextiles Neptune at 5:44 p.m. Pacific time. That’s at 4 degrees 24 minutes Gemini and Aries.

This is Independence Day here in the United States, and it’s a really important one. It’s our 250th birthday as a country. This is a day I think with Mars connecting with Neptune, that it’s a good idea to take some small action that you feel is going to improve somebody’s life on this 4th of July.

It might be something as simple as inviting a person to a gathering of friends. Maybe you know some people that are gonna have a barbecue or a picnic, and you know somebody who is alone on this day, and maybe it would be nice to invite them to be part of this social activity. It’s a good opportunity around this date, let’s say the July 3rd through the 5th, to stick up for people who cannot defend themselves. This is a little bit of the nature of Mars with Neptune, especially Neptune in Aries. It really does want to defend others.

This could be a time of initiating new artistic projects. Mars likes to initiate, and Neptune is often about creative, artistic, or even spiritual projects.

Now it’s not the very best transit for anything requiring a strong drive or an intense focus because our focus will tend to be a little bit diffused between Mars being in Gemini, which is not super focused in one direction, often, and connecting with Neptune, which is also a little bit hazy. Then we won’t necessarily know one thing we really want to focus on today, but really try to give your energy to something that benefits others and not just you.

Mars is on the Sabian symbol 5 Gemini, A radical magazine. I can very much imagine that part of our national story on this important Independence Day will be talking about what’s really going on in the country. So, to my fellow country people, Happy 4th of July. Happy Independence Day. You may or may not be thrilled with everything that’s happening in our country at the given moment, but it’s still your country. Celebrate it.

Mars trine Pluto (July 5, 2026, 6:06 am PDT)

And Mars trines Pluto on Sunday, July 5th at 6:06 a.m. Pacific time at 4 degrees 46 minutes Gemini and Aquarius. This is one heck of an exclamation point coming at the end of a week that is full of pretty major astrological transits. So, we have Mars, and no matter how hard Mars fights or how angry we get or how hard we work, there are things that happen that are beyond our control, and what matters most is how we handle that feeling of being out of control, the weakness, or the frustration. We have to not let challenges defeat us and instead to let them inspire us to empower ourselves.

Mars and Pluto is a really intense combination of planets. I’ve described it before as the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. These planets symbolize strong will. Now they’re trine each other, and we could be tempted to think, well, maybe they’ll work together in some way. And that is a possibility.

There is a possibility that we can use individualized Mars passion and energy in the direction of something that’s genuinely good for big groups of people. Those are the kinds of things that generally go best when we’ve got Pluto involved with a transit.

Pluto’s on the Sabian symbol 5 Aquarius, A council of ancestors, and as we are celebrating our Independence Day weekend, it can be a time of really looking back at the ancestors that formed our country, and we’ll be talking a lot about the founding fathers and the founding documents with Mars coming together with Pluto.

It can be an opportunity to have those tough conversations. We don’t have to have rioting in the streets to have a good conversation. And I think that is what I’m taking from this Mars trine Pluto.

No Listener Question This Week

Well, it’s a very full week, so we’re not going to have time for a listener question, but it looks like we will be able to return to that segment very soon.

So if you have questions you would like me to answer on a future episode, please leave a voicemail of one minute or less at speakpipe.com / bigskyastrologypodcast, or you can just send me an email to april (at) bigskyastrology (dot)com, and don’t forget to put “Podcast question” in the subject line.

Donor Thanks

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That’s it for this episode. As I mentioned before, I’m going to be on a limited podcasting schedule for July. But please, join me again on our July 13 episode. And until then, keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars!