A Quick Sky Map | the Astrology of April 2019 | cleaning up the mess, pulling back our projections and stepping into our own power and responsibility, a time of karma and unlimited possibility

April is a MEGA powerful month so let's take a quick look ahead.

April amps up our 2019 journey toward the Saturn/Pluto conjunction of 2020 - with both the New and Full Moons activating those energies and the month bookended by Pluto meeting the South Node (at 22 degrees Capricorn) on April 4th and Saturn meeting the South Node on April 30th (the first of three due to his upcoming retrograde!).

Let's start with Pluto.

APRIL 4TH - Pluto conjuncts the South Node. We need to clean up our mess. We need to let go of the crap that is no longer true for us/working for us. The South Node is endings and Pluto is death - Capricorn rules our goals, career, the power structures in our lives. Trying to control people/situations will bite us in the ass now. An old life is fading to black. Note to self - buy a flashlight.

APRIL 5TH - New Moon in Aries. The Moon/Sun are widely squaring Pluto/Saturn and the South Node. This is a new beginning, but we can't move forward - with this exciting NEW energy in fiery Aries dragging heavy baggage along with us. The old stuff is standing in the way of the new stuff. We don't have to toss everything into the dust bin, but we can't get there from here either. It's a new Moon but also a time of adjustments. A trine to Ceres offers an ability to rebound now and the promise of a rebirth. Mars (ruler of the Moon) is in Gemini, so we will be busy, maybe scattered. That square to Saturn could bring delays, limits and responsibilities. It can also prevent us from being too impulsive. Pluto brings power struggles, but also stamina and endurance. Then the Moon moves into a trine (brakes off) with Jupiter and we move forward/expand.

APRIL 9TH - Mercury trines the North Node. Pay attention. Information/communications/ideas can slip us right into our best and brightest timeline. Send the email. Have the conversation. Plan for the future. Also think Cancer - nurturing, real estate, growth through allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, prioritizing home and family - the theme of your natal Cancer house.

APRIL 10TH - Jupiter stations retrograde at 24 degrees Sagittarius. Whatever is expanding in our life stops expanding because it needs some re-visions. It's Aries season, so any kind of slowdown can make us antsy, angry and could lead to impulsive errors. Take a breath. Stuff that just keeps growing and growing is NOT sustainable - it bursts, it makes us outgrow our favorite jeans, it's what cancer cells do.

APRIL 17TH - Mercury starts walking new degrees and enters Aries. Whatever Mercury's retrograde through Pisces has been about for us - we get it. YAY! Fresh ideas. New conversations. Our minds speed up. Our tongue gets sharper. We can ask for what we need. Our words get more instinctual, but also more pushy. Arguments get more likely as communication becomes more competitive. The silence that was so golden in Pisces gets broken now. We are moving on.

APRIL 19TH - Full Moon in Libra (yes another one - this is the one on the final degree!). This is about our relationships. Me vs. we. What have we learned since the last Full Moon in Libra last month? Again this is squaring Saturn and the North/South Nodes and Pluto! And conjunct fast change Uranus! Something comes to light, reaches a culmination or conclusion.

APRIL 20TH - Sun enters Taurus. Maybe life doesn't slow down with Mercury all fired up, but we will feel much better when we enjoy those slower moments now. Stop and smell a rose now and then. Venus enters Aries where she is not so happy answering to Mars, but Aries people and our Aries houses become more attractive. Aries' ways do, too - having courage, loving a challenge, just doing it, starting something new. 

APRIL 24TH - Pluto stations retrograde. At the same time Mercury is going to conjunct Vesta pulling what we hold sacred and give our attention to into our Pluto retrograde story. Pluto retrogrades are times to do some deep inner work. Fear that is ripe for release will come up to be looked up/worked through/maybe just survived. Fear can arise through uncomfortable situations, but we can see it for what it is now. The emperor has no clothes. He never did. Deep insights are possible. Worn out controls, rules and power systems are getting re-looked at as well as the way we merge our resources (including our bodies and our money) with other people. This is also the day Mars will square Neptune. We might be tired. Drift off course. Keeping our attention (Mercury/Vesta) on the important stuff will be the way through this one.

APRIL 30TH - Saturn stations retrograde on the South Node. Whoa. Major wake-up call. Maybe a major ending. Time to re-think our commitments. Re-consider our goals. Re-structure our projects. Re-assess our ambitions. Re-draw our boundaries. Re-value our time/history. Sometimes we get to see what is holding us up because it isn't holding us up anymore. Have we built our house on sand or stone? Dad is on vacation folks. On the South Node this is the karma of our past lives, the patriarchy, our ancestors we are working with. Don't be afraid of karma - I guarantee you haven't done all the bad things you think you did. Past choices/actions bring rewards and repercussions now.

That's a mini-rundown. There are at least 20 aspects I haven't talked about. April is a HUGE gateway month into the new energies. Stuff is falling away as other stuff is falling into place. Step into your responsibility. Give everything your best. The sharp edges of cut corners will be biting us in the ass for years to come.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of March 25th - still some confusion but we are moving forward, emotional endings, honoring our commonality, unexpected love and money situations, irrevocable decisions, karmic slates being wiped clean, your great-great-great-great grandma has your back, too

Here are some major aspects for the week ahead:

SUNDAY - Mercury retrograde conjunct Neptune
TUESDAY - Venus into Pisces
WEDNESDAY - Venus sextile Uranus
THURSDAY - Mercury stations direct, Pluto on the South Node
SUNDAY - Mars into Gemini

THREE planets are changing sign/directions, so this week is pretty action packed, turbulent and emotional. Let's unpack this puppy!

Check out the dates listed, but don't marry them. Things don't always happen when the energies are most exact, but sometimes as the energy is building or unwinding.

On TUESDAY, Venus moves into Pisces (bye-bye Aquarius, I hope you have enjoyed all those good hair days!) until April 20th.

Pisces Sun people and Pisces rising people become more attractive now. Both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want.

(how have we never noticed how blue your eyes are or how deep your voice?)

All of us attract what we want by working with Pisces energies - an ability to show compassion, create beauty, honor feelings, stay emotionally open, connect, use our imaginations. 

 In Aquarius it was our differences that attracted people and situations to us, in Pisces it is our ability to believe in and honor our commonality.

Venus is exalted in Pisces. She can work her magic here.
 
She expands relationships, money and self-esteem. Opportunities increase. Resistance dissolves.
 
The tricky part of Venus in Pisces is we need to know what we want now.
 
The lines between us and other people, between acceptance and avoidance, between their money becoming our money and our money becoming their money, between love and "what the hell was I thinking" - will blur.

In Pisces, things that look too good to be true usually almost always are. And what flows in can flow right back out again. But if we set boundaries - THIS is ok, THIS is not ok - and release our expectations that outcomes must go a specific way - this is wonderful energy for more beauty, love and money to move into our lives. The irony with Venus in Pisces is that although we can attract more love and money those things often will feel less important somehow.

For artists and makers, and yes, that means everyone, this is wonderful energy for the beauty and creativity and imaginings and love we put out into the world to attract more abundance back into our lives.
  
We are more attractive to our dreams now - we call to them just as they call to us. 

The feeling is mutual. 

On WEDNESDAY, Venus (in Pisces now) is going to sextile (opportunity) Uranus (in Taurus). Fast changes with love and money are possible. Life is encouraging us (sextiles are gentle aspects) to move in a NEW DIRECTION. Be open to something different now. Maybe something less structured. Unexpected situations/people, likely with a connection to the past, could appear. Changes with love/money/relationships are possible. With these energies in water and earth the benefits of whatever this is will probably not just drop into our laps - the situation will need to be watered/tended.

On THURSDAY, Mercury stations direct. YAY! We will feel the forward movement of this. Stalled ideas/plans will start to move forward. There will be less glitches. Keep in mind Mercury is still hanging out with Pisces ruler Neptune for the next couple weeks.

It might be the middle of April, when he/she starts moving through NEW degrees, before we are feeling clear headed and full-steam ahead with whatever Mercury retrograde has had us going back and forth over. If important decisions/contracts, etc can be delayed a bit longer we will benefit from this.

If something cannot be delayed, then we will make the best decisions with the information we have available now.

Know with Pluto (death) on the South Node decisions made now could be irreversible. 

Endings are emotional. Karma is dissolving. Keep in mind this means if we are connected to other people/situations though karma, the dissolving karma severs that connection.

This is going to be an IMPORTANT THEME IN APRIL and throughout the rest of this year and we have been talking about it here since the South Node moved into Capricorn. We are pulled into our ancestor's stories (our past life stories, our childhood stories) so we can choose differently (we are them, but more than them), finish what they started, make the amends they needed to make and earn the rewards they were denied. If we have benefited through the abuse of Capricorn energy (hierarchy, power) either through our own actions, our ancestors' action or our past lives we could find those benefits wiped away.

If this is happening to us, this is truly, truly our hold being released from something we no longer need to free them up for something BETTER.

Mercury is sitting on Neptune - meditation/prayer is very effective. Remember we are carrying our ancestors' stories forward - our actions benefit them, too, and they are actively helping us now.

If big decisions are needed and we don't make them - and yes, I know we don't think we have all the info we need to make them, the energy is still confusing! - we will find the decisions made for us.

On SUNDAY, fiery Mars leaves Taurus, where he has been kind of grinding his heels, and moves into energetic, airy frenetic space of Gemini. With Mars now in Gemini answering to Mercury (direct, but sitting on Neptune and still covering old degrees) this change of signs won't be so straight forward either.

Mars in Gemini will have us running here and there. This is the energy that loves multi-tasking. Yes, we know now that multi-tasking really just means doing everything half-assed, but sometimes half-assed is good enough. And sometimes it isn't. You decide.

Gemini can bring more questions than answers and it is our job now to LOVE our way into the questions - be curious, appreciated the GIFT we are given when we are given a CHOICE. The answers will come easier after mid-April when Mercury is covering new ground, but we might have to just work with what we have. We have a lifetime of experience that got us to this point. If our hands feel tied, take another look. Mercury is traveling his third time over these same degrees - we know more than we think we do.

Keep in mind having too many balls in the air, can be an exciting thing, until they are all in a pile at our feet. If everything is equally important than nothing is really important. Skills to prioritize and stay on track will come in handy now.

With Mercury on Neptune and covering degrees for the third time, alot of our energy will be going into old situations. Maybe we can say/do it differently this time. Watch for flashes of temper and tricky situations to come and go quickly. What is that old expression - don't get too worked up about the weather because it's about to change. Well, that's a good way to look at life right now.

Stay flexible. Things are in flux. Use a loose grip now and don't count your chickens until they have hatched. This isn't the final, final round.

xo all

photo by the talented Sergey Spiric

Full Moon in Libra and the Spring Equinox | March 20, 2019 - moving our relationships into the future, stand-offs, taking a good hard look in the mirror, balance is the new black, shifting values, kicking off a New Solar Year when we have both time and luck on our side

On Wednesday, March 20th, just hours after the Sun moves into Aries bringing the Spring Equinox and kicking off a New Solar Year - the Libra Moon meets the Aries Sun at 0 degrees bringing the rare FIRST OF TWO Full Moons in relationship-focused Libra this year.

Full Moons bring things to light, to a peak/culmination and to an END.

But with the powerful Spring Equinox happening on the same day and with the Moon at the very beginning degree of the sign (this is the 3rd Super Moon we've had in a row) there is also a BIG NEW BEGINNING now as we shift toward something that brings greater BALANCE/peace/justice/cooperation into our lives - this will play out over the next couple weeks (Full Moon) AND continue to play out over the next year as we live out the Solar New Year chart (transiting planets/points interacting with the Spring Equinox chart).

With unpredictable Uranus triggering life/death Pluto and the North Node of Fate as a retrograde Mercury conjuncts Neptune square Jupiter. And Mars opposes Venus. PLUS the Full Moon/Vernal Equinox energy. There is volatility here and we can see this playing out in the world and in our own lives.

Let's unpack the Full Moon.

The Sun and Moon are opposing each other from the "me vs we" signs of Aries and Libra. Challenges within our relationships are possible now.

The Sun and Moon are inconjunct "fast-change" Uranus in our Taurus house. So change comes from that area of our chart - collectively we are talking about Taurus themes - money, values, resources, self-esteem AND the change plays out through our Libra house - collectively through relationships/partnerships/agreements. Whatever this is for us it will require we make an adjustment.

Chiron - at 1 degree Aries - is conjunct the Sun and opposing the Full Moon. Maybe whatever is 'coming to light' or to a culmination/conclusion now is somehow painful. It could be a weakness/vulnerability is exposed in the Full Moon's bright light. Maybe whatever "me vs we" dynamic we have playing out now leaves us standing/feeling alone. Any distance between us and a partner/partnership could be more keenly felt now. Imbalances will tend to topple over. With Chiron in warrior Aries we are going to need to be brave. With Chiron in Aries there are time we will have to stand on our two feet over the next few years. For some people this will be one of those times. A contact to Chiron is another opportunity to work through wounds that are very old and very deep!

Mars (in Taurus) is trining Pluto and Saturn (in Capricorn). Practical action moves things forward now. This is stabilizing and adds strength and permanence. Change is supportive - even if it doesn't feel like that in the moment. Mars is sextiling (opportunity) the North Node of Fate. We can get there from here. Life can use whatever action we take to get us where we are needed. Actions taken at the time of this Full Moon receive celestial assistance. Keep in mind the long game we are playing now. This action doesn't have to be some big bold thing.

Venus (love, beauty, our resources, values, partnerships) is squaring Mars and these planets rule the Full Moon (Venus/Libra, Mars/Aries), so this square speaks of tension/frustration - conflict between our masculine and feminine energies that could play out within ourselves (what we want vs what we have to do to get what we want, our ability to be ourselves, to be liberated) or between us and those pesky other people in our lives.  

All kinds of important relationships and agreements/contracts with other people could be stressful now. 

Projections are ricocheted back to us at the Libra Full Moon anyway and with the rulers of the lunation squaring off, this will likely play out through tension/frustration, even crisis.

Alot of the stuff we thought was "them" will turn out to be "us". And alot of stuff "they" are thinking is "us", will turn out to be "them". Chiron in Aries tells us our healing now is dependent on how much of this we are willing to own. 

(meaning not owning what isn't ours - brush that stuff off - BUT taking responsibility for the energy we are bringing into the situation - the way our relationships mirror us will be easier to see now in the Moon's bright light)
  
Passive aggression. Sexual frustration. Conflicts between getting what we want and being able to get along/live in peace. Frustration as we assertively go after love or money. We want this. They want that. Part of us wants this. Part of us wants that. 

Our wants and needs within our relationships are being re-defined now. We can see where we are taking more than we are giving or vice versa.

Some relationships will end now. 

New partnerships can also begin - they might be volatile at times, but could be long lasting and prosperous/expansive.

(of course with Mercury retrograde some endings will not be quite so permanent when Mercury stations direct and some new relationships could dissolve then, too)

Remember Venus is running the show here and she is in Aquarius. Going backward, doing things the same old way, squeezing ourselves (or trying to squeeze someone else) into a tight little box isn't going to cut it anymore.

What is really happening is our relationships (which are living creations) are struggling to catch up to the changes within us! 

Jupiter (home in Sagittarius) is sextiling Venus, so here is our way through the Mars/Venus conflict. The theme of our Sagittarius house and/or our collective Sagittarius themes is our safe passage through these minefields - optimism, seeing the big picture, staying flexible, embracing whatever is foreign to us, learning something new, teaching something old, getting sage advice from an elder, expanding into new territory, traveling, publishing, media, the legal system. This is the road to greater FREEDOM.

A retrograde Mercury is conjunct Neptune at the time of the Full Moon/Vernal Equinox chart -this will be exact at the end of the week. So this is building at the time of the Full Moon. This connects us back to a message we received around February 19th. We need to re-member it now. We need to re-vise this. We are re-building, re-inventing, re-thinking this thing.

Keep in mind this is a zero degree Full Moon - we don't know what we don't know. By mid-April when Mercury is walking new degrees and we have the SECOND Libra Full Moon at the very end of Libra we will be much more certain with anything that is up in the air now (it's rare enough to have two Full Moons in the same sign in a year, even more rare to have one at the very beginning of a sign and the next at the very end).

We are still in the process of figuring this stuff out.We are trying to make things work. Maybe we are afraid to make a decision we could regret later. Maybe we are afraid to let go of this thing/situation/person before we have all our other ducks in a row

(note - our ducks will never be in a row for more than 30 seconds, which is a good reason to truly, truly appreciate things when they are and also a good reason to not sit around waiting for everything to get all lined up, because one of our ducklings will wander into the street, fall through a storm grate in the road and the next thing we know we are trying to coax our life back into balance with crackers and mommy duck calls - quack!).

THIS IS A PROCESS.

Maybe we can't decide right now because right now isn't the time to decide. 

This Full Moon is in Libra, the sign of the scales - we are weighing things out. We get ANOTHER Libra Full Moon in a month and THEN we will know what we are doing because we will be doing it.

With Mercury in Pisces backing into Neptune we are listening to our inner voice. The guidance of our ancestors, our past lives, our intuition, our inner knowing. We are finding the spiritual perspective during these big endings.

With Venus (ruler of this Full Moon and remember Mars in Taurus is answering to her right now, too) in a sextile to expansive, lucky Jupiter - MORE is being offered to us than we could ever even imagine!

We are standing around with our hands full of what we wanted/needed YESTERDAY and can't figure out how to reach for what we want/need NOW.

Life is helping us work through all of this with these repeating transits!

There is nothing to worry about.

The big energetic shifts have already happened.

The aftershocks are, well, shocking, but we can handle them.

Moves made now can be extremely effective. So make one.

xo all

(symbolic moves work, too)

Change/need for adjustment and challenge is coming from your Taurus house - what house does Taurus rule in your natal chart? What is the theme of that house?

The change will play out in your Libra house - what house does Libra rule in your natal chart? What is the theme of that house?

The opportunity/ease will come through your Sagittarius house - what house does Sagittarius rule in your natal chart? What is the theme of that house?

I haven't had a chance to get to this for all the signs like I had hoped. If you want to know what houses/themes all this is impacting for you just leave a comment or email me and I will check for you (you will need to know your birth date, time and place). We ALL have the collective themes going on that I wrote about in this post, too. Collectively this Full Moon is all playing out through our relationships.

Be sure to get out and walk in the Full Moon!

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of March 18th - Happy New Year, exposure, action, courage, relationship imbalances, owning our projections, tension, unexpected opportunities, uncomfortable changes, thinking things through, keep our eyes on the skies

HUGE happenings in the week ahead as we shift into a BRAND NEW YEAR :

WEDNESDAY - Spring Equinox- Sun into Aries, Mars trines Pluto, Full Moon in Libra, Mercury sextiles Saturn
THURSDAY - Venus squares Mars and sextiles Jupiter
SUNDAY - Mercury retrograde conjuncts Neptune

The post for the Full Moon/Spring Equinox is HERE

The astrological New Year kicks off this week with a powerful, prosperous chart that sets up the year ahead.

With the rulers of the Full Moon (Libra/Venus and Aries/Mars) at odds with each other now (and part of the New Year chart) - we will face conflict and challenges as we try to balance what we want with what we have to do to get what we want. Growth will come through our relationships. Buckle up.

On WEDNESDAY, the Sun moves into Aries giving us the Spring Equinox and launching the astrological Solar Year. The illuminating Sun will conjunct hurting/healing Chiron, so a weakness could be exposed now or maybe we are feeling unsupported or all alone in whatever we have going on. It's a time to be brave.

The good news - Mars is trining deep, transformative Pluto. We have the available resources/self-esteem to power through this thing.

This transformation won't be stopped. It will be life-changing. We are either in the thick of it now or it is coming. We'll keep moving.

The Libra Moon moves into a fast opposition with the Aries Sun giving us this month's Full Moon (a zero degree Full Moon, so another lunar ending and beginning rolled into one!). Full Moons bring things to light, to a culmination or to a conclusion.

This is the Aries/Libra polarity. Too much Aries and we get selfishness, anger, foolish impulsivity, lots of fast starts and then nothing gets finished. Too much Libra and we get boundary issues, indecisive waffling, avoidance of conflict and co-dependency.  

Relationship imbalances will show up now.

We need to really take a look at the disagreements and challenging situations we are having with others - what are we projecting onto other people that we need to take ownership of? Full moons are about release - how can we let go of what isn't working? Diplomacy, cooperation and balance will be needed as well as action, courage and staying aware/taking care of our own self-interests. Some relationships and partnership agreements might end now.

The Moon's inconjunct to Uranus could make things uncomfortable as changes might come at us 'fast and furious' style. The ground might feel shaky. There are unexpected opportunities here, too. 

Mercury's sextile to Saturn could bring news/information that creates structure/stability. Maybe a sibling situation/local community issue or transportation issue stabilizes. Something REAL that was just a dream is being built. With Mercury in Pisces this brings 2019's best aspect - the Neptune/Saturn sextile (building the dream/the release of one thing to get something else) into the Equinox chart and again confirms its viability in the months ahead.

With Mercury still retrograde, we are re-viewing the stability of the dream, re-working our plans - giving something physical another look. Good energy for having a repeat conversation with an authority figure or stepping into your own authority via the written or spoken word. Challenging karma is dissolving. New neurological pathways are being created.

This sextile also gives us some space to THINK THINGS THROUGH.

We have a rare second Libra Full Moon next month in mid-April at 29 degrees, so there could be things started now that culminate then or maybe as we begin new partnerships/agreements now, others finish up in mid-April.

We'll see how this all shakes out. Keep moving forward.

On THURSDAY - and again this is part of the Full Moon chart and the chart of the Solar New Year so influencing the next 12 months - we have Venus squaring Mars and sextiling Jupiter.

Venus is what we want and Mars is how we get what we want. Sometimes they represent actual women and men. There is tension/frustration here. Relationship situations are testy. With Venus set up to win this one - being the ruler of Taurus (so Mars is answering to her) and with her moving through freedom-loving and future-leaning Aquarius - trying to fence someone else in or hold them back isn't going to work. Any effort to tap down on someone else's ability 'to just be themselves' will turn out equally poorly.

The sextile (opportunity) to Jupiter shows us the way through this - expanding our territory/reach/thinking, looking at the bigger picture, being more optimistic, embracing what is foreign to us, learning/teaching/travel. Stay flexible. Sagittarius is where the gold will be mined. There are real opportunities in this New Year chart.

This is collective energy and will affect all of us to a greater or lesser extent. You may find the themes more relatable to your own natal houses -

for example if you are a SCORPIO RISING - the challenge will be between your 4th house (Aquarius) home/family/real estate/mom/home business and your 7th house (Taurus) your partner's actions/maybe stubbornness/agreements. The opportunity/payoff comes through your 2nd house - positive progress with money/resources/values or self-esteem.

On SUNDAY, a retrograde Mercury will again meet Neptune - this time at 16 degrees Pisces, the degree Neptune met the Sun/Moon at the New Moon on March 6th, so more stuff this week connecting us back to early March when Mercury first stationed retrograde.

Mercury met Neptune back on February 19th - THIS WAS WHEN A MESSAGE CAME THROUGH - so something now connects us back to that.

We are going back over information/communications. Re-vising, re-kindling, re-leasing our dreams. Secrets are being talked about. We are communicating about the dream/spirituality/healing. Things could get confusing. It might be hard to know what is real. Words are slippery. It's not the best day to try and make sense of things .... this will all be much clearer in a couple weeks.

xo all

The week will really be fleshed out in the Full Moon post which will be up sometime Monday or Tuesday

photograph by the talented Ilona Shevchishina