
TRANSCRIPT EP. 81 (May 10, 2021)
Read show notes & listen to the episode here.
Jen: Welcome to the Big Sky Astrology podcast, with April Elliott Kent and me, producer and cohost Jen Braun. Hey friends, Jen here. Today is May 10th, 2021. And here with me wearing her leg warmers and shoulder pads, is my friend, astrologer April Elliott Kent. Hi, April.
April: Oh Jen, you nailed it.
Jen: Did I?
April: It’s like you’re looking into my 1981 closet right there. The leg warmers were the thing.
Jen: Yes.
April: Yes. And I remember going to school just wearing. Like I would buy high top sneakers in different colors. Like I had a red pair and I had a black and white pair or whatever, and I would wear one color on one foot, one color on the other. And painter’s pants were the thing and all different colors. The jackets, the bright jackets with the giant shoulder pads.
Jen: Totally.
April: Oh man. It was so fun. It was so much more fun than the 70’s in terms of the fashion, I think.
Jen: I loved the fashion in the 80’s.
April: Oh, it was just great. So, 1981. Yes. This is Episode 81. And of course, we’re continuing in our ongoing project of sharing our favorite songs from the 1980’s. So, because this is Episode 81, we are sharing our favorite songs from the year 1981.
Jen: Well, I think you should kick it off this week because I kicked it off last week.
April: Well, okay. Now, we want to start out by saying that because we’re a podcast without very deep pockets, we could not afford to use these songs legally in our podcast.
So, that’s why we’re not playing little snippets for you and why we have instead created a YouTube channel, because all of this stuff’s on YouTube now. I guess, they don’t care about copyright or know what goes on there. But in any event, you can actually listen to our favorite songs there. And be sure to leave messages on our website, bigskyastropod.com for this episode. Let us know your own favorite songs from 1981.
Well, I’m going to begin by telling you this one was hard.
Jen: Was it?
April: I had a very hard time because on the one hand there are the ones that if I were honest, I know I was really listening to all the time. And then there are the ones that in retrospect, I really have a great fondness for.
Jen: Yes, that’s how I am too.
April: So, I’m going to share a couple with you, and one is not necessarily one of my favorites, but it was ubiquitous. But the one that is dear to my heart from 1981 is “Who Can it Be Now” by Men At Work.
Jen: Oh, great song.
April: The great Australian group.
Jen: Yes.
April: I love that song. And in fact, Colin Hay, who was their lead singer has had a career since then doing solo albums. I have a wonderful album by him of just him… It’s really just him and an acoustic guitar. And it’s wonderful.
Jen: Oh, nice.
April: The other one, my backup, is “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police.
Jen: I love The Police.
April: I love The Police and this is not one of my favorites of theirs, but I’m telling you it dominated 1981. And when I looked at the list of songs from there, I thought, “Yes. Okay, if I’m honest, I was listening to that a lot.” It was everywhere. So, those are my picks, Jen. What are yours?
Jen: Love them both. My first pick is actually a song that I didn’t discover until 1985 or maybe 1986 when I was in high school. My brother introduced me to this song. It did come out in 1981. It’s a kind of a new wave post-punk song by the group, Tom Tom Club called “Genius of Love.” Do you know that one?
April: I don’t. I’ll bet you I’ll know when I listen to it.
Jen: It’s a fantastic song.
April: I know that group.
Jen: You do?
April: Yes.
Jen: A lot of people haven’t heard of them.
April: Oh! I was into the new wave stuff, so.And that’s why I say when I listened to it, I’ll bet you I’m going to recognize it.
Jen: Sure.
April: Alright. Intriguing choice.
Jen: And then my runner up is a little bit of a cheat, because it actually came out in 1977, but it also then came out in 1981 on a Greatest Hits album. Bill Withers Greatest Hits, the song “Lovely Day.”
April: Oh, I love that.
Jen: I love that song too.
April: Bill Withers. He was wonderful.
Jen: He was fantastic.
April: Did he do “Lean on Me”?
Jen: He did.
April: Yes. So anyway, those are our very favorite top picks from 1981. And I’m telling you, looking down the road, pal, it only getting harder for me to make these choices.
Jen: Yes. I mean, I had four songs pick up for today, but I only said two of them, so…
April: I know.
Jen: It’s hard.
April: I had three I felt pretty strongly about, and one of them is, might end up on our playlist. Who knows?
Jen: I think one of mine will too. We’ll see.
April: 1981.
Jen:
April: Alright, folks. Well that having been said, Jen, there’s plenty going on in the skies right here and now this week. So, where shall we begin?
Jen: As we usually do, with Mercury.
April: Yes.
Jen: Mercury joins up with the North Node of the Moon on May 10th at 12:01 PM Pacific Time at 10° 45’ of Gemini. The North Node is the path that collectively we’re trying to take. And in Gemini, what does this tell us, April?
April: Well, what we’ve been saying since the nodal points went into Gemini and Sagittarius is that Sagittarius is about the things that we feel we know and we believe, that’s the default comfortable position. And what we’re being asked to do with the North Node in Gemini is to open our minds, entertain new possibilities, remain curious.
Mercury as the ruler of Gemini rules the North Node at the moment. And Mercury is the planet of realism, it’s about facts and actual information. We’ve been talking quite a lot about Neptune with the nodes over the last few months because the nodal axis came into aspect with Neptune and Neptune is about that, trying to get clarity out of confusion. Mercury is quite realistic and quite literal actually, and sees things as they are. The Sabian symbol for this combination, Mercury with the North Node is, “A new path of realism and experience.” And Mercury is a very realistic planet, and coming together with the North Node seems to represent movement towards that part of the path, so movement towards the North Node.
Jen: So, this is a couple of days where it’s good to try to be curious and open-minded, and maybe care for our neighbors. Would you say?
April: Right. And reading interesting and enriching things because Mercury likes the written word. So, that’s probably a good thing to do. Some journaling would not be a bad idea at this time. As you say, it’s a pretty quick little transit, but it seems significant, especially since Mercury is the ruler of Gemini. And coming together and using words and information to move us forward on our path, seems very good.
Jen: And maybe trying to let go of thinking, we know it all.
April: Well, that is our ongoing project for these lunar nodes. And we’re having varying degrees of success as a society where there is, always. But…
Jen: You think?
April: We end up giving it the college try.
Pal, do you know what time it is?
Jen: What time is it?
April: It’s time for Moonwatch…
Jen: Moonwatch…
April: Play it!
April: Well, for Moonwatch, this week, we have a very exciting Taurus New Moon, which we’re going to tell you all about in just a moment. But first we have a message for you from our non-imaginary sponsor, artist Victoria Pendragon.
Jen: Victoria Pendragon’s personal natal chart paintings unite the cosmic planetary influences from the moment of your birth with her deep knowledge of astrology, which is a subject that she first began studying in 1964, as a student at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
April: She says that her personal natal chart, painting designs itself to become a focus for deep meditation, as on a subconscious level, the body recognizes itself in the images, taking the meditation to an even deeper level than simply stilling the mind. Her unique approach to the chart incorporates a lifetime of mystical experiences.
Jen: The paintings take about four to six weeks to complete, which I think is reasonable for a personal painting of your birth chart. But one of the reasons that Victoria who also goes by V, says that they take as long as they do is because she uses a unique painting technique. Tell us about that, pal?
April: Well, her hands lost their flexibility. She had scleroderma. I actually heard from one of our listeners who said that she had had a family member that had suffered this and actually had passed away from it. It’s a very serious illness.
Jen: Yes.
April: And it sidelined V for four years. She says that she has to lay painting on a table and move it around instead of her hands and fingers.
Jen: Very incredible.
April: Yes. So, it’s this really incredible story because it is like I say, a deadly disease and the fact that she not only survived, but she’s still making this extraordinary art, is amazing.
Jen: It sure is. Well, V has put up a dedicated webpage just for this work. Go to yourchartasart.com. You can also visit her website, victoriapendragonpaints.com to view her paintings, including some really cool astrology work. And of course, you know I will link it in the show notes.
April: Do it, Jen. Do it.
Jen: I sure will.
April: Well, now back to the Moonwatch already in progress. And as we said, we do have this Taurus New Moon this week on May 11th at 11:59 AM Pacific Time. And it is at 21° 17’ minutes of Taurus. The Sabian symbol for that point is “A White Dove Over Troubled Waters.”
Jen: Love that.
April: I know. Isn’t that a lovely image?
Jen: Yes.
April: In the chart for this New Moon, the Sun and the Moon in Taurus are sextile Neptune, which again brings in that thought of peace, the white dove. And the Sun and Moon are also trine Pluto, which speaks to me of overcoming troubles. The Taurus planets have had their struggles this year because they’ve had to deal with conjunctions to Uranus, squares, to Saturn, squares to Jupiter. So, it’s not quite as placid and peaceful a Taurus season, as we might normally expect. This is a New Moon that is bringing some nice aspects to the outer planets and it gives us an opportunity to maybe come to some resolution with a few things and move on.
We talk about the New Moon as being a time to set intentions for the next month. We know that New Moons – because we’ve been talking about the lunar phase families, so we know this is also beginning a two-and-a-half-year cycle. So, each New Moon becomes very significant when you think of it that way. The kinds of things that you might consider focusing on, journaling on, doing ritual meditation or whatever on, are Taurus things. So, they have to do with security, they have to do with a sense of confidence and overall wellbeing. Any kind of financial matters that you want to put some ritual intention behind, this is an excellent New Moon for it.
Jen: It’s about, what do you value, in Taurus.
April: Right. That’s why it has to do with our sense of self-confidence – it’s also how we value ourselves, what we feel we have to give the world on a real basic level. And in terms of the hierarchy of needs, unless you’ve got the basics taken care of, shelter, food, these kinds of things, you don’t really the luxury of thinking about more philosophical concerns. Taurus is really about the meat and potatoes, it’s the basics, making sure all of that stuff is really taken care of, and that we’re building a really strong foundation for other kinds of success.
Jen: This New Moon is ruled by Venus in Gemini, which tells us what?
April: The way I was writing about it in a recent column was that, while so many planets have been moving through Taurus for the last few weeks, we’ve had four planets in Taurus at any given time, I think sometimes five, and then Mars in Cancer, which is a water sign. And I think it’s sort of nice for the ruler of those Taurus planets to go into an air sign. Because it’s almost like if you have soil that is really compacted and maybe getting some water in it and getting kind of muddy with that Mars in Cancer, so I like the idea of Venus and an air sign ruling those Taurus planets – aerating the soil, bringing a little bit of oxygen and lightening things up a little bit. That’s how I’m thinking of this one.
Jen: Saying, “Things don’t have to be so heavy.”
April: They don’t have to be quite so heavy. It’s nice too that that Venus is coming into a trine with Saturn, whereas the Taurus planets have had to take their turns squaring, Saturn, which is a more difficult head-against-the-wind kind of aspect. Now that Venus, which is ruling those Taurus planets, is in a sign where it’s making it easy aspect to Saturn, it just feels like things do get a little lighter, the road opens up a little bit more, things feel maybe not quite so difficult. That’s what I’m hoping.
Jen: It might be a good time to think about what you want to grow and journal about it, with Venus in Gemini, like you suggested.
April: Yes. That’s a good idea. Putting things in writing is a really powerful… I’ve often thought Mercury, which is the planet that rules Gemini, is the naming planet. And I think writing things out is so important. It’s like writing a love letter to the universe and saying, “Can I please have this?” Or “This is what I imagined for myself” and just writing it like that. I also think there are such power to naming things. We’ve noticed this with our cats over and over again, that the name you give them seems to manifest in their personality really strongly. We have Toby now who, as I said, goes after our toes. We had Spike who was very spikey with his claws and things. And naming people, animals, anything, a business, the name that you give it’s important because it’s like a requisition to the universe to say, “Yes, bring me these qualities.” So, it is a really good time for that kind of intention in journaling, I agree.
# # # ad insertion # # #
Hey gang, April here. Believe it or not, it’s almost eclipse season again, Eclipses are super important in astrology, but sometimes get a scary reputation. I prefer to think of them as symbolizing important turning points in our lives. They do bring change, but change is not always such a bad thing. Right? So, how will these changes impact you?
In my upcoming webinar, working with eclipses, I’m going to walk you through the upcoming solar and lunar eclipses and show you how to find out exactly what they’ll mean for you. I’m offering this free live one-hour webinar on Saturday, May 15th, at 04:00 PM Pacific Time. And then one more time on Saturday, May 22nd. at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. Check the link in the show notes to find out the time and date in your area, so you can decide which webinar to attend. Then you can sign up at my website, bigskyastrology.com/eclipse-webinar. Once again, that’s bigskyastrology.com/eclipse-webinar. I sure hope you can join us. I’ll see you then.
# # # end ad # # #
April: Okay pal, well, what do we have up next?
Jen: We have Mars in a sextile with Uranus on May 11th at 07:47 PM Pacific Time, at 11° 19’ of Cancer and Taurus. Tell us about this, pal.
April: Well, we talked about the conjunction between these two, which was on January 20th, 2021, we talked about that in Episode 65, “Mars, Uranus and Revisiting The US/Pluto Return.” Mars is a planet of force and getting things done, moving things forward, but it also can turn violent. And especially in combination with Uranus, it’s a very combustible combination. At that time, it was a little bit of a tense time in the US. Mars sextile Uranus is a little bit of a less contentious, less volatile combination. And if you experienced sudden changes back in January, especially with regard to work – and I say that because Mars is a work planet – this week could possibly bring a lead or an invitation to move in a new direction, especially when it comes to work.
Jen: Yes. And a sextile is always an opportunity.
April: Yes. And it could be offers, it could be news, it could be new information coming in, somebody asking you to do something new in work.
Jen: It could be surprising.
April: Yes. Surprising, stimulating, and dare we say, fun. But unpredictable. And I mean, back when they came together in a conjunction, they were both in Taurus, of course, were both in earth signs. There was more of a tendency for things to manifest on a physical level. I think with Mars in a water sign making a nice aspect to Uranus, it’s a little more subdued, I think. It’s a little quieter. And the nature of Cancer in the equation, the sign of Cancer, is a little gentler, perhaps. I mean, we think of Taurus has a real mellow, like a cow standing in a field. But it’s the bull. And bulls can become enraged. And you know, they have a long fuse, but you pester them long enough, they’re going to get really mad and they can be really dangerous.
Jen: Yes.
April: And that’s a little bit of what we saw when Mars came together with Uranus in Taurus, the bull going crazy. Mars in a water sign is a little bit quieter, a little bit gentler. And I think this will be some nice opportunities for us this week.
Jen: That sounds like that could be promising.
April: Let’s hope so. We also have Mercury trine Saturn on May 12th at 11:33 AM Pacific Time. And this is a great time for mental focus. We were talking, I think it was last week about, I think it was the Last Quarter Moon that was on that Sabian symbol for entering the tunnel and getting really focused. I think this is a continuation of that, this Mercury trine Saturn, of buckling down and really getting to work on something, especially anything that has to do with learning, communicating, any of that stuff. It’s good week for that.
Jen: Yes. Air signs are all about communication, Mercury is related to how we think, and Saturn is focus. I like how you put that all together.
April: Yes. And Saturn is still on that Sabian symbol, “A Train Entering A Tunnel,” the “focus” Sabian symbol. And the Sabian symbol for Mercury at 14° Gemini, is “A Conversation By Telepathy”, which is one we’ve talked about before.
Jen: We sure have. Yes.
April: So, it’s a nice combination of relying a little bit on your intuition. I really like Mercury in Gemini because it has this ability to grab all kinds of little ideas and pieces of information and impressions from lots of different places. And then as it comes together with Saturn, it knits into something substantial. Nice aspect for the writers out there this week, hopefully.
Jen: Very cool.
April: Well, pal, what do we have up next?
Jen: The Sun sextiles Neptune on May 12th at 10:45 PM Pacific Time. The Sun is in Taurus at 22°41’ making this sextile aspect to Neptune in Pisces. And as we just said, sextiles offer opportunities.
April: Nice. Well, the conjunction between the two came on March 10th of this year, and of course, both of them were in Pisces, and that was a time of trying to figure out who we are, who we want to be, trying to imagine a new role for ourselves, perhaps in the world. And now that the two are coming together, the Sun is in the nice earthy sign of Taurus. It feels like we’re getting our sea legs. I feel like when the Sun comes together with the Neptune, it’s almost like we’re sinking in quicksand. And what they say, if you find yourself in quicksand, is don’t struggle because the more you struggle, the more you will sink. So, what you’re supposed to do is just float, let yourself float. This to me is like the Sun is in Taurus and it’s somebody handing us a branch or something that we can grab onto and then be pulled out of the quicksand. But we have to take advantage of that, that’s the sextile. Take advantage of the opportunities to get on a little more solid footing.
The Sabian symbol for 23° Pisces, Neptune’s degree here, is “A Spiritist Phenomenon.” So, there is still that spiritual dimension to it. We don’t want to completely abandon all of that, but I think the Sun in conjunction with Neptune maybe was a bit much. It’s easy to sink into the unseen parts of life instead of being grounded in reality. This kind of combines both in a really nice way. At the same time that we are getting grounded in reality, there still is a nice touch of imagination of sensitivity of empathy towards others and a rural kind of spiritual foundation to it all.
Jen: The other thing that I just wanted to mention for folks is that: The reason that April is mentioning when the conjunction was – when these planets met up – is because that started a story. And we’re seeing that story unfold now. In this example, you could go back to that conjunction that she mentioned on March 10th, and think about what was happening for you then. And if there’s something now unfolding related to themes of what you were just talking about April… you might see that play out.
April: Yes. If you can remember it. Again, it’s Neptune, it’s Pisces… it’s all like a dream that’s gone too soon. Yes. Thank you for pointing that out.
Jen: Yes. And I’ll link Episode 72, “Pisces New Moon: Kitchen Cats and Angular Houses,” because that is when we talked about those two joining up.
April: Was that even that long ago? Man, the time is really flying.
Jen: I know. Well, what’s last, pal?
April: While we are on the subject of Pisces and Neptune and this sort of thing, this week, we have Jupiter entering Pisces, which is ruled by Jupiter in traditional astrology and by Neptune in modern astrology. So, Jupiter enters Pisces on May 13th, at 3:36 PM Pacific Time, it will not be in Pisces for very long before it goes back into Aquarius. So, it’s going to turn retrograde on June 20th at just 2° of Pisces. It’ll go back into Aquarius at the end of July on July 28th. It’ll turn direct again on October 17th. And then on December 28th, it reenters Pisces for good. It’ll stay there for a good long time.
Jupiter has a 12-year cycle of going through the entire Zodiac, so it spends about a year in each sign. It was previously in Pisces between January and June of 2010, and then again from September 8th, 2010 through January 22nd, 2011. So, what you can do is go back in your mind, try to remember what was happening in your life during that time period, because Jupiter was in the same part of your chart then that it will be now.
Jupiter is a planet of optimism, of opening things up, of expanding our horizons. It says where we want to grow, we want to experience new things, we want to take chances, we want to have an adventure. And it’s very strong in the sign of Pisces. There, it says, “We want to feel that our life has some kind of meaning, that we’re growing spiritually, that we are connected to something that is really important.” It really brings us in touch with the ways in which we are all one. While Jupiter is in Pisces, we’re looking at a new area of your life that you feel you want to grow. And while it’s been an Aquarius, maybe you can look at that part of your chart and say, “What have I reached out to do in the last…” It’s only been about six or seven months I think, that it’s been in Aquarius.
Jen: Yes. It hasn’t been long.
April: Yes. It will be back. But it’s enough to give you a touch and say, “Wow, in this area of my life, where have I been wanting more and wanting to do more?” And that’s what Jupiter always tells us when it moves into a new sign and it’s in a new area of your chart.
Jen: So, basically, this is an 11-week sneak preview of what’s going to come late in the year. It sounds like it can be very inspiring. And I would encourage folks to pay attention to what themes come up from May 13th through July 28th. Because it’s a good time to ponder: What’s your dream? What inspires you? How can you make it grow? Which were also the New Moon’s themes a little bit.
April: Right. Because it brings in that Neptunian theme. I’m thinking of something that, I don’t know if I read it or somebody told me early in my studies that there are two ways of experiencing Pisces. One is as a fish and one is as a whale. And Jupiter going into Pisces definitely brings on the whale.
Jen: Say more about that.
April: It’s a big, formidable vibe. We think of Pisces as this very gentle, very malleable sign. But I know I have certainly known people with a lot of planets in Pisces who are very strong, very focused, really good at achieving the things they want to achieve. Usually very smart, have gotten a lot of education. And I think that that is like a nice vision of the whale, something big, substantial. So, it can be a really marvelous sign. And I think Jupiter does its best work here.
Jen: Yes. And it’s nice that Jupiter and Neptune are together. Not together conjoined, but that they’re both in Pisces.
April: Well, yes. Eventually Jupiter will make a conjunction with Neptune probably that second time around when it’s Pisces next year. Which will give us plenty to talk about at that time.
Jen: Yes, for sure.
April: Well, my friend, we have made it at last to the end of another show sheet. Do you think that we have done it?
Jen: Yes, we have done it. You can put your leg warmers away and push your shoulder pads down. We can call it good.
April: Alright. Well, thanks everybody for listening to The Big Sky Astrology Podcast. If you like what you’re hearing, we hope that you will subscribe or follow, rate and review. And we hope that you’ll help us spread the word by telling a friend. You can read show notes and full transcripts and leave your comments about each and every episode of the podcast at our website, bigskyastropod.com.
Jen: Thank you so much to everyone who showed support during our Podathon last fall. Each week, as you know, we thank some of you by name. Who do we have this week, pal?
April: Oh boy. Okay, this week we want to give a Big Sky Astrology Podcast shout out to the following mangled names: Maria Escudero, Rebecca Gilhula and Lori Rodefer.
Jen: Is that your Lori?
April: That is my Lori! That is my beloved neighbor and friend.
Jen: Aww…
April: And this will be airing on her birthday, May 10th.
Jen: Happy birthday!
April: Happy birthday, Lori. Well, Maria, Rebecca and Lori, we appreciate you when we thank you so much for listening to the podcast and supporting us during our September Podathon.
Jen: Yes. Thank you too all three of you. If you’re a listener who didn’t get a chance to support us during our Podathon, you can always make a contribution at our website, bigskyastropod.com. And if you donate $5 or more, we’ll invite you to our special episodes for the Equinoxes and Solstices.
April: That’s it for us this week. Join us again bright and early next Monday. And until then, keep your feet on the ground…
Jen: …and your eyes on the stars.
Thank you for listening! To learn more about April Elliott Kent, please check out her website, www.BigSkyAstrology.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter, read her thought-provoking weekly essays, purchase her books, sign up for a personal astrology reading, and more.
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