TRANSCRIPT EPISODE 152 | Taurus Lunar Eclipse: Swords and Torches! (11.7.22)
Listen and read show notes hereApril: Hello, invisible friend, April here, And the date today is November 7th, 2022. Welcome to Episode 152 of The Big Sky Astrology Podcast. This is a very lively week with a Lunar Eclipse in Taurus, Venus in aspect to Saturn and Neptune, the Sun in a conjunction with Mercury and opposed Uranus and square Saturn, and a listener question about how differently planetary retrograde periods might feel to someone who has a lot of retrograde planets in their birth chart.
Venus square Saturn (Nov. 6, 2022, 11:33 pm PST)
The week begins with a square between Venus and Saturn. This occurs on November 6th at 11:33 PM Pacific Time, but, since it’s November 7th nearly everywhere else, I’m including it in this week’s forecast. Venus will be at 18°47’ Scorpio and Saturn at 18°47’ minutes of Aquarius. Anytime we see Venus in connection with Saturn, there are questions of how hard we need to work for something that we want. Now, this is not Venus’s happiest mode, she is accustomed to attracting what she wants to herself without a lot of effort, but when she comes together with Saturn, this is a different story. If we consider Venus in her role as the ruler of relationships, this could for example be a situation where one person wants to make a commitment that would be symbolized by Venus in Scorpio and that the other might be resisting that commitment, Saturn in Aquarius, which is a little more of a freedom loving sign.
So, as I often say, when two planets are square each other, each voice has to be heard and taken into consideration. They have to work together to find a solution that suits them both. Venus, of course, is also the ruler of financial matters, and this could be a week of feeling that you need to tighten your belt possibly because of some big expenditures that are depleting your savings, but it is for a good cause. This would be the kind of week where you have to lay out thousands of dollars to fix the roof on your house, but then in the long run, that improves the value of the house. So, just know, this is a week when you absolutely can get what you want, but it’s not going to come quite as easily or without some kind of trade off, possibly in the form of some extra expenditure or giving up a little bit of your personal freedom in the case of relationships.
Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse (Nov. 8, 2022, 3:02 am PST)
And now, for the Moon Report for the week of November 7th. The week begins with a Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse at 16°1’ Taurus on November 8th at 3:02 AM Pacific Time. This eclipse actually occurs at 16°, 0 minutes and 56 seconds of Taurus. Technically, when it comes to the Sabian symbols, if a point is exactly on a degree and no minutes, so 16° Taurus,0 minutes, we would use the Sabian symbol for that degree, 16°. Once it flips over to 16° and 1 minute, then we would round up to the next degree, 17°. In this case, because it’s 56 seconds, it is within a hair’s breadth of being one minute, I am going to round up and use the Sabian symbol for 17 Taurus, A symbolic battle between swords and torches. But you might see it written in some places with that Sabian symbol for 16 Taurus. So, I didn’t want that to confuse you, and I think you can make an argument in both directions.
This eclipse happens to fall on the United States election day. And the chart for this eclipse is extremely volatile. The Moon is an exact conjunction with Uranus, they’re both opposed, Sun, Venus, and Mercury, and all of them are square Saturn. This eclipse, I think, symbolizes the conclusion of that Saturn, Uranus square that was exact several times last year, and which came very close to one final square in early October of this year. It’s been a transit that has been accentuating the tension between playing by the old rules, doing things in the old ways, which is represented by Saturn, versus Uranus, which always wants to have a revolution and throw everything out and start over. And this is a good example of how two planets in square aspect to each other need to negotiate some kind of solution. But, in any event, on this day, and given the recent history of elections and elections seasons in this country, a chart this volatile makes me a little bit uneasy.
It does suggest unexpected outcomes because of that Uranian factor. There is a little bit, I’m afraid of a possibility of more kind of mob violence. And we see this in the Sabian symbol for 17 Taurus, A symbolic battle between swords and torches. But since this eclipse occurs at the Moon’s North Node, my feeling is hopefully this is going to be a sign of change for the positive in the long run.
But there’s no doubt this is a very contentious looking chart. We have this big T-Square in the fixed signs of Scorpio, Saturn, and Taurus. And as always, when we have a chart with this much tension and so many planets involved in a T-Square formation, we can look to the Fixed sign that is not represented here by a planet, and that I call the escape point, or the retreat point – and that would be in Leo. So, if things get a little intense during this week or around this eclipse, particularly in relationships with other people, because that’s the nature of a Lunar Eclipse, is it brings relational tensions to a head. So this week, the thing to do is to create, to celebrate and to be yourself. These are all things at which Leo excels.
Now, to get a sense of exactly what this eclipse is likely to bring for you, you can go back to Episode 151 where I talked about eclipses in the Houses of the Horoscope, find the house of your chart that contains 16° of Taurus or the aspects to Natal Planets in your chart, anything especially near 16° of the Fixed signs. And then, what you’ll do is go back to these previous years when there were eclipses that were very close to this point, and see if you remember anything significant from these years that might still need a little revisiting now and working through. Most recently, there was a Solar Eclipse on May 10th, 2013 at 19° of Taurus, a Lunar Eclipse on November 9th, 2003 at 16° Taurus, a Solar Eclipse on May 10th, 1994 at 19°48’ Taurus and a Lunar Eclipse on November 8th, 1984 at 16°30’ Taurus. And because those eclipses occurred so close to the same degree as this one, it’s very likely that they would’ve occurred in the same house of your chart and even in aspect to the same natal planets. Again, I like to use the conjunction square or opposition from the eclipse point to a natal planet within 4° of orb. So, in this case, it would be between about 12 and 20° of Taurus or especially the other Fixed signs, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius.
Now, I do have a number of essays on my website about eclipses that you might find interesting. Just go to eclipseastrology.com and you’ll find a listing of them there, as well as information about my eclipse Report, “Followed by a Moonshadow”.
Void-of-Course Moon periods
Let’s take a look at the Void-of-Course Moon periods for this week. Now again, since Jupiter has backed into Pisces and is sitting at the very end of that sign, it is setting the tone for some of our Void-of-Course Moon periods instead of Pluto. And even though they are shorter Void-of-Course Moon periods, Jupiter is a planet that shows us moving forward with optimism, with a sense of adventure, in contrast to Pluto, which is a lot more brooding.
On November 9th, the Moon in Taurus makes a sextile aspect to Jupiter at 4:00 AM Pacific Time, it’s then for a little over an hour and a half before it enters Gemini at 5:37 AM. The Moon in Taurus shows that stability and resources are available to support Jupiter’s big vision. This very short Void-of-Course Moon period occurs very early in the morning here on the West Coast of the United States. But right down any dreams you might remember when you wake up. And, if this is happening later in the morning for you on the East Coast of the United States or in Europe, a message, an invitation or an opportunity might come along to expand your horizons, maybe a little bit of money to support something that you’ve been wanting to do.
On November 11th, the Moon in Gemini squares Jupiter at 2:28 PM Pacific Time, it’ll be void-of-course for just under two hours before it enters Cancer at 4:22 PM. So, when you bring together Moon in Gemini and Jupiter in Pisces, two mutable signs, focus can really get scattered. But this is a terrific void-of-course Moon period for generating many exciting ideas. So, I would say use this void-of-course Moon period to write those down or to otherwise record them. This is not the time to try to choose between them to figure out which one to pursue or to make any concrete plans. This is just the time to capture some of these wonderful ideas as they go by like catching butterflies with a net.
Sun, Mercury, and Uranus (Nov. 8-9, 2022)
Within 24 hours of the Lunar Eclipse, the Sun and Mercury are in aspect to each other and to Uranus. The Sun and Mercury make their superior conjunction on November 8th at 8:43 AM Pacific Time. This is the moment when Mercury disappears from the morning sky and it’s invisible for several weeks because it’s traveling so closely with the Sun; and then, in a few weeks at the end of November, it will reappear very faintly at Twilight. The Sun and Mercury together is an opinionated and subjective combination. On the plus side, it gives great confidence in our thoughts and our ideas and our decisions, but on the downside, we may not have all the facts or information that we need to make good decisions. In the case of this election here in the US, we unfortunately might see the kind of voting or number counting issues that we might expect with a Mercury retrograde, especially with Mercury opposed Uranus, which is the planet of the unexpected at 6:40 PM Pacific Time.
The Sun then opposes Uranus in the wee hours of November 9th at 12:26 AM Pacific. I like to think of the Sun’s major aspects with Uranus throughout the year as being opportunities to free ourselves not just from the expectations of other people, but also from our own ideas of who we are and who we have to be. The Sun began its new cycle with Uranus back in May when they were in a conjunction. You may have been looking for a way to reinvent yourself or your circumstances then. Their square aspect in August was a time to take action in that project, whatever it might have been. And now, at the opposition, we can see exactly who or what it is that might be preventing us from really feeling free to be ourselves.
Mercury and Sun square Saturn (Nov. 9 and Nov. 10)
Mercury and the Sun both make square aspects to Saturn this week. On November 9th, just 9 minutes from November 10th at 11:51 PM Pacific Time, Mercury squares Saturn. All things related to Mercury are going to take more determination and more effort while it aspects Saturn. This is the closing square in a cycle between two that began back in March. That was a time to get serious about some kind of … maybe a subject you were learning or teaching, about speaking, about writing, relationships with siblings and neighbors, developing new skills, these are all symbolized by Mercury.
This is the last critical moment in that cycle. And hard aspects to Saturn really test our resolve. So, this is a time that you really have to ignore voices that tell you can’t succeed, and that includes the voice in your head as well. Just keep working hard. And, when Mercury makes it sextile to Saturn on November 29th, you might get the break that you have been hoping for.
The Sun’s square to Saturn on November 11th at 12:04 AM Pacific Time, forces us to step up and put ourselves in charge to exert our will, but it is a really difficult aspect because the two planets involved are very different. I often compare this aspect to trying to grow something in very hard, very compacted soil, and in this case, what you’re trying to grow is you. So, from the moment the Sun entered Scorpio on October 23rd, it’s been heading toward this square. So, if you’ve been feeling especially tired and pessimistic over the past couple of weeks, this aspect describes that pretty well.
This is going to be the final push in a Sun-Saturn project or undertaking that began at a conjunction between the two on February 4th. This is the moment in that cycle where we might imagine we just don’t have anything left to bring to the table, we’re just exhausted. But, always remember that Saturn tests us, but he also rewards us. And if we just put one foot in front of the other and make a good faith effort, then we can look for a reward, and in this case, I think it comes around December 12th when the Sun makes its sextile to Saturn.
Venus and Mercury trine Neptune (Nov. 10, 4:22 am PST, and Nov. 12, 10:36 am PST)
Venus and Mercury both make trine aspects to Neptune this week. Venus trines Neptune on November 10th at 0:22 AM Pacific Time. Venus is at 22°47’ Scorpio, and Neptune is at 22°47’ Pisces, and they are on these two very charming and metaphysical Sabian symbols. The Sabian symbol for Mercury and Venus at 23 Scorpio, A bunny metamorphosed into a fairy, and the Sabian symbol for Neptune is 23 Pisces, Spiritist Phenomena, which we sometimes see written as A materializing medium. Both of these talk about transformation on a spiritual level. And since it’s Venus involved, it says that part of the reward that we get from Venus’s square to Saturn at the beginning of the week is that then we get this lovely trine to Neptune, and after all the work is done, say in relating with somebody, then we get the beautiful unconditional regard of Neptune and a lovely healing in relationships.
Mercury trines Neptune on these same degrees on November 12th at 10:36 AM Pacific Time. So again, Mercury’s been having a little bit of a challenging time of it this week. It’s made the square to Saturn, it’s made the conjunction with the Sun, it’s in its invisible time when it makes this trine to Neptune. And I think the message I’m taking away from that is “Don’t try so hard to use the rational aspects of your mind. Give yourself plenty of dream time, plenty of time to sit and stare out the window and look at the birds and listen to music and really not think of too much because everything that Mercury is taking in during this time will then be metamorphosed or materialized into something beautiful”.
Venus sextile Pluto (Nov. 13, 2022, 1:41 am PST)
Finally, Venus makes a sextile aspect to Pluto this week on November 13th at01:41 AM Pacific Time, at 26°25’ minutes of Scorpio and Capricorn. Now, this is Venus coming off the October 19th square to Pluto, and it’s headed toward its next conjunction with Pluto, which is on December 31st. The square in the middle of October opened our eyes to the fact that something that we want might require us to accept help from somebody else. And now the sextile is going to give the opportunity the offer, a proposal to get you further along your path. Venus is on the Sabian symbol 27 Scorpio, A military band on the march, and Pluto is on 27 Capricorn, A mountain pilgrimage. So, this is the time when we can assemble the team that we need to help us on our march, maybe they even bring instruments and snappy costumes, and they can accompany us on our mountain pilgrimage as we march towards the next conjunction between Venus and Pluto on the last day of this year.
In this week’s listener question, listener Elliott – for whom I have great affection, which only begins with the fact that she spells her name as I do with two L’s and two T’s – left the following question on SpeakPipe.
Listener Elliott: Hi April, it’s Elliott again, the astrology question factory in human form. I have looked all over the internet for answers to this question and found a lot of conflicting information, so of course I like to go to my mega astrology mama, who is you to ask. But the question is, retrograde planets, they’re happening all the time, you know, some of the planets are retrograde half of the time it seems like. So, not only does that affect each person differently, but I personally, for example, have a lot of retrograde planets in my Natal Chart, everything except for Venus basically. And, as Mars goes retrograde, which is less common, I’ve just been curious about how people born with retrograde planets may feel retrograde transits differently than people with nonretrograde planets in their Natal Chart?
This was probably not phrased well, but I hope that it makes some level of sense and I know I’ve asked too many, too many, too many questions, but maybe you’ll kind of feel like answering it sometime. Thanks so much.
April: Well, that is a great question, Elliott. I’ll begin with an analogy, and it begins with the fact that I am a very introverted person and that I’ve worked hard to create a job for myself that allows me to work from home and to interact with other people only a few hours out of each day. Well, when the pandemic shut down came, and once I realized it wasn’t going to totally destroy my business, it actually became one of the most comfortable times of my life. I didn’t have to feel guilty about avoiding social engagements or any of the events that take so much out of an essentially shy person. Suddenly, everyone else was in the same boat as me, and I didn’t feel the pressure to keep up with all those outward facing, sociable people or to figure out how to say ‘No’ to things that I just didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to do.
I think the same is probably true of people who are born with retrograde planets when those planets are retrograde in the sky, I think we notice it more maybe with the faster moving planet, Mercury, Venus, Mars. But when I was teaching my very first students, I had several people in my class who were born with Mercury retrograde, and they struggled to pick up what I was putting down until Mercury would turn retrograde by transit and then, suddenly everything just fell into place for them. So, it wasn’t that they weren’t taking in the information, it’s that it took Mercury turning retrograde for everything to just get assimilated and to fall into place.
I think that retrograde planets in the birth chart show where we dance to our own drummer. We naturally perform the functions of those planets differently than is the norm. But at the same time, we have to figure out how to fit in enough to get along with the rest of society.
Mercury retrograde, people just plain learn and perceive information differently from the rest of us, and that has enormous value and strength. For one thing, people born with Mercury retrograde and seem to notice the things that nobody else notices, but it also means that there are little kids with Mercury retrograde who get bad marks in school because they need a different approach to learning than the other kids.
Mars in retrograde people would handle anger and new situations their own way, they work differently, they have their own unique approach to getting things done, but that also means that their employer might not see the best way to work with them and encourage them. But then every few months, in the case of Mercury and every couple of years in the case of Mars, everyone is having to figure out a different way to deal with Mercury or Mars. And the person who’s born with those planets retrograde kind of breathes the sigh of relief. Because suddenly, all their strengths come out and can be appreciated by those around them. They can almost be seen as leaders in the area of their retrograde planets.
Now, Elliott, as you noted, Jupiter and Saturn, and to a greater extent, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are retrograde for much of the year. And for that matter, as I often say, when one of them is stationing, we tend to notice it most on the day that they change direction. I was born with Jupiter and Saturn retrograde, and I don’t really notice a huge advantage for me or disadvantage when they are retrograde by transit. I will tell you though, that the years when those planets turned direct in my Secondary Progressed Chart, dramatic things happened for me. So, there definitely is something that happens there, or I wouldn’t see it in the progressions, but I guess probably I just haven’t paid enough attention in the transits.
Well, Elliott, thank you for the question. I hope that helps. I’m sure other very good astrologers see this differently or have different insights about it. This is just really from my own observations. And if you have any additional input on that, I hope that you’ll share it with me.
Donor Thanks
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