April promises to bring some tension and surprises after a relatively easygoing March. Some of the most notable aspects this month are a series of squares made by the handful of planets/lights travelling through the tail end of Aries (Venus, Moon, Sun and Mercury) with Pluto at 26 Capricorn.
The first square occurs on April 11: Venus squares Pluto and forces us to face our unhealthy attachments or partners. The next day on April 12, the one-day-old Moon squares Pluto and unearths our buried emotional fears and insecurities. The Sun squares Pluto on April 16 and threatens to unseat our deepest sense of self, sparking an urge for transformation. Finally, Mercury squares Pluto on April 17 and brings all our most invasive thoughts to the surface. The key to all of these squares will be to look deep into the heart of the abyss that Pluto holds up and consider each facet of our self in turn – relationships (Venus), emotions (Moon), self (Sun), and communication (Mercury) – and choose to Be Not Afraid.
Easier said than done, admittedly, but there’s true freedom – invincibility, even – in releasing yourself from the shackles of fear and anxiety that are unconsciously affecting all these different parts of your self and life. Pluto asks for a rebirthing process where we take all that fear and anxiety, integrate it and transform into someone stronger.
The New Moon in Aries on April 11 is a time in which we want to indulge our self-focused (maybe even selfish) emotional needs and put those centerstage during this lunation cycle. It’s time to take action on something that will bring us emotional satisfaction. It may be time to figure out how our emotional self fits within – or is out of line – with the rest of what we’re doing, and take action accordingly.
At this same time, the New Moon is receiving a sextile from Mars in Gemini and Jupiter in Aquarius, so there’s a strong cerebral, airy boost that may tilt the vibes towards communicating your emotional needs and desires out loud. It is a good time to speak up about your plans for the next few weeks, to make sure everyone is on board with where you’re headed – or to get out of your way if they’re not.
The tone shifts significantly in the latter half of April when Venus enters Taurus on April 14, where she rules – the queen returning to the earthy pastures of home. Mercury and the Sun follow shortly after, both ingressing into Taurus on April 19 right after the Mercury cazimi that occurs at 29 Aries on April 18. So while the cazimi may provide a sudden insight of a fiery Aries nature, maybe a clear sense of the direction we need to travel in (literally or metaphorically), that immediately snuffs out as they enter the bull’s sign and turn their attention to Venusian matters.
Venus conjoins Uranus at 10 Taurus on April 22, which will provide some shock and upheaval to the Venusian themes in your life. The Sun and Mercury’s presence in Taurus add extra dimension to these surprises, ensuring that they’ll likely be talked about (Mercury) and will probably be a very central part of your focus (Sun) for their duration. Given that it’s Venus conjunct Uranus, some of the ways this could manifest might be a sudden revelation about a romantic partner or a woman close to you, a flash of artistic insight, an impulse to enrol in school related to a creative pursuit (music, art, photography, etc), a desire to redecorate your house, buy a whole new wardrobe and change up your appearance, or spend more leisure time with friends and/or families.
On a global level, this could be a period where society gets into some weird new form of art or entertainment that goes viral for a short time. Watch for strange developments in Hollywood, art, theatre, gaming and/or food. Maybe a new food trend will take over social media at this time. This would also be a good time for some big development in finance and cryptocurrency.
This strange new development will be put to the test when Venus and Mercury in Taurus square Saturn in Aquarius on April 24 and 25. Saturn is going to want to test the limits and put some restrictions or control over the wilder aspects of any strange new art/food/finance forms that emerge. There will be one final surprise on the last day of April when the Sun conjoins Uranus in Taurus. This may mark the start of a period where we see a major moment of disruption in food, or perhaps finance. The Sun wants to channel its creative energy into this new frontier, but the question will be what form that takes, how we’re each going to engage with it, and what boundaries we have to work within.
Mars enters Cancer early in the morning on April 23, when Venus and Mercury are conjunct Uranus in Taurus, square Saturn in Aquarius. Mars is unhappy in Cancer, the sign of its fall, so watch for some fireworks around this time, starting a day or so earlier (April 21) when Mars reaches the last degree of Gemini. When Mars is in Cancer, he can bring conflict to issues involving family, home, and your deepest thoughts and feelings. There’s a tendency to lash out pre-emptively as a defense mechanism during this time, or be passive aggressive. When you feel triggered – particularly by family members or about stuff involving your house – try to step back and examine the situation objectively before you react. It’s really easy, during this time, to get super defensive and overly emotional at provocations that ordinarily wouldn’t set you off, or to start being really passive aggressive about petty things.
The Mars ingress is also right around the same time that Venus conjoins Uranus in Taurus, so this might colour some of the expression of whatever disruptions come up during that conjunction. Should be interesting times!
The Full Moon at 7 Scorpio on April 26 asks us to dive deep into the uncomfortable emotional themes that rose to the surface after the New Moon in Aries earlier in the month. As the Sun is in Taurus exactly opposite the Moon, it’s a good time to take stock of your home, finances, food security and related matters. The Moon’s position in Scorpio will have you wanting to explore how your emotional desires are being satisfied – or not – by the earthy things in your life (your house, your possessions, your bank account). Remember that it’s not inherently bad to want nice material things in life. You certainly won’t attain enlightenment through a credit card, but you do need to satisfy your base Maslow needs – which are all very Taurus in nature – before you can move up the pyramid to self-actualization.
On the very last day of the month, April 30, the Sun conjoins Uranus in Taurus. This cazimi will be a bolt of lightning insight into the ongoing themes of Uranus in Taurus and Uranus’ square aspect to Saturn throughout the year. At this time, both Venus and Mercury are also in Taurus, and the Moon in Capricorn is opposite Mars in Cancer. This could be a moment of insight or other developments in the areas of food, finances, or housing. Perhaps governments will have reached some sort of solution to the ongoing mortgage/rental payment deferral crisis that keeps getting postponed.