'Here is the root of the root... and the bud of the bud... and the sky of the sky of a tree called life...'
We’ve had a new year start, lunar new year start, astrological new year start, Pluto moved into Aquarius, and are in the middle of eclipse season. And I bet you are thinking, ‘OK all I hear is new starts blah, blah, blah, new cycles, blee, blee, blee…’ Well guess what? We have another one!
But more on that later.
I have found that as all the planets are direct, things are going slower and this Taurus-rising is enjoying it. I keep talking about slowing down. Heck, I keep talking about talking about it. It's a common theme for everyone and yet the skies are beckoning for a shift.
The month starts amid Mercury Retrograde and Eclipse season. And Vesta decides to move into the sign of Cancer. We will feel a need to have a deep connection with others rather than being flighty. On the 6th of April, Venus enters Aries and starts something new in our love lives. In this sign, she is getting a boost of boldness. You may want to make a radical fashion choice and buy something you wouldn’t. As someone with a Venus-ruled chart, let me diplomatic and say if you want to make a bold fashion choice, make sure it suits you. Fashion and style are two completely different things. This placement will make you want to go for fashion. So what I am saying is go for style so when Venus moves along, you will still love what you have chosen. That also goes for other choices to do with beauty and romance. Look for the substance rather than the flighty passion that doesn’t last. Look for what will go the distance with a deep connection.
On 8th April, we have the second eclipse of the season with the New Moon in Aries. The eclipse happens with a very wide stellium encapsulating the sign of Aries. The Sun, Moon and the North Node unite with Chiron, Mercury (retrograde), Venus and Hygeia. The Sun, Moon, North Node and Chiron are in orb to square with Ceres in Capricorn. Venus and Hygeia are in orb to square Vesta in Cancer in a wide T-square aspect. We are opening up the orbs here, but the asteroids are playing a role in a story we cannot ignore.
During this eclipse season, we are invited to get to 'the root of the root…and the bud of the bud' of what we are exploring going forward from this eclipse. Remember that eclipses are the Universe’s way of kicking you in the butt in the right direction. We are invited to face what we lacked as we were growing up. See how you can bring that to your life right now. How can we parent ourselves and make our own comfortable home? How can we love ourselves again and bring healing on a deeper level? Once we discover this, we will find the beauty in places we never expected. We may feel inspired to find ways for creative freedom as the asteroid Pallas Athena (retrograde) makes a lovely link to Venus.
Quite a deep start to the month right?
The month then quietens for a few days until we get closer to the end of the second half of April.
I will plug my presentation about Juno at the Astrology Association of New South Wales monthly meeting this month! I'll be talking about how she is great to use in relationship astrology. I do hope to see you there. Quite apt as Juno is making her presence known later this month too.
On 20th April, the Sun moves into Taurus. Happy Birthday, Taurus!
But very soon after we have Jupiter and Uranus meeting together in the sky. When two planets come together in the sky, it is called a conjunction in astrology. It is not that they abandon their orbits and decide to get a coffee at the restaurant at the edge of the solar system and betray all laws of the universe and physics. From our point of view on Earth, we can see these two planets come together in the sky as they go about their orbits in our solar system. On 21st April 2024, at 11:36 am AEST, these two planets ‘meet’ again as they do so every 13.81 years. The last time they met together in the sky was on 8th June 2010 in Aries.
When two planets, especially those in the further outreaches of our solar system come together as we see them, it is the start of a new synodic cycle. This was the one I was talking about at the start of this forecast. Uranus has been in Taurus since May 2018, and bringing shocks and evolutionary changes to our finances and material realm for a while.
Jupiter brings joy to the energetic landscape that Uranus has been playing with. Yet Jupiter also likes to magnify things. Add some Taurean desserts to that coffee date (see what I did there? Food and Taurus? ha!), and that combination brings a revolution of positivity. We may see an expansion of financial issues on a personal and collective level. We may see an evolution of faith and education on a global scale.
When this conjunction happens, we may see a magnification around issues of self-worth that we have been experiencing since May 2018. Things will change again. It is fitting with Pluto starting a new cycle in Aquarius, and the other planets are following the trend of bringing changes in. It’s like going to the shops and deciding to run all your errands while you are there to save going back again.
What is also interesting about 21st April is that it is the day the USA will be experiencing its 5th Chiron Return. It falls in the USA's 7th house and is conjunct Venus in Aries. International relations will be in the spotlight. We may see the country experience some spiritual awakening. This transit sextiles the country’s Mars and is opposite USA’s Juno (on the Ascendant). There will be an unveiling during this time or at least the beginning of a new cycle for the country.
Before the Full Moon, Juno goes direct in the sign of Virgo. There is a need to be there for our loved ones as they may need more attention from us this month. Sometimes you never know how much someone closest to you is going through, that they need you a little more. They need that rock to lean on to gain their strength again.
On 23rd April, we will have the Full Moon in Scorpio urging us to look back at the eclipse. The Moon is still making a lovely link to Vesta. She’s also making a sextile to Juno in Virgo and a square to Pluto in Aquarius. This full moon is engaging the Scorpionic side of the themes we were invited to engage with during the eclipse. Remember that we can feel themes for eclipses in the lead-up and up to a year or two after an eclipse. So this first Full Moon afterwards is like a second reminder. It’s asking us to apply the self-nurturing we learned from the eclipse to our other halves. Are you nurturing your closest relationships? Being in Virgo, our relationships may need help. They need a boost of attention and down to the nitty-gritty details.
From the 26th of April, we will know what we will need to progress. Juno’s dispositor, Mercury, will bring some relief when we focus more on our closest relationships as the month ends. We will finally know what we want and what we need to do as Mercury goes direct and enters his shadow period.
All this reminds me of a poem recited by Cameron Diaz's character, Maggie Feller, in the movie In Her Shoes. In this movie (without giving it away), Maggie is lost, but she goes through her eclipse season and Mercury retrograde. In doing so, she finds herself through a series of challenges to understand more about herself, her worth and her role in her close relationships. Which is why I think this is an apt close to this forecast.
"I carry your heart with me.
I carry it in my heart.
I am never without it.
Anywhere I go, you go, my dear.
And whatever is done by only me…
is your doing, my darling.
I fear no fate...
for you are my fate, my sweet.
I want no world, for, beautiful...
you are my world, my true.
Here is the deepest secret no one knows.
Here is the root of the root...
and the bud of the bud...
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life...
which grows higher than the soul can hope...
or mind can hide.
It is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart.
I carry your heart.
I carry it in my heart.”
- Maggie Feller, In Her Shoes (2005)
See you next month!
Astrological blessings,
Georgina
xxx