Astrology of April 2010 by Henry Seltzer (www.astrograph.com)

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The Astrology of April features Venus and Mercury, Saturn and Uranus and Pluto. Venus enters her own sign of Taurus at the very beginning of the month, squaring Mars in Leo, which brings her into great prominence. Relationship will be very much on our minds - or perhaps more appropriately in our hearts - all through April. Then at the Last Quarter Moon of April 6th, Venus conjoins slowing Mercury, about to turn retrograde; introspection and self-reflection are added to the mix of our relationship energies. Toward the end of the month, Venus trines Saturn in late Virgo and sextiles Uranus in Saturn's opposite sign of Pisces, so that our energy for connection becomes a much wilder ride, with the push-pull and stop-go that is characteristic of Saturn opposed to Uranus.

Meanwhile Mercury, that planet of communicative outreach and also of cogitation, has its own wild ride in Taurus throughout April and May, retrograding on April 17th for a period of several weeks, all the way back to the beginning degrees of the sign. Mercury changes to direct motion on May 11th, in trine with Pluto, and then spends the next two weeks regaining its lost Zodiacal ground, the period known as Mercury's "retrograde shadow." The time of missed connections and mechanical breakdowns are therefore likely to continue up to the very last week in May.

Another retrograde which might affect us to a greater or a lesser intensity is that of Pluto. Having gone as far into Capricorn as this year of 2010 permits, that is to the sixth degree, Pluto retrogrades on April 6th for several months, back to the early degrees of Capricorn. The time of slowing down, that is the first two weeks of April, can be thought to be a particularly Plutonian time, especially on the Quarter Moon date of the 6th itself, when Mercury, Venus and Mars will all be aspecting Pluto.

In April also, Saturn, dipping back into Virgo, will once again exactly oppose Uranus in late Pisces, reviving that polarity of status quo versus dramatic change that has been so characteristic of the political arena since the election of 2008, when they were also exactly opposed. This basic dichotomy of our times applies to each one of us personally as well, and the beat is getting stronger. After Uranus moves into Aries in late May, these two powerhouse planets face off once more - and this time in Cardinal Signs (Aries and Libra) - as soon as this summer. We are coming into a revival of the tumultuous and revolutionary period of the late sixties, as Pluto and Uranus also find their square to each other, an aspect that gets closer and closer over these few years leading up to 2012 and beyond. The teens are coming, and not a moment too soon, for it is this pivotal decade that must attempt to cure our current cultural stagnation.

In late April, as Saturn and Uranus come into their next pass of an exact opposition, we will be getting a foretaste of these interesting times still to come, over the summer and fall. The limitation consciousness of Saturn's powerful earth energy is no match for the breakthrough that Uranus is always pushing for, but it will definitely slow down the march forward and also ground it in practicality. Still, change must win out over stasis, for this is the way of life. Bob Dylan put it most succinctly back in the sixties when he said that "Everybody not busy being born is busy dying." He also encouraged everyone to recognize the wave of the future and rather than thwart it, attempt to ride it.

For Transits to the U.S. Chart See Henry Seltzer's Zodiactivism Blog »

April 6th Last Quarter Moon
This dynamic Last Quarter Moon features the Moon in direct conjunction with the North Node. We are all likely to get some important taste of our destiny at this time. The Last Quarter is traditionally a time when we must struggle somewhat to absorb the lessons of the past three weeks of the lunar cycle, and to find wisdom in the choices that we either failed to make or that we made and were found to be incomplete expressions of our true nature. Since the Moon in squaring the Aries Sun is found conjunct the North Node in Capricorn, where an almost stationary Pluto also resides these days, the configuration is triply important. Mercury and Venus are also conjunct in Taurus, and in close trine to Pluto, bringing a thoughtful process of reflection and ultimate transformation to your relationship energy at this time.

April 14th New Moon
This powerful New Moon conjuncts Eris in Aries, and is accompanied by a slowing Mercury in semi-square to Uranus and also Mars trine Pluto. Our fighting energy will be up and we might say or do almost anything. Whatever it is that does take place will have the ultimately beneficial effect of allowing us to recognize our deepest needs, and those of others around us, and hopefully with that recognition will come compassion and understanding. The Sun and Moon also aspect Saturn as it begins to exactly oppose Uranus, within half a degree, so that polarized commentary will continue to dominate the airwaves and also the dialog between participants in relationships of all kinds. A few days later, on the 17th, Mercury retrogrades and communication and mechanical breakdowns become more common.

April 21st First Quarter Moon
This is traditionally a moment of tension in your process whereby you wind up finding out which parts of your impulse from the previous New Moon are truly viable. Of course Mercury is retrograde now, and for the next five weeks or more, when you take the period of the retrograde shadow into account. Mercury stations direct on May 11th, and catches up with its former Zodiacal position on May 28th. Since Saturn and Uranus are very close to their exact opposition at this time, polarities will emerge even more strongly than they have in recent weeks.

April 28th Full Moon
This Full Moon in Scorpio is accompanied by an exact Sun - Mercury conjunction, one highlight of the Mercury retrograde period, the usual symptoms of which are likely to be even stronger at this time. A T-square to Mars from the Sun and Moon indicates that tempers may flair even as we struggle to understand our opposite numbers, points of view that are antithetical to our own. We seek synthesis, although synthesis is hard to come by in this era. The actions and reactions are likely to get louder and our prayers for peace more intense as we cruise into summer.