How I wish I had gentle and encouraging words to share in this forecast! However, April opens fraught with energy hungover from March. Jupiter and Pluto are virtually neck and neck now for the next several months. Jupiter magnifies and teaches us Pluto’s intense and harsh lessons in cold, calculating Capricorn.
Together they are taking a gigantic wrecking ball to our routines, customs, and established systems. With humanity so deeply divided, a single solution settled upon us to completely deconstruct what is in order to start over from scratch: the coronavirus. Like death or divorce, nothing will ever be the same afterward. What unfolds next from the rubble will inevitably be an improvement. In bringing us face to face with unrelenting facts of Biblical proportion: who shall live and who shall die, and the realities of Social Darwinism, the virus prioritizes our lives.
In the reality of life or death, the virus shows us in stark terms, classic Capricorn black and white no nonsense, what actually matters. Some may remember grandparents talking of equally difficult times in days past; the wise listened and took their stories to heart to recall in the present moment. No, this is not fire, flood or famine. Yes, we have electricity and technology to connect and entertain us. But self- isolation reveals how health, love and personal human connection are indeed all that matters.
In taking us down to ground zero, Capricorn planetary heavy weights ask: So how does the pursuit of power help you out now? Ego has no place here in the land of life and death.
I am not one to sugar coat anything and there are surely brighter days ahead; but first we must wade through the slog before us. April begins with Taskmaster Saturn distancing itself from the intensity of Jupiter-Pluto, having moved into Aquarius. Here, it is joined by Motivating Mars. Both challenge Uranus in Taurus. You may very well feel the chafing, something like gears grinding against one another caused by the uncomfortable friction of this troika.
The purpose is to awaken us through fluctuating resources, alternative allocations of our supplies, and applying our talents differently to earn income. Restaurant workers and those on health care’s front lines now are feeling this deeply. The troika squeezes us to find new sources of money as well as inventive ways to connect. How many of us sequestered in our homes are using FaceTime and Zoom like never before? Even the good old fashioned telephone is getting a workout.
The challenge to innovate and come up with other means to survive, work, exercise, and yes, play is strong through April 8th. Helping us problem solve, Venus shifts into Gemini on Friday, April 3rd, helpfully aligning with Saturn-Mars in Aquarius. Wide open communication, versatility and flexibility rule all month long. This alignment evokes Darwin’s Survival of the Fittest: it is those who are most adaptable who survive hard times, not necessarily the smartest and strongest.
We feel this reality more intensely building toward the Full Moon on Tuesday, April 7th. The Aries Sun barrels onward, all guns blazing opposing the Full Moon in gracious Libra which seeks appeasement and peace. Balance is key now: finding common ground somewhere between economic disaster versus keeping the public healthy and safe and reducing the viral spread. The struggle is real indeed.
The scales may very well tip in favor of putting the economy ahead of public health concerns as Messenger Mercury shifts into fiery Aries joining the Sun on Saturday, April 11th. Our will aligns with our mind; our thoughts jump forward regardless of the results. Aries is I AM energy, focused on self rather than others. The caution here is making impulsive decisions that you will later regret or cannot get out of. If ever there was a time to heed the consequences, this would be it.
While Mercury, Sun and healer Chiron in Aries are terrific for courageous advances on the healing front in the battle against the virus, it is also critical that we continue using safe health practices until the spread diminishes.
The days to really watch out for occur at mid-month: April 12-15. You will feel the conflict between exercising caution and throwing caution to the wind. This will be magnified on a collective level as the Moon joins Pluto-Jupiter in Capricorn challenging the Aries Sun. Our will chafes against the forces that be. It is essential to balance your personal well-being and pressing on with the work at hand.
Violence will be an option for some as friction erupts, so expect it this week. For the rest of us, when used well, this can be an incredibly productive time. You’d do well to find the in-between mindset of Aries I AM and Capricorn I USE. The possibilities are endless.
Cooler heads will prevail on or after April 20thas the Sun enters Taurus and joins change agent Uranus. With all great shifts such as this period now, key opportunities abound for the savvy and ready. Taurus offers us a time to plant, sowing seeds waiting to grow. The New Moon in Taurus wedged between the Sun and Uranus on Wednesday, April 22ndinvites us to till the soil of our lives. This is not a time to rest but rather invest, to dig deep and develop. What do you want to grow?
Three days later, Transformer Pluto turns retrograde. An outer planet, we may not immediately feel the effects of Pluto’s reverse gear. However, it affords us an opportunity to review our desires, what we want and want to accomplish. In Capricorn, Pluto steers our desires back to basics – meeting the rent or mortgage, putting more effective systems in place, refurbishing fundamental structures from which to operate. This isn’t sexy or glamorous work; rather, it is akin to repairing a leaky roof or replacing the hot water heater in our homes rather than redecorating the living room or building on a new addition.
As Bill Gates recently said, “Whereas some see the Covid-19 virus as a great disaster, I prefer to see it as a *great corrector*. It is sent to remind us of the important lessons that we have seemed to have forgotten and it is up to us if we will learn them or not.”
We are guided that much further to realign with elementary pieces of our lives on Monday, April 27th as Messenger Mercury turns into earthy Taurus. Over the final few days of the month, the messenger planet joins Uranus and the Sun. Communicate, awaken and identity are three words associated with Mercury, Uranus and the Sun. In Taurus, simplicity, authenticity and resources rule. Combined together they form our guideposts: communicate simply, awaken authentically, resourceful identity, to usher us into May and more peaceful, healthy days.
Of Special Note:
I am again offering mini readings at Soni Masur’s Spring Show, April 30, May 1 and 2, in Dover, MA. If you are interested in a mini reading, please contact Soni at Sonyamasur@gmail.com with your birth data: exact time, date and location of your birth. Soni will confirm whether her event is on or not given public health recommendations.