This first episode of 2026 begins with a threshold.

Schyler shares what it means to quit a job on New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aquarius - a clean break under a sky that favors disruption, reinvention, and future-focused risk.

Then the timeline folds in on itself.

A weekend trip to a used game store with her 14 year old becomes an accidental excavation site. Consoles that once defined an era now sit behind glass like artifacts, right beside iPads, cell phones, and tons of PlayStation and Nintendo accessories. 

We revisit the original PlayStation and how Sony disrupted the industry with CD-based gaming, memory Cards, music playback and those SURREAL visualizers that turned your room into a digital lava lamp. 

There's a brief detour into Dinosaur Jr's album Where You Been, testing tracks through the console just to watch the graphics pulse and warp. A reminder that tech once felt experimental, tactile, and alive. 

We also explore:

• Eclipse Season, Memory Cards, & Pluto at 4° Aquarius
• Sony manufactures components and batteries for Nintendo cartridges before becoming a competitor.
• The acceleration of culture during Uranus in Aquarius (1995/96-2003.)
• Neptune entering Aquarius and the slow dissolve of physical media into digital space.
• Saturn in Aries 30 years ago and what it means to stumble across relics when cycles complete. 
• The Mercury Retrograde cycles of 2026 and why this cycle is structured around review, re-calibration, and re-orientation. 
• Pluto at 4° Aquarius, a degree tied to roots, memory, and emotional imprint, and why nostalgia feels collective right now.

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Some sound effects used in this episode are licensed under Creative Commons from Freesound.org. Thanks to creators Funky_Audio, JimPurbrick, Kinoton, and cabled_mess.

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Rhythms & Retrogrades is a podcast hosted by astrologer Schyler exploring the intersection of astrology, music history, & cultural cycles. Each episode looks at iconic musicians, historic moments in music & pop culture, and the planetary patterns shaping the eras that defined them.

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