Forecast by Armand Diaz
March was about shifts – Saturn into Pisces, Pluto into Aquarius, and Mars into Cancer. April is about learning to live with those changes in the midst of some choppy astrological weather. This month brings us to eclipse season, and we have a solar eclipse accompanied by Mercury retrograde. As the month ends, Pluto stations to retrograde – his first retrograde station in Aquarius.
Yet along the way, we have some very harmonious aspects. Relationship, romance (and finance) get a boost, as Venus and Juno are both busy all month long. While there could be some rough spots in April, there’s also great potential.
April Forecast
The month starts with a tense square between Mercury and Pluto on the 3rd. This aspect is always about speaking truth to power, but for the past fifteen years with Pluto in Capricorn, ‘power’ meant government, corporations, and institutions (and their representatives). In Aquarius, it’s the people themselves who are seen as being in charge. Aquarius is a sign of principles and ideals, while Mercury in Taurus is looking for facts with a solid, tangible basis. For some of us, this could mean a struggle to express ourselves in public, perhaps feeling peer pressure.
Mercury gets easier treatment from Saturn on the 5th, suggesting that extreme responses could be moderated. It’s also a day before the Libra Full Moon, though, so we can’t expect that things will be quiet or that folks won’t be emotional and potentially reactive.
On the 7th, Venus makes an easy sextile to Neptune, suggesting that relationships and socializing can be put into soft focus. It’s an opportunity to make the most of the still-powerful lunar energy, although with Luna in Scorpio, some sharp edges are still possible.
Partnership asteroid Juno meets with Uranus on the 10th, another potential for sharp edges. There could be sudden changes in relationship status, bringing couples closer together, pushing them farther apart, or simply changing the dynamics of the connection.
Venus gets off her Taurus chaise and strides into Gemini on the 11th, moving us towards a more sociable, group-oriented vibe for the rest of the month. It’s time to get out in your local community and meet with friends. Go to a farmers’ market or a street fair.
The Sun meets with Jupiter on the 11th, too. This is an upbeat, outgoing, and potentially fun energy that could be hard to contain – although why would you want to contain it? It’s true that some folks will be a little full of themselves with the solar principle inflated by Jupiter, but overall it’s a positive energy, especially for any athletic or competitive activity. On the collective level, this is the sort of aspect that can inspire sports fans – and armies.
At mid-month, the cosmic weather starts to get a little more tense…
Venus squares Saturn on the 14th. While this could feel like a deadline for some partnerships, it’s most likely to come out as a conflict about what to do. Stay in our go out? That sort of thing. In fact, it’s quite likely to be an internal conflict rather than a disagreement between people.
A new moon solar eclipse takes place early on the 20th. This eclipse is especially powerful because it is at the 29th (last) degree of Aries and closely squared by Pluto, so some of the more martial and bellicose aspects of the sign of the ram could be on display. More optimistically, it’s the second Aries New Moon this year, so it’s a second chance to get a new start on the astrological year. The Sun moves into Taurus just a few hours later, going on to square Pluto directly.
As if the tensions of the eclipse were not enough, Mercury stations to retrograde on the 21st, so the Mercurial Mishaps will already be in full force, suggesting that people may act on the basis of misinformation, disinformation, or miscommunication. The Cosmic Messenger will be backpedaling in Taurus until May 14th.
Relatively harmonious aspects prevail for the rest of the month, with the Sun, Mars, Uranus and Neptune coming into various alignments. Whatever is seeded at the new moon eclipse will have a chance to develop and grow, especially around the first quarter moon on the 27th. Keep an eye on the 23rd, however, when Jupiter meets with Eris (goddess of discord).
Soon after, we start to feel the gravitational pull of Pluto’s station to retrograde on May 1st. From the 28th onward, expect the pot to start boiling. We’ll have to see how the retrograde station manifests, but Pluto’s first station in a sign often has a dramatic twist.
