Veronica Perretti [00:00:00]:
Welcome back to the Essential Astrocast. I am your host, Veronica Peretti, and I'm so happy to be back with you guys. I am recording this on Tuesday, August 13, and my hope is to get this up to you ASAP because we are getting ready to take a little trip upstate because this is one of the most intense weeks of astrology that we will have all year. If you remember my episode from a couple weeks ago when I got really in the weeds around July 21 when we had the last full moon and Joe Biden stepped down, we're gonna go into the weeds a little bit today, so bear with me. I'm really, I have a ton of notes here. I've really tried to whittle it down to the essence. So the reason I named this podcast the essential astrocast is my hope that I can make the astrology really approachable and accessible to people that may not understand astrology too well or know how to look at a chart or maybe won't ever want to look at a chart. And that's why it's the essential astrocast.

Veronica Perretti [00:01:15]:
I'm hoping to give you what is essential, what is the essence. And so I always try to do that. So I don't like to go in the weeds, although I have gotten reports back from some of you that you like the weeds, but we'll try to keep it as clear as possible today. Please know that there is a lot of challenging stuff coming up, and it's really all coming to a crescendo with this full moon on August 19. So I could go through and piece out what's happening each day. But many of you know that I often say astrology is not black and white, it's shades of gray. So you're not going to feel Mars conjunct Jupiter just on Wednesday, August 14. That's something that you're already feeling, and you might continue to feel, or I know you will continue to feel as we move toward the full moon.

Veronica Perretti [00:02:11]:
So because so many planetary transits are happening, meaning so many planets are talking to each other at the same time, it's absolutely impossible for us to say, well, that Mars conjunction to Jupiter is exactly why I was feeling super confident and so awesome that day. We just don't know. There's so much going on. Hard to pinpoint. And mind you, the planets are not the only thing going on. You have your own life. You have your own experiences. You have your own family pulling at you or friends with crises going on.

Veronica Perretti [00:02:52]:
So how you're feeling is not simply what's going on in the sky. But of course, the sky, the heavens offer us a mirror, and that mirror shows us the patterns and the cycles that we're living through. And we often find comfort in allowing those cycles and patterns to give us a structure and a container to create meaning for our own lives. So I'm not going to get too into this is happening this day and that's happening that day. I'm going to really try to give you the overall essence so that you can hopefully use this in some sort of practical way. And right out the gate, there is so much chaotic energy over the next seven days, or really less than seven days. But the next week, I would be willing to bet my life that there's gonna be some work crisis and he's gonna be answering calls while we're away. And I would guarantee that there's gonna be some snafu, some kerfuffle because we're in mercury retrograde.

Veronica Perretti [00:04:00]:
The best thing we can do is make sure that we're getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, eating enough meals throughout the day so that we can be ready and have our calmest, coolest head when the chaos crops up. That is my best advice to you. This isn't a week of astrology where I'm going to say, harness that energy and go make it happen, or I blah, blah, blah. We are all going to be on the roller coaster. So buckle up. Make sure that you do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Let this be a time to ride the waves of energy instead of pushing your own agenda. So I'm going to repeat that because it's important.

Veronica Perretti [00:04:54]:
Let this be a time to ride the waves of energy instead of pushing your own agenda, because there's so much energy that your agenda is no match for this astrological energy. So with that, we're leading up to this full moon. So the last full moon we had, remember, it was that 29 degree Capricorn full moon on July 21 when Joe Biden stepped down. We're going to get into politics today because this full moon is, in a lot of ways a repeat of that full moon on July 21, which basically opened the floodgates to a ton of emotion and excitement and confusion, but then clarity and that energy that we felt that week after that full moon, I think it's going to be similar to how things feel. Even though the circumstances are going to be different, it's going to be that similar feeling where the tempo is just so fast and so furious and we're trying to keep up so there are two t squares in the sky that are forming, and t squares are the two planets in opposition to one another. So that's a push pull energy, and then they're each squaring a planet. And that planet that's being squared is the focal planet of the t square. They're going to cause friction.

Veronica Perretti [00:06:28]:
They're going to force change. They're going to force you to take action. Squares in general are some of the hardest aspects in astrology. We experience them frequently, and they always are an impetus for change or taking action. But the good thing about that is that they offer a lot of potential for growth. So we are going to have a lot of potential to grow this week, a lot of potential to push beyond the boundaries of what we thought were possible, especially because Jupiter is a big part of what's going on this week. And Jupiter is always about not only our faith and belief in a higher power, but also our faith and belief in ourselves. So pretty much the whole gang in the sky, all the main characters in the sky, all the planets that I frequently talk about are in this mix.

Veronica Perretti [00:07:25]:
I would say it would be a shorter list to tell you who's not in the mix, and really, everybody else is in the mix. So there's two t squares forming one t square. The one that I would say is, if I had to choose which one was more important, I would probably say Venus in Virgo, opposite Saturn in Pisces. They are both squaring Mars and Jupiter in Gemini. So that's right. Mars and Jupiter are conjoining. They're joining forces. So when planets come together, they join forces and they operate as one.

Veronica Perretti [00:08:03]:
When Mars and Jupiter come together, that generally gives us a sense of, I can do anything. I can take on the world. Don't tell me no. Because Jupiter amplifies that Mars desire to go, go, go. The problem is that that Mars Jupiter energy of I can do it all is squaring Saturn and Mars Square. Saturn often feels like you're driving and you're like, why isn't this car going faster? And it's because you have the parking brake stuck on. So it can kind of feel like you're driving with the brake on, and it doesn't feel good because you have this intention of, I'm going to go out there, I'm going, I'm doing my errands. I'm going to make it happen.

Veronica Perretti [00:08:44]:
I have a plan. I got a list. And the universe is like, oh, nope, nope, better slow it down. And that is what Saturn brings to that it's not just affecting your motivation to maybe go work out or do your work. It's also affecting your relationships. And Venus, opposite Saturn, can have that energy of, you know, feeling like you are perhaps a little bit restricted in your relationship, or maybe you're feeling restricted when it comes to money. You're just not going to have a lot of motivation with Saturn in the mix to handle stuff, you know? Now, what's interesting in this whole thing is that Venus is also squaring Jupiter. And those are our two benefics.

Veronica Perretti [00:09:35]:
Those are the two planets that we always love to see. And when they square one another, it's probably the easiest square we experience. But we're not going to have that lightheartedness this time because of Mars and Saturn being involved. So we're missing out on it because usually Jupiter and Venus in a square is fun. It's light. It's like, let's go take a hike somewhere that we've never gone before. Let's jump in the car and just do something fun and pick up our friends on the way. You know, it's not going to be that.

Veronica Perretti [00:10:06]:
It's an intensity because all of these planets are involved at the same time and parsing out each of these little aspects and each of these little transits and saying, this is this and that is that. It's so hard to do because there's so much happening at the same time and because all of it is coming to this peak with the full moon. So, yes, the Mars Jupiter conjunction is happening on the 14th, but it's still going to be in the air on the 19th. When we have the full moon, it's not like we're getting one transit. It's fading into the background, and now we're getting the next transit. They're all really working together. So that's the one t square that we've got going on. And that one is.

Veronica Perretti [00:10:51]:
I say it's not necessarily more important, but I would say we're probably feeling it for a longer period of time because all of those planets are going to move slowly lower. The other t square, that is really a part of what this chaos is, is really the one bring in the actual chaos. And that's because while the focal point of that other t square is Mars and Jupiter coming together in Gemini, the focal point of the other t square is Uranus in Taurus. And the full moon is really going to amplify and illuminate this. It's going to create a t square with the mercury square, Uranus. Now, if you're saying to me, or saying to yourself, while I'm talking to you in your, you know, Airpods, Veronica, that mercury square Uranus sounds very familiar. Have we talked about that recently? Well, why, yes, we have indeed. Back on July 21, we had Mercury Square Uranus the last time we had a full moon.

Veronica Perretti [00:12:02]:
That was the same time that Joe Biden stepped down. So at the time, I told you, pay attention. Pay attention. You want to keep your eye on August 18 and September 6. Mercury Square Uranus is the writer of this story that we're seeing play out collectively on the political stage in the United States and probably elsewhere. But I am certainly not an expert on what's going on elsewhere. Politically, I can only speak to what's going on here in the states where I live. But I will say that this Mercury square Uranus is really has its stamp on everything that's happening, partially because it is so prominent in the charts of both Kamala and Donald, and also for Joe Biden as well.

Veronica Perretti [00:12:57]:
So all three of them had their charts, as I say, lit up by that Mercury Square Uranus, meaning that what was going on in the sky was directly impacting what was going on in their charts. And those three people, Joe Biden, Kamala, and Donald, all have this Mercury square Uranus in their chart, talking to their natal planets. So that second t square, that really gives us this feeling of action. Chaos. The ground is shifting beneath my feet. It is Mercury squaring Uranus. And then the sun and Mercury are coming together opposite the moon in Aquarius. So Mercury and the sun are joining together.

Veronica Perretti [00:13:48]:
What does that mean? It's a Mercury cazemi. So guess what? This is some good news. On Sunday, the 18 August, we are midway through our Mercury retrograde. So I'm sure you don't need me to tell you Mercury is retrograde. This one has been pretty intense. I don't know if my experience is more intense than other people's experience because it's stationed on my natal moon. That's an example of astrology in the sky lighting up your chart. So it's been pretty intense for me, and it's been intense on a more emotional level, which makes sense because it's on my moon rather than technologically or logistically, although I have noticed some of those things as well.

Veronica Perretti [00:14:31]:
Mercury square Uranus is really tough because they're the two planets that co rule the nervous system. So we usually, those of us who have a tendency toward anxiety, are going to feel a little more anxious when Mercury squares Uranus. But they're also movers and shakers. Mercury is the planet that's flitting across the sky, delivering messages, taking a message from Mars and delivering it to Venus and taking it back to the sun. Because he moves so close to the sun and moves quickly and he retrogrades three or four times a year. You can think of Mercury as this planet that's flitting across the sky and delivering messages to all the planets. And Uranus is this energy of this planet who spins on its side. It wants to do things a little bit differently than everyone else.

Veronica Perretti [00:15:21]:
He always wants to be the shaker upper, and he doesn't really care if he shakes things up for good or bad. He's just there to bring the drama. I like to say he's your favorite real housewife. Whether you like her or don't like her, she always keeps the storyline going. And so that's the essence of Uranus. When these two planets square one another, there's a feeling of, oh, the tempo of life just picked up. Everything feels a little bit busier, everything feels a little bit crazier, everything feels a little more chaotic, maybe feel like I can't stay on top of my schedule. Maybe I feel like just little nuisances keep getting in my path.

Veronica Perretti [00:16:06]:
Someone told me that the appointment was on Tuesday, but it really is on Thursday. It can feel a little Mercury retrograde ish, which we're already in, so it's going to amp that up. The thing with a Mercury cazemi is that generally it is a point of absolute clarity amidst the chaos, because the Mercury cazimi means that the planet is entering the heart of the sun. When a planet enters the heart of the sun, it is purified. It's like having, you know, if you go and you go to a sound bath and you just feel like you come out and you can think really clearly, you don't have all that. It's like the gong just, like, gonged out all your worries. That's kind of what Mercury going into the heart of the sun feels like. He's purified.

Veronica Perretti [00:16:53]:
And now your mind can kind of think more clearly where it felt really muddled and foggy and doubtful and unsure before that entrance into the heart of the sun. But of course, we are excited for that mercury cazimi, and we welcome that clarity and we hope it clears up some of the chaos. But we have Mercury square Uranus the same day. So I don't know what Sunday is going to feel like, but my guess is it's going to be a mixed bag. And that's all of this. Astrology tells me it's going to be astrological whiplash. One moment, you're probably going to be like, wow, that was such great luck that I ran into this person, and they had this perfect opportunity for me. Or the next minute, you're like, oh, my God, my car just broke down.

Veronica Perretti [00:17:46]:
You know, it's that feeling of astrological whiplash. We might be experiencing that with all of this energy moving in so many different directions. Sunday, we have that mercury Cazimi. The mercury Cazimi is right before the full moon on Monday. So you can think of a triangle, and you've got the sun and mercury together in Leo, opposite the moon in Aquarius. And then both of them are creating those last two legs of the triangle pointing to Uranus in Taurus. So that's the chaos factor. Mercury Square Uranus is writing this story that we're seeing play out in the collective politically.

Veronica Perretti [00:18:33]:
And because mercury stationing in Virgo and retrograding back into Leo, we're having it recur. Right, mercury went back into Leo, or will on Wednesday the 14th. I'm recording this on the 13th, and then we'll repeat that square to Uranus in pretty much the exact spot where it occurred last time on July 21. So this really is a repeat with the last full moon. Four weeks ago, we had Mercury square Uranus at, I think it was 26 degrees. And now we're having mercury square Uranus at, I think, 27 degrees. So pretty much, you know, same same. So pay attention.

Veronica Perretti [00:19:25]:
What was going on for you in mid July when all of that was going on? Biden was stepping down. What was going on for you personally? You're going to have a revisit with some of that stuff, and you have an opportunity to edit it, revise it, reflect upon it, and maybe clear it up, maybe find some clarity with that mercury cazemi. Okay, I want to just finish up talking about the mercury square Uranus, which I know I said, I think the first one is more important, but that mercury square Uranus, I don't know. It's pretty important. Mercury square Uranus happened on July 21. It's happening on August 18. Now, what's August 18? So we're going to get into a little politics now. What's August 18? It is the eve of the democratic National Convention.

Veronica Perretti [00:20:12]:
So remember, we had Mars conjunct Uranus on the 17 July. That was the beginning of the Republican National Convention. And we all thought, hmm, I know it feels like a lifetime ago. We all thought as, wow, something's gonna happen, because that's happening. That conjunction's happening at the top of Trump's chart. Something's gonna happen at that convention. And then what happened just two days prior, he had the assassination attempt. So that Mars Uranus conjunction really kicked off some chaos.

Veronica Perretti [00:20:57]:
And then Mercury has been squaring Uranus, continuing this feeling of chaos, because then we had mercury square Uranus, and it's like, oh, my gosh, now Joe Biden steps down. That was the first one. So now we got the second one coming on the 21st, and guess what, or, I'm sorry, the 19th. And so guess what the 19th does. The 19th is the democratic national convention. So the first one happens at the beginning of the republican convention, second one occurring the day before the democratic convention. And the third one, you cannot make this stuff up. Astrology is.

Veronica Perretti [00:21:41]:
It's so crazy. I thought to myself, self, when does early voting start? Because it's gotta have something to do with this. Mercury Square Uranus. And today I opened my phone, and I'm looking at the New York Times app, and it has a whole thing about the calendar of the election. And the first mail in ballots get mailed out on September 6 on the third and final Mercury square Uranus. So there you go. Mercury square Uranus, fingerprints all over the selection cycle. So the other thing that is part of these t squares, and what I wanted to mention that is really important is Jupiter squaring Saturn.

Veronica Perretti [00:22:38]:
So Jupiter is the planet of our faith. Remember I said earlier in the podcast, our faith, not only in a higher power, but our faith in ourself, our own beliefs. Jupiter squaring Saturn is one of the most important transits of the year, because Jupiter and Saturn, they do this 20 year dance. So back in 2020, remember those good old days of 2020, in December of 2020, you may remember there were a few nights where you were able to see with your naked eye Jupiter and Saturn very close together in the sky. And at the time, there were a lot of news articles about that being the star of Bethlehem. It's the first time in hundreds of years that it had happened, and it was the first time since 1400 and something that the Jupiter and Uranus conjunction, or this star of Bethlehem was happening so close to earth. And all of that was true, and all of that was very exciting. I don't remember the details.

Veronica Perretti [00:23:48]:
I could go back in my notes and find it. But the point is that we had this conjunction, December 2020. You might remember me talking about it, or other astrologers talking about it, or even if you weren't into astrology yet, you might remember articles around Christmas about the being able to see the star of Bethlehem because they believe that possibly that was the star that suppose the wise men were following to find the baby Jesus, which is, you know, a story in the Bible. And it's cool. I mean, here's the thing. I think stories and rituals and traditions are cool. Whether or not they're true. They give us ways to access meaning in our own life, just like the astrology does, right? So I'm down for all of that.

Veronica Perretti [00:24:35]:
I had posted something about Lionsgate not being astrology last week on instagram, and someone was like, oh, it is da da da da. It's the lining up of Sirius, the fixed star, and blah, blah, blah. It helps you find meaning and create meaning in your own life. Then it's powerful, and that's. That's what's important. So, okay, here we go. Jupiter Square, Saturn. This is super important because it's the opening square of that conjunction.

Veronica Perretti [00:25:04]:
That conjunction is called the great conjunction because it's one of the most important transits that we experience in our life. It's really cool if you find someone with a birth chart or if you yourself were born under that conjunction, because it only happens every 20 years. So Jupiter and Saturn come together, and we get to watch those 20 year cycles, and we call it the great conjunction. Jupiter and Saturn are very different. Jupiter likes to amplify and expand things. Saturn likes to restrict and create boundaries. But when they come together, there's a little bit of magic in that, because when they come together, there's an opportunity for great progress. For 200 years, this is something you would have heard me talk about in 2020.

Veronica Perretti [00:25:50]:
For 200 years, we have had those conjunctions occur in earth signs. In the past 200 years, we've seen a lot of growth and progress in the material realm. And for the next 200 years, we will have those conjunctions occurring in air signs. And there was a little blip. In 1981, we had the conjunction occur in Libra. And then in 2020, it occurred at zero degrees, Aquarius. So this was not just, oh, it's occurring in earth signs. It is occurring at zero degrees of the fixed air sign.

Veronica Perretti [00:26:34]:
One might say the areast of the air signs, because it is zero degrees of the fixed air sign. Aquarius is about change. Aquarius is about the future. It's about technology. It is about the humanity groups, how we are socially, how we are as a people, not as individuals. It is the essence of change for this conjunction to have occurred at zero degrees Aquarius. And we all probably had big expectations or hopes for some big change with that conjunction at zero degrees Aquarius. And of course, we did remember, we had already elected Joe Biden, and then we had the big lie playing out, and then we got to January 2021, and January 6 happened, and so we had the insurrection on January 6, 2021.

Veronica Perretti [00:27:38]:
So indeed, we have experienced a whole lot of change, but it's been intense and it's been a lot of change. So while it may not have been the change that we wanted to see, change has certainly come. And Jupiter Saturn conjoining in air signs and playing out this story for the next 200 years, it's going to transition us into a world of air qualities, being more dominant, you know, thoughts, ideas, information, technology. And in this time, we've seen AI take off. So we have seen changes and we have seen progress. Does that mean that these things are flawless? No. Progress is not necessarily always what we want to see or even good. But all of that is to say that we've seen Jupiter Saturn playing out, and now this is the opening square.

Veronica Perretti [00:28:37]:
We are a quarter of the way into this, this 20 year cycle of Jupiter at Saturn. So this is one of the most important things to happen all year. And because of all this chaos, it might get lost. Because of all this energy that's being moved by Mercury and Uranus and the full moon, you might lose this. But that's why I wanted to take a few moments to really dive into that. And I know we're at 34 minutes, so I want to really try to get us out of here in, you know, under 45. So let me try to wrap it up and land this plane. All of this is coming together and coming to a crescendo.

Veronica Perretti [00:29:11]:
As I said earlier, with the full moon, you personally want to look back to December 2020 and think to yourself, what was going on at that time? What seeds was I planting? How are they evolving? How are they changing? How have I progressed? And remember, progress, it's not always linear. There are going to be moments where you go up and you go down and you go up and you go down. If I look in my own life, December 2020, I'm an entirely different person now. And obviously there's lots of other transits and things happening in my chart that have spearheaded that change. But, you know, a lot has happened in that time, and a lot of shifts have taken place. And so this Jupiter square Saturn gives us an opportunity to reflect on that and say, okay, how is that evolving now I'm seeing the shoots and leaves coming out of the ground of whatever you planted in late 2020. And how is it evolving? Do I need to water it a little bit? Do I need to put a little miracle grow on these seeds on these plants? Do I need to just weed them? Do I need to just rip them up and start over? You know, just look to how you're tending to whatever you started at that time in your life. This is going to be happening at 17 degrees Gemini and 17 degrees Pisces.

Veronica Perretti [00:30:34]:
So it's mutable. So that means that you have the really good opportunity to change the course if you don't like the way it's going, because mutable signs allow us to be adaptable and shift. And that is one of the things I wanted to say about this week in general, you know, being flexible and adaptable is really going to help with all of this energy this week. So the full moon is on Monday, and it is going to be at 27 degrees Aquarius. And that is a pretty big deal because it is actually, well, it's going to be playing into a lot of things going on politically. So first and foremost, the full moon will take place on the moon, the natal moon of the chart of the USA. So it is a pretty profound full moon for our chart as a country, because our country has a chart that we use for July 4, 1776, and we'll also be in our Mars return. So that Jupiter Mars conjunction is going to be playing into the Mars return of us.

Veronica Perretti [00:31:43]:
So anyway, all that is to say that this is certainly having an impact on the US, but it's also having an impact on our candidates. So Kamala Harris, we have her with that. She's a 27 degree Aries natal moon. So this full moon is going to be trining her moon, which is nice. I would say she's kind of winning in terms of these transits. And the actual full moon is sitting on her Saturn. Her Saturn's an Aquarius, and it's at the very top of her chart. So Saturn being at the top of the chart, it's taking on responsibilities in the world.

Veronica Perretti [00:32:18]:
It is stepping into responsibilities, stepping into the next chapter, and that's being illuminated for her. She had her Saturn return. Was it like two, two years ago? So her Saturn return was shortly after she was named VP, maybe even around when she was named VP. That was certainly her Saturn return. And now the full moon is illuminating that Saturn, so just illuminating her role in the world and her responsibilities, because Saturn lives at the very top of her chart and the top of our chart is the legacy that we leave behind and what were our destiny. Donald has the full moon conjunct his natal Mars at 26 degrees Leo, and his ascendant at 29 degrees Leo. So if you've looked at his chart before, you may have heard that his rising sign is 29 degrees Leo, which is where the fixed star Regulus is, and that is the star of that is often associated with the rise and fall of kings. So you know he's risen.

Veronica Perretti [00:33:30]:
Only one way to go from up is down. So that is interesting that this full moon will be illuminating his Mars and it is ascendant. And then JD Vance also has his ascendant is very close to Donald Trump's. So JD Vance is ascendant is 27 degrees Leo. He is a sun in Leo, he's a Venus in Leo, he's a lot of Leo. And his ascendant is in Leo at 27 degrees conjunct Donald Trump's Mars and ascendant. So JD Vance is also getting this full moon on his ascendant. So both Donald and JD Vance are being illuminated as individuals because it's their ascendant, it's their self that'll be really interesting to watch as well.

Veronica Perretti [00:34:13]:
I think that's it. I think I've done enough. I hope that this was illuminating, interesting, and I wasn't in the weeds too much. I think the most important thing for you to take away from this episode is deep breaths, get enough sleep, drink enough water, take care of yourself, eat full, nutritious meals so that you can keep a cool head and you are not hangry when things don't go your way. And being adaptable and flexible and maintaining an adaptable and a flexible mindset is going to be really helpful this week. And if you can help yourself by keeping your schedule a little bit light and your expectations low, that will also help. So I am going to sign off and my cat wants my attention, so I definitely need to sign off. I'll talk to you then.

Veronica Perretti [00:35:03]:
Bye.