Eclipse Season: the Beautiful, the Electrifying, the Terrifying with Caitlyn Rack & Stefanie Sundara

In Episode 3: Justin invites friends Caitlyn and Stefanie onto the show to discuss the current Eclipse Season we find ourselves in this April-May of 2022. (April 30th Solar Eclipse in Taurus and May 16th Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio). 

The episode title here is a tad dramatic to poke fun at the way we perceive eclipse season in this modern meme-filled world. Caitlyn and Stefanie both are pros with the Taurus/Scorpio vibes and it shows in their way of beautifully explaining these archetypes on a cosmic and personal-energetic level. Tune in to find out more about eclipses, this specific eclipse season, and how to work with these high-energy and somewhat intense times on a practical level. We discuss our own personal experiences with eclipses of the past, and forecast how we think these eclipses might show up for us all - while leaving room for the unexpected. We even included some oracle card pulls and astro-dice rolls for all 12 rising signs to divine a message specifically for you. Enjoy!

-----

Links:
Justin’s Website
Book A Reading with Justin
EXTRASENSORY Workshop: a personal guide to the eclipses in Taurus and Scorpio
Stefanie Sundara’s Website
Stefanie Sundara's Instagram
Book an Integrative Counseling Session with Stefanie
Caitlyn Rack's Website (Funky Fae Art)
Caitlyn Rack's Instagram

Special thanks to Bluetech for allowing use of his song ‘Honey in the Heart’ for intro/outro music:
Link to Bluetech's Bandcamp

Transcript

Justin Plunkett:
Hello! Welcome back to Nectar of the Heart podcast. 

So, we're in eclipse season! We have an eclipse coming up on Saturday, April 30th, and then one more eclipse coming up May 16, which is a Monday, I think. I have two really awesome friends on for this episode to talk about the eclipses. In true Scorpio (♏︎) fashion, we went super deep, and talked about it all: all the feels, all the ways that it can show up. The episode title for this episode is kind of a little bit of a joke, like, and we talk about it throughout the episode of why it's not something to fear, but just something to work with, something to accept, and surrender to. So, yeah, if you like what you hear, you could also always buy the extra sensory workshop that Stefanie and I did a few months ago about this entire Taurus (♉︎) and Scorpio (♏︎) eclipse cycle that's going to be lasting until mid-2023. That's available on my website and on Stefanie's, and those will be in the show notes. You can always book a reading with me or with Stefanie. Caitlyn's on a little bit of a hiatus right now from readings, as you'll hear in the episode, but all of the links to find them will be in the show notes and – really excited for you all to hear this episode and to learn a little bit more about the eclipses and how to work with them. So without further ado, let's get into it.

Hello hello, friends! Welcome to the show! So excited to have both of you here. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Hi, thanks for having me!

Justin Plunkett:
Of course!

Caitlyn Rack:
Hello! Yes, thank you! 

Justin Plunkett:
Both of you: I just had to have you both on for this because, Stefanie, you and I did the workshop together about this eclipse cycle. Caitlyn, you are you have your nodes in Taurus (♉︎) and Scorpio (♏︎), and I feel like both of you have been instrumental parts of, like, my Astro-growth in general and, like, people that are, like, sounding boards. Like, we can bounce ideas off of each other and be like, “What do you think this transit means? What about this aspect?” So it just felt really good to have you both here. Before we get into it, yeah, let's just go ahead and give you both a chance to introduce yourselves in whatever way feels best. Anybody want to go first?... Okay, I'll pick one of you. Caitlyn, you can go first. 

Caitlyn Rack:
All right. Hi, I'm Caitlyn. I'm a queer artist and astrologer. I integrate both in my practice a lot. Yeah, and I'm just really happy to be here, really happy to talk about this specific time. It's very relevant to me right now. It's going to be super fun. 

Justin Plunkett:
Tell us a little bit more. Why is it so relevant? 

Caitlyn Rack:
A little bit more, okay, well… It's relevant because I just today reached full term in my pregnancy. My first pregnancy, 37 weeks, and me and my first child are going to have opposite nodes. So my nodes are in North Node (☊) Scorpio (♏︎), south node Taurus (♉︎). And then this cycle around the due date, North Node (☊) Scorpio (♏︎) or north node Taurus (♉︎)? South Node (☋). Scorpio (♏︎). So we're going to have this little dynamic going on between me and their charts, even though I don't know the rest of their chart yet. Obviously, it's just a thing I found out as soon as I found out I was expecting, so I've always been super intrigued by that specific thing. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, it's like the eclipses are coming and you're about to birth something huge, like metaphorically, 

Caitlyn Rack:
My due date, quote, unquote, it's a guess date, right? But, “due date” is on the Scorpio (♏︎) eclipse in May. 

Justin Plunkett:
Very fitting.

[5:20]

Stefanie Sundara: 
Yeah! This is amazing, by the way. I feel like the field is already so magical just being in the presence of someone who's birthing life. I don't think we think about how incredible that is. Hi, I am Stefanie Sundara. I am an integrative counselor. I counsel people along the lines of the mental health field and mood disorders, and I also integrate astrology and spirituality and Akashic perspective within that process. I'm also a bruja – I identify as being really connected to the Earth and its cycles and just the cyclical nature of living. Of composting and death, and the rise back up and rebirth and then full life and what vitality means. So those are things very alive for me, usually. And yeah, it's an honor to be here with you both. 

Justin Plunkett:
Thank you. I love that. Just right out the gate, so Scorpio (♏︎). 

Caitlyn Rack:
I love that. 

Stefanie Sundara:
I have Jupiter (♃) in Scorpio (♏︎) too, by the way. So, yeah, it's a teacher for me. 

Justin Plunkett:
Love it. 

Caitlyn Rack:
I love that. 

Justin Plunkett:
Jupiter (♃) and Leo (♌). So another fixed Jupiter (♃). 

Stefanie Sundara:
Oh, wow! 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, we're all fixed Jupiter (♃)s here. 

Stefanie Sundara:
What are you Caitlyn, what is your Jupiter (♃) in? Oh: Scorpio (♏︎)? 

Caitlyn Rack:
Scorpio (♏︎), yes, as well. Definitely resonating with the composting, death, rebirth. I've always been very into that alchemical, transmutational process. It's very big in like, the type of art I make. Actually, it's kind of funny, because of my pregnancy, I haven't been able to shed my cycle. And that's a big piece of like – I do paintings with my menstrual blood and take photos of them and then they change so the photo looks bright red and fresh, and then over time, it sort of changes, becomes a different thing, and just in general, just like this raw power, internal energy is a really big catalyst for my artwork and teacher of what my astrology practice sort of like, flows into/gears towards. So, very… I resonate a lot with that. 

Stefanie Sundara:
That's incredible. 

Justin Plunkett:
Those paintings are gorgeous. And right before you said that, I was like, oh my gosh, yeah, you haven't been able to do any of those paintings in a while. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, my last one was in August. I was like, “Oh, no!” But at the same time it's sweet 

Justin Plunkett:
And like, didn't you – you did a painting, I don't know if it was one of the blood paintings or not – but I remember when we were talking about it after you found out you were pregnant that there was, like, a painting that you did of kind of like an embryo and this, like, teardrop or something like that, right? 

Caitlyn Rack:
Oh, yeah. That wasn't a blood painting, but it was the first painting I did when I had got with my partner, who I'm still with now. And then we're having our first child. We had, like, a really intense, spiritual, kind of dream-like experience together, and then kind of continued on. In my actual dreamland, I woke up one day kind of, like, just realizing that there was, like, this entity, this spirit that was floating around us as a couple, as a concept, that if we were to be (this is within the first year of our relationship) being serious, it's like, we're both serious about this. This could be, like it could birth a person. A soul could come through this. So then I painted it as, like, this conceptual, um… it's like a blue baby, blue embryo baby. And it's got, like, a little sprout coming out of its forehead, and it's, like, coming out of this almost, like, kind of vaginal-ish-esque opening, but it's within the cosmos. It's like a space painting: Moon and stuff. So that's been my favorite painting, but it's definitely, like, one of my favorite paintings, kind of guiding my whole thing. And now it's more relevant than ever because now it's, like, becoming a reality. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Real, yeah! Wow…Spirit baby. Your spirit baby came to you... 


Caitlyn Rack:
Yes. They were in my dreams for a very long time. Very long time. Talking and saying all sorts of things. 

[10:35]

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. And just, like, the fact that you weren't closed off to the idea, you weren't gripping onto the idea, you were just like, “Okay, this could be a thing.” I feel like that's part of fertility journeys in general is kind of just, like, just allowing the process to happen, if that's, like, what's aligned. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Mmhm, yes, definitely. Very non-attached. At first, I was very nervous, very scared, but I didn't push it away. That was a big piece of it was like, “Okay, I don't want to fear this. Don't want to fear this process, don't want to fear this idea.” But also, at the same time, expand myself and expand the relationship and the foundations to just allow for that reality, that potential, that however way that reality could branch off to ground itself in this reality. 

Justin Plunkett:
Mm. Wow.

Stefanie Sundara:
Wow. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah.

Stefanie Sundara:
Just, wow…

Caitlyn Rack:
It took a few years. That was 2015, I think, when I made that started that whole process. And now it’s 2022. 

Stefanie Sundara:
That is so symbolic for, like… I feel like I could feel how you opened your channel, how you opened up to this… yeah, like, this Akashic potential, this Akashic imprint that was coming through as you were in a union and creating this creative force field with someone else. And then this creative potential coming through and you giving room and release of judgment for whatever it was to come through, and it was so big that it's like an actual human! You're doing it! And it's happening! And yeah, I think it's so incredible and also so symbolic for many other processes in life too. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, I agree with even just this Taurus (♉︎) Scorpio (♏︎) axis that we'll get into, like something that we talked about in our workshops, Extra Sensory, was like not pushing pain away or the idea, like scary things and learning how to… like the relationship to it is like what defines our suffering or not suffering. Not that this was all painful for you of an idea or anything, but what you were saying about how not pushing the idea away and sitting with it and letting it seep its way in: yeah, sounds really important for this eclipse cycle in general. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, definitely. It catalyzed a lot and it shifted a lot. Scorpio (♏︎) wise, literally, like in my psychic…-ness? Or just like the way my innermost working, just how fears and stuff (but also in the physical) it shifted a lot about my physical reality: about what I was doing, where I was living, all these other things like that over all these years, just like so much shift. And then now being here, it just makes sense. It's like not that I ever thought it would or like a crystal clear image of how it should be, nothing like that. But when I'm in it right now and I'm experiencing it and seeing the progression, it makes sense. It totally makes sense. It's like right in this perfect little crux of exactly where that has taken me and where I'm going kind of thing. 

Justin Plunkett:
Thank you for sharing! 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yes, thank you. 

Justin Plunkett:
To get into the eclipses, I just want to ask what's the first thing that comes to mind for you whenever you hear the word “eclipse”? Or even this specific eclipse cycle? What are some first thoughts that come to mind? 

Caitlyn Rack:
I always think a favorite word of mind to use with eclipses is juddering, like vibrating… Also, in a way, sometimes I kind of envision the lens of a camera and when the camera lens, the shutter of the camera, it goes really fast. But when you look at it, nothing really happened. Or you can't really see the mechanisms happening, but it's sort of broken up into little pieces, but it's like this own little capsule. Crossings and clashings: when things like crossroads, but also things that could clash or not make sense or like a reckoning of sorts, it kind of comes into play. And that kind of comes from the whole actual process of eclipses where it's like the Earth is kind of in the way of the luminaries. So it's like the Moon path there's kind of like caught in the middle of this process happening and then those crosshairs of that ecliptic point in the Moon (☽). It's like where the crossings happen or just like clashing energy sometimes. That's typically what stands out for almost all eclipses for me. 

Stefanie Sundara:
I love that. Yeah, I love those images of the shutter going off and not exactly knowing what's happening in between but that something's happening. And also like the crossroads, like having something come up where there are decisions to be made or decisions being made and you have to go with it and it changing just like the course of everything. I think of eclipses too as like these, almost like gateways and portals that just open up in kind of mundane, ordinary life, like when we least expect it. Where it's like, “Hey, do you remember your soul’s calling and why you're really here? Do you want to step through? No. Well, you're going to go through it anyways!” So, it's very much so being different at the end of it not being the same person as before. 

[17:24]

I know that the word ”initiation” means a lot of things, but it feels very initiatory where all you have to do is step through or say yes and then you'll just be in this kind of involuntary flow of movement and of things happening, like especially energetic things happening. Things kind of rearranging in the field so that you can be more… maybe, aligned? We're always aligned technically or in a spiritual sense, but in a way where our mind can believe it too. Yeah, it's like expecting the unexpected and having fun with it. Like thinking of it as an adventure and letting change transform you, and… feeling that it's an adventure and not clinging on to anything but just letting change happen and like kind of having this like month or so to really like, feel that happening within you and just let it overtake you. And yeah, kind of realize that that is like a cornerstone of life: is to be moved and changed by life. 

Justin Plunkett:
True – 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yes – 

Justin Plunkett:
Otherwise we're always trying to grip onto control and think that we're in control. Not that we don't have any say in anything, but yeah, you're right. That sometimes, life has to guide us back on the track, or bump us off track for a little bit so we see some scenic routes or something. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yes. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Mmhm, and I think that piece, that exactly what you just said really illustrates how Taurus (♉︎) North Node (☊) in this first eclipse might kind of kick us off. Or when the nodes even shifted into these signs that people are much more in tune with, just like, life is. And we all have our wants and our needs, and ways we think that our life path is going to go, or like things that we're having to deal with (literally living in a capitalistic society in most cases, like us in the USA and whatnot, but also just in general, the world kind of operates like this)... Sometimes that's not all that life is. Life is so much more than our jobs, our relationships. It's an encompass of all of it and more! So it's like being with that, and realizing that maybe certain pieces of our life or pieces of how we look at life, don't reflect that – just like – Being and coming back to it. I think that might come up with this set of eclipses, or this in particular, this New Moon in Taurus (♉︎). 

You can say no or you can change your mind – you deserve more, or you deserve rest, even – things like that. That's been coming up for me a lot. But, yeah, life just is sometimes and being in the flow without being in relationship with all that life has to offer, not just what humans say life has – how you're supposed to live life or something like that. I think it's really important, and I think people forget how important it is. Especially our Western cultures don't value that as much. We value production when value is really just something outside of production and money. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, and you reminded me of that idea of coming back to just like what life is – and it's like a Scorpionic quality of like… Say you just had a trip with mushrooms or something like that. And afterwards the things that were in your mind before that were such big deals and such big problems are just kind of like, “It's silly that I'm wasting energy on those things. Like, life is fine, I just need to breathe.” Like that big zoom out factor of just remembering that life is about our bodies and our energies and just like being a human on this Earth. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, and the small things become the big things. All the flowers or the small, like the little details that you maybe didn't notice before, and the big problems were the overshadowing things… But now it's like, “Oh, wow! Look at these flowers! Look at these daffodils! Look at this grass! This is amazing!”

Justin Plunkett:
Aw, yeah… the grass gets forgotten about a lot. Poor lil’ grass. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah, like our building blocks for life, like having reverence for the simple things that make up our existence. That give us the ability to be alive. Like, the Earth, our biggest resource, I think I saw a meme or something or a graphic that said, “We all have the Earth in common.” And eclipses are, I think, the zoom out factor. They provide that higher, bigger perspective. To me, they help you see with X ray vision. They help you see from inner sight, not just from logical sight. 

Then specifically with the solar eclipse in Taurus (♉︎) coming up, it's like the bigger perspective of our building blocks of life, our foundation and how we are tending to our rest. Like, what is the quality of our rest? What is our relationship to rest and regeneration? What is our relationship to soil? the Earth? Our bodies too? Our bodies and our life force within our bodies? Our creative impulses that come up and then also the impulses to stay low to the ground and to release and to move really, really, really slowly... like, what is our relationship to that? And of course, Caitlyn was pointing to how moving very slowly is not something that we're taught about, much less inspired to do, but that it's necessary. And that there comes a time when we get knocked down to the ground so that we can regenerate properly from the bottom up, from the foundation up. 

[24:54]

Justin Plunkett:
Wow, that's so real. And yeah, moving slowly in this world is like a liberatory feeling of going against the grain if the world’s so fast. And something for me too, with the eclipses, I think one of you said something about colliding or with the crossroads kind of feeling… I wrote a blog post about this under the last eclipse season and I went back and read it and I was like, “Wow, I wrote that?” Do you ever do that? 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yes! 

Justin Plunkett:
It was just like the sun and the moon are literally how we keep time. And time is a weird concept in general, like the way that we kind of work with it in this day and age. Yeah, the Sun (☉) determines our days and the Moon (☽), the moonlight and the moon cycles determine our nights and our and our months. And whenever we get to these seasons of eclipses, where the two timekeepers and our Earth are all in this exact alignment. 

Have you heard of the concept of deep time? 

Stefanie Sundara:
I don't think so. 

Justin Plunkett:
I think it's like that ability to just see longer stretches of time, and… I can't remember exactly, there was a podcast I listened to a long time ago about it… but I feel like we could just understand: the feeling of eclipses are that opening into that longer perspective of time and where we're at in life, really deeper ecological time, too is a factor of that. It's like the timekeepers are colliding inside of us, like the solar forces inside of us, and then the lunar forces and the earthly forces are all like, colliding. And so that can feel really like you said, like jarring or what was the word? Juddering or something like that. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, juddering. Very vibratory, very… vibrate-y! 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, because other times the Moon is doing its own thing over here, or even if it is a New Moon, they're not exactly in that exact alignment. But these deep alignments ask us to really listen and come online. I think

Stefanie Sundara:
I love that concept of deep time. I haven't heard of that term, but I can feel it in my body as you're speaking about it. I can feel the times that I have come in contact with that. And in many ways, I feel as though I purposely seek that experience of thinking of your life as something that has had continuity before, even the physical body. And then, specifically with the solar eclipse in Taurus (♉︎) and thinking about the Earth's longevity and its evolution before us: before the many generations before us, before our race as humans, and then in the forward-looking perspective in that sense too. And then thinking about like, what is our role in the here and now? What is our little blip of a role in the here and now? and feeling that – feeling yourself really small, but also really important at the same time… Really, everything you do is significant and it can play a part in the grace of the evolution of everything and in the health of everything. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, we're all deeply interconnected. Yeah, I think you described that feeling of deep time perfectly. So what do you think are some misunderstandings or misconceptions of eclipses? I mean, a lot of times, especially in this meme world that we live in, people can really throw around a lot of words and a lot of fear-based stuff with the eclipses, which is like, understandable, of course… or on the other end, people are really excited about eclipses, and they're like big portals or this or that…so, I don't know if you come across anything that you’d like to set the record straight?

[29:39]

Caitlyn Rack:
I think we kind of maybe touched on how this could be applied a little earlier, but like, being an active participant or how we react or how we respond to specific energies or stimuli in our realities can really tell us a lot about ourselves, but also dictate how or where we move in response to that. I feel like with eclipses specifically, it's like this energy is happening no matter what. They're always going to happen. There's always going to be eclipses. It's like we're going to hit that Solar Eclipse or New Moon and it's going to happen and it happens to you. But it's more so it's less that. I don't think it just happens to us. We are in a dance with it and the more we're aware of that dance, that dyad we have with the Earth and with these luminary bodies that this has been happening for so long: the eclipses are massive in our human history; they're noticeable, they're very noticeable. So I think that's where a lot of the fear comes from, where it's like something's going to happen to you that might be outside of your control. 

I think that's a fear response in a lot of people, especially in a lot of cultures that have a lot of control based responses to things. They want to control how the Earth works, they want to control resources or control how the economy works or whatever. Just being controlled! It might be a bit scary, and it's like happening to you and you can't control it. And it's like something fear based or it's bad when it doesn't have to have that labeling on it. It can just be different. It can be jarring, but jarring doesn't have to be bad. It can be catalyzing, it can be igniting something within you, it could be like lighting a fire under your butt, which can be extremely beneficial to like a soul-based growth perspective. Not just like the sort of linear path thing. I don't even know how to put that…

Justin Plunkett:
No, you did, you put it there.

Caitlyn Rack:
Or on the flip side, like it's something auspicious, super important and something good is going to happen to you, or all these blessings are just going to be shooting through the solar portal or lunar portal at you and you don't have to do anything and just shower in it… 

Justin Plunkett:
If only! 

Caitlyn Rack:
And sometimes it could feel like that because maybe you're just so in some sort of flow or it just feels like these blessings are raining upon you and that's okay! But it's just these expectations of good, bad, or scary, or blessing can really get our mental mind in a tizzy. Just kind of make it go a little off, and there's so much more. And that's why I think we're speaking into some sort of deeper, deep time, sole-perspective type of relationship with this because it's not very mental, it's not very linear, it's not very logical. So stepping out of that for like 2 seconds can really dispel a lot of fear and dispel a lot of expectation. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, I hear a lot of deep acceptance in that, of just not thinking things need to be one way or the other. It's just like, this is where we're at in time and it's okay to be confused or be a little jarred or have that light under your butt like you said. Yeah, and sometimes we might be more in flow with that where we're like, we're already doing a lot of soul growth and so it just makes sense to add this right in. But maybe other times when we're resisting some stuff or we're having a lot of external factors that are just moving in our lives, this can just add into that fuel too and just be like, “Agh! more things are changing, more things are out of whack!” 

And that's the thing. It's like most of our other Full moons and New moons are like a steady, predictable thing. And so then whenever these eclipses come in and change that it's like the steadiness gets interrupted of sorts. And yeah, a lot of people always talk about that about in the old days before there were predicting eclipses – I'm guessing at some point they were easily noticing that like, oh, every five or six months we see another one happen. – But then again, that was before the internet and stuff. It was just like localized to where you were. So like, you aren't going to have eclipses happen in your exact spot on the earth every time either. Just to be a person and just not even know an eclipse is coming and then all of a sudden the Sun goes like slightly dark and it starts to look like twilight and then it goes away? and you're like, “What just happened?” Crazy concept. 

Stefanie Sundara:
That's a really great point you bring up, Justin around before the internet people not knowing eclipses were eclipses. Of course, in that way, if you look up and the Moon is, like, red and dark, thinking that it's like a very auspicious time and that it's maybe like a bad omen or something like that and feeling all of the maybe chaotic, like energy around you? It would be easy to kind of pass along this story of it being bad and like, scary and all of these things. And so I'm grateful for what astrology is today that we can kind of look at it from different perspectives. We can also know that it's happening in the first place. And then it's also, like, paradoxical because we can know that it's happening and like, yeah, it takes like the edge off of like no, like there isn't like an asteroid coming to hit the Earth or like the Moon broke or something… 

But eclipses are also like a time to be okay with the unknown, to expect the unexpected and that it'll look different for everyone. For some people, again, it'll be like a lot of flow and beautiful experiences and maybe like synchronicities and things like that. For others, they will experience a lot of resistance around change that's already happening and then change happening on top of that and being like, “Oh my God, what is happening?” And then I feel like it can also be it doesn't have to be in any extreme or another. It can be a very internal kind of shifting, but a newfound awareness towards something that was already shifting within. And it can feel like a greater sense of intimacy within oneself, a greater sense of having the light shown on the inside of something that is happening on the inside. And then that changing one's perspective on something happening outside of their lives and then not changing everything. It can look like a lot of belief work too. But, yeah, usually I've experienced eclipses as being like me either initiating change and being the one to initiate change, and dancing with change happening to me at the same time. We're kind of like, “Yeah, let's do this!”

Last year in the previous nodal axis in Gemini (♊︎) and Sagittarius (♐) was my nodal reversal. So my North Node (☊) is in Sagittarius (♐). And so I thought that I was moving to Hawaii, and I did move to Hawaii and I had like six months of being a nomad. And it's really funny because the transition before I moved to Hawaii was, I think, where I felt the most inflow, where I was anticipating all of this change and stuff happening. And then when I got to my destination, it actually got something like a bubble of fantasy popped. And then I was just like there and I was like, whoa, this is… like, so much change. And then I had kind of the flip side of like, “Oh, like, I really have to be with all of this change and find my own intrinsic stability.” And so, yes, there can be like those extremes and then there can also be, I think, more of a… or it doesn't have to be like dramatic. I don't think eclipses have to be dramatic either. I just want to like put that out there as a possibility too…yeah.

[39:58]

Caitlyn Rack:
I agree. There's definitely been times in the past where clips have come and gone, and it was very, I guess the term uneventful, I guess? In my reality? and then it’s like… “What’s going on?” You kind of almost get worried about that – It’s like, yeah, not a problem. I'm glad you touched on that because that definitely happens.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. And I feel like sometimes the North Node (☊) might be quieter than the South Node (☋) or sometimes the South Node (☋) might be quieter than the North Node (☊). So depending on where these things fall in your chart, if you're having eclipses happen on your rising sign or on your midheaven and stuff yeah, those are going to be a bit louder than maybe a cadent house, which is like the 12th and the 6th, or the 9th and the 3rd. 

And also, I wonder if there's something to be said about maybe the first eclipse of an eclipse cycle, a difference from the first one to the last one. Maybe by the end of this whole Taurus (♉︎) Scorpio (♏︎) axis (which will be like June of 2023) if those first few eclipses were uneventful or maybe unnoticeable or yeah, like you feel like you missed the bird carrier that was supposed to bring the message by the end of the whole cycle? It's like, “Oh, wait, I get what it was happening back then. I can see it more clearly now.” Has that happened for either of you before? or do you think there's something to be said about that finale of eclipses in a cycle? 

Caitlyn Rack:
I definitely think that there is something to be said about that: there is more than one. So just like it's journey through backwards through the house. Yeah, there's definitely been nothing that comes to mind that says, like, the first and the last was more impactful than the other one, but definitely, like, sort of that, again, “hindsight being 20-20,” thing when I look back and I understand the process of that eclipse cycle through the house once it clears it (and then understanding what it was digging up kind of thing, even if it was just small, miniscule little details that at the time I wasn't really privy to) But after the fact, I'm like, oh, that was kind of more of a big deal than I realized. It just wasn't maybe it's like outer shocking or this big thing depending on the house. It was more like the little tinkering that once you're done with it, it creates a whole new whole new thing. 

Justin Plunkett:
I think, yeah, it's like subtleties, too. If you're really in tune with subtle things in your life, you're probably going to notice those little tinkerings a bit more until they get louder and have more communication kind of thing. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah. I'm reflecting back on the beginning of the Gemini (♊︎) Sagittarius (♐) nodal cycle and then the eclipses that were happening around that. And I can see clearly, actually, how in the beginning there was the desire to just uproot, and move, and do something like was present between both me and my partner. It slowly kind of came up and bloomed within our inner consciousnesses. And then it became like an actual outer reality within being actually in different geographical locations and kind of being in this very physical-geographical transition of moving. Whereas before we were just like, talking about it a lot and talking about it more and then it actually happened and it pretty much wrapped up like we pretty much ended up where we're living now a little bit after the last… whatever it was either the Sagittarius (♐) eclipse or the Gemini (♊︎) eclipse. So, yeah, I've never reflected on that, actually. Like, the degrees of it kind of blossoming over the eclipse cycles. So, yeah, it'd be interesting to kind of reflect on how that happens for the Taurus (♉︎) and Scorpio (♏︎) nodes, too. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, definitely. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah.

Justin Plunkett:
And I also want to say, too, that sometimes these eclipses will kind of make a sensitive degree. I don't remember what degree this eclipse is happening, but I feel like the sky kind of has a memory of these things, and it's like… I can't remember. Let me look at the chart. 

Caitlyn Rack:
I think it's like 27° Taurus (♉︎). 

Justin Plunkett:
Oh, yeah, that one or the April 30th one: It's a new Moon (☽) at ten degrees of Taurus (♉︎). 

Stefanie Sundara:
That sounds right. Yeah, ten degrees. 

Justin Plunkett:
Trying to minus. And then the other one is at 25° and of Taurus (♉︎) Scorpio (♏︎). 

Caitlyn Rack:
Got it, got it. Yeah, that’s right.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. I feel like those degrees become like a sensitive spot, and then when we have other planets make their way and hit those spots, we might have a furthering of the storyline or amplification of whatever it was happening then. It's really interesting how that happens. This guy just has like a little… it just saves a memory and it's like cool! 

Caitlyn Rack:
Mmhm, lil’ hot points. Little, hot, sensitive little points. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Have either of you experienced that? I haven't observed that in my chart before. 

Caitlyn Rack:
In particular, pertaining to eclipses? Not particularly, because I don't think I've tracked that closely in terms of the degrees. But I have noticed, like, certain New moons or Full moons that aren't eclipses, or very specific conjunctions between other planets that are very significant happening on certain points of my chart that are very highlighted. And then certain other things will hit it later and it brings kind of a whole another chapter of that unfolding or story into it all over again. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Another wave to be integrated in. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yes. 

Stefanie Sundara:
That would be worthwhile to observe myself. Yeah.

[47:16]

Justin Plunkett:
I think it probably shows up, could be more noticeable, on a grand scale for the world too. Like sensitive degrees for mundane astrology. 

Caitlyn Rack:
I think some people were bringing that up with the pandemic, were certain points of Aries (♈︎) and Capricorn (♑︎). Specific degrees where they were, like, squaring or doing various activities. And that point would come back into play later and there would be, like, another wave or there would be some sort of development with the pandemic, or with something about how the world was reacting… In that sense, it was probably one of the first times the globe was connected in such a hyperconnected state with something so physically noticeable as like a virus, but also connected with the Internet to talk about that thing. So I saw that certain points were coming back up and hot points. Off the top of my head, I can't remember exactly which ones, but I just remember that being kind of a thing back in like, 2020. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, I think that zero zero degree point of Aquarius (♒) has been a big one because we had like a Mars (♂) Saturn (♄) conjunction there towards the beginning of the pandemic, and then later on we had the Jupiter (♃) Saturn (♄) conjunction there. I think Mercury (☿) went retrograde right around that spot too, and Venus (♀) and Mars (♂) had a conjunction there recently. So yeah, we just kept having more and more– sorry, I'm not sure but noises going on in the building. But yeah, it's so interesting how we keep having specific alignments at the same spot. It's like really drilling in some things. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah, that's interesting that you bring that up. It's almost like a reset point of sorts: all of these planets going through that reset point. I don't know if it's just our era. Maybe it's like a zeitgeist of our era, but it really feels like we are really initiated into the unknown in a lot of ways. Like really having to be okay with things not being solid anymore or not being stable in whatever sense in the things that we believe in in the shape of our Earth, even in the stability of the tectonic plates. Again, I don't know if that's just us or if humans have always felt this way, but I'm just particularly feeling that. And also maybe how maybe that's Uranus (♅) conjunct this solar eclipse in Taurus (♉︎) too, is speaking through in that way too, of just kind of like all of these many fractures of consciousness or of things happening that we can kind of play with and can kind of see, but that seem fractured, that seem like all of these different moving pieces happening at the same time. 

Caitlyn Rack:
I'd agree with that. Uranus (♅) moving into Taurus (♉︎) is kind of a significant point in my own reality, to where I took notice of it really strongly. And actually, I have a thing, a little art piece I made is kind of intuitive… I make, like, prayer pieces. I make art, and I imbue some intention into it, or I put physical marks on it to where I can — kind of like this Reiki idea a little bit — and I'll keep it around in my spaces or on my altar for whatever reason to just kind of encapsulate the energy and then try to work with it. And I did it for Uranus (♅) and Taurus (♉︎) the moment it went ingressed: about what I wanted out of the next, not what I wanted, but what I'd want to be working with, I suppose, until 2026 or something? I can't remember what the date exactly, but it's on my fridge right now, I kept it around since like, 2018. But yeah, just everything just suddenly becoming very tectonic plates. Literally and figuratively, just shifting around and not being as stable as before. And then now with the eclipses, I've been thinking about that in particular with Uranus (♅) kind of doing a dance with the North Node (☊), and people may be coming to a new place with maybe being okay with this unknown factor? Especially kind of — this was a year two of pandemic. For some people, it's like post pandemic. For some people it's like we're still very much in it and it's uncertain.

The whole thing about it, that in general, made a lot of people come up to speed really quickly with uncertainty, and it kind of hasn't stopped, you know? It's kind of lingered around, but I think there's new developments this year in particular with this nodal shift and these eclipses, with that being with that Taurean presence and being in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of things moving around or being unstable physically. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, that's something I was going to say too. I think May 2018 was the first time Uranus (♅) entered into Taurus (♉︎) and then retrograded back for a little bit, and then by around the same time in 2019, like April of 2019, it was like in that sign for good. And for me, that's my 9th house, which is a house of higher studies or learning more things, education, world view. And for me, that's when I was really getting deeper and deeper into herbalism and astrology and seed-saving and gardening, and so it's like those earth qualities plus the studies qualities just became so loud for me. So I think for anyone listening, you can kind of take a look at where Taurus (♉︎) is within your chart and do some research there to see, like, “Oh yeah, did something start to change for me and get really exciting?” 

Because I think Uranus (♅), one of the first things we say about Uranus (♅), it's big change or quick change. But I also think it's like it gets us really excited on the soul level, what things kind of get us electrified inside, what things have like a big spark inside. And so for me, it was like, yeah, learning about astrology was so electrifying, just to be able to get this new kind of wisdom in. So wherever it is happening in your chart, Uranus (♅) has been doing some work in there for the last few years. I think now that we have the nodes in that same part of your chart for the year and a half, it's like only going to get louder and more pronounced and have a deeper storyline coming through. Maybe even me putting this podcast out as part of that 9th House: podcasting is a thing that falls into that sector of the chart. So we'll see where it goes in the next year and a half. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Exactly. 

Stefanie Sundara:
I love all of this. I love the fruition of Caitlyn’s what I feel like is, like, glyph art or working with symbols and glyphs. I heard heiroglyphics and the power of those kinds of symbols and having them in a tactile, visual way and infusing that into your everyday life and bringing in the planets that way. And then how it inspired you, Justin too, with your studies? I also feel like to kind of, like, further draw on Uranus (♅), I’m an Aquarius (♒) Rising, so… I feel, I have to… 

[56:50]

So, Uranus (♅). It has a very electrifying energetic to it. If you think of electricity, it either fractures or it inspires. I don't know if either of you have experience, like witnessing a thunderstorm or just like, lightning around and having this really literally, like, awestruck experience of wonder, too, and a little bit of terror of like, oh, my God, is my tree going to get electrocuted? But, yeah, so inspire, it means in spirit, like, spirit is within you. And so there's this kind of lightning bulb effect that happens. There's this awakening that can happen. And it's really interesting how it's paired with Taurus (♉︎). It's expressed through the essence of Taurus (♉︎), which is very much like slow stability and sensual, almost honey-like kind of viscosity that you're swimming in. But then pairing it with electricity is just like it seems contradictory? So, yeah, it's been interesting to see how that has been coming up and expressing itself in terms of how we think of the Earth. How we think of its resources, more specifically. And Justin and I talked about this in Extra Sensory, is, like, how we have a connection with the Earth, like a spiritual connection with the Earth, the way where we actually have open communication and dialogue with the spirit of the Earth as its own consciousness. So, yeah, maybe those are things that will come up with the eclipse, too.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. And I think part of the reason why our workshop was called Extra Sensory: yeah, Taurus (♉︎) is a sign all about the senses, but I think being in touch with the extra sensory stuff, like the stuff that's beyond just the five senses —  or is it six? Yeah, five senses?

Stefanie Sundara:
Traditionally five, but we know they're six, seven, eight. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, exactly! I think that those other ones, like, the extra ones, they almost, like are what give rise give rise to the regular ones? if you will. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah, like, I think of, like, the color wheel and the prime colors. So our base five senses are kind of like the five colors of our senses, and then they kind of mix. I think synesthesia is kind of the word for when senses mix. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, that's a easy to put it. I like that. Me too. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Exactly. Love color theory. You know!

Justin Plunkett:
Oh yeah, I was going to ask if you mind sharing a little bit about what that Uranus (♅) in Taurus (♉︎) painting was like. Like what is the context or the subject matter in it? 

Caitlyn Rack:
A lot of it's mostly words, so it's a lot of me putting my thoughts, like, and prayers on paper. But the big center of it is actually a giant spiral, just this big — It's got gold in it — it’s more so, just a lot of patterns and it kind of like wiggles off into every corner. It's a very small piece of paper. It's probably like it's probably about as big as my face. And yeah, so, like this spiral thing that goes off and then it kind of turns into this, very kind of a funny way, electrifying pattern going off into the four corners of the page. Then the words are distributed amongst just the background, sort of just written over top or underneath kind of a thing. 

Cool! 

Yeah, very much this sort of dizzying but also electrifying, also very contradictory, but also rearranging in new ways type of vibe. 

Stefanie Sundara:
I love that. 

Justin Plunkett:
I guess. Should we kind of locate ourselves in time for where these eclipses are happening? I feel like we just entered Taurus (♉︎) season a few days ago, so hopefully you're both feeling a little bit of that Taurus (♉︎) stability. I know I am. It feels like things just kind of, like, evened out all of a sudden and even in the weather around us, too, like finally having like, a consistent stretch of, like, warm, warm, sunny days instead of back and forth. Yeah, our spring was a little interesting. It kept, I mean, I think every spring starts out that way of going back and forth from the warm to the cold, but it was really noticeable this year for me and a lot of people in my life. But, yeah, it's almost like the cardinal season was very mutable, but now we're in that fixed part of spring where it's like, no doubt we're in spring. The cherry blossoms are getting heavy and the flowers are really coming out. We're coming off the tails of the Jupiter (♃) Neptune (♆) conjunction, which is a pretty big moment as well. I have a different episode about that, but we still have a lot of planets in Pisces (♓︎) in general, like Jupiter (♃), Neptune (♆) and Venus (♀) are all pretty close right now, and Mars (♂) is in Pisces (♓︎). I don't know if you guys want to help speak to the zeitgeist of this moment that we're in and what we're about to head into with this eclipse season.

Caitlyn Rack:
Mmm, I feel like yeah, especially with moving into Taurus (♉︎) and having a lot of the Pisces (♓︎) stellium sort of still lingering and off that tail end of that Jupiter (♃). Neptune (♆). I've been in a very dream like state, sometimes I'm a Pisces (♓︎) Moon as well, so this is a lot of that Pisces (♓︎) hanging out right around my Moon (☽) and my Saturn (♄). I've been resting a lot, like literally, physically, not just because of this pregnancy, I think, but in general, just like needing naps. Because definitely during that cardinal cycle, I had a really big push. I was cleaning my whole house, I was prepping cloth diapers, I was go, go, go, doing all this stuff. And then the day the Sun moved into Taurus (♉︎), my midwife came to my house. You have like one visit right before 37 weeks where they come to your house and see where you're at so they know how to get to your house and all this stuff. So we're kind of preparing for having someone. And actually that's the first time I had someone in my house aside from maintenance crews and like my mom for 2 seconds since I moved here, because I moved here in the thick of the pandemic, lockdowns happened in like two weeks later, I moved to this complex or whatever and I've just stayed here. And I haven't had anyone come over in these two years. And then especially since I've been pregnant or whatever. So having someone over, it was just like this whole thing just like all accumulated on Sun (☉) in Taurus (♉︎), get everything going and then boom. And then she came over and my check up or whatever. And after that I just went to sleep. For like 14 hours after that because I was awake for a long time. I was just like getting scrubbing, everything, I don't even know, just like that urge to just do that. And it's kind of been that way because that was this past Wednesday. I've kind of just been in that state since: taking lots of naps. Being kind of in this sort of dreamy foggy state a little bit. But also knowing or having things come up being like “Okay, I want to jump back into continue that momentum a little bit,” prepping my birth space and whatnot and being so close. But at the same time there's just like this little chunk right here now prior to these eclipses that it's just like kind of a lull, or like a calm before a storm kind of feeling. Yeah, that's kind of what I got to speak to that and without saying specific planetary alignments, just a little bit of a lull, just kind of coast a little bit. Just a little bit. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. I mean, well deserved at this point! Yeah, and that Jupiter (♃) Neptune (♆) conjunction for me has been very oscillating back and forth between feeling the Jupiter (♃) (optimism and joy and dreaming) and then Neptune (♆) (kind of like, washing things away) and be like, okay, starting over on the joy and optimism and then kind of getting washed back down to sea. And, yeah, there's a big potential for that right now, with all the Pisces (♓︎) energy to just kind of get swept away to sea. But it's an important process, I think, to kind of let things dissolve and dissolution happen. But I'm glad that Jupiter (♃) is on the other side of Neptune (♆) now, and they're kind of starting over a whole new cycle. 

But a lot of people that I've talked to lately, seeing people in community and then just being like, “O\h, how are you?” I don't really give, like, a shallow answer when people say that, here's how life is for me right now. But that word oscillating is, like, how I've been answering, like, “It's a mixed bag lately. Like, some days are really nice and other days feeling, like, really foggy,” and then everyone's like, “Oh, my gosh, me too. That's what I'm feeling.” It's almost like astrology gives us a cheat code in describing the time of here and now. But, yeah, I think everybody's feeling from what I've heard, at least a lot of people are feeling that oscillation back and forth between those two. What about you, Stefanie? 

[1:08:02]

Stefanie Sundara:
Absolutely feeling that as well. When I tune into the energetics of my personal life, it seems as though I'm in an extended Pisces (♓︎) season. And then I remember all of these planets in Pisces (♓︎). And so it's interesting to feel the sextile between this Pisces (♓︎) stellium and the Taurus (♉︎) Eclipse and how there's this, like, underlay of Piscean surrender, just like lessons in surrender. And like you were saying, like, “Okay. Starting over again now.” Things are washed away, or things are not how you think they are. Specifically in terms of cycles of stamina or energy or vitality, and specifically my menstrual cycles. My fertility and menstrual cycles have been very… something that I can usually be definitive about — but they've also been kind of like oscillating a bit: having very like I've had low energy during my fertile times and then I've had, like, more energy during my menstrual cycle, and so things are kind of like, yeah, I have to surrender into things like that. 

Then I have Vesta in Pisces (♓︎) in my second house. So there has been a lot of devotion for me in terms of work and just what I am sharing with the world, like, my service with the world as well, and how it's giving a like, a spiritual lens, also. Like I'm giving through a spiritual lens too. And so that has been a focal point for things. With that also, like, a lot of release and a lot of healing and a lot of physical body healing. I was actually sick for the past few days. Like, yesterday, I started feeling better, actually, and so feeling a lot of that, like, okay, still needing to tend to healing and to vitality and to kind of pay attention to my daily routines, like everything that I'm putting into my body and yeah, like sticking with my spiritual rituals and kind of supplementing myself in that way. And then with Taurus (♉︎), like being on my IC or my IC being in Taurus (♉︎). And then I have Black Moon Lilith in Taurus (♉︎) in the fourth house. It's a lot of like, for me, my adventure is in rooting down instead of moving around so much and how that is new to me and weird to me. Whereas for other people it might be a sense of stability, but for me it feels weird to be in the same spot for a while. But it really feels guided to be experiencing this right now. So, yeah, that paired with Vesta and devotion to work just all feels kind of right, but also feels like, again, an adventure, not something that I'm used to. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, that's actually interesting you say that because we both have the same Rising, so I'm actually going to inquire about that because I'm like the same way. I was always moving around a lot and this is the first time I've lived in a place for more than like two years or something like that, and within this process, realizing that I like to care for my home space? I was always kind of like very chaotic-artistic energy all over the place, no consistent schedule with kind of like home caretaking a little bit, it was just sort of like touch and go, just whenever it happens, it happens. But then, over the course of pregnancy, but also before that a little bit, like… really rooting into feeling really strange but at the same time really good. Getting into a routine, vacuuming the floor on a consistent basis instead of being like, “Oh, yeah, I got to do this thing. Oh, yeah. I’ll remember…” Just rooting down and being like, I can enjoy or decorating my space. I've always kind of like, haphazardly had decorations or my art everywhere because then I would just have to take it down and move again. But then putting it back up and be like, “I can put this up even if I'm going to move—if that happens again, I can take the time right now to make sure that I feel good in that space.” And not be worried about taking it back down again or something. Just like living the moment of living in the space. I was wondering how that reflected between the both of us with Taurus (♉︎) being in our fourth house of home. 

Stefanie Sundara:
I love that so much! I just put up art around my room and have the same thoughts of like, “Okay, here I am putting up all this stuff. I'm going to have to take it down one day.” But then feeling this like, “... but I have a feeling it won't be for a while, so just, like, stay here for a while and do this.” And I've been buying more home decor, and I'm planting a garden in my backyard. Like, I haven't done that in so long. So, yeah, very much resonate with that. 

Justin Plunkett:
Me too, because the last eclipse cycle, the South Node (☋) was moving through my fourth house and the North Node (☊) was moving through my 10th, and I moved three times in one year in the same town. But landlords and the housing market in this town are really annoying. And there was a lot of instability in the housing feeling. We had to get out of the first place because it was like a basement vibe and moldy and two cramped and just, like, all of a sudden just kind of blew up on us, where we were like, we have to get out of here. Like, this is not good for us. And then we got a short term lease because it was, like, one of the only things we could find quickly. And we were like, okay, yeah, we can have a short term lease and then look for a place to buy. I think we're kind of ready to maybe buy, which is a whole convoluted concept in its own of owning land. We don't have to get into that right now. 

But I was kind of leaning into the idea of it because it's cheaper to pay a mortgage than it is to pay landlords. I was like, okay, this will help me to have more money for mutual aid if we can get a garden that I can stay in for a long time and care for. And then that was just such a short lease. It was supposed to be six months, and then it was a five month lease. And then by the time we got in there, we were only really there for four and a half months, so it was just, like, rooted down for a second, and I had to pick right back up. Now that we're at this place, I told the landlord, I was like, I will sign, like, a two or three year lease if you let me. Not trying to move, but I'm having that same feeling of, like, “Oh, I can finally put things on the wall!” It just feels so different as soon as you do that. It just adds so much. It's very Taurus (♉︎). Even though Taurus (♉︎) isn't my fourth house, I'm still having that experience there. 

[1:16:55]

Stefanie Sundara:
Where is Taurus (♉︎)? In your chart, Justin?

Justin Plunkett:
In the 9th house. 

Stefanie Sundara:
All right. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. Now having the 9th and 3rd, and then the Pisces (♓︎) is in my 7th house. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Well, you need, like, a study home base to have a home base for your beliefs and your kind of philosophical themes in your life and philosophical teachings that you're giving as well. Feel like it's still connected.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah.

Caitlyn Rack:
In the third house of, like, your neighborhood or. Your surroundings that you're familiar with or whatever. Kind of like being in community with that having a space to relate from. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, even just joining a coworking space is something that I did in November of last year, right before this eclipse cycle started. And even that, I'm just plugged in the community a lot more in different parts of community that I wouldn't have originally found myself around. Some people that identify as entrepreneurs and things like that and still being able to just tell them, my little desk at the coworking space has an astrology calendar up and flowers and stuff so people can see that I'm doing some different things. But yeah, just like meeting a lot of people and able to kind of get my word out there about what I'm doing and meeting people that are excited about that. 

My Jupiter (♃) is my Time Lord this year in the 7th House perfection. And so I've just had so much stuff where I'm like, Jupiterian people are coming into my life or I'm serving as the Jupiter (♃) vibe in their life. And it did get foggy for a little bit there. Whenever Jupiter (♃) was getting closer and closer to Neptune (♆), it was like, “Where is that big Jupiter (♃) optimism I was feeling at the beginning of this transit? It's kind of not there right now,” but then, like I was saying, I really can feel that shift now that they're on the other side. And what you were saying too, about that extended Pisces (♓︎) season: emotions and stuff, and even in your bodily health right now, I'm noticing a huge deep connection with my emotions and my chronic health stuff too. And I've always known that my nervous system is deeply tied into it. But even down to just like I'm holding some feelings in and then as soon as I verbalize them and talk about them with someone – like very 7th house – talk about something with a friend or partner as soon as I let it out and have someone to kind of get the tears out with. I notice a change in my skin right after that. And it's just like, whoa.

Stefanie Sundara:
Wow! 

Justin Plunkett:
Just like little things like that. I don't know, I usually would just think that, sure, those things help, but I wouldn't see an immediate effect. But I'm starting to notice even just down to little emotions throughout the day, how much that moves around in my body.

Caitlyn Rack:
Totally.

Stefanie Sundara:
I'm thinking of the trine between Pisces (♓︎) and the Scorpio (♏︎) South Node (☋) of like emotional release also…

Justin Plunkett:
…like detoxifying. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah, like detoxes and initiates like literal change and transformation. And you're experiencing it in your Taurus (♉︎) body and seeing it for its physical – in a tangible way. And seeing this, seeing just almost like the importance and the necessity of catharsis and of releasing. And with you, it being like a relational thing. I mean, I think for a lot of us, it's really helpful to have someone or many people to just kind of vent to and kind of air our demons out, too, like in an unconditionally loving space and just kind of get it out and then realize that it's not even real, and then kind of let that kind of poof, and then on to the next. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yes. In fact, on the day of the Jupiter (♃) Neptune (♆), in conjunction, I pulled out an old book from Pema Chodron, and it's about self compassion, it's called Start Where You Are. And she goes through these different slogans, or kind of ideas, to work with, and one of them is like, every moment as a passing memory. And when she breaks it down, it's like that exact thing of what you were just saying about, like 2 seconds ago. That thought was so loud and it was so big. And then now it's just a memory. Because every passing moment is like a memory. And how we can let go of things as soon as we've expressed them at their fullest, or we can navigate through them like you're saying: make them real and express them and then all of a sudden it's in the past and it's not as big as it was. There's something so big with that. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah. I love that. I love that. 

Justin Plunkett:
Me too. Okay, so I feel like we've already been weaving in a lot of the Taurus (♉︎) Scorpio (♏︎) ideas, but I guess before we talk about the eclipses specifically, do we want to bring in a little bit more ideas of what Taurus (♉︎) and Scorpio (♏︎) are for people that might not be as familiar?


Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, just like our key typical sort of things about Taurus (♉︎) on Scorpio (♏︎)? 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, or even in some symbolic way, too. We're saying Taurus (♉︎) is blooming, but then Scorpio (♏︎) is like the death process of the flower, like the composting goes back down or… even just a little catch phrases like that. The two and how they work together could be good. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, that's probably one of my favorite ones, I think, because they both relate to fertility just in different senses of the words, like the blooming versus the composting. They both come from and go back to the same source just in different parts of the cycle. And I see it like in Forest kind of being more of a physical manifestation or like the solid realization. And Scorpio (♏︎) being kind of more metaphysical or not like unseen. Taurus (♉︎) is very much so more maybe like physically in your presence.

Justin Plunkett:
Physical versus psychic, almost. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah. Body versus psychic or kind of a thing. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah. I feel like agency and power come up with Taurus (♉︎) and Scorpio (♏︎), where Taurus (♉︎) is about kind of like the evolutionary journey from being in Aries (♈︎) of like, “Oh, I'm alive. I'm just going to go be alive. That's all there is to life, is to just go for the day and know that there is so much to experience!” And then in Taurus (♉︎), it's like, “Oh my God, I'm alive in a body, and what is it like to be anchored in my body and to be able to claim my physical space within my body and then also with my resources, the things that I can exchange and experience reciprocity with my home and my finances and whatever other resources, like tangible resources I have.”

And so in that way that's like power. And then there's power in the Scorpionic sense of psychological power of already knowing your skeletons in your closet and being intimate with them and being able to not have anyone else outside of you catch you off guard or catch you in  like a weak point because you've already claimed all of yourself, especially the dark, especially the so called ugly. Like you're able to be with all of that and in that way that is also power. Like, you're able to be with death, you're able to be with maybe literal death, but also I also think of death as what happens when you merge with someone else or when you merge with a creative project or when you merge from maiden to mother like this alchemical… Like, an identity sheds in that process. And being able to be with that, being able to reckon the loss, but also move with agency into the newness, and to just be in that kind of alchemical cauldron of sorts is also a form of psychological and psychic power. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yes. I really like that. It kind of brings a lot of illustration in all of what you just said. It wasn't just like one sort of dynamic. There's a lot of things happening right there that explain like I feel like really speaks to the dance between Taurus (♉︎) and Scorpio (♏︎). 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah. I really appreciate when people have the flexibility. It's not very Taurean, but it's like the flexibility and kind of like the shape shifting between being all here and you just know they're all there with you and they're committed, and then all of a sudden, because life, it's time to shift. It's time to change something. And they're not clinging onto a past thing. They're like, “Okay, this is just life. It's time to change!” And then when it's time to get fixed or get rooted, they're all there again. And I just think that's also really powerful. 

[1:27:56]

Caitlyn Rack:
Mmhm.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, and even what you're saying about that dynamic with power and feeling empowered, I'm guessing that this eclipse cycle, that's a way that it can show up for people: empowering experiences of the mind and the body and the spirit. Because it doesn't look just one way, like, you know, like so many things can empower us and yeah, like gravitating towards places in life where we feel our power or feel our value. Since we were talking about Taurus’ (♉︎) values, those go hand in hand, I think. Yeah. I mean, even our values comes from our senses and pleasures. Like what feels good to me and what doesn't feel good to me and that can define what you value in life and what you don't value in life. Yeah, there's a lot there. I was thinking of Lizzo as you were talking about Taurus (♉︎), too, because she's such a good example of loving the body and being about the body and all of those things that go into that. Can y’all think of anyone that really embodies Scorpio (♏︎) as a celebrity or something? Maybe they're more hidden. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Right? I know. I'm trying to think of who might just pop into my mind, but I'm also really kind of terrible with remembering celebrities’ names off the top of my head. I can see their face. I can see their faces. 

Stefanie Sundara:
For some reason, the first person that came to mind for me is Lana Del Rey. And I know she's not a Scorpio (♏︎) Sun (☉) though, but she has other planets. 

Justin Plunkett:
SZA is a Scorpio (♏︎) and she has Sun (☉), Mercury (☿) and Pluto (♇) all on her Scorpio (♏︎) mid heaven. And so her music is such a beautiful expression of Scorpio (♏︎) because it's all about deep feels around breakups and connections with people. But people get so into it and we learn every single word of a SZA song. And then on the other side of it, she put out that song last year like “Good Days” and thinking about even when we are in the depths, there's still good days that can be on our minds. And they're friends. Like, Lizzo and SZA are really good friends. How funny. Like Taurus (♉︎) Scorpio (♏︎) is. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Of course. Of course. 

Justin Plunkett:
And I think Lizzo has Jupiter (♃) in Taurus (♉︎), so that's a lot of that big joy around the body and joy around being embodied regardless of what your body looks like, bringing in that self love and that self worth. Yeah.

Caitlyn Rack:
Beautiful. 

Justin Plunkett:
Definitely cool. So should we talk a little bit about these specific eclipses that are coming up? The first one is April 30, so that's just in a few days from now. And that is a New Moon in Taurus (♉︎) and it'll be with the North Node (☊). So I think when we have New Moon eclipses with the North Node (☊), it's kind of like things that get invited in or started off or initiated, you know, since it is a New Moon and it's like a planting of a seed. But it'll also be right beside Uranus (♅) as well. So it's got a very Uranian quality to this newness so more of that electrifying feeling that we're talking about or more of those, like, dramatic shifts. And in terms of eclipses in general, I feel like this one has some really good potential to be juicy and positive because it's a New moon in Taurus (♉︎), so that means it's ruled by Venus (♀) and Venus (♀) is going to be right there beside Jupiter (♃). And we've been having an extended amount of time with Venus (♀) going through some tougher transits. And so it's almost like this is like Venus (♀) getting a hug from Jupiter (♃) at the finish line of all of this past transformation and growth. So, I think it has potential to feel good in some ways for people. 

Caitlyn Rack:
I've kind of felt that too, just like in the whole leading up to it or even just thinking about that April eclip– like this coming– eclipse. But even like last year, every time I kind of think about it or visualize it, I'm like, it just seems nice or like it just has this residency from afar, like within me that I'm just like… something, like maybe it's just like a preference of mine, I really do love spring or summertime or like this whole renewal feeling in the Earth in general. So that good feeling you get in your chest when you see when the flowers come up and it's really exciting or it's like a warm breeze that kind of hits you and you're like, “Oh, wow, I'm kind of out of winter a little bit, I made it,” or some sort of feeling that kind of resonates with that Moon for me just ever since I've thought about it. And plus Venusian, my Time Lord for the year has been Venus (♀)... 

And I know I've kind of talked with Justin a little bit about this, but kind of what you said, Stefanie, about this shedding of an identity or a layer. It actually happened during Scorpio (♏︎) season of last year, this moment where I was really excited about the pregnancy for a very long time, like three months or something down in September and then end of October and November hits and reality kind of sets in and I'm like, “Oh, I'm really doing this.” And I also kind of like, held space. I was like, “maybe they won't stay around. Maybe not every pregnancy stays around.” It's kind of a blessing. I'm a doula and understanding how much miscarriages and things like that actually do happen. Being like, kind of like, I'll just let it happen. And I hit like the second trimester. I'm like, oh, it's stayin’! It's sticking around a little more than I initially thought,” I guess. just sort of like, caught me to the wind. But then it settled into my bones and I was like, kind of very Scorpionic fear moment of like, “Can I do this? Is this a piece of my life? Is this really something I've been calling in? Is this something dada-dada-da,” These what ifs kind of a thing or just in general, like a generalized sense of my own mortality. Yeah. And then during that time, I was like, let's just take it day by day, work through my anxiety and my fears every day. Stay in the moment, enjoy this moment as much as I possibly can because it's going to be gone. It's not that long of a time. Pregnancy is not that long. It's not even a year. 

And I always had this light at the end of the tunnel kind of a thing, which was around March or April in my mind of, like, when I'll be out of it soon, it'll be not winter anymore. Or at the time I crashed my car, a deer hit my car. So this whole dark winter feeling kind of confined in my house a little bit, lots of changes. I was like, you know what? It's going to be warm soon. And by the time it's warm, the baby won't even be here yet, and it'll be just a whole new thing, whole new experience. And I'll feel different. Now that I'm like, here, I do feel different. It does feel a lot better. It feels like this wash, like being able to open my window, a warm breeze kind of wash over me in general, that, like, washing over feeling is very present. So I'm kind of hoping that energy is encapsulated with this eclipse and sticks around, you know what I mean, with this transit. But I definitely get that vibe from this one or this April 1 in particular. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, everyone could use a good watch right now.

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah. Good breeze. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. It's so true. When the breeze is finally warm and you don't have to brace for the cold, it's like you can let your shoulders down. We're in the warmer time now. 

Stefanie Sundara:
That's so true. In the cold, we kind of have these many micro moments of like (*gasps*) and then that's part of why winter is so somatically, like, you kind of shrivel up into a little raisin. Maybe you're bracing for the cold. 

[1:38:12]

But yeah, I love Caitlyn, you brought in this image of renewal. And I love how you're literally going through this process yourself within your body and sharing your body with another human being. And thinking about it in a long term kind of sense of there are many stages and that there are dark stages, but that there is always a more, a lighter stage. Like especially like before, maybe like right before, like a birthing happens, either literally or metaphorically. And again, too how there is like a dark kind of emptiness kind of phase before, like a birthing, a blooming kind of happens. And yeah, it really does feel like this eclipse can be, it has potential to be, beautifying. It has potential to kind of illustrate life, just like, maybe new life or just life in general, whether it's through the feeling of vitality, or like babies, or new flowers or what have you. It's such a joy to be able to receive those aspects of life. And also, I think of with Venus (♀) in here and Venus (♀) ruling Taurus (♉︎), and Pisces (♓︎) being very blissful, or the opportunity to be very blissful, like this experience of being able to receive a lot of maybe bounty or acknowledgement or just like, love, celebration from others around you, from relationships around you. And then also being able to be received by others, being able to give from your love, like your reservoir of love, from your passions, from your gifts, and having that be received.

I feel like there's a difference between just like, sharing and not knowing where it's going to land and maybe not even ever knowing how it landed, but then also sharing and feeling it being received, like feeling it land and nurture someone else or something else. And feeling that Venus (♀)ian reciprocity and having this feedback loop of just like, life force being regenerated back and forth. So that's maybe a potential for this eclipse. It seems really enlivening and just beautiful.


Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah. And with Uranus (♅), that electrical quality, it can sometimes be destabilizing, but it can also be that electrifying, that magnetic life force type energy as well. On the more enlivening end of the spectrum, literally, that feedback loop. Or literally like earthing. The electromagnetics of your feet to the soil, and feeling that and just feeling that churning in you turning in the earth. Also, there's a potential for, in Taurus(♉︎), being kind of like the more physical end of the Taurus (♉︎) Scorpio (♏︎) axis, like physical changes or physical things, like in the reality being shifted around. And again, good, bad, who knows what that labeling will be applied if/how that works out. But it could just be a change, a physical change. When I look at the Scorpio (♏︎) one, it's more of that inner working.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. And even like the days around the eclipse, Pluto (♇) stations retrograde the day before the eclipse. And Mercury (☿) also moves into Gemini (♊︎) that same day, which feels really big because the United States is famously in its Pluto (♇) return right now. So it's like we already had the first hit of it. But then as we stationed to move back towards that feeling again, I'm really curious how that might show up, because it's like, typically that could be some heavier traits. But then we also have this Venus (♀) Jupiter (♃) happening at the same time. And then what you said about the magnetic force of Uranus (♅) and then Mercury (☿) moving into its home sign of Gemini (♊︎). So, yeah, I feel like we've been gravitating a lot towards, like, the personal side of things and how it will feel for us individually. So probably not too much you probably don't need to spend too much time talking about what it might mean, like, globally. But, yeah, it seems pretty like an important piece there with Mercury (☿), I mean, sorry, Pluto (♇), being at standstill at that moment. 

Caitlyn Rack:
There could be like that whole when the eclipse moves into play, there's kind of like this stalling of time where time kind of stretches or kind of like does this, like, weird thing, the personal and the global being at odds. So maybe in the personal sense, we're very connected, maybe something to our space or our community or resources or the Earth, while also simultaneously both and the global sphere, something may be happening or supply chain issues. They've been kind of like, brewing or in the background and just like, happening. And it's not like we're not really ignoring them because we're just in it. But there could be a moment where then we are like, holding both simultaneously, and it's possible for you to feel this immense sense of personal renewal or immense connection to the Earth or this sweetness while also experiencing high gas prices or the store being out of something or whatever. And the store being out of something or the high gas prices isn't, in this moment, clouding or dampening the mood. It's still just in the background, or it's happening. But there's a moment where we get to be really personally invested in our way of being. 

Justin Plunkett:
Like how you just pointed out. It could be two things at once, like the both/and. Well, especially because we had the Saturn (♄) Uranus (♅) squares last year, which are all about our systems and the change that they need and systematic change. Of course we saw a lot of that. But I was watching Catherine Urban's YouTube video about the eclipses of this year. It's kind of like a YouTube webinar that she put out – shout outs to Catherine! – and she was saying how there is an ancient technique about some of these larger transits or aspects that happen, when will they get magnified? And you look to see whenever there's going to be eclipses in that same part of the sky. It's like we had the Saturn (♄) Uranus (♅) squares last year, and then now we have the eclipses coming in to magnify that even more, so, yeah, it definitely does have potential to be part of that food security, food insecurity or like our finances and resources. I think Pluto (♇) can tie into finances some too, on a global level. And yeah, definitely like Taurus (♉︎) being the pace of life could be more of that slowing down again. But whenever we slowed down at the beginning of the Pandemic, that was like we saw regeneration happening in the Earth quickly and so beautifully. If we're ever going to have any kind of positive effect on climate change, then we have to slow down again at some point. But it seems like we don't really do that unless there's like a big moment that asks us to. 

Something also interesting is that the conflict with Russia and Ukraine started right whenever we had that first hit of the Pluto (♇) return. So having Pluto (♇) start to move backwards and having Venus (♀) and Jupiter (♃) come together, it sounds like there could be some peaceful quality coming through. Of course, I can't really predict that just based off that. It's a lot to ask of Venus (♀) and Jupiter (♃), but the things are adding up and it seems like there could be some retreat, or some kind of like with that retrograde feeling or some rework, like reworking resolution, something like that. Especially with the two most positive planets coming together in the sky. 

Caitlyn Rack:
I also think of – what do they call it now? It's kind of funny that they have a word for it: The Great Resignation? 

Justin Plunkett:
Oh, yeah! 

Caitlyn Rack:
Everyone quitting their jobs because quite literally kind of fun because we're talking about how we value our time and value our experiences on planet Earth and we only have this one life as us, or at least in this body. So valuing that and slowing down and all this stuff and reclaiming your time, reclaiming your energy, vitality. That thing may be coming up again or just in general with this, because literally, like quitting a job you don't like or you've been giving away all your energy to and doing something new, doing something of value or just resting. That’s so, I feel like, symbolic of this Taurus (♉︎) energy, obviously it's been happening before this time period, so maybe it comes up again or just more and more people who maybe didn't do it prior? or another wave of people shifting gears and what they are doing that like Uranian-like abrupt shift, just like switching gears real quick realizing that you only have so much time in your life. And you don't want to give it all away to something that you don't value or like a corporation that does not value you and get back into that reciprocity: very connective Taurean energy that can be available. I can see that coming up at the end of this month, basically. 

[1:50:15]

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, and we've already been having such good news come through with people being able to unionize, and –

Caitlyn Rack:
Exactly.

Justin Plunkett:
– actually succeed with their unions. So hopefully more of that. And yeah, hopefully movement away from such a strict nine to five work week, better benefits for people, better time spent at work and not like you said, just giving away so much energy to something that doesn't give back to us except for in a paycheck kind of way or benefits, which are great things. But yeah, we only have one, like you said, one life to live, we only have a certain amount of resources. And that was something we talked about in our workshop, too, is like when we're going through change, we have to be able to devote the right amount of resources to that change. You moving into a pregnancy, it's like, okay, I have to value this and put resources here and I can't really spread my resources too thin. I think eclipses in general have a quality of asking us to buckle down and focus on what's in front of us. And then once the eclipses have passed, we kind of like, “Okay, now I can kind of pick back up and maybe zoom out or move my focus outward a little bit more.” But yeah, there could be some like that buckling down energy coming through. 

Stefanie Sundara:
I love that. I love bringing in how our work culture is in our society, in our Western society. And I also think about how everyone is so unique with their energy, like with our own systems, like just how we work. And I think systems like human design do a really great job at like, giving a language to like oh, some people, like are they wake up and they're really, really, really creative all day and then they shut down and go to sleep. And then some people, it's like kind of like this, um, wave that happens or with some people, they, they're more like observational and whatnot. So kind of having like a blanket nine to five workday situation, like 40 hours a week situation for everyone is just it was going to crumble at some point. 

And with Pluto (♇) stationing retrograde, I think it gives an opportunity to reassess how your creative system works. And also knowing that, like, our creative energy, it also fluctuates within us over our own course of our, of our life. And maybe it's kind of hitting a juncture where that changes during this eclipse And so being able to like how Justin was saying, like, reallocate resources to maybe time or energy or yeah, like attention to this new way of maybe a new relationship to your work. Maybe it's like releasing any way that we may feel victimized by our work and taking that power back, or just like doing something new or reallocating our attention into something else that gives us more life, so that we can go back to our “regular job” and be more internally resourced that way. So maybe there will be more of a magnification of that over society, over society at large. Maybe another wave of people reorienting the way that they view their work and things like that. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. Even like the Etsy strike is a way of seeing that it's not the unionizing, but it was like sticking up for what they need and how they want to operate and not be like because it wasn't a lot of it. Like other corporations are stealing their work and putting it into their products and stuff like that. 

Caitlyn Rack:
A lot of the pricing about, I think a big piece of it was like sponsored posts don't go to the actual creator or artist that they are sponsoring or whatever. So if someone clicks on the sponsored post because it's at the top of the page, it looks interesting. Most of that money goes towards like, I think Etsy versus the listing. I think that it was originally to my understanding I think that's a piece I feel like there's a whole bunch of pieces to it. Because again, like more like the listings got more expensive things like that to where it's just feasibly… it was a small site to begin with or it was something to help small scale, not even just even full time artists, [but] hobbyists to make some money or to put their work out there. And then it's suddenly becoming very inaccessible to anyone who doesn't really know their stuff about marketing or how they're allocating their advertising funds on the platform. And that just really makes it out of reach to so many people. Takes money out of their pockets! 

So, yeah, better conditions, because it's like these artists basically made the app popular. It's not like it blew up because people would want to go to Etsy over, say, like Ebay or something like that, because they knew it was like maybe it was something a little more hand made. But now it's like that's questionable, that is now put into question, because some of the stuff on there is not handmade or isn't made by actual people or the people who are making actual stuff are being pushed to the sidelines because they're not advertising as much. And all that jargon.  Accessibility being a primary focus, I think, or bringing it back to what really aids the people.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. All power to the people. Cool. The April 30 eclipse. That one's cute. Hopefully. And then we got the May 16 eclipse, the Scorpio (♏︎) feels and the Full Moon with the South Node (☋). And it's definitely got a different vibe. Here, I'll pull up the chart so we can see it. This is the chart for Washington, DC. We've got the Sun (☉) at 25 degrees of Taurus (♉︎) and the Moon (☽) at 25 degrees of Scorpio (♏︎). And the nodes are at 22 degrees. So pretty close there. And then Saturn (♄) is at 24 degrees of Aquarius (♒). So in a square to both the Sun (☉) and the Moon (☽). And then Mars (♂) and Neptune (♆) are 23 and 24 Pisces (♓︎), so they're doing trine sextile to the Sun (☉) and the Moon (☽). So this one definitely feels more of a slowing down energy. Jupiter (♃) is also at that very beginning of Aries (♈︎). That's interesting.

Yeah. Personally, I've been going through like my own Mars (♂) Neptune (♆) transits for the last year and a half or so. And it definitely feels like for me (because it ties into some specific parts of my chart that make it feel this way) but definitely kind of like an energy depletion for me. If Mars (♂) is our planet of ability to go go and have energy and drive, and Neptune (♆) can kind of wash those things away (like what we were talking about) It's like, “Where did all my energy go? Where did the stamina go?” Or “I'm not as effective whenever I put in my effort into tasks and stuff like that.” And Mars (♂) is the ruler of this Full Moon since it's in Scorpio (♏︎). So those are my first thoughts, at least. It definitely asks for, like, a deeper evaluation of our energy. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yes. Definitely get a different vibe with the Mars (♂) energy versus the Venusian energy and just, like, I guess is like a side or a little bit of illustrative quality: I forget who wrote this. I wish I could credit them, but I don't take credit for this. Speaking on Venus (♀) and Mars (♂) and their dynamic, and they brought up diamonds and how like the formation of a diamond and the beauty quality of the diamond being kind of like this very Venusian. It's like this polishing, this kind of like beautifying thing. But also diamonds are formed in the core of the Earth, like these volcanic sort of activity, that's very Mars (♂) oriented. So there's this clashing between how Venus (♀) and Mars (♂) sort of work, but they kind of clash and form together to make something that could be a diamond. So, like, on the New moon end of the spectrum. It could be more of like the beautifying and the polishing or the admiration or that kind of a thing. And on the Mars (♂) side, more of that, like that alchemical, lava bubbling up kind of thing from the surface or flowing out kind of energy to it. And I see that with flowing out because of the South Node (☋) is like an emptying out process.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. And tied into the past, even with being the South Node (☋). Yeah. I liked what you said about the diamond too. And diamonds are like the toughest material, right? They can cut through other things and other stones and minerals and… being forged. It has a forging quality. This Full Moon eclipse in May.

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, very “forging” or like parts may be like trial by fire a little bit and maybe less in the physical sense because we're talking about physicality of the New Moon, but more of like this soul on fire, like something inner. And then it's just literally like a phoenix burning up and having to go through this death and rebirth process, but maybe more so psychological or metaphorical rather than like in the waking. So it might not be as apparent, but like, inside or emotionally speaking of Scorpio (♏︎) really has this deep emotional quality, like going through kind of like this emotional trial by fire. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. And it's just such a stark difference from like we were just talking about all these planets and Pisces (♓︎), but then between each eclipse, between the first eclipse and the second one of the season, like, Jupiter (♃) and Venus (♀) will move into different signs and it just seems kind of like a whole different world that we're dealing with. And Mercury (☿) retrograde also like a day or two before, a few days before this eclipse as well. So yeah, even that like what you were just saying, like mental internal trial by fire, even looking at Mercury (☿) retrograde as an aspect of that, of getting deeper into our thoughts and our mental processes and reviewing things and at least those things kind of taking up a larger mental space.

Caitlyn Rack:
Mmhm.

[2:03:10]

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah. It really stands out to me, like just the fullness of this. How it's like a Full Moon and how at the new Moon or the solar eclipse in Taurus (♉︎), it's maybe more of like this visionary kind of experience of envisioning where one would like to be at in life, one's ambitions and being more in touch with them and things like that. And then with this Lunar eclipse, it's like the actual merging into that and the death that happens with that. And kind of this experience of soul retrieval, where Mercury (☿) kind of acts as like a psychopomp or the messenger, a messenger of the soul. With it being in retrograde and having this kind of reflective kind of function to it where mental faculties are more retrospective and kind of maybe more internalized. And so there's something around here around retrieving an aspect of self that needs to be integrated, that needs to be acknowledged, that needs to be loved, and facing it. And really facing it head on.

Especially with Mars (♂) being the ruler (the traditional ruler of Scorpio (♏︎), and also Pluto (♇) being in retrograde (being the modern ruler of Scorpio (♏︎). Like, that kind of gives even more of like a push to this being maybe like what's the word?... I guess like a catalyst? kind of experience, of really leaving a piece of yourself behind or maybe just integrating a part of yourself but also knowing that it's going to be forever changed in that process and reckoning with that. And yeah, it being really emotional or having the potential to be at the forefront of our emotional experience. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. And even that crossroads energy that you were speaking to earlier, Caitlyn, like with Saturn (♄) in a square to the Sun (☉) and the Moon (☽) during this Full Moon, that definitely feels I mean, we've had Saturn (♄) squaring the nodes for the last maybe a month and a half or two months or something. But, yeah, it does feel like one of those crossroads energies. I don't know, with Saturn (♄) being an Aquarius (♒), I feel like it could be a good time to lean in on our groups of people or communities. What are some ways that you guys see ways to work with this kind of energy? If it is going to be cathartic, and reviewing, and tough, like ways to work with this kind of especially like what you said with Mars (♂) and Pluto (♇) and Mars (♂) being close to Neptune (♆) those are just so out there, like outer planet vibe which is very feels out of our control. It's just so out there, it can just feel like larger than life. So, any thoughts coming to mind about ways to work with us on a tangible level? 

Caitlyn Rack:
First thing that comes up, I think, is surrender in a lot of ways when we face things. And some of it is potentially difficult. Really fighting it on a level that isn't very productive: really just going to make it more inflammatory. So the ways that it is inflammatory, especially inward or like psychologically, I think there's this element of surrender that almost feels a little inevitable. And I really liked how Stefanie brought up soul retrieval. It's just something that… it can't really be quantified in words or this logical sort of approach, I suppose. So really understanding how deep it can go… like Scorpio (♏︎) can go real deep. And there are certain elements of the psyche, the soul or spirit that might be touched or dug up in the process that just might need to happen sooner or later. Not making sense of it all at once. You don't have to make sense of it, but also you don't have to fight it. Sitting with it as much as humanly possible, I think is what I've been kind of like viewing it as I look at it.

Ever since I found out it was basically my due date seems a little inflammatory and certain things have come up. Like I'm planning on a home birth and flexing my doula skills and all that, all that good stuff. But of course I have this thing in the back of my mind that's like, you know, and there's a lot. And the reason I got into astrology, actually or like kind of a simultaneous doula birth work/astrology synthesis was because I started looking at birth charts of parents and their kids because it's like the moment of birth, right? Particularly, like, my parents and I had a very, like, traumatic birth that my mom talks about all the time and my brother didn't. And she always compares how that has affected my personality or how I approach life or things like that and how he does as well. I've always been super interested in that stuff and it's propelled me to go into the work, like doula work, to kind of mitigate that a little bit. But at the same time, I know that life is just this wild animal that sometimes it is beyond your control. So when I look at that and I'm like, it's my due date and I can plan for this home birth. It would be perfect. I have such a wonderful midwife. I “know all the processes, I know all the techniques” and whatnot, but there could be a thing that I can't control.

And it could have been Scorpio (♏︎) kind of like, sometimes can touch on in Mars (♂), like medical intervention. And it's simultaneously, like a big fear of mine but also something that I have grown to prepare for and accept, in a way, that even though that's not my I don't want to accept it and make that my goal. It's something that I still have to understand conceptually that, on a soul level, it could happen and it could catalyze something super deep and it could like, all these things. And the more and more I work with it, the more and more I grow more like, kind of accepting of it a little bit or understand sort of like that dance a little bit. And again, the whole thing, it doesn't have to be bad because fear really does this thing. And Scorpio (♏︎) deals a lot with fears and death, literally, and things like that. And Mars (♂) kind of dealing with inflammatory things and it doesn't have to be bad. It really doesn't. It could be intense. I think I like to use the word intense a lot, especially when it comes to Mars (♂) in Scorpio (♏︎) because it can really dig deep. It can do a lot of mental internal shifting, but at the same time, it can catalyze tremendous things in someone's psyche or their life. So I don't know what that means. I can't predict these things, especially in the essence of my own first time birthing experience, right? 

But another part of me knows that my soul is bigger than that. My soul is bigger than that. My body is just my body. And the things that might happen to the body don't have to define me or my experiences. And there's something more, there's like something bigger than that, and like transcendental kind of. And as long as I trust in that surrender and that trust, that as long as my awareness is there. And there's a little degree of understanding that if, say, something inflammatory does happen or in general around this cycle, I'm not going to fight it. I'm not going to be like, all of a sudden my adrenaline kicks in or suddenly, like, the fear kicks in, the all reasoning goes out the window. And that can be like anything. It's not just like from a birth context. Again, sitting with it, understanding that there might be something more to this and trust. Trust in my in each one of us is extraterrestrial kind of spirit that on the other side of this transit, there will be change, but it's going to be fine. In some way, shape or form, it's going to be okay.

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. Kudos to you for bringing that through. That was really beautiful and just potent in general of understanding. I think even in our extra sensory workshop, I shared a quote from this book that I was reading, and it was kind of like you could have a heart that is bandaged together with chicken wire and spackle, but there's still a light that shines through the heart, and that light is like the indomitable spirit within. Like, sure, we can go through pain and like, things that tear us apart, but there's still what you were saying, it's like my soul is bigger than just this experience in the body, and there will still be more soul shining through regardless of what things look like on the physical surface. And like you said, yeah, there's like, time on the other side of this eclipse. We don't stop at this eclipse. Things keep shifting and moving. So you have trusting in the process and sitting with it.

[2:15:58]

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah. I just wanted to reflect back on how the birth process that you're going through, Caitlyn, pregnancy and birth is just so perfect for this transit. It really symbolizes it really well. And thank you for having the courage to live through this, to share about it, and also to be really in touch with the unexpected that can happen. And that you have these values and the certain way that you want it to go, but you're also ready to face any unexpectedness about it. 

And I felt like Saturn (♄) in Aquarius (♒) was speaking there with how Saturn (♄) can be this inner parent kind of figure and how it sounded like you were parenting yourself, too, with changes and just like the pain that can happen and fears that can come up and you're just like parenting yourself throughout it all. And with Saturn (♄) Aquarius (♒) squaring, the nodes can really be this soul retrieval of the part of ourselves that feels a little bit estranged, that feels weird, that feels like it's in touch with a certain innovation, a certain really far out kind of idea that isn't grounded in the physical plane yet, but that is, like, really big. And it feels almost like it's like being channeled uniquely through us and how that has the ability to be integrated into just a part of our being, like a part of our main identity and how that needs to pass through the Scorpionic like, alchemical identity – change and process. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, thank you for that. Also, by the way. 

Justin Plunkett:
Nice. Cool, so… something that we wanted to do was instead of kind of going by Rising sign and trying to forecast that way, we thought it would be fun to bring out some tarot cards or little divination practices. And we each have a deck or I have these little astro dice. So, yeah, I think what we can do is we can do one for Cardinal risings, fixed risings, and mutable risings, and then go from there. 

So you want to start with Cardinal? and that would mean you have either Aries (♈︎) rising, Cancer (♋︎) rising, Libra (♎︎) rising, or Capricorn (♑︎) rising. So if one of those is you, then this next little pull is for you.

I'll give a little dice ASMR…dice rolling. 

So for the astro dice, I got Sun (☉) in Gemini (♊︎) in the 9th. So it feels like being open to learning new ideas and new perspectives for Cardinal Risings. Like being able to go with the flow there and wherever the wind may take you. Or maybe gathering essence from one thing and an essence from another thing and bridging them together. You know, being open to new ideas and new beliefs, and letting that be part of your expression. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Love that. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah! 

Stefanie Sundara:
I got a card that pulled in a card from this Oracle deck that I have that actually kind of beautifully ties in with that, which is the Spring card. And so it's about renewal and also allowing yourself to release emotions, like, release the emotions that are maybe just stagnant and needing to be moved in order to be able to kind of look forward to newness, like, whatever is blooming next in life and to be able to savor that and kind of be excited by it. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yes. And then I also have an Oracle deck. It's The Herbal Healing Deck by Sarah Baldwin, illustrated by Ashley Verkamp. Thought it was very Taurus (♉︎) season friendly, all different herbal and herbs, flowers and trees. Specifically, I pulled Goldenseal and Roots also. So it's a Goldenseal and it says healing. So again, with this whole renewal, this kind of encompasses healing in its most literal sense. So Goldenseal is kind of like this heal-all herb, the mixed salves that can just basically use it on anything. Very popular here in Appalachia.

In general, like healing the body, potentially. Renewal of things like diet, or relationship with the body, like wound healings, but also wounds of the soul or the spirit. Literally a Goldenseal balm from the soul. So healing is a big thing that comes up, I think, for Cardinal…

Justin Plunkett:
And that can be like so many different ways. It can be like healing through art. Right, because I think for Cardinal Rising, it's going to be either fifth and 11th or second and 8th. Right. So, yeah, like creative processes through your healing, it can look multiple ways. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Right.

Stefanie Sundara:
Mmhm.

[2:23:00]

Justin Plunkett:
Okay. Then the next would be fixed. Risings. This is probably a big one. So then that would be Taurus (♉︎) rising, Leo (♌) rising, Scorpio (♏︎) rising or Aquarius (♒) rising…I got Pluto (♇) in Virgo (♍︎) in the first.

So, I feel like Virgo (♍︎) can be that process of fine tuning, like readjusting, reconfiguring and analyzing deeply. And also Virgo (♍︎) wants to be like in the flow with the universe, like most in harmony with like the way that things should be or could be. And then bringing that in with Pluto (♇) and the first house definitely feels like deeply personal, which makes sense since these are eclipses happening in the fixed houses or fixed signs. But also, yeah, Pluto (♇) can give us through Plutonic experiences, we can get superpowers, and Kelly Surtees describes Pluto (♇) transits as coming out on the other side with new roles and responsibilities to contribute to wherever you are. So, yeah, it sounds like for fixed risings: fine tuning adjustment processes within the self in your personal evolution. 

Stefanie Sundara:
That’s beautiful. So I got the Gate, and it's a picture of this woman who is wearing like a gold…  long, gold, cape-like dress, and she's holding up like a half circle that has clouds and the sky through it. So kind of denoting like this new gate into a new world, a new realm. And what this kind of brings up is having an alchemical transformative process throughout all of this throughout these transits. And having this kind of defined moment of, I need to walk through this new world based on this new decision that either I'm making or that is being made for me and that now it's time to walk through this. And there can be optimism in this too, of like seeing a new possibility where there wasn't before. So it seems very transformative and optimistic as long as you can kind of put the fear aside of whatever change is happening. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah, and she's sitting on a wave of water and peering into that gate. So it's almost like to me, I'm getting.. not timid, but kind of evaluating it before going into it is what it looks like. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Very true. Yeah. Like, she's on moving water. And so things are moving. Things are happening. But there's still a moment of, like, okay, conscious decision here. Conscious walking through this new thing, this new realm, this new decision. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, that's actually really cool, because I pulled Clover, Red Clover, which is flow. So again, Justin mentioned the flow of, which is kind of, in a strange way, ironic because we're talking about fixed signs, but the fixed signs right now are, like, kind of in flux or they need to be a little more flexible than normal because of all the changes or all these things happening. And with your card, Stefanie, there's, like, water involved, and clover really gets things moving, I suppose, in the system. 

Just being in connection with how things are dynamically changing, being in the flow with them, not being as fixed as maybe the archetype wants to be, typically. And a piece of it for me is that clover is a very kind of unassuming or it's under the feet. It's not very flashy, per se, but it does a lot of healing work. It does a lot of movement work in herbal blends and things like that that it's incorporated into. So certain things that are moving in our lives as Fixed rising. Sometimes it can feel like maybe certain things are happening really quickly. Other times it might feel a little more stagnant. But yet there's still something below the surface. There's still things moving in, like, an unassuming way that when you get further along into it or work with it more, you realize just how much shift, change, and flow is actually occurring just below the surface or just under your foot. 

Stefanie Sundara:
I love that. 

Justin Plunkett:
Doesn't red clover help with tonifying the blood too? 

Caitlyn Rack:
Tonifying the blood, yeah. 

Justin Plunkett:
And the blood is where we hold, like, deep memories and deep fixation, probably. So even getting movement in the blood sounds important there. Yeah. All righty, last one! We'll do Mutable risings. So Gemini (♊︎) rising, Virgo (♍︎) rising, Sagittarius (♐) rising or Pisces (♓︎) rising. I love Mutables.

I got another Sun in Gemini (♊︎), but in the third instead of the 9th. Yeah. So maybe communicating is probably coming through with me on that one. Talking it out, like talking it out with people. Gemini (♊︎) being an air sign. Very intellectual and quick paced. Yeah, it sounds like talking it out with friends or siblings or trusted people in your local community. Let's see. And being curious. Gemini (♊︎) is all about curiosity. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Curious to see how maybe that could tie into what I received. I received the Tiger card. So it's just this beautiful picture of a tiger laying down, just facing the viewer with its big paws out in front and has a starry sky, a starry night sky in the background. And it looks like it's laying on that same kind of watery tapestry kind of image underneath it. And the tiger represents power,  represents, I think, personal power. That part that will really stick up for itself, really stand its ground. And maybe it's that part of oneself that can push through challenges, push through adversity, push through maybe things that are I don't want to say like attacking, but like things that are just not true. And so this kind of gives personal willpower kind of energy for mutable risings.

Caitlyn Rack:
Awesome. I think this does plan to that as well with Justin's dice roll was I got Chickweed and most of the pictures on the deck, the flowers are painted in such a way that they kind of make a face. They have a little bit of a face within them. Very cool. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Very Geminian. 

Caitlyn Rack:
And Chickweed is perspective again how we're talking it out. Maybe with a friend relaying communication to banter back and forth to understand different perspectives or maybe get a new perspective on things through talking it out and seeing things differently. Did you mention the third house, Justin? 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. 

[2:33:27]

Caitlyn Rack:
So seeing things differently within your immediate area. Chickweed is one of those herbs that's again under the foot. It's very unassuming and it's just everywhere. Especially at least in the Midwest or like Appalachia. There's so much chickweed ground cover. I think it's just everywhere.

Stefanie Sundara: 
Everywhere here in California too. Well in Northern California. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Yes. It's just this really beautiful small green plant, and that has these tiny little white flowers. And I love when the tiny little white flowers come out and that's what the card is suggesting. It's got these little starry, it's kind of got this galactic sort of vibe with it because even though Chickweed is very low to the ground, and very small tiny little flowers, they're like pure white and they point up towards the sky. 

So kind of like looking up or like if you're always kind of like looking down the ground or looking at your immediate surroundings. Maybe switching up where you go, switching up what you do, where you look, to get a different perspective on just day to day activities or day to day thoughts or things in your life that seem “normal”. What is mostly what people would assume is the grass is actually a bunch of plants, including chickweed. And you just have to take the time to notice it.

Justin Plunkett:
Love it, ugh… So good. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Love that. 

Justin Plunkett:
Yeah. Cool! Well, we did so much good talking here. Thanks for coming on and talking about the eclipses. Both of you. Any final thoughts before you tell people where to find you? 

Stefanie Sundara:
Thanks for having us. This is really fun! 

Justin Plunkett:
Thank you so much. Yeah, I had a good time too. Yes. So yeah, go ahead and let people know where they can find you on the interwebs and things. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram @stefaniesundara. Stefanie is with an F instead of a PH and my website is also stefaniesundara.com.

Caitlyn Rack:
Yeah, and my art page is funkyfaeart. Funkyfae, F-A-E, art And my website is also the same funkyfaeart.com, which is currently under construction right now. I'm Funky Fae, with two E's, on Patreon. I had a lot of previous offerings. There are a lot of things right now that are on hold because I'm gestating. A lot of projects are kind of gestating along with me, so… But that's where to find me. A lot of things. Funkyfae and Funkyfaeart.

Justin Plunkett:
Beautiful! Yeah, definitely go check out their art. It's really amazing. Cool. Yeah. I hope everyone has what's the word? Yeah. Beautiful eclipse season? Is that the right way to put it? 

Stefanie Sundara:
Beautiful. Electrifying. Terrifying. 

Caitlyn Rack:
Fruitful. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Fruitful. Yes. 

Justin Plunkett:
All right. Thanks so much again. 

Stefanie Sundara:
Bye!

Caitlyn Rack:
Bye, y’all!