April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Feb 4, 2012, 12:34 pm
by April Elliott Kent Chalk it up to a Leo-heavy birth chart, or simple introversion: I tend to feel uncomfortable in a crowd. But when my progressed Moon passed through Aquarius a couple of years ago, I became downright gregarious. After years of dragging me kicking and screaming to social events,...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jan 22, 2012, 8:05 pm
by April Elliott Kent My friend Alice called me late last Friday afternoon. “I thought you’d be on your way to Happy Hour,” I said; it was her usual Friday post-work ritual to go for drinks with her co-workers. “Nah,” she said. “Ramona will be there.” Alice and Ramona had once been cl...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jan 11, 2012, 3:27 pm
by April Elliott Kent Confession: “No” is my first response to most new, unfamiliar, or spontaneous situations or suggestions. If the suggestion is, “April, please have some more Cheetos” – a snack I’ve enjoyed with regularity and satisfaction since birth – my reaction would be an ent...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jan 5, 2012, 10:35 pm
by April Elliott Kent It’s been a chilly holiday season here in San Diego. Not when compared to anyplace with real weather, of course, but the discomfort is real enough to us. Cold is a relative thing, and when a place that seldom sees daytime highs below 65 degrees experiences a string of days i...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Dec 21, 2011, 2:30 pm
It is Summer There. by April Elliott Kent My husband was born in the southern hemisphere, and the fact that their seasons are opposite ours has always fascinated me – stories of Christmas spent at the beach, for instance, as we might celebrate our major summer holiday, Independence Day. Ponderin...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Dec 8, 2011, 3:00 pm
by April Elliott Kent In Gemini, the Moon finds comfort in language – in the reassuring hum of parents’ voices down the hall as their children fall asleep; in the soothing mantra, the dog’s welcoming bark, delighted laughter, a favorite poem. Even, when the time comes, in the sensitive eulogy...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Nov 30, 2011, 5:20 pm
From my e-book “2011 Eclipses” Sabian Symbol for the Moon at 19 Gemini: In a museum a large archaic volume reveals a traditional wisdom. This lunar eclipse reflects many of the same issues as the solar eclipse two weeks ago – the square from the Sun and Moon to Mars, especially. We’re not ...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Nov 23, 2011, 12:33 pm
by April Elliott Kent This week’s Solar Eclipse at 2.37 Sagittarius falls less than one degree from my natal Ascendant. Eclipses tend to get feisty when they fall close to a critical point in your birth chart. No point is more critical than the Ascendant. It basically represents a collection of c...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Nov 22, 2011, 2:06 pm
I contributed a guest post on the November 24/25  Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius over at MoonCircles: Eclipses signal moments of transition, and often disorientation, when things are revealed to be other than what they had seemed. This week’s Solar Eclipse falls in Sagittarius, the sign of higher ...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Nov 18, 2011, 3:56 pm
From my e-book “2011 Eclipses” November 24, 2011 – Solar Eclipse at 2.37 Sagittarius Sabian Symbol: Two men playing chess The chart for this solar eclipse shows the New Moon eclipse point square Mars in Virgo and Neptune in late degrees of Aquarius, and trine Uranus. The best potential outco...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Nov 9, 2011, 8:38 am
by April Elliott Kent In a whimsically literal manifestation of this Full Moon’s Sabian Symbol, A newly formed continent is seen, fresh and green within its setting of interminable ocean, I just returned from a trip across the interminable Pacific to my husband’s native New Zealand, a fresh, gr...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Oct 24, 2011, 7:49 pm
by April Elliott Kent Oct. 24, 2011 – I’m getting ready to leave town and I’ve run out of time to put together something new for this Wednesday’s New Moon in Scorpio (3:56 p.m. Eastern time). So I offer one of my favorite pieces from the Big Sky Astrology Archives, originally published in 2...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Oct 20, 2011, 7:55 pm
by April Elliott Kent In early 2003 we bought a “new” car – a three year old Corolla.  Our other vehicles – a funky pickup truck and my dilapidated 1986 Corolla – were no longer serviceable for out of town junkets, so we reluctantly parted with enough cash to make a serious dent in our c...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Oct 8, 2011, 3:00 pm
In high school, I was a complete and utter coward. Overweight, brainy, too sensitive for my own good, I was a scared and vulnerable creature. Naturally, bullies lined up to take their shots. Physical education class in particular was a nightmare. One such class set the stage for what I remember as o...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Sep 26, 2011, 6:00 pm
by April Elliott Kent My current television obsession is Breaking Bad, the story of a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher who turns to manufacturing methamphetamine following a terminal cancer diagnosis. Underemployed, henpecked, and newly 50, Walter White soon finds within the world of ill...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Sep 16, 2011, 4:49 pm
The expression “rolling over in his/her grave” was simply made for a Pluto station*.  Pluto moved direct a couple of hours ago, and the day feels downright haunted. It’s as though Uranus, as part of their ongoing feud, has upturned some rather large Plutonian boulders, unearthing all the squi...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Sep 14, 2011, 10:37 am
This evening, Venus will enter Libra, one of the signs of her rulership. There she will reside, buffing her nails and daintily nibbling bon-bons, through October 8. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? The world swathed in silk, spiders spinning cotton candy webs, dogs and cats lying down together… right?...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Sep 10, 2011, 3:51 pm
My sister-in-law tells a story about the man her company hired to sweep the leaves outside their building. He spends most days dancing around the courtyard in a graceful pas de deux with his gas-powered leaf blower while recalcitrant leaves scurry around him. “He’s not very efficient,” she say...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Sep 2, 2011, 8:55 pm
In case you didn’t catch it in my most recent mailing, on Facebook, or on Twitter, I’m running a promotion in a gesture of blatant bribery to encourage reviews of my new book The Essential Guide to Practical Astrology. BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, read the details on this page! Basically, revie...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Aug 26, 2011, 11:45 am
by April Elliott Kent A client was expressing frustration over her untidy house and her struggle to manage the minutiae of her daily life more efficiently. Hearing Virgo and the sixth house in her statement, I summoned my Gemini moon for a lightning fast conference and calculated a response: “May...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Aug 24, 2011, 11:49 pm
Mars takes about two years to make a lap around the entire zodiac, spending roughly two months in each sign. It’s a nice, human-scale planetary cycle – less breathtakingly speedy than the Moon’s 28 day sprint, but not as tediously protracted as Saturn’s 29 year journey through the signs. In ...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Aug 12, 2011, 12:32 pm
by April Elliott Kent Who are “your people”? You recognize one another the moment you meet. They get your jokes. Your conversations have a cadence that is comfortable, familiar. Generally you share the same values, and probably the same politics. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve known each ...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jul 28, 2011, 5:29 pm
Next week, I’ll celebrate my 50th birthday. Isn’t that a sobering number? Perhaps it’s because I’m the youngest of my siblings, or because I haven’t had children of my own, but for whatever reason I find it difficult to relate to the idea of being middle-aged. In fact, let’s be honest: a...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jul 22, 2011, 12:25 pm
Astrologer Donna Cunningham Donna Cunningham is one of my favorite astrologers. Her books – especially “Healing Pluto Problems” and “Being a Lunar Type in a Solar World” – had a huge influence on me when I began studying astrology seriously and preparing to go pro. Her blog, Sky Writer,...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jul 12, 2011, 11:49 pm
by April Elliott Kent “I’m not here to say please. I’m here to tell you what to do.” ~ Mr. Wolf (Harvey Keitel), Pulp Fiction Jules and Vincent, professional hitmen, have a mess on their hands. They’ve accidentally shot someone in the backseat of Jules’ car, and they need to get rid o...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jul 8, 2011, 4:53 pm
You know, I’m fairly proud of my book The Essential Guide to Practical Astrology. On the other hand, it was written at a feverish pace and edited faster than my feeble brain could cogitate. When you’re working at that speed, mistakes get made. Errors of oversight are committed, bizarre leaps of ...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jun 30, 2011, 1:51 pm
by April Elliott Kent Painting "Potbelly" by Claudia Fernety www.claudiafernety.com July is the height of summer in the hemisphere I call home, a time when by all rights I should be yearning to hit the beach or the open highway. Yet it’s precisely this time each year when I want nothing more tha...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jun 24, 2011, 11:52 am
The Sabian Symbol for 10 Cancer, the degree of the upcoming Solar Eclipse (July 1), is, “A large diamond not completely carved.” The Sun and Moon in the eclipse chart are opposed Pluto and square Uranus and Saturn, so there’s plenty of pressure to go around… but it’s the kind of pressure t...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jun 21, 2011, 9:00 am
I pick up the phone to hear my sister’s voice in mid-reminiscence: “Hey, you know what I remembered today?” “What?” “Remember when we used to go to pick mom up from work, and we’d be sitting in the car waiting…and finally she’d come out, and as she was walking towards us, one of ...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jun 14, 2011, 12:15 am
As a young musician, I was afraid to take guitar or singing lessons for fear they would make me sound like everyone else. Later on, I taught myself astrology for 16 years before fate put me in the path of my teacher. And while I’m grateful for each and every editor I’ve ever worked with, I would...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jun 12, 2011, 3:00 pm
Here is what happens during a lunar eclipse: the Earth casts a shadow on the Moon, blocking it from reflecting the Sun’s light. How do you like that? Here’s the little Moon, furiously trying to find some light to bounce around, only to find there’s a big old ball of dirt in her way. Similarly...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Jun 8, 2011, 4:57 pm
On June 4, Jupiter entered Taurus for a nice, leisurely stay, until it enters Gemini on June 11, 2012. This time around (unlike his forays into the sign of the bull in 1988 and 1999/2000) Jupiter will remain in Taurus for a full, uninterrupted year, without retrograding into Aries or retrograding ba...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - May 31, 2011, 10:11 am
by April Elliott Kent An audio podcast of this essay is available here. I spent part of this beautiful Memorial Day afternoon lounging on the back patio, watching my husband put the finishing touches on some wind chimes he’s been working on for the past month. First he had to find the right size...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - May 20, 2011, 8:15 pm
The June 1 New Moon ushers in an unusually busy and intense eclipse season, with Solar Eclipses on June 1 and July 1 bookending a Lunar Eclipse on June 15. The astrology of eclipses emphasizes critical turning points and often-dramatic “moments of truth” connected to the houses and planets of y...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - May 15, 2011, 9:44 pm
by April Elliott Kent “Feeling resentful is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.” Quoted by actress Carrie Fisher in “Wishful Drinking” I’m not a good person. I mean, I’m not a bad person, exactly. But let’s face it: there’s some ugliness in here. I’m not a ...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - May 12, 2011, 12:56 pm
To celebrate 11 years of Big Sky Astrology, we’re sporting a brand new look! Huge thanks go to fabulous design diva Tzaddi Gordon of ThriveWire, for her creative inspiration, beautiful work, and patient professionalism. After 12 years as a confirmed do-it-myselfer (with an occasional assist from m...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - May 7, 2011, 6:16 pm
Years ago, I heard the wonderful Caroline Casey posit the theory that you can tell all about your mother, her mother, and basically your family’s entire matriarchal back story just by looking at the Moon in your own chart. A Moon with difficult aspects to other planets represents not just your own...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - May 2, 2011, 1:04 pm
NEW MOON IN TAURUS | May 2, 2011, 11:51 p.m. PDT | 2:51 a.m. EDT (May 3) When I was a kid, I always had a long list of things I wanted — but I rarely had any money with which to buy them. I spent hours roaming stores, coveting record albums, fancy stationery, crazy shoes, and astrology books. My ...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Apr 21, 2011, 6:48 pm
So here’s a classic Mercury retrograde anecdote. A few days ago an editor emailed me about a magazine piece I’d submitted. “The editor reviewing the piece said that what you’ve written doesn’t match the charts for the dates and times you provided,” the email read. “The problem seems t...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Apr 15, 2011, 11:16 am
Do I not effectually destroy my enemies, in making them my friends? – Sigismund, Roman Emperor Befriending the Enemy Astrologers are fond of observing that a Libra is nothing more than an Aries who’s been to charm school. Libra is every bit as determined as his fellow cardinal signs (Aries, Ca...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Apr 4, 2011, 3:02 pm
A client of mine who has Neptune in the 10th house is the owner of an optical business, and she recently decided it was time to transition into a more spiritual career direction. At first, I was puzzled at how Neptune in the 10th house managed to lead her into the world of eye charts and frame fitti...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Apr 1, 2011, 4:14 pm
»Photo by Andrew Cooper / Miramax Films – © 2004 Miramax Films. I’ve always been reasonably good at getting along with people – except when it comes to anything involving creative expression or “play.” For instance, do not engage me in games of any kind; I’m a poor sport at everythin...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Mar 30, 2011, 3:15 pm
Last December, Mercury turned retrograde at 6 Capricorn, near Pluto.  At the time, I wrote about Mercury drawing us into the “darker woods” of ugly truths about ourselves and our world. The work of self-examination we did then holds us in good stead today, as Mercury turns retrograde again. Thi...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Mar 20, 2011, 1:19 am
The potential for military conflict that I explored at the December 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse is unfolding exactly as expected: Eclipses bring matters to a turning point, whether they’re matters of love, loss, financial changes – or conflict…. (T)his eclipse degree is conjunct the fixed star Bete...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Mar 18, 2011, 8:23 pm
How Can I Help? Virgo insists on visible and measurable solutions. As a reader recently commented on my blog, “I have been feeling more political, and less inclined to believe that we can change the world for the better through ‘New Agey’ means.” I believe to some extent in the power of ritu...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Mar 14, 2011, 4:45 pm
First, Egypt. Then, Christchurch, and Libya. Now, Japan. The shocks are coming fast and furious, and now that Uranus, the Great Awakener, has entered Aries (March 11, 2011 - May 2018), we can reasonably expect to see more of the same - especially as Uranus begins its series of square aspects to Plut...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Mar 8, 2011, 1:18 pm
“I am totally stymied by cusps and interceptions,” confided a reader in a recent email. Let’s see if we can sort out this out for you, shall we? Cusps and Signs Part of the problem is the term cusp. Specifically, misuse of the term by people who greedily lay claim to two Sun signs.  You
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Mar 3, 2011, 6:15 pm
You can listen to an audio podcast of this post here. Evidently, recent research suggests that the happiest marriages are between people who are delusional about each other. I think there may be something to this theory. Happy couples are happy, I suspect, because each believes the other is enchanti...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Feb 28, 2011, 1:11 pm
We spent the last week transforming the front bedroom of the house – which had disintegrated into a cluttered, chaotic “catch all” -  into a guest room. My handy spouse repaired the stained glass windows, which were in desperate need of new latches and new seals, took apart the built-in bookc...
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April K. posted an article on Big Sky Astrology - Feb 18, 2011, 11:25 am
The other day I’m hiking around the World Famous San Diego Zoo (right? you folks in South Africa, weigh in: have you heard of this zoo? Is it really world famous?) and on my way to visit the lions I pass some bears. The weather’s nice, I’m in no particular hurry, and I haven’t really
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