April begins on the 1st, a day often referred to as April Fools’ Day, with this April starting off with Mercury turning retrograde [6:14 PM EDT] for its three-week cycle before turning direct on the 25th of the month.
“Pity the fool”, as the legendary television character Mr. T would say.
As we start the month of April, we might find that some of our personal interests and our creative expressions are being thwarted. Our expansive sentiments could feel diminished with a sense that we have been lied to, that what has been presented as real and true is but a mirage and fabrication instead. While the liability of being crushed by the awareness of what we have been told is not the reality of a situation, we can also acknowledge that we are going through an awakening, sharpening our skills of perception, and avoiding accepting whatever is being told to us or shown to us.
Although much of the month of April will force us to temper our launching forward into new trajectories and to have machete in hand to carve our own path, delays and frustrations along the way might serve as useful braking actions, allowing for evaluation and reevaluations as we try to proceed ahead.
The Venus Neptune conjunction on the 3rd of April can have us on an idyllic Mount Olympus cavorting in a divine relationship or lost in a delusional fantasia with us entangled by a trickster. Neptune is the higher octave of Venus, and these two energies together heighten the possibilities and the liabilities associated with our interpersonal connections. The either / or cannot be discounted with the likelihood of our interactions with someone being either very, very good or downright horrid, necessitating severing the contact. Finding balance between the two extremes would prevent us from being seduced by imagining a best-case scenario or the worst possible outcome. The prince or princess must be seen with its warts and character flaws as well as their beauties and intrinsic qualities.
The 5th of April has Venus exiting Pisces to enter Aries [12:00 AM EDT], a Sign of Detriment for Venus where our relationships become more self-focused than collaborative, and people tend to take on the attitude of ‘what about me?’
Venus coming into Aries triggers a Stellium in the Cardinal Fire Sign as Venus joins the Sun and Mercury in Aries. We now have a Stellium both in Aries and in Pisces. The sense of old and new can be pervasive during the first half of April. We may be hampered by our past outstanding issues, all the while that we are hankering to address the new and different.
Relationships can be dicey until the 29th of April when Venus exits Aries to enter its own Sign of Taurus. Everyone may be a little too self-centered, focused on their personal concerns to give much attention to other people’s matters while Venus is transiting Aries. ‘April Love’ can be everyone acting like Narcissus admiring their own reflection in the mirror or taking selfies of themselves here, there, and everywhere.
April 6th has Venus sextile Pluto. We may reach out to friends to plan our get-togethers later this spring or over the summer. We are also interested in contact with those people who might grease the wheels of our personal projects and ambitions.
The Aries New Moon on the 8th of April with the Sun conjunct Moon [2:21 PM EDT] is a Solar Eclipse. With the New Moon of a Cardinal Sign being the trigger for that season itself, we truly start the spring season highlighting our creative talents, accentuating our romantic interests, and expanding those involvements that appeal to us.
During these volatile times of the paradigm shift, we may feel these wild swings between expansion and contraction, between elation and despair, between the excitingly new and the resistant past.
From the expansive energies of the New Moon, we might devolve into feeling like the wind has been knocked out of our sails on the 10th of April when Mars conjuncts Saturn. Storm systems can be intense with tornados and heavy precipitation. Seas may be roiling with the liability of boating and shipping accidents. For us personally, we might feel tense, anxious, and with the wind knocked out of us. It would be a good time for us to lay low, not push the envelope, and even consider pulling the covers up over our head.
Whenever things seem to get a little too much, when we feel on overwhelm, we are likely to look for ways out. We could be looking far afield on the 11th of April when the Sun conjuncts Mercury. We may be a little more upbeat with a view towards what could be rather than what is or what was. This would be a day to give thought to travel plans to faraway places. A desire to step away from everyday reality would be an antidote to any feeling of funkiness the day before.
The second half of April can be an exciting time with various twists and turns, some of which can be extraordinarily dramatic.
The three days of the 19th through the 21st could turn up the heat, accelerate the process of transformation, with a large dose of awakening and engaging spirit into action.
The 19th of April has Mercury conjunct Venus, Mars sextile both Jupiter and Uranus both in Taurus, and the Sun exiting Aries to enter Taurus [10:00 AM EDT]. The Sun entering Taurus ends the Stellium in Aries and triggers a Stellium in Taurus as the Sun joins Jupiter and Uranus in the Fixed Earth Sign.
We are moving into a seed-planting time, a time to put implementation to our plans, and with the recognition that we are not interested in ‘same old, same old’ but rather want to engage the avant-garde, the iconoclastic, with us willing to take steps into the technological advances of the new age.
One of the most significant energy configurations of this year occurs on the 20th of April when Jupiter conjuncts Uranus. Radical changes might occur in this third week of April with various alterations to some of society’s institutions. We could see the old morphing into the new, evidence of transformations in society, but with the old formats holding on, grasping to maintain power, and trying to quash or co-op greater independence and autonomy of the freedom movements indicative of the power to the people. We might witness the last gasps of the old regimes with fear, anxiety, and terror their remaining arsenal to enforce compliance.
We could see indications of major alterations in the financial services sector as decentralized finances of cryptocurrencies vie with central bank digital currencies and the question of inherent value in fiat monies. We may witness it with alternative media increasing in viewership compared to legacy media. The rise of populism in national elections can stand against the authoritarian traits of established political parties. And in our personal world, we might join the increasing majority who have lost faith in so many traditional institutions. Yes, the revolution may not be televised but more likely lived and streaming live.
The 21st of April has the Sun square Pluto. We are looking for a new day dawning, but first we may have to release our reliance upon the old, accept vulnerability in giving up our security, and trust in the natural unfolding of the new paradigm. Are we envisioning heaven on earth or an abject hell? Do we wish to experience a utopian future of a golden age or a dystopian reality of hardship, scarcity, and despair?
We may sense a stripping away, a letting go, and a release both on the 21st with the Sun square Pluto and again with the Scorpio Full Moon on the 23rd when the Sun opposes the Moon [7:49 PM EDT].
A good spring cleaning is in order on an external level of ridding us of extraneous stuff through paring down and on an internal level in letting go of issues that we may have been consciously or subconsciously holding onto but in truth are only holding us back.
As the 12-step programs remind us: “Let Go, Let God.”
Mercury ends its retrograde cycle on the 25th. It may take us a day or two to acclimate to the change in direction, so it would be wise for us to recognize that there can still be misunderstandings, missteps and kerfuffles before we straighten out and fly right. Although Mercury will still be in the ‘shadow’ of its retrograde cycle until the 15th of May when Mercury reaches the degree at which it had turned retrograde, we’re better able to get on with our new trajectories, put our personal mark on our activities, and express more fully our creative talents.
The month of April ends with two major Sign changes.
On the 29th, Mars conjuncts Neptune. Fine tuning our clean up and clear out removes liable obstacles that would block our advancement and provides the opportunity to fill created space with personal makeovers that affirm our image and assert our presence.
Venus ends its transit of Aries to enter its own Sign of Taurus on the 29th [7:31 AM EDT], followed on the 30th with Mars exiting Pisces to enter its own Sign of Aries on the 30th [11:33 AM EDT].
Venus entering Taurus increases the impact of the Taurus Stellium as Venus joins the Sun, Jupiter, and Uranus in the Fixed Earth Sign. Mars entering Aries ends the Stellium in Pisces and gives greater thrust to our self-assertiveness.
The end of April puts more gas in our tank and give us a greater impetus to engage new beginnings for our springtime involvements.
While we could have added thrust to our actions with refined taste to our style, there are times during the volatility of the paradigm shift when we are liable to go from one extreme to the other.
April 2024… affirming ourselves with a few bumps in the road…
