Dear Friends,
New Moon is Thursday, April 7 at 5:23 AM Mountain Daylight Time (MDT).
This is a good time to launch just about anything as the energy of this moon is one with a great deal of power. Watch the aggression. If it comes from another, do not take it personally. Things could be a bit unstable and unsettled today so take some time to ground and center yourselves as well as to set some clear intentions. Whatever you put fuel into during this new moon time with take hold, grab some aggressive momentum, and unfold over the next weeks, months and even years. So be clear that what you are fueling is for you and not for someone else.
Blessings,
Lena
ASTROLOGICAL NOTES:
Written by Patricia Liles. Contact her at PATLILES@aol.com
Aries New Moon
Sun in Aries ~ Moon in Aries 18º
Thursday, April 7, 5:23 AM Mountain Daylight Time
(April 7, 11:23 AM Greenwich Mean Time
All Spiritual Warriors report for duty! It’s an Aries/Mars packed month. The Sun and Moon are tightly involved with Uranus lining the runway for radical, unpredictable shift and change. I’m going to have to look at the whole month right through Full Moon and end of the month, because its one long interconnected influence and I’m going on pilgrimage and won’t return until day of Full Moon.
Aries is our instinctual impulse to take action and blaze a new trail where we have never gone before. Think of that adolescent excitement of turning away from home and setting out for a whole new life of one’s own! High energy, total willingness to do what it takes to be seen and counted, assertive, eager, fearless, full of vitality and endless possibilities. When you align Aries New Moon with Uranus you pull in strong, strong influences of individuality, and a deep need to align with complete personal freedom from any form of limitation. Uranus is ‘The Awakener’, the natural born rebel who cannot bear to be harnessed to the mundane and boring pap of modern slavery, and rightly so, because this is our access to genius and inventive discovery and creation with the quantum fields that hold all possibilities. Make way!
Not to be discounted is Eris, largest dwarf planet in the solar system sitting just outside Pluto’s orbit~ a very prickly influence and situated now with Uranus and the Sun and Moon in Aries. Newly discovered in these turbulent modern times and in mythology the sister of Ares, god of War, and herself the goddess of ‘strife, discord, contention and rivalry’ her realms – the bloody battlefields. An influence to be treated with caution and care not to feed it as was said in Homer’s ancient texts as well as in Aesop fables that “if you just leave it alone (Strife), it stays small; but if you decide to fight it, then it swells from its small size and grows large.” So, you see there is a high potential for volatility here. (Please note, this Eris-Uranus influence will continue into November, so one might say ‘strife and discord’ is playing a role in bringing unexpected change and revolutionary force to us on many levels as distasteful as it may seem.)
Mars as ruler of all these planets in Aries is greatly intensified. First, by its orbit that is rapidly becoming closest to Earth – Mars is now twice as bright as it was in January and brightest on May 22, and second, Mars is about to station/stop and turn retrograde (Rx) on April 17 days before Full Moon on April 21/22 greatly intensifying its energy and influence as well as boosting and driving the planets it has rulership over (Rx April 17-June 29). Both Mars and Aries can have very self-centered, motivational strategies based on personal desires, but if the high road is taken (hence the call for ‘all spiritual warriors’) this energy can be used to defend our boundaries and our legitimate desires to claim the space we need to assert ourselves out in the world. It’s Mars and Aries that give us courage to act, to let our passions rise and push back on the pressures of what is expected of us, to free up our energy to express ourselves and find our own path. This is great energy to break free into new adventures. Of course, the negative manifestation is getting caught up in feeling powerless and unleashing pent up rage, “strife, discord…” and causing conflict. But, forewarned, you can avoid these behaviors in others (like turning off the news) and you can recognize and begin to heal the inner rage that you see in your own mirror. This Mars retrograde affects the whole planet but the line is prominent in Eastern Africa, Syria, Turkey, Moscow, Brazil, New England, and Montreal.
On April 18, the day after Mars begins its retrograde, Pluto also will retrograde. With Saturn and Jupiter already retrograde and Mercury retrograding on April 28, there is a strong tide to go within and evaluate the beliefs and concepts that have shaped our lives and become habitual. The retrograde planets are offering their gifts of updating your operating system to reflect these highly transformational times. Mars will travel from Sagittarius back into Scorpio. Mars and Aries want us to see this as an adventure, as a time of breaking free. Pluto may facilitate looking deep into the psychological basement to look at our control and deepest security issues and giving a voice to our needs that have gone unheard. An inner reorientation is taking place; something is being created on the inner planes needing some incubation and this extended period of internal focus with so much retrograde energy may distill clarity for you if you heed the call. So, we have the paradox of both strong, external, direct action forces operating coupled with internal reevaluating and reflecting.
Another strong influence extending out into the months ahead is the T-Square formed by three big planets, Saturn, Neptune, and Jupiter. With Saturn squaring both Neptune and Jupiter, we are being encouraged to move beyond the familiar, adapt to the new, take the tangible steps necessary to anchor healthy mental and emotional habits and disentangle from addictive energy leaks. With all three planets in mutable signs, Sagittarius, Pisces, Virgo, it’s all about change!
We have ongoing support from a lasting Grand Trine in earth signs, Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo. Trines bring ease, synchronicity and grace into the equation. Earth signs help keep our awareness on our bodies, senses, the tangible, practical keep-it-real side of life. They help us take stock of our resources and situation, get moving and lose the distractions. This is where you want your main energy this month. Reading the signs and going with what’s working. There’s a desire for greater abundance and a longing for greater truth and meaning in our lives. Here is where challenges are morphed into opportunities.
SCORPIO FULL MOON
Sun in Taurus ~ Moon in Taurus 2º
Thurs., April 21, 11:23 PM Mountain Daylight Time
(Friday, April 22, 5:23 AM Greenwich Mean Time)
The Sun moves into earthy Taurus on April 19. The energy shifts; Venus becomes the ruling planet in Aries (20º). She’s our connection to pleasure, beauty, social graces and relationship. She’s now closely aligned with Uranus (21º) who’s not that into conventionality. (Eris is right there, too, 23º). So excitement, exploration, disruption, platonic adventure is helping us look through a new lens. We’re finding love, pleasure, connection in places where we never thought to look.
The T-Square is still active with Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune. The spiritual practice you commit to now can make a big difference in your life. The Grand Trine with Pluto/Capricorn, Jupiter/Virgo and Mercury&Vesta/Taurus is still greasing the wheels of change as we begin to turn the wheel and move by increments out of Aries and more fully into Taurus. You can take a big risk and experience lots of support.
The month ends with Mercury joining the bandwagon and turning retrograde on Thursday, April 28 for the second time this year. It will appear to stop at 24º Taurus and regress until May 22 to 14º Taurus and will not fully regain its original degree again until June 7. Taurus wants us to figure out what we value, see where our loyalties lie, conserve our resources, and take a deep look at our self worth and self esteem. You may become aware of the stubborn, fixed, acquisitive aspects of yourself. Consider others. It’s a good time to slow down and turn to artistic, aesthetic pursuits and to really indulge in the pleasures of nature- so rejuvenating and revitalizing at this time.
All times are in Mountain Daylight Time (MDT):
04/17 Mars retrograde 8º Sagittarius until 6/29
04/18 Pluto retrograde 17º Capricorn until 9/26
04/19 Sun enters Taurus
04/21 Scorpio Full Moon 2º 11:24 PM MDT
04/28 Mercury retrograde 23º Taurus until 5/22
05/06 Taurus New Moon 16º 1:30 PM MDT
Written by Patricia Liles. Contact her at PATLILES@aol.com
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