014 | Retrograde Minds, Cazimi Hearts, Can’t Lose

Is Mercury retrograde in Pisces making you fuzzy-headed and tongue-tied? Come and sit next to April & Jen, whose struggles to stay in a lane – any lane – this week will make you feel right at home. What this episode lacks in a major lunation and a Moonwatch theme, it makes up for with an overworked Aries Moon and a vintage movie intermission jingle that your mind will be singing all week long. Plus: a Sun/Mars/Node traffic jam, Venus faces off with Pluto, planetary rulerships, and a discussion of final dispositors that proves what we already knew: it all comes back to Saturn in the end. Please support the BSA podcast by making a contribution of any amount! April & Jen thank you. 😊 To join the podcast conversation and leave a comment for April & Jen, go to www.BigSkyAstroPod.com. Read more about this week’s astrology at the Big Sky Astrology website. Subscribe to the podcast and April's mailing list. Follow Big Sky Astrology on IG, Twitter, and FB @BigSkyAstrology Read a full transcript of this episode. Episode links: 02:30 – Mercury is still retrograde in Pisces! Are people born during times of Mercury retrograde less affected by it? 04:29 – If your Mars in Capricorn wants to get stuff done while Mercury is being retrograde-y, try starting your day with a list of your three "Most Important Tasks". 04:55 – Learn why April loves the numbers 5 and 8! 05:33 – Mercury joins up with the Sun (cazimi!) in an inferior conjunction on Feb. 25th at 7 degrees Pisces. Head over to Episode 8 for a refresher on the hazards of Mercury drinking the Sun’s Kool-Aid. 07:48 –When two planets come together, they begin a new cyclical dance. April and Jen talk about lunar cycles every week, of course, but the whole cosmos tangos to a similar rhythm. 10:33 – ** Moonwatch**! There are no major lunations this week, but keep an eye on the Moon as it moves through Aries (Feb. 25-27). Also, the Moon in Gemini opens a window on March 1 and airs things out a little bit. 13:41 – Thanks to April’s imaginative coda to last week’s stimulating conversation about her backyard gopher civilization, Jen now pictures the enterprising rodents sporting powdered wigs and brocade finery. 14:00 – The Sun sextiles Mars on Feb. 24, offering an opportunity to express yourself more fully and fearlessly. The Sun’s trine to the North Node, with Mars on the South Node (Feb. 25), asks: What’s holding you back from growth? Time to let that go, maybe. 16:59 – If you’re feeling self-critical and – oops! – lapse into negative self-talk, remember Jen’s household rule: Say three good things about yourself! 17:40 – Two meaningful quotes on anger that Jen likes: “I sat with my anger long enough, until she told me her name was grief” (unknown). And a second one, ascribed to Liza Palmer, “Angry is sad’s bodyguard.” And the Byron Katie book Jen recommends is Loving What Is. 18:32 – Early in the week, Mars passes over the degree of the Dec. 25 Solar Eclipse at 4 degrees Capricorn. April explains how fast-moving planets can act as “activation points” for prior eclipses. (Check out Episode 5, “Unboxing Eclipses,” to hear more about that Solar Eclipse, and eclipses in general.) 20:02 – Venus squares Pluto on Feb. 28th, when something that was conceived in mid-December (listen to Episode 3 for details) now demands action. Consider this the first intermission in a Venus/Pluto 4-act play - hum along as we go out to the lobby for a treat! 23:57 – Through the sorcery of planetary rulerships, Jen demonstrates that all the current transiting planets ultimately answer to either Saturn or Neptune. April makes the case for using traditional rulers instead and helps Jen understand what “final dispositors” are. (Aha! So THAT’S why Jen feels uber-Virgo sometimes!) And take a look at this free rulership handout that April created just for you! Yes, YOU! 26:05 – To hear mutual reception explained using a valiant but doomed housesitting analogy, lend your ears to Episode 4. 26:39 – A quick rundown o