TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK

 

 

 

April is a month of progress, but it might not be as steady as we wish. The month begins on a serious note of Saturnian restraint and ends with the shock of a Sun-Uranus conjunction. The cosmos seems impatient when mental Mercury jumps into assertive Aries on April 3. Four planets in Aries should be enough to push through any resistance and land us into new territory. In fact, we might believe that everything is finally moving quickly, but we realize that it’s partly an illusion when Mars squares dreamy Neptune on April 9. Thankfully, the Aries New Moon on April 11 is the sign we’ve been waiting for; the starting gate opens and we are allowed to run. Nevertheless, the energy is intense as Venus squares unrelenting Pluto. Passions come to the surface, possibly creating a power struggle when the Sun and Mercury each squares Pluto on April 16 and April 17, respectively. We may further fuel the fires of disagreement while combative Mars forms an irritating quincunx to Pluto, also on April 17. Forward movement slows considerably when Venus enters slow-and-steady Taurus on April 14, followed by Mercury and the Sun on April 19. But these three planets catch up with progressive Uranus on April 22, April 23, and April30, respectively. Nevertheless, we may still run into trouble if we’re unwilling to meet our obligations, if our work is sloppy, or if we take shortcuts when Mars, Venus, and Mercury each form stressful aspects to taskmaster Saturn on April 19, April 24, and April 25. The pattern of breaking out of the status quo (Uranus) followed by another round of constraint (Saturn) becomes a theme for the month as a fractal of the yearlong Saturn-Uranus square. A powerhouse Scorpio Full Moon on April 26 reveals the hidden complexity of continuing on our set path. The speedy Aries energy from the beginning of the month transforms into unrelenting determination with four planets in obstinate Taurus. We are beginning to understand that we will reach our goals, but it is a marathon and not a sprint. Pluto’s retrograde station on April 27 confirms the need for persistence while the Sun’s conjunction with irrepressible Uranus on April 30 ends the month with a burst of newly found freedom.