This week, the Scorpio First Quarter Moon says “no” to intoxicated chickens; Mars finds its equilibrium between Jupiter and Saturn; Mercury Rx re-enters Leo and squares Uranus; Venus needs to check its spending as it squares Jupiter; and April tackles a couple of listener questions about fixed stars. Plus: A marital crown, Lincoln vs. Darwin, and Bon Jovi's brush with Algol!

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Timestamps: (full shownotes at website)

[1:09] Moon Report! The Scorpio First Quarter Moon (Aug. 12, 8:19 am PDT, 20º24’ Scorpio-Leo) is on the Sabian symbol 21 Scorpio, A soldier derelict in his duty, and the Sun is on 21 Leo, Chickens intoxicated. Take a stripped-down, focused action on those Leo New Moon intentions.

[3:25] This is the First Quarter in a lunar phase family cycle (LPFC) that began on Nov. 13, 2023, at the New Moon at 20º43’ Scorpio. The Full Moon in this LPFC comes on May 12, 2025, the Last Quarter on Feb. 9, 2026.

[4:50] Void-of-Course (VOC) Moon periods. On Aug. 13 (2:01 am PDT), the Moon in Scorpio trines Neptune. It's VOC for one hour and then enters Sagittarius (3:01 am PDT). If you are recognizing deception or trouble as it comes your way, that is a reward in and of itself.

[5:59] On Aug. 15 (9:52 am PDT), the Moon in Sagittarius trines Mercury in Leo. The Moon will be VOC for about an hour, then enters Capricorn (10:51 am PDT). This combination can help us get our point across to others by being imaginative, clever, and presenting things in an engaging way.

[7:03] On Aug. 17 (1:43 pm PDT), the Moon in Capricorn sextiles Neptune. It's VOC for about an hour, then enters Aquarius (2:44 pm PDT). Review habits and instigate new habits related to creating practical structures that guide intuition, creativity, and vision.

[7:45] Mars conjuncts Jupiter on Aug. 14 (8:21 am PDT, 16º40’ Gemini). Go ahead and multi-task but don’t give in to scattered thinking and actions.

[9:17] Mars squares Saturn at 17º42’ Gemini and Pisces on Aug. 15 (10:30 pm PDT). The Sabian symbol for Mars is 18 Gemini, Two Chinese men converse in their native tongue, while Saturn is on 18 Pisces, A gigantic tent. Making progress could be slow and full of obstacles but in the end, integrity and inclusivity are achieved.

[11:41] Mercury retrograde reenters Leo on Aug. 14 (5:15 pm PDT) and during this time it will be recovering the territory that it covered July 17-25. On Sep. 8, 2024, Mercury recovers this same territory again. Now is the time to get clarity on some projects that were dropped previously.

[12:29] Mercury retrograde squares Uranus (Aug. 18, 2:47 am PDT) at 27º10’ Leo and Taurus. Mercury is on Sabian symbol, Many little birds on a limb of a large tree. Think back to around July 21; if any technical or communicative issues were unresolved then, use this aspect to find a solution.

[13:58] Mercury conjuncts the Sun on Aug. 18 (6:58 pm PDT, 26º35’ Leo) on the Sabian symbol 27 Leo, Daybreak. When Mercury is about 17’ of arc within conjunction with the Sun, it's in a powerful condition called “cazimi.” At this conjunction, that's between about 3:30 pm and 10:45 pm PDT. If any communications or technical projects fell off the radar around July 22, use this cazimi period to tackle them.

[16:13] Venus squares Jupiter (Aug. 18, 10:53 pm PDT) at 17º21’ Virgo and Gemini. Do not write “big idea” checks that Venus in Virgo has to cash.

[18:05] Listeners Julie and Twirl ask questions about fixed stars, specifically Alphecca and Algol. April cites Bernadette Brady’ Brady’s Book of Fixed Stars, Reinhold Ebertin’s The Combination of Stellar Influences and Vivian Robson’s The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology.

[30:41] If you’d like to have a question answered on a future episode, leave a message of one minute or less at speakpipe.com/bigskyastrologypodcast or email april(at)bigskyastrology(dot)com; put “Podcast Question” in the subject line.

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