April Horoscopes

Astrology of April
Current Configurations
Past Months

Aries	Libra
Taurus	Scorpio
Gemini	Sagittarius
Cancer	Capricorn
Leo	Aquarius
Virgo	Pisces

Current Astrology

	The Sun is in Aries
	The Quarter Moon is in CancerThe First Quarter Moon is in Cancer: All day
	Next Mercury Retrograde Apr 21 - May 14

April Horoscopes

by Henry Seltzer

The Astrology of April features Pluto, Mars and the Solar Eclipse in Aries (see chart ) from the end of last month that sets the pace for the current cycle. Pluto, symbolizing death, rebirth and transformation, has also just stationed retrograde and is therefore at almost a standstill in the April sky, while Mars, representing our outgoing and aggressive urges, and our anger as well, is opposed to Pluto as the month begins, and rules the Solar Eclipse. Pluto remains widely sextile and in close parallel with Neptune throughout the month, so that there is a spiritual component to our transformation at this time.

While anger that explodes into rage and violence is obviously counterproductive, the emotion can have positive overtones, consolidating within us the necessity of standing up for ourselves, or defending our boundaries. As Mars opposes Pluto along the way to the mid-month Full Moon, we are likely to be experiencing all these different sides of our aggressive and egoistic nature, and experiencing also the transformation of these along the lines of a higher manifestation as a result of the changes we succeed in putting ourselves through during this crucial nexus.

In April also, Saturn stations direct in Leo during the first week of the month, opposite Chiron, bringing back a touch of the wound of misplaced authority that we saw as recently as February and that will perfect again in June. We may be forced throughout the month to take a stand against those who would co-opt our power, or against our own tendency to knuckle under to an outside authority that does not represent our truest intentions for ourselves. All this month we are riding the energy of the Solar Eclipse from the end of March that had Mars and Pluto opposite, both letting out anger and transforming it, although as that opposition gets closer, it becomes more powerful, leading up to the Aries – Libra Full Moon of April 13th. At that time we can see one culmination of our upward spiral of development. With the entrance of the Sun into Taurus a week later, at the time of the Last Quarter Moon, the beginning of a new form of wisdom may come when we must recognize the limitations of what we have been attempting, and when we face the new awareness that that recognition brings.

Transits to the U.S. Chart

In last month's column, we stated: "With Mars and Chiron both activated, the military and the concept of aggression are up for public review and reflection, and as well the pain of the realization of where that aggression can lead us in the world."

It has in fact been an extremely active month for reaction in this country both against the war in Iraq, and for the minority polarity position of staying the course, and the situation is likely to become more exacerbated after the March 29th Solar Eclipse that begins the present lunar cycle. On March 22nd, the Last Quarter Moon squared and opposed the U.S. Midheaven, and triggered transiting Pluto, which sextiles U.S. Moon, signifying a transformation of public awareness. President Bush had just been quizzed by veteran columnist Helen Thomas in a now famous exchange. The president was challenged to provide the rationale for the war and had no answer, resorting to the empty rhetoric of "No president wants to go to war." It was the first time he had ever called on her in the five years of his tenure. Helen Thomas has always been a critic of this war; but increasingly now, she is not alone. One correspondent, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post, summed it up this way: "In increasingly aggressive questions to President Bush and Vice President Cheney, in a growing focus on the death toll in Iraq, in downbeat assessments on the invasion's third anniversary, many journalists now reflect the view that the war has gone horribly wrong."

In the present month, the situation is likely to continue, perhaps with some new and startling information that may come to light, since Uranus is currently on the U.S. Sun/Jupiter midpoint while the eclipse squares U.S. Uranus. In the eclipse configuration also, a stationary Pluto aspects U.S. Saturn, Mars and the Moon, indicating some transformation in the nation's leadership or the perception of leadership, and as well the role of the military. With transiting Saturn and Chiron nearing opposition, in the next few weeks and months we may well see a continuation of the crisis of leadership in this country.