Author: Amelia Shea

“every beginning is only a sequel
after all, and the book of events
is always open halfway through.” Wislawa Szymborska

“When I pronounce the word Future, the first syllable already belongs to the past.” Wislawa Szymborska

Saturn, sometimes referred to as Father Time, is active in the sky this week. In the last few weeks we have seen Mars and Venus  in Aquarius move up to square the Lunar Nodes in Taurus and Scorpio. Traditionally  the Nodes are said to govern destiny and fate. In contemporary times we could describe them as significant crossroads or turning points when it’s wise to take the decision making process more seriously.

This week as Saturn aligns with the Nodes, it’s wise to take extra care with choices or decisions concerning personal evolution. Saturn is sometimes referred to as the Grim Reaper and with this influence it bodes well to consider what needs to be cut back or left behind in order to create better outcomes. It’s wise to factor in your higher aspirations for your life.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”A white dove flying straight and fearlessly over troubled waters.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

“Rhythm replaces strength.” Rudolf Steiner

“I’m going out to clear the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may)
I shan’t be gone long -You come too.

I’m going out to fetch the little calf
That’s standing by the mother
It’s so young
It totters when she licks it with her tongue
I shan’t be gone long –You come too.” Robert Frost

I live near a community farm and often after a particularly busy day, I will go up there to watch the cows make their way- lumbering through the fields- to the barn for milking. The grey tabby barn cat is usually there as well as the wild birds that light up in the beams. There is something so healthy and grounding about the rhythm and routines of farm life  when it’s well carried out.

The Sun enters the sign of Taurus today (April 19) at 10:24 PM EDT and will transit  through this sign until  May 20. Taurus, the sign of the Bull,  is an earth sign and provides good timing to focus on growing what brings stability, pleasure and abundance to your life. It’s a good time to establish healthy routines and like the stubborn Bull, be resolute about sticking  to them.

This earth sign brings the focus to what sustains us .  It bodes well to nurture and care for the body  – schedule the massage, for example that you have trouble getting around to. Consider if necessary, ways to make your financial life grow and thrive.

And it’s a good time to spend time in nature.

We are entering eclipse season now and the influence of eclipses can be felt both before and after the actual date. The first is April 30 – a New Moon Solar Eclipse at at 10 degrees  of Taurus. The Lunar Eclipse which follows  is at 25 Scorpio on May 16.  It’s wise to check your chart to see where the eclipses are falling as this can indicate the areas where your life is up for growth and change.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”A clear mountain stream runs steadily downstream.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

 

 

“The body can feel strange when it inhabits the world in a lighter way, when it encounters a form of happiness or fulfillment for which it has had no apprenticeship. “David Whyte

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”Martin Luther King Jr.

The Jupiter/Neptune conjunction, one of the important alignments of 2022 is exact on Tuesday  April 12. This influence brings more hope and inspiration into the world as well as more empathy and compassion. It will be an influence for several years.

The veils are thin under this influence which can result in  more spaciness and confusion. But if you are looking for guidance, it is in closer proximity now.

The Full Moon is Saturday the 16th. This is a relationship Moon with the Sun in Aries and the Moon in Libra. This polarity on the relationship axis presents a good time to look at whether there is a need to establish a better balance between how you advocate for your own needs in relationship (and by this I mean relationships of all kinds) and how you accommodate  or adapt to the needs of others. Issues of independence and dependence are on the table now.

There can be breakthroughs about relationships and how to strike a better balance in these realms.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”Through imagination , a lost opportunity is regained.

 

“We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
‘Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic.

Hark now hear the sailor’s cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly
Into the mystic.” Van Morrison

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion  to embrace all living  creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Albert Einstein.

Venus is now in the sign of Pisces and she is exalted in this otherworldly  sign. Pisces is the most sensitive sign of the zodiac and with this placement emotions run deep and strong. The motto for Pisces is ,”serve or suffer” and it is often through service to others that these natives find fulfillment.

Venus’s transit through this sign (through early May) provides a good time for spiritual and artistic growth.  It is also a time when intuition is likely to be strong. It’s wise to keep strong boundaries now as Venus, Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces are a somewhat ethereal influence.

It bodes well now  too, to bring more inspiration into your life.

Venus will be moving up to the Jupiter/Neptune conjunction later this month. The Jupiter/Neptune conjunction -which is in effect now-  is associated with a growth in empathy and compassion. We are witnessing this in the global efforts to help with the crisis in eastern Europe.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”Moonlit fields, once Babylon, are blooming white.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

 

“Dawn points, and another day
Prepares for heat and silence. Out at sea the dawn wind
Wrinkles and slides. I am here
Or there, or elsewhere. In my beginning.” TS Eliot

“There are things you can’t reach but
You can reach out to them, all day long.
The wind, the bird flying away…
And it can keep you busy as anything else, and happier.” Mary Oliver

Recently I was reading a piece by the poet Robert Bly  about a men’s workshop he was conducting on the coast of Maine. There was a man in the class who had just retired  from a long career as a very driven and accomplished business person. Robert Bly was surprised by the distance the man kept during the workshop – often sitting alone or at a distance from the others. At one point, though, the man  spoke up and said in a quivering voice, “I don’t know what has happened to my life. I used to be so passionate and driven about my work and now all I want to do is sit by the ocean and watch the sea birds fly.”

April’s fiery  New Moon is in the wee hours of  April 1 at 11 degrees of Aries. This is a time that signals a very dynamic new start of a cycle  – but with its caveats.

At the time of the New Moon, Mars, Saturn, Juno and Venus are conjunct in the late degrees of Aquarius, squaring the Lunar Nodes in late Taurus and Scorpio. Traditionally the Lunar Nodes in astrology are associated with “destiny” and “fate” although in more contemporary terms, are associated with important threshold times – when choices are made which will influence the future more strongly.

Venus, the planet of values is involved in this configuration. We are living in a time of great changes and a time of shifting values – when things that were important once before seem less important now – just as the man at the workshop was experiencing.

When Venus is squaring the Nodes it bodes well to make any choices having to do with what you really value in your life with more consideration than you might give normally. This has to do particularly with avoiding choices that have led you down the wrong path before or could represent the repetition of an unproductive or addictive pattern. Also choices based on an ancestral influence that do not lead in a healthy direction.

It’s a good time for reviewing commitments in your own your life as well as your commitments to others and to make any new commitments clearly and specifically.

Aries is the sign of action and desire so this New Moon is a good time to move forward in a dynamic way.

Much of the struggle we see going on now between the old ways and the new, more innovative ways, has to do with the square between Saturn and Uranus – a long lasting influence which was exact in 2021.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”A woman has risen out of the ocean, a seal is embracing her.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

 

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“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” Goethe

“The bamboo for prosperity, ” a Japanese friend explained to me,”the pine for long life, the plum for courage – the plum for courage because the plum puts forth blossoms while the snow is still on the ground.” Anne Morrow Lindbergh

There’s something so refreshing about the sign of Aries – signalling  a new  start and a new  beginning to the year- as it does with the astrological calendar. This sign is direct, focused, brave and ready for action.  This can be  a clarifying influence  after the Sun and Mercury’s transit through the last sign of the zodiac  – the dreamy , imaginative sign of Pisces.

Mercury has just entered the fiery sign of  Aries joining the Sun, Chiron and Pallas Athene. Mars, the planet of action and desire, rules this sign. This can add clarity and boldness to thinking. It’s wise to watch for impulsive speech or speech that can become overly harsh or combative. Best to temper the tendency towards impulsiveness as Mars loves action and tends towards impetuousness.

This week Venus moves up to a conjunction with both Juno and Saturn at 21 degrees of Aquarius . This is a good time to make a commitment. If there is something you’d like to be doing in the future, now is the time to seriously commit to the journey that will take you there. There is an independent nature to the sign of Aquarius which indicates that partnerships formed under  this influences  will allow for freedom and independence and not be as emotionally dependent.

Mars is within orb of Saturn now and moving up to a conjunction. This is sometimes described as driving with  both the gas and brakes on. It can be frustrating time for progress. Best to be patient and take things one step at a time.

There is a fiery New Moon in Aries on April 1 at 2:24 AM EDT. More about that later.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”Two lovers are strolling  through a secluded walk.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

 

“What seas what shores what grey rocks and what islands
What water lapping the bow
And scent of pine and the wood thrush singing through the
fog
What images return
O my daughter.” TS Eliot

“Though the spring is late and cold,
Though the uproar of greed
And malice shudders in the sky,
Pond, stream, and treetop raise
Their ancient songs;

The robin molds her mud nest
With her breast; the air
Is bright with breath
Of bloom, wise loveliness that asks
Nothing of the season but to be.” Wendell Berry

This week Mercury, the Trickster planet, moves up to a conjunction with Neptune, the planet of the Sea God  and of fog. At the same time Mars, the planet of action and desire,  is forming a challenging alignment with  Uranus, the planet of surprises and the unexpected.

In a nutshell these alignments indicate a good time for being in touch with what your dreams are for your life going forward. Creative projects can flourish under this influence. It can be a bit foggy when it comes to linear thinking though, so  it’s wise to take your time with any decisions that need to be made and double check the details.

Mars squaring Uranus indicates a time that it’s best to avoid impulsive speech and actions. Best to take your time when moving around as this duo when together can be accident prone. Tempers can flare more easily and there can be an impatience and a push for making things happen before their time.

One of the Sabian symbols of this time is,”A fertile garden under the Full Moon.”

Sabian symbol from Linda Hill

 

“Redeem
the time. Redeem
The unread vision in the higher dream
While jeweled unicorns draw by the gilded hearse.” TS Eliot

The Jupiter/Neptune conjunction is in play now and exact on April 8 at 23 degrees of Pisces.   These planets, when together, can be associated with cloudy linear thinking.

It is also an idealistic, altruistic alignment. It is a good time for creative work and creative visualization.

Under this influence it bodes well to be in touch with your higher aspirations for the future – not only for your life but for the future of life on the planet.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”A prophet bringing down new law from the mountain.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

 

 

 

“Soul is where the fires of our passions burn. It is where our love is most alive. The soul longs for this deeper love, for a connection between the form and formlessness, for the continuum between the earth and the divine.” Benjamin Shield

“You are not the oil, you are not the air – merely the point of combustion, the flash-point where the light is born.” Dag Hammarskjold

This month’s Full Moon is at 27 degrees of Virgo on Friday the 18th in the wee hours at  at 3:18 AM EDT. This Moon is on the Pisces/Virgo axis and being late in degree, it is approaching the  29th degree – also called the anaretic degree in astrology. The meaning of the anaretic  degree is “poised for change” and this Full Moon , occurring in close proximity to the Spring Equinox, may very well have that feel to it. At the time of the Equinox on the 20th,  the Sun moves  from the dreamy , watery sign of the Sea God, Pisces, to the dynamic, fiery, Mars-ruled sign of Aries.

This Full Moon signals a time to get organized in order to clear the path to take action and move forward. The sign of Virgo rules discrimination and organization.  This is a health- oriented sign and its wise under this influence to create balanced routines – work routines , for example that support health and well being. It’s a good time to get rid of clutter and things that are no longer of use.

The Moon’s closest alignment is a harmonious trine with Pluto indicating a time to be in touch with what you feel passionate about and to create a more harmonious, structured environment to bring that to life.

Saturn is conjunct Juno indicating a good time to look seriously at what your commitments are and what you are willing to take responsibility for going forward.

The Moon is also forming an inconjunct aspect to Neptune. Wherever there is an inconjunct in a chart indicates the constant need for adjustment. It is wise – especially with the influence of the Jupiter/ Neptune conjunction which is in effect now, to make an extra effort to stay grounded as there is a significant amount of ethereal energy at this time. The veils are thin between the worlds.

The Jupiter/Neptune conjunction is also spiritual in nature. Compassion, kindness and patience will go a long way in dealing with others or in situations where conflict arises. It is a good time to be bringing more Light into the world.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”Light breaking into many colors as it passes through a prism.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

 

 

 

The Spring Equinox – when the Sun enters Aries-  is  March 20 at 11:33 am EDT. Here are some thoughts on it by Philip Lindsay who is an Esoteric  Astrologer and author.

“Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and represents the completion of the annual cycle, in preparation for the beginning of a new cycle in the following sign Aries. If one aspires to be attuned to the real rhythm of the zodiac, now is the time of the approach of the true new year – as distinct from January 1^st for most of humanity in the sign of Capricorn.

Similar to the conventional new year’s period of Capricorn, the month of Pisces always affords an annual opportunity to reflect upon the year that is passing, to identify what was achieved or not achieved, particularly in a deeper subjective sense – and to relinquish or release those ideas and ideals which will not serve the future cycle.” Phillip Lindsay