Mercury Retrograde
We are currently in the middle of an infamous Mercury Retrograde period. There are 3 Mercury Retrograde seasons per year and they each lasts about 3 weeks. Mercury Retrograde tends to wreck havoc in our lives, causing our machines to malfunction, sowing miscommunications, creating trouble while traveling, instigating poor decision-making, generating potential money problems, and erupting in frustration because nothing seems reliable.
While some Mercury Retrograde seasons seem benign, it depends on how your natal chart is impacted. Those most affected now are the Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), especially those born near the end of March, June, September or December and early into the next month. Mercury retrograde can be a good time for meditative pursuits because we can build self-knowledge and spiritual power within while deepening analytical awareness. It’s an excellent time for inner processing and journaling! And for people born with Mercury Retrograde, it is said that they thrive during these periods while the rest of us stumble.
Even when Mercury turns direct on April 15th, we won’t be “out of the woods” until early May as Mercury re-traces its Shadow – the degrees “lost” during its retrograde period. During Mercury’s Shadow weeks, mental functioning may remain partially debilitated as Mercury reorients itself to direct movement once again.
Saturn & Pluto Go Retrograde Too
This month both Saturn (on 4/17) and Pluto (0n 4/22) go retrograde as well, turning our thoughts more inward. Saturn in earthy Capricorn represents governments and corporate hierarchies, laws and loans – all of which require some serious restructuring. Pluto in Capricorn focuses on businesses that drill into the Earth, the secrets that drive their bottom line, and the magma that flows within the earth. Retrograde planets enhance our ability to analyze deeply, study and plan, while slowing us down. We feel less confident, worry more about our status, and have a tendency to overwork as compensation. Some may experience depression, but in general retrograde times are good for review, re-examination, reorganizing, as well as re-balancing our accounts, whether monetary or karmic. Saturn and Pluto will remain retrograde until the Fall. Saturn transits Capricorn though 2020; Pluto until 2024. During this time, face Reality squarely and with integrity. Stamina and perseverance will be rewarded.
Chiron enters Aries
Chiron, a large asteroid orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, takes ~50 years to circle the Sun. Chiron was last in Aries during the 1970’s Watergate Years. (Since history repeats itself, infer what you may…). Those in their 40’s (experiencing a Chiron Return) will start feeling their mid-life crisis coming on. Those near or into their early 70’s (transiting Chiron opposed natal Chiron) may need to focus more on health issues. Chiron in Aries generally marks a good time to heal past wounds (especially self-esteem and abuse issues), to break old destructive habits, and to re-energize a deeper sense of purpose. Friendships will be tested, “toxic masculinity” and misogyny will be further exposed and explored, while self-harm, including suicide, will likely rise during Chiron’s 8+ years in impulsive Aries.
Current Aspects
Of gravest concern is that friction is building between opposing sides. Tensions run high as Mars conjuncts Saturn on April 1st, and even higher when Mars conjuncts Pluto on April 26th. We can expect tempers and pressures to build this month and beyond, as Mars, Saturn and Pluto all rise higher in declination. Meanwhile, expect more mass shootings and assassinations, volcanoes erupting, plus war and trade threats to unsettle global markets and rattle nerves. Leaders may fall, Indonesia and the Philippines are highly vulnerable to seismic activity, and the Korean peninsula will take front stage.
Trump
Transiting Saturn conjunct Mars (stop-go) in Capricorn are setting up a Cardinal Grand Square (big challenges requiring actions to resolve ) by opposing Trump’s Mercury (mind), which squares Trump’s natal Neptune (confusion and illusion), opposed by transiting Mercury, squaring Mars/Saturn. Trump will be clear one moment and make a mental muddle of things the next, with new lies that may lead to his further undoing, ideas that go nowhere, and poor decision-making all month.
Uranus Square Pluto Continues
Transiting Uranus started squaring transiting Pluto back in 2010 when Uranus entered Aries. Then the Arab Spring erupted in Egypt in Jan 2011. Pluto has been square Uranus ever since. Now transiting Uranus is squaring the US national “Sibley” Pluto, extending the impact of this square for yet another year. This explosive astrological aspect generates chaos with unexpected transformational repercussions. We must over-haul our systems of government and global finance, re-code our social networks, and learn to cooperate with each other if the USA is to prosper into the future unobstructed. While current attitudes and events shock and amaze, resistance mounts, new solutions emerge out of the mayhem in unpredictable ways. It’s important to believe that we CAN become wiser and stronger as a nation, despite appearances to the contrary. HAPPY EARTH DAY on April 22nd!