Rushing In

 April’s planetary energy is free and clear in comparison to the prior month of March.  However this does not necessarily translate to an energetically calmer month by any means.  While the ether is not stirred by any eclipses, or a single planet turning retrograde, the April cosmos is dominated by the fiery sign of Aries.

Aries is called the Great Initiator.  It kicks up dust just for the sake of it.  The first sign of the zodiac and a fire sign to boot, Aries lives to light a fire, to get things going. Impulsive, fierce, brave and courageous, Aries is the pioneer, warrior, first responder and trail blazer.  It leaps and asks questions later.

May all of your children be Aries is an old astrology taunt for those who are stubborn and resistant to change.

By no means are all Aries individuals extroverts.  That would be far too sweeping a generalization.  But each in their own way knows how to move forward in pursuit of their interests.

Aries dominating the cosmic waves gives that much more thrust to the planetary all clear underway since the Spring Equinox, March 20^th, when Messenger Mercury turned direct motion, joining every other planet spinning forward.  True to its nature, Aries energy does not hesitate getting a jump on life heralded by the Full Moon in Libra on April 1^st.  

The peacemaker Libra Moon wants everyone to play nicely and get along. Known as the Velvet Hammer of the zodiac, Libra is nobody’s fool.  Never underestimate her. She comes on like a charm, artfully soothing and pleasing; yet underneath her silky veneer is a core made of steel. The Libra Moon will need every bit of her steely strength in her tricky Full Moon phase.

Libra’s job is to discern and judge:  what is fair, just, healthy, balanced, beautiful?  Given the current global circumstances, she has her work cut out for her, made that much more difficult by the Full Moon’s position on April 1^st.  This Libra Full Moon is not aligning helpfully to any planet.  She cannot seem to find a friend or ally in this phase.  Intensifying her energy that much more is that this is the first Full Moon since the March 3^rd total lunar eclipse, the reverberations of which we are still feeling and that set off the chain of events in the Middle East.

The Libra Full Moon opposes the Aries Sun as both challenge Jupiter in Cancer the Crab.  Libra Moon calls for peace, negotiation and mediation; while the Aries Sun pushes onward for war, to burn the proverbial house down with Jupiter caught in the middle schooling us about the prolonged costs of war to the human family.

Jupiter’s lesson for us remains the same:  to learn that we are one humankind.  Our lesson is not going away, not going anywhere until we acknowledge, master and integrate that we share vastly more similarities than differences.  Our test and examination is to remember that separation and division are an illusion.  So far, we have not been doing well on our collective examinations. 

Hopefully, the Libra Full Moon’s pleas for peace will be delivered upon; however, April is statistically proven to be the most violent month of the calendar year, with good reason. Impulsive Aries rarely takes a back seat. Where Libra hesitates, debating the best option, Aries jumps right in. Well-intentioned Libra gets left in the dust.

Our pants-on-fire proclivity escalates with the Aries’ fire spreading quickly this month. As April begins, the Aries trio Sun, Saturn and Neptune widens to five planets in the Warrior sign by mid-month.

Motivating Mars turns into Aries on Thursday, April 9^th followed by Messenger Mercury on April 14^th, teeing us up for the New Moon in Aries on April 17^th.  Can you say, Ready, Aim, Fire?  For a few hours, until the Moon shifts into earthy Taurus, 6 out of ten planets in Aries will have us feeling like the world is on fire; that we are in a collective hospital emergency room.  To say this is an extremely charged New Moon is a vast understatement.

How to lower the temperature and manage this hair-raising energy? 

Seize the day:  Aries is terrific for starting anything new; so begin with a new practice or habit.  One such example of such a healthy habit is to take a breath before you say yes or dive right in.  In the world we live in of compulsive immediacy, do something radical and hit the pause button.   Wait an hour or more before replying to the phone call or the text right away.  Jupiter in caring Cancer approves.  Pausing before acting is a strong form of self-care.  It can seem passive in our current times; but buying time as a means of giving to yourself is clutch soul nourishment.

Motivating Mars rules Aries and will be in its own sign for a solid month.  As it tightly conjoins Saturn, Neptune and Mercury from April 10^th -20th, with the Aries New Moon occurring during this timeframe to boot, Mars incites us to action.  Other than our own force of will, there is very little to slow us down now.  Messenger Mercury governs how we think and speak.  As part of the Aries battalion, we may commit before fully grasping the consequences. With so much fire burning inside us, we may feel mission-driven, compelled to do or die.

Fortunately, a bit of reality-based, grounding energy softens our sense of urgency when the Sun turns into practical Taurus on Monday, April 20^th.  The next four days are key.   The Sun joins Valuable Venus and Radical Uranus through April 24^th, bringing up the cost of our hasty actions, the actual price we pay for not considering the long-term ramifications.  Three planets in Taurus definitely shift the dynamic.

As the first earth sign of the zodiac, Taurus rules resources, both tangible and intangible.  Money, yes. Crops and commodities harvested from the earth, possessions we can feel and touch, our skills and talents; but also the most invaluable resource:  time.  Sure, money makes the world go around.  It is a truth universally acknowledged.  But you can never buy more time once you’ve given it away.  What many would not do to get more of it, go back on the calendar and spend some of our time differently.

Time is money, money is power.  And boy are we learning the priceless lessons now about how NOT to spend our time, money or power.  How is the operative word here.  Because while Taurus is all about resources and how we spend our resources, especially the most priceless commodity called time that rests upon our values. 

These four days of April, the 20^th to the 24^th will see a pivotal shift around our personal values. Change Agent and Great Awakener Uranus has been hovering at the final degrees of Taurus for a few months now.  Here Uranus has steadily nudged us about what and whom we value and why.  Those who have been resistant to try new approaches or change their beliefs may have a real reckoning now, as the great A-Hah strikes. The same goes for actual earth developments; watch for immense volcanic and seismic activity.

Valuable Venus rolls into communicative Gemini on Friday, April 24^th, joined by Uranus on the Sunday, the 26^th.  How we engage with others is shifting dramatically.  While Venus cycles through Gemini every 18 months, Uranus has not passed through this first air sign since the 1940s.  Think about that.  85 years ago.  Television just began to emerge. Computers and NASA were in their infancy. 

Uranus will stay in Gemini for the next seven years, until 2033.  We can only imagine the technology advances and how we will communicate by the end of its tour through Gemini. One thing is for sure, though.  Life is about to step into overdrive.  Big time. 

All three outer planets are helpfully aligning to each other:  Transformer Pluto in Aquarius to Uranus in Gemini, with both aligning to Neptune in Aries.  These three are generational markers.  Those born in the next few years will operate on completely different frequencies and harken to totally different drums in their uniquely individual way.

The next few years are tremendously exciting and a substantially needed-breath of fresh air.  The old days and ways are now done and over.  Rise up and greet the new.