April is a “2” Universal Month [4 (April) + 7 (2023) = 11 = 1+1 = 2] in a “7” Universal Year. Two is the number of coming together which is cosmically at odds with the energy of Aries (sign #1 which rules most of the month) and the 7 energy of the year itself which is all about finding your own answers. There may be a push and pull effect throughout the month as we struggle to exert our independence but are also pulled back together, sometimes preternaturally against our wills.
The Set Up
We begin the month of April with the Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, and Chiron in Aries; Venus, Uranus, and our North Node in Taurus, Mars in Cancer, Satun and Neptune in Pisces, and Pluto in Aquarius. By month’s end the Sun and Mercury will have moved into Taurus and Venus will have continued her journey onward into Gemini. We will be experiencing the effects of the beginning of retrograde season as Mercury retrogrades mid-month and Pluto retrogrades on the first of May. Additionally, we will be entering eclipse season with our solar black moon eclipse in Aries on 4/20.
All eyes will be on Mercury and Pluto which will both retrograde within the window between our solar eclipse in Aries and our lunar eclipse in Scorpio. This is not by accident, these planets have been in constant contact with one another since the beginning of 2021 when both Mercury and Venus went in retrograde in a butterfly pattern around Pluto (then sitting in Capricorn). We’ve come a long way, but something may be holding us back. We’re in the death throw stages of what was and all of April will (in some way) be a reflection of that.
The Nitty Gritty
Though Pluto does not formally retrograde until the 1st of May, the energy of the upcoming retrograde will be in effect all month and carry us through the rest of the year as well. This is because Pluto has just barely arrived in the sign of Aquarius (entered on 3/23) and this is the first time that Pluto has been IN the sign of Aquarius in 248 years! This is a big deal – nobody in living memory has lived through a Pluto in Aquarius phase – it is the deep unknown. That said, Pluto will retrograde back into the sign of Capricorn over its upcoming underworld phase, so we aren’t quite out of the Capricornian woods (yet). Though our upcoming Mercury retrograde cycle will be felt very immediately in our personal lives, Pluto in Aquarius is going to set the tone of our lives for the next 20 years.
Mercury has often been called the Messenger of the Gods and I have found that the planet plays a similar role in our lives of contextualizing the intense energy of those outer planets that are, quite literally, out of this world. That our first aspect of April is our sweet Messenger meeting up in square with Pluto is not a coincidence. What is happening on the Plutonian front is so far beyond us – what this new Pluto adventure in Aquarius will bring us is completely beyond comprehension. Mercury cannot help us here. All we can do is dare to dream or play the waiting game.
There is an air of “fate” to all of this as we have entered eclipse season early with our new moon in Aries on 3/21 that set the stages at 00° Aries for our solar eclipse one month later on 4/20 at 29° Aries. This is the ill-advised Black Moon, a moderately uncomfortable occurrence in which two new moons occur in a row in the same sign. That a black moon is also eclipsed is a thing to which magicians cheer and the layperson cringes away in fear is not without reason; it is not for the faint of heart. Many of our planets make aspects to our north and south nodes as we pass through the month, showing that the doors of chance have swung wide open, or, conversely, banged suddenly shut.
Eyes wide open. Look where you are going. Bring a towel. Insert whatever superstition will make you feel better here. Most of the time you get what you put into life but during eclipse season, you might just get what you deserve. That makes some people quake in their boots and some quiver with antici…
Which one are you? That may tell you a lot if you are willing to look.
Mars pings the north node through a sweet sextile on 4/4, Mercury conjuncts it under the light of our Libra full moon on 4/5, Saturn trines it on 4/19, and the Sun conjuncts it on 4/24. And that’s not even accounting for our black moon eclipse on 4/20. Any and all of these days will be a total wild card – take that as is befitting you and how you feel about chance.
The full moon on 4/6 may hurt like a primal wound as the Sun will be tightly conjunct to Chiron, our wounded healer. With the moon in Libra in play, one might assume that it will be a domestic thing or perhaps a lack of a domestic thing. Pains around loneliness, togetherness, family, coupledom, freedom, and people-pleasing may all run quite close to the surface. Mercury conjunct the North Node may make it hard to watch your tongue so beware of the truths you are not ready to tell. Or embrace them, nothing that involves the lunar nodes happens by accident.
Mercury enters its pre-retrograde shadow at 05° Taurus on 4/8 in exact sextile with Mars in Cancer. This is the only repeating aspect that Mercury will make through this retrograde journey and it shows the colors of what we may experience. Here we can see that Mars is there to lend a helping hand, perhaps giving energy or physical support to the Traveller’s widdershins journey. If you do Mercury magic in advance of their retrograde cycles, I would suggest considering adding elements of Mars in your workings for this cycle. This aspect will repeat a second time when Mercury is retrograded on 4/23 and a third time in May once Mercury is in their post-retrograde stage.
4/11 is a good day to have a good day as the Sun making its annual conjunction with Jupiter and Venus enters the mutable air sign of Gemini. Venus in Gemini is quixotic and change-seeking – this is a great day to celebrate your successes by doing or trying something new. Go to the new restaurant that you’ve been eyeing or take in the newest exhibit at your favorite museum. The more novel your experience, the more you will get out of the day. Send me a postcard all about it and thank me later.
Venus in Gemini is not without quarrels though that should come with the territory (Gemini loves a good fight…I mean a good “discussion” in which they are shown to be the most knowledgeable and clever think of them all). Venus squares off with Saturn in Pisces on 4/14 which brings some tensions to the table. Both Gemini and Pisces can be pretty loose with the truth so it could be a good fun row but with Saturn involved, it probably still carries an important lesson. This is not a day to take lightly.
Saturn makes a sextile to the North node and trine to the South Node on 4/19, bringing that Chance energy back to into the zeitgeist just in time for our Eclipsed black moon at 29° Aries on 4/20. Pluto, sitting just barely into Aquarius, comes in for the play with a hard square on this, too. Some eclipses are birth phases and some are death phases – we can infer from the Plutonian influence that this will be the latter for most people. Mercury retrogrades the very next day so this will be some intense liminal space. Again, maybe wear some iron on that day, or carry a very big stick.
Somebody will wander into something that they are not supposed to. (I don’t know what made me write that)
I don’t expect this Mercury retrograde cycle to be particularly difficult so long as you have learned how to manage the inevitabilities of a Mercury retrograde. With Mars adding some gas, we just need to make sure that we aren’t setting TOO big a fire. We’ve had a number of Mercury retrograde cycles in the earth signs (a year and a half of them) and I don’t want to call them old hat now but they may start to feel like a very comfortable pair of old shoes. Check that the soles haven’t rotted out though – earth can feel very stable until it’s not. I’ll write more about this retrograde specifically in another post.
The last week in April may feel a little hard. We’ll be in the middle of our two eclipses, both Venus and Mars are making aspects with Chiron which spell domestic troubles, and Mercury is off a wandering. Additionally, Mars makes an aspect to Uranus which is always an indication that you should count all your fingers and your toes – pretty much before you do anything. Whether you’re just closing the door to your car or playing with explosives, the chances are higher than average of sustaining an injury. Especially if Mercury retrogrades make you sloppy (I’m looking at you, Virgos).
May is going to happen fast and will bring with it our Pluto retrograde, a Mars ingress into the fixed fire sign of Leo, and our eclipse full moon in Scorpio. This energy is going to slow down anytime soon.
The Details
4/3 – Mercury enters Taurus, Mercury in Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius
4/4 – Mars in Cancer sextile North Node in Taurus
4/5 – Sun conjunct Chiron 15° Aries, Mercury in Taurus sextile Saturn in Pisces
4/6 – Full moon 16° Libra, Mercury conjunct North Node 05° Taurus
4/7 – Venus in Taurus sextile Neptune in Pisces
4/8 – Mercury enters its pre-retrograde shadow 05° Taurus, Mercury in Taurus sextile Mars in Cancer
4/11 – Sun conjunct Jupiter 21° Aries, Venus enters Gemini, Venus in Gemini trine Pluto in Aquarius
4/14 – Venus in Gemini square Saturn in Pisces
4/19 – Saturn in Pisces trine North Node in Taurus
4/20 – Eclipsed new moon/Solar Eclipse 29° Aries, Sun enters Taurus, Sun in Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius
4/21 – Mercury retrograde 15° Taurus
4/23 – Retrograde Mercury in Taurus sextile Mars in Cancer
4/24 – Sun conjunct North Node 04° Taurus
4/25 – Sun in Taurus sextile Saturn in Pisces, Venus in Gemini sextile Chiron in Aries
4/27 – Mars in Cancer square Chiron in Aries
4/29 – Mars in Cancer sextile Uranus in Taurus
5/1 – Sun conjunct retrograde Mercury 11° Taurus, Pluto retrogrades 00° Aquarius