AstroCast: April 5-19, 2011

All dates and times are PDT. Also, remember, that while the dates of the exact aspects are noted, most of these aspects have a life that can begin before the moment of exactness and last or extend beyond it. In some cases, nothing may happen at all as the point of exactness just sets the “trap/event” and waits for another event, such as a transit to “trigger” the event. For example, the Sun Jupiter conjunction on April 6, may not result in any event or action until Mars reaches that point and “trips the trigger” so to speak. Pay attention. Be prepared. Know your transits. This is why having your natal chart and keeping a personal journal can be very helpful.

On April 6th, the Sun (self) catches up with Jupiter (expansion/reward) at 16° Aries. This can be a time for action. This is not a time to procrastinate. Make up your mind, face your fear, roll the dice, take a chance and get going! A word of caution though, since Mercury is retrograde, there may be a delay in the “reward” or results or they just might not happen as quickly as you might like. Just so you know; Mars transits 16° Aries in the wee hours of the morning of April 23rd.

The energies are continuing to build as Pluto is slowing down and preparing to go retrograde while Mercury is already retrograde and racing back toward the inferior conjunction with the Sun. Guess what! Both happen within a few hours of each other on April 9th. Pluto, because of its long orbit goes over the same territory (issues) at least three times. Perhaps that is why Pluto transits can seem to be so long and at times, painful. This Pluto retrograde will primarily affect points at 4-7 degrees of the cardinal signs, Capricorn, Aries, Cancer and Libra. Pluto rules the underworld; that is, anything that lies deep within such as our core essence or soul. Pluto in Capricorn is the business master and expects no less of us. On a personal level, it is time to own up to who we are, what we stand for and what we expect of ourselves. While rapid progress is not to be expected with Pluto, remember, each journey begins with the first step. These are the cardinal “action” signs and during this time we are being called to action. Time to make a decision and take action. While the process of changing oneself can be slow, habits are hard to break, like the tortoise, slow and steady can win the race.

With the Mercury inferior conjunction to the Sun (this is when Mercury, during its retrograde phase, passes between the Sun and the Earth), a new Mercury cycle begins. What have we been re-doing, re-writing, re-thinking? This is a time to finishing things so one can begin to think about something new. Don’t worry if things aren’t clear as this is the “new Moon” type beginning of a cycle and as such clarity will come later when Mercury stations and begins moving forward again. Review any plans and prepare for action as Mercury will station direct on April 23rd so we don’t have a lot of time.

Don’t you just love those days when everything seems to be happening at once? The thought of getting pulled in different directions, deadlines to meet, miles to go before we sleep….. Think April 11th as we have Mars (action) 7° Aries square Pluto (transformation/intense/underworld) 7° Capricorn at (action time people) and then in the evening retrograde Mercury (communication) will conjunct Jupiter (expansion) at 17° Aries. We have an opportunity to access the energy (Mars) necessary to expand (Jupiter) our consciousness (Mercury) and become aware of what we need to change (Pluto) and how to begin.

OK! All right already. Time out please. I really need to finish my taxes. Good news is, except for the Moon, we do get kind of a break until April 16th. Now it is almost time for the Aries Full Moon on April 17th, but before we get there, the Moon makes an aspect to everyone else beginning with Neptune in the early morning hours of April 16th, followed by aspects to Uranus, Chiron, Pluto, Mars, Saturn, Mercury all on the 16th, followed by aspects to Jupiter and Venus on the 17th and then the full Moon 27° Libra opposing the Sun 27° Aries at 7:44 pm, April 17th. Because of the Moon connecting (aspecting) everyone, this can be an emotional two days, especially for any Lunar or Moon types. This will also be a larger than normal full Moon as it coincides with the Moons closest approach to the Earth for this cycle. It will only be about 1510 kilometers farther from the Earth than the Full Moon of March 19th, and so much closer and larger than normal. Do you do Full Moon rituals? If so, this is another powerful one so take advantage of it.

Are we there yet? Not quite time for Taurus. We have a couple more events to deal with. April 18th, Mars 12° Aries opposes retrograde Saturn 12° Libra. Saturn in Libra wants justice, especially for the “underdog.” While we can expect continued strife in the world, what about oneself? Do you tend to rush to or side with the “underdogs?” Remember, retrogrades are “re” times so this may be a good time to “re”-evaluate our causes. Do they really reflect our beliefs or core values? This is a good time to look a little deeper into the organizations or causes we side with to make sure that they are in alignment with ourselves.

On April 19th we have a meeting of forward moving Mars and retrograde Mercury on the point of the April 3rd New Moon, 13° Aries. Will Mars and Mercury “trigger” something that was “set up” by the New Moon? Check your journal. Watch the news. Perhaps, some seed that was planted will have germinated sufficiently that we can see it more clearly. Mars provides the energy to while Mercury provides the ability to re-think, re-assess the seed. Then again, what did we say, write or think during the time of the new Moon? What words might come back to bite us on the butt? What’s for dinner? Do we need to “eat crow” or “eat our words”?

Oh YIPPEE! Finally, April 20th, Sun moves into Taurus. Well, that’s for next time.