TRANSCRIPT Ep 367 | Scorpio Season: The Joy and the Shadow

TRANSCRIPT Ep 367 | Scorpio Season: The Joy and the Shadow (10.19.26)

Hello Invisible Friend, April here, and the date today is October 19th, 2026. Welcome to Episode 367 of the Big Sky Astrology Podcast.

Relationships, desires, and money will be put to the test this week with a Venus-Pluto square and a Venus cazimi. The planet of love and money retreats into her autumn home of Libra, hours before a Venus-ruled Taurus full moon. Spooky season arrives with the Sun entering Scorpio, and Mercury stations for its final retrograde period of the year. Keep your schedule light. And I answer a listener question about the progressed Sun versus the progressed Moon. What do they tell you about what’s happening now?

Venus square Pluto (Oct. 19, 2026, 11:56 pm PDT)

Venus squares Pluto on Monday, October 19th at 11:56 pm Pacific time, at 3 degrees 4 minutes Scorpio and Aquarius.

Venus squared Pluto back on September 15th at these same degrees, before Venus went retrograde. So, you can look directly back at that time period to get some idea of what area of your life is being impacted. Venus, as we know, is connected to relationships, to wealth and possessions, and to your sense of self-esteem and security.

It’s already in Scorpio, which is a somewhat uncomfortable sign for it, and it’s retrograde, of course. Throw in a square aspect to Pluto, which accentuates that discomfort. Not only are you a little bit uncomfortable, maybe feeling a lack in these areas, but an aspect to Pluto makes that impossible to ignore.

In fact, the word I might use is obsession. You turn a relationship challenge or a financial problem over and over in your head, like a tongue might worry a loose tooth in your mouth. The last square in this series will be on December 9th at 3 degrees 45 minutes Scorpio and Aquarius.

At all three squares, Venus is on the Sabian symbol 4 Scorpio, A youth holding a lighted candle. Where are you shining light on a troubled area of your life? With Venus retrograde, some of these troubles might go way back, even to your youth. Isn’t it interesting how we can work with a particular problem for decades without really growing up around it? This is a series of aspects that offers an opportunity to do some of that growth by digging deep into it and allowing yourself to be preoccupied by it.

Pluto is at 4 Aquarius, A Hindu healer. Avail yourself of structures in your environment, in your society, that are designed to help you heal this issue. A group of friends, a support group, even just a helpful book.

Sun enters Scorpio (Oct. 23, 2026, 2:38 am PDT)

The Sun enters Scorpio on Friday, October 23rd at 2.38 a.m. Pacific time on the Sabian symbol 1 Scorpio, A sightseeing bus. The other day I was walking in my neighborhood and out of the corner of my eye I spied a gigantic furry spider on a shrubbery. I am not a huge fan of spiders and I about jumped out of my skin.

Of course, as it turned out, this was just a Halloween decoration. I imagined the people who lived in the house looking outside and seeing me jump back and hearing me cry out in alarm and feeling absolutely delighted with themselves.

Gosh, don’t you love Scorpio season? I do. It’s deep. It’s magical. There are costumes. And in this neighborhood, anyway, there are so many skeletons and ghosts and fake spiders designed to spook you a little bit. There are plenty of things designed to wake you up.

There are real life fears that might wake you up too. A loved one gets a bad diagnosis. Someone loses their job. Generally, these are things that make you realize how quickly a generally benign life can go bad. How short life is and how many ways it can frighten or disappoint you.

This is the work of the Scorpio season. A lot of it is seasonal play acting with spooky decorations and ghostly sounds. Mortality seems to be everywhere in the form of skeletons, and so is the afterlife in the form of ghosts. It’s the season of shorter days, of going underground, where on a subliminal level, we might find ourselves reminded of going permanently underground one day. But this reminds us too of how joyous it can be to inhabit a body, to spread your toes while you’re walking on the grass, to laugh hard and to breathe in and out.

Contrast is everything, and the dark sentiment of Scorpio season makes us remember just how lovely it is to be alive.

Venus conjoins the Sun (Oct. 23, 2026, 8:44 pm PDT)

Venus and the Sun come together in a conjunction on Friday, October 23rd at 8:44 p.m. Pacific time at 0 degrees 45 minutes Scorpio. This is a Venus-Sun cazimi.

Cazimi refers to the condition of a planet that is within 17 minutes of arc of an exact conjunction with the Sun. It’s also called “in the heart of the Sun.” The cazemi is exact at 8:44 p.m. on October 23rd, but it enters the 17 minute orb at 4:30 p.m. on that date and it leaves it on October 24th at 12:45 a.m.

A planet that is cazemi benefits from its proximity to the Sun. We talked about cazemi planets on episode 259 if you would like to go back and have a review. When the Sun comes together (8:00) in a conjunction with Venus, it’s an incandescent moment of pleasure. This Kazemi is at 0 degrees (8:09) 45 Scorpio on the Sabian symbol 1 Scorpio, a sightseeing bus.

What pleasures await us as we (8:19) embark on a sightseeing trip? Venus retrograde in Scorpio reminds me of the delight that my (8:26) Taurus mother took in visiting old cemeteries back when we would take road trips and how my best (8:34) friend and I when we were young used to take our guitars over to the local cemetery along with some (8:41) takeout Chinese food and have a lovely afternoon playing music and eating delicious food amongst (8:48) the gravestones. And of course these kinds of celebrations are a big part of celebrating the (8:55) Day of the Dead in Mexican culture. It might seem a little bit morbid to celebrate these places of (9:03) the dead, but when Venus is Kazemi, it’s beautiful too.

And as I spoke about a little while ago, (9:12) it’s a reminder that not only is life a fleeting thing, it’s also a joyous and beautiful thing. (9:21) During this Kazemi period, find a way to celebrate it.

Mercury stations retrograde (Oct. 24, 2026, 12:13 am PDT)

Mercury stations retrograde on Saturday, October 24th at 12 13 a.m. Pacific time, at 20 degrees 58 minutes Scorpio.

Please don’t freak out about Mercury being retrograde. Like Venus retrograde, it simply points us inward in our Mercury functions. Rather than running around keeping busy, trying to get errands done, try to keep your schedule light.

And if you just really love scheduling, schedule appointments with yourself. This retrograde begins at 20 degrees 58 minutes Scorpio on the Sabian symbol 21 Scorpio, A soldier derelict in his duty. And you know what? I’m giving you permission right here and now to neglect at least some of your duties.

Of course, not the important ones, not your duties to a child, a pet, a spouse, or something important involving a dear friend, but the fussy daily stuff that keeps you oh so busy. Traditionally, we say that Mercury’s retrograde periods are great times to do things that begin with re, such as review, research, redo, go back over past projects and activities, and attend to the last 10% of it that is often left undone. The last 10% of a manuscript you were writing, the last 10% of balancing your checkbook, the last 10% of a home repair project that’s mostly good enough to get you by – but if you did the last 10%, it would be something you could really be proud of. Mercury stations direct on November 13th at 5 degrees 2 minutes Scorpio.

My friend Stephanie is an avid proponent of the Mercury shadow period. And if you are as well, the shadow period for this retrograde, when it first reached the point where it will turn direct, began on October 4th. Mercury leaves its shadow on November 29th when it reaches the degree of today’s retrograde station at 20 degrees 58 minutes Scorpio. Until then, try to relax and not push so hard.

Venus retrograde enters Libra (Oct. 25, 2026, 2:10 am PDT)

On Sunday, October 25th at 2 10 a.m. Pacific time, Venus retrograde re-enters Libra at 29 degrees 59 minutes Libra. Venus stations direct on November 13th at 22 degrees 51 minutes Libra, and it will return to Scorpio on December 4th.

Here’s something that sometimes happens when Venus is retrograde. People from your past make a guest appearance. They might actually show up on the street or rise to the top of your social media queue. They might get in touch by email or text.

And I’d say this has a better than average chance of taking place today, when Venus retrograde backs out of Scorpio and enters Libra, the sign of relationships. This can be a happy occurrence in some cases. Sometimes we fall out of touch with a friend over the years without any real animosity. Our lives just go in different directions. When a person like that shows up in the present, it can be kind of a nice thing. When it’s a person who caused pain in the past, their reappearance can be unsettling at best.

But really in either case, it’s time for a little reflection. Why did you fall out of touch with the old friend if there was no animosity? Why does the person who caused pain still make your stomach sink and your heart wince? Have you healed or is there more work left to do? And most of all, what have you learned? How have you grown? Venus was last at this degree around September 9th, just before it entered Scorpio. This might be a time to revisit a falling out or a financial misstep that you made around that time. By the time it revisits this degree around December 3rd, this lesson should have been completed.

Taurus Full Moon (Oct. 25, 2026, 9:12 pm PDT)

And now it’s time for the Moon Report. We begin, as always, with the week’s major lunation. And this week, it’s the Taurus Full Moon on Sunday, October 25th at 9:12 p.m. Pacific (15:22) Time, at 2 degrees, 45 minutes, Taurus and Scorpio. The Sun and Moon in this full moon chart are both square Pluto.

At any Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are facing off, but it doesn’t always have to be a negative experience. Pluto, in this case, though, makes things a little more complicated. The Taurus Full Moon is the point in the Scorpio season when we are keenly aware that while life doesn’t last forever, it can be amazingly beautiful while it does last. Being in a body, enjoying the sensations of your physical self, can be wonderful.

The Moon Sabian symbol here is 3 Taurus, Steps up to a lawn blooming with clover. And boy, that really says it all. The Full Moon square to Pluto, though, as well as the opposition to the Sun in Scorpio, can show the scary shadow of being in a body – illness, weakness, pain, fear. The stuff that most people are really afraid of when they talk about not wanting to die. Mostly Taurus doesn’t dwell on this kind of stuff. But at this full moon, it takes a little more effort to stay on the bright side, in the here and now. All we can do is to do that work. If we’re well and happy, to do whatever it takes to maintain that. And if we’re suffering in some way, to do what it takes to correct the cause of that suffering.

Lunar Phase Family Cycle

This is the Full Moon in a lunar phase family cycle that began with the New Moon on April 27th, 2025, at 7 degrees 46 minutes Taurus. In the lunar phase family cycle, there are major lunations every nine months at the same degree of the New Moon. And it’s giving us an opportunity to unwrap this New Moon phase in kind of a bigger way over a three-year period, which really gives us more time than usual to realize a New Moon’s promise. So whatever you were putting into play back at that New Moon at the end of April 2025 is reaching its peak now at the Full Moon near that degree. And whatever seeds you planted, whatever projects or activities you initiated at that new moon, you can get a much bigger look at.

The First Quarter Moon in the cycle was on January 25th, 2026. And that might’ve been a time when you took some action in the direction of those New Moon goals. And nine months from this Full Moon, there’s a Last Quarter on July 26th, 2027. And that lasts for nine months. And then we wrap up this cycle.

Let’s take a look back in your diaries, in your scheduler at April 27th, 2025. Try to figure out what was really happening in your life around that time, especially in the Taurus house of your chart, because those things are important again now, even if at the time you didn’t think a lot of them. Right now they are reaching a peak of opportunity and expression.

Void-of-Course Moon Periods

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

On Wednesday, October 21st, the Moon in Aquarius trines the sun in Libra at 1.42 AM Pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course for three hours and 53 minutes, and then enters Pisces at 5:35 AM. If you happen to be awake, this would be an excellent time to participate in a group activity, sunrise exercise classes, or maybe a birdwatching group. Use this Void-of-Course Moon to get in the habit of networking with others who share similar interests, because you never know where those connections might take you.

On Thursday, October 22nd, the Moon in Pisces trines Mercury at 8.31 PM, and it’s Void-of-Course for 16 hours and 23 minutes before it enters Aries on October 23rd at 12:54 PM. This Void-of-Course Moon period is occurring between planets in two of the most psychic signs of the Zodiac, Pisces and Scorpio.

The lines of communication and intuition will be open and flowing. This could be a great time to get a reading with an astrologer or a tarot card reader or the like. If you read tarot, this would be an excellent time to gather insights.

Use this Void-of-Course period to get in the habit of being open to the less tangible but very potent sides of life for practical wisdom. On Sunday, October 25th, the Moon in Aries opposes Venus at 3:59 PM Pacific time. It’s Void-of-Course for 36 minutes and then enters Taurus at 4:35 PM.

The planet Venus, the sign Libra, and the opposition aspect all correspond to relationships, and this Void-of-Course Moon period is beginning on the volatile anoretic degrees of Libra and Aries. That just means 29 degrees of the signs. There’s a good chance that passions will be running high, especially with Aries involved, which could be nice or it could result in a bit of a blowout of an argument.

This is a relatively short Void-of-Course Moon period, so if you find yourself in a sticky situation, just leave the scene and work on cooling your jets. Mindful breathing exercises can work wonders in calming a mind that’s spinning out of control from anger. Use this Moon to get in the habit of choosing your battles wisely.

Listener Question: Progressed Sun v. Progressed Moon

In this week’s listener question, listener Wade writes, “How much attention should you pay to your progressed Moon versus your progressed Sun? Which one is more useful for understanding what you’re going through right now?”

Well Wade, thank you for the question. Both of those are important of course, but they’re a bit like a clock. The minute hand gives you different information than the hour hand. Sometimes you really need to measure time in minutes and sometimes in hours.

Now first, for those who aren’t familiar with progressions, otherwise known as secondary progressions, here’s a quick explanation. Secondary progressions take each day following your birth and make it equivalent to one year of your life.

So the planetary positions on the day after you were born become the planetary positions that symbolize the first year of your life. For this reason, we only look at the faster moving planets in this system, the Sun through Mars, because they’re the ones that show the most motion over 90 days. What does this system tell us? It tells us about your internal growth and how you respond to and learn from what transits send your way.

The transiting Sun moves about one degree of the zodiac per day. So that’s about one degree per year in the progressed system. It’s in the same sign for about 30 years, which is a good long time.

When the progressed Sun changes sign or house or makes an exact aspect to a natal planet, it’s a big deal. The sign in particular can be a really dramatic shift because the sun is moving from one sign to another with which it doesn’t usually have a lot in common. You can really separate your life into major chapters based on the progressed Sun’s sign and see the shifts.

The progressed Moon moves about one degree of the zodiac per month. It’s by far the fastest moving body in secondary progressions, moving through a sign in about two and a half years. The progressed Moon shows where your attention is right now. The progressed Moon in Libra, for example, says you’re very concerned with the quality of your relationships. Do you have a partner? Do you have enough friends? Progressed Moon in Capricorn might be a focus on your career path, parents, long-term plans.

One thing I’ve noticed about the progressed Moon is that it enters a new sign with a sense of yearning, of emptiness, of craving something in a particular part of life. And over two and a half years, you will tend to fill up on those kinds of experiences.

Now, as to your specific question, which is better for understanding where you are right now? Well, both. But the progressed Moon normally has more immediacy. It’s pointing at something that’s happening this month and 2.5 years at the outside. If the progressed Moon is making, say, an opposition aspect to a natal planet, we will consider it within orb, or shouting distance of exact, for about three months. One month approaching the exact aspect, one month when it’s exact, and one month when it’s separating.

But if the progressed Sun is making an opposition to a natal planet, then we will consider it within orb for about three years. One year approaching, one exact, and one separating. So for knowing where you are right now, really, I would tend to look at transits because of their immediacy. Because personal internal growth, which is what progressions monitor, doesn’t happen right now. It’s a more gradual process. The progressed Moon asks, where am I spending my time and focusing my attention this month? While the progressed Sun asks, how am I growing and developing? And what’s important in that story this year? Both are important.

It’s like asking, what time shall I meet you for lunch? Only saying 3 p.m. might not be enough information. And just saying 15 minutes doesn’t even get you into the right time of day.

Wade, I hope that that was helpful. And thank you so much for writing in with your question!

If you have a pressing astrological question that you would like me to answer on a future episode of the podcast, please leave a message of one minute or less at speakpipe.com slash Big Sky Astrology podcast. Or send me an email to april at bigskyastrology.com. And be sure to put podcast question in the subject line.

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