That Easter is this year the late late show (April 19-22) is a reminder that its roving date is determined by astrology, the so-called ‘Paschal Moon” being ascertained by a somewhat cryptic process that looks for the first full Moon after the Passover and then makes the following Sunday Easter. Your astrologer once made a long phone call to the Church of England on the subject, to be met by sighs and not much clarity.
Talking of clarity, one notes that trying to agree a Brexit deal on a particularly slippery Mercury retrograde was always likely to end up as a form of Groundhog Day and so it proved. As last month’s forecast put it, “One anticipates a lot of heat but precious little clarity. Delay looks inevitable.”
Mercury is now in forwards motion (just) but until it clears its lines in mid-April, resolution looks elusive. The politics of the UK is currently labyrinthine, and the various horoscopes used for the country – take your pick from 1066, 1801 and 1922 – aren’t shouting loudly to this astrologer. One chart that is concerns the Conservative party (b. 12.11.1867), with Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Taurus, and, if political astrologer Charles Carter is to be believed, an ascendant of 18 degrees Capricorn, where Saturn currently sits. Saturn invariably finds our weaknesses, and with Pluto also hovering nearby, a split party looks pretty likely.
I would like to wish all my readers a joyous Easter.
Aries
No one enjoys spring fever more than the Ram. It’s your season, albeit slightly delayed this year by the hoopla surrounding March’s Mercury retrograde. Things speed up by degrees in April. Your red ruler Mars spends the entire month in Gemini, which allows you to whirr round the ‘hood glad-handing neighbours and chums and enjoying the occasional spat with siblings and cousins. Stay mobile and don’t be afraid of talking too much.
The Aries new Moon on April 5 moves things along and opens a new life chapter if that’s your birthday. Like Mars in chatterbox Gemini, Mercury in your skies from April 17 favours communication, deal-making, and, indeed, issuing orders (just not too many).
The middle part of the month is perhaps the most challenging. Any tussles you have endured with those in charge of your professional life – indeed, anyone who represents authority and power – may come to a head then, as the Sun, exalted (i.e. potent) in your sign squares taskmaster Saturn; a transit that spells push turning to shove, both at work and in property matters. It doesn’t have to be negative; au contraire, this can be a moment when you achieve breakthrough and recognition or resolve a long-running conflict. At this point you look tough enough to face down any but the most unscrupulous opponent.
Talking of opponents, be aware that you face a second full Moon in your opposite yet complimentary sign of Libra, the first having arrived on March 21, the second falling on April 18/19. Full Moons are frequently over-excited affairs and this promises to live up to the billing. Tip toe around your better half and hold fire on your foes. Things can change very quickly once Venus reaches the Ram’s skies on April 21, when olive branches can be presented (if appropriate) and charm offensives begin. Other activities favoured while Venus transits Aries (until May 14) include a make-over, hanging out at fine parties and flirting shamelessly…two drinks and he/she is not coming across!! Enjoy. And happy birthday.
Taurus
Far horizons, big ideas and grand schemes beckon but all in good time. There is some catching up to do after March’s interminable retrograde; you need t’s crossed and i’s dotted on recent deals and need to make sure you stay in touch with charming people you have recently encountered. There would seem to be more of those coming down the turnpike; your Venus ruler remains exalted in Pisces until April 20, a prime position for milking your no doubt extensive network for favours, friendship and a frisson of romance.
As much should be enough for the first stretch of April. With the Sun and a new Moon behind the scenes in Aries, it’s also time for retreat and recharging your batteries ready for the heady (if not tumultuous) Taurus season that starts promptly on April 20. This year delivers the first birthday with planet Prometheus in your skies (you get another seven!) and as delineated in last month’s forecasts, this is the planet of awakening and change.
Little stays settled under Promethean energies, and although April birthdays are currently those most in the frame, all Taureans should treat this as the start of a new long-term phase in their affairs, one in which only personal authenticity will deliver what you crave. That doesn’t mean wearing your heart on your sleeve, it does mean allying your passion with a streak of daring. The familiar Oxen plod is unlikely to deliver results. A Moon that is just past full on the weekend of the 20th may help you orientate – at the least it provides a good moment for a cavort.
In other news, Mars in your zone of ready cash, and Jupiter in your zone of shared assets turn up the volume on financial affairs, hopefully in a way that spells more money incoming, but certainly in a way that asks you to look again at your fiscal arrangements.
Gemini
‘Hey ho, let’s go!’ You don’t have to be a Ramones fan to sense that the celestial wind has turned and is now in your impatient sails. For starters, your ruling planet, messenger Mercury, has now resumed forwards motion, and although its position on the roof of your chart is not without its challenges, you can at least catch up and rectify the cock-ups and misunderstandings of March. Work to do!
April is a more obliging month. The key planet in your ‘scope is Mars, which marches through the Twins’ skies from April 1st to May 14. At worst Mars is a dull, clumsy energy, prone to pratfall and stirring up antagonism. Be careful around sharp edges and hot surfaces. Don’t be making unnecessary enemies, especially when it’s people who are on your side (more of which in a moment). At best Mars represents bravery and energy, the stuff it takes to win sporting triumphs and professional glory. And to chase dates. All these are options during the next six weeks.
You are duty bound to maintain a high social profile from planets elsewhere. Fiery Aries should provide a blast, first from the sun and after the 17th from your Mercury ruler, to be followed by Venus on the 21st, all of which underscore the importance of networking, wheeler-dealing and selling yourself to your public. The Moon provides some key dates for your enterprise, with Luna in the Twins’ skies on the 9th/10th, and the full Moon of the 18th/19th favouring an Easter gathering.
Downsides? Not too many, though Saturn and Pluto drawing to a halt in April once more ask you to have your finger on the financial pulse.
Cancer
The good news is that while many of you are under great pressure, you are also at a point of release. Saturn, the planet that has kept you at the coalface over recent months – birthdays between July 5 and 14 are those most in the frame – grinds to a halt late in April, after which you should be able to grab a tea break. Not much chance of that in early April, when the Aries Sun squares both Saturn and your own Cancer Sun (exact on April 12); a likely climactic moment when a relationship or a job reaches a point of exhaustion.
That said, the new Moon of April 5 offers a fresh start in your career – it’s unlikely to be easy street but any opportunity, however daunting, should be grabbed. Staying in harness and producing, one way or another, is the demand of the time. Tough it out.
Your ‘scope comes with a couple of other escape clauses. The first is an exalted Venus in fellow water sign Pisces (until the 21st), a transit that grants access to fine company, fellow creatives and possible dates. Stay curious on all counts. The other is the season of Taurus, which begins on April 20, and is always good news, the Sun in an earth sign nourishing your watery self. 2019 is, however the first time in 84 years the Sun has shared Taurus with planet Prometheus, a recipe for a shake-up in your social circle and the arrival of someone of help in your working life.
Before that the full Moon of April 19 illuminates your domestic situation, both its rewards and its drawbacks. As importantly, Luna immediately moves on from Libra to Scorpio, promising to make the Easter weekend of the 20th a humdinger. Find a party frock.
Leo
With the zodiac’s two other fire signs ablaze in April – Aries with the Sun and Venus, Sagittarius with Jupiter – you should be one animated Leo in April. At worst this is the cue for lolling in clover (lazy Leo anyone?), but what these planets really demand and reward is a spirit of adventure. Jupiter in particular is always hungry for new experience, new frontiers to explore, while much the same applies to your Sun ruler exalted in Aries.
Clearly not all of you are going to be hacking your way through the jungle in search of a lost city, but you get the idea. Curiosity and bravery are the order of the moment, and that applies as much to your personal, romantic life as it does to your thirst for a mountain trek, especially once Venus arrives in Aries on April 21. April 14 and 22 have an appealing smoulder for those of you in the dating game.
Those aspects alone would be conducive to a busy, creative month (the artists among you are favoured), but there is also Mars in Gemini to consider, air for your fire, a transit that stirs up welcome change in your social life and puts you in the midst of the political (small ‘p’) action at work. Call in a few favours.
Less easy to call is the arrival of your Sun ruler in Taurus on April 20, and its encounter with planet Prometheus at the very peak of your solar ‘scope. A sudden offer of a new job or a kick up the rear end to make you switch career are what this combination has in mind, perhaps not this month but certainly over the course of the summer, with special reference to birthdays between July 23-28.
Downsides? Not too many, but your finances have just undergone a very fishy transit, with Mercury retrograde in Pisces; could be you need to pay off some debts.
Virgo
Give thanks that a Mercury retrograde that may have left you tearing your hair out in March is over…well, almost. Mercury still has to get back to where it started its retrograde (on April 16) until when it’s still in opposition and doesn’t escape from Neptune until April 5, so there is still ample opportunity for misunderstandings, fake new items and the like.
You may have to further explore a one-on-one relationship that has left you baffled or upset. With Saturn drawing to a halt in your fellow earth sign of Capricorn, the limits of your tolerance/interest are being tested.
The picture is complicated, however. Venus in your house of significant others has a completely different message, dangling temptation in front of you (especially around the 10th, when it joins Neptune) and offering a chance to make peace with anyone with whom you are feuding (it’s not compulsory, however). The new Moon of April 5 also promises to rekindle the fires of sexual desire, so you seem to have quite a tussle on your hands when it comes to handling relationships.
Mars, cresting your ‘scope as April begins and squaring you throughout the month, is another planet that may test your equilibrium, most likely through some snarky hothead at work. Contrary to some descriptions of your sign Virgoans are no push-over and able to defend themselves – and politely at that. England football manager Gareth Southgate (b. 1.9.70) is a case in point.
The second phase of the month, after the Sun moves into Taurus on April; 20, adds a welcome jolt of excitement to your ‘scope. Obviously it eases your path that Taurus is in a fellow earth Sign, but this is the first time in decades that it has joined planet Prometheus there. It’s a potentially thrilling placement, especially for August birthdays, promising novel situations, stimulating personalities and a fresh worldview that may at first come as a shock. A little voyage of discovery beckons, perhaps something way bigger. You have the summer to find out; enjoy.
Libra
That expression ‘once in a blue moon’ has resonance for you just now. This year your sign has two full Moons – the first on March 20, the second on April 19, respectively occupying the very first and last degree of your skies; the very opening and the very tail. Full Moons represent culmination and completion, this pair suggesting that one particular cycle in Libran life is over, a feeling strengthened by planet Prometheus finally getting out of opposition (after seven years) last month.
Said cycle probably involves a close relationship coming to an end. It may not be one that is now fizzling out (or imploding spectacularly), it is as likely that you are finally leaving behind an association that ended seven years back, when Saturn was in Libra’s skies. Now you are truly ‘moving on’ as the saying goes. One way or another – and it may be career or property that is the issue rather than a person – you are shedding a skin. An attachment, even ‘just’ a feeling, can be consigned to history.
As so often at this time of year, when planets are in Aries and therefore in opposition, April is full of relationship comings, goings, upheavals, temptations and drama. The new Moon of April 5 is a refresher, especially for birthdays circa October 9. Mercury’s move into Aries on the 17th asks for open dialogue, Venus’s arrival in the Ram on the 21st offers temptation and romance. Add in the full Moon in your skies on the 18th and 19th – barmy or balmy depending on your equilibrium – and you have your hands and heart full.
There is plenty going on elsewhere. Mars in fellow air sign Gemini is a source of energy and inquisitiveness, with travel plans nicely starred. Saturn drawing to a halt at the end of the month brings practical matters to the fore – property, money, a tussle with authority at work (birthdays circa October 14 take note) – with the promise of less stress following over the summer months.
Scorpio
Descriptions of your sign as intense and brooding are not without merit, but don’t offer much in the way of high jinks…and Scorpios enjoy a party as much (if not more) than any sign. Whether or not the month of Pisces and its accompanying Mercury retrograde supplied the goods, April looks set to do so. An exalted Venus in your fifth house of pleasure is an annual treat and comes with Mercury alongside to clear up any confusion from last month. This is a cue to get out the house and circulate, to smile at attractive strangers and polish off the masterpiece you have been neglecting. Venus is onside until the 20th, so make the most of it; April 10 looks particularly dreamy.
The Sun in Taurus from the 20th takes over from Venus in certain respects. The mighty Sun in opposition can test your energy reserves, but this year it immediately meets planet Prometheus, a planet whose energy is unfailing and prone to providing bolts from the blue. You may have no plans to fall in love with a rebel ecologist but here he or she is. You finally decide that you can no longer put off your lifelong dream of exotic travel. Your old life feels so confined. You get the picture and some of you, notably October birthdays, have the summer to process your insights and decisions.
Fist, though, comes three weeks more of the Sun in Aries and a new Moon on April 5, both of which encourage you to be at your most pragmatic; get tasks done and dusted so you can concentrate on high jinks. Saturn, drawing to a halt in Capricorn, has much the same message. Skillful negotiation with the powers that be are possible; press your case with diplomacy.
Ruler Mars spends the entire month in your zone of shared resources, meaning money that isn’t quite your own (mortgages for example). With moneybags Jupiter at the other end of the financial axis, pecuniary gain is on the cards, but an awkward encounter between Mars and Neptune on the 26th cautions against cavalier attitudes.
The full Moon on the morning of Good Friday, the 19th, is at the tail end of Libra, meaning Luna spends much of Easter in Scorpio’s skies. Enjoy the party.
Sagittarius
For Centaurs, the sign of the Ram represents the good life; pleasure, friendship, romance, adventure and creativity, and with the Sun here until April 20, with a new Moon arriving on the 5th, grab as much of that good life as you can. You should be in excelsis this year, as ruler Jupiter is in your skies and aligning sweetly with planets in Aries. The link between the Sun and Jupiter on the 14th is a cracker, worthy of a special occasion.
As your astrologer has pointed out previously, with Jupiter on your side right through to your birthday, you are a formidable prospect, and have the rub of the green as they say in sport. Titles, trophies, prizes, promotions, free air miles and the like are prone to arrive. The giant planet draws to an apparent halt early in April and will backtrack until August and you might likewise assess events since your last birthday and tie off loose ends.
Not that you have everything your way. Mars, now in opposition until mid-May, suggests one or two people will be gunning for you, so to speak, and minor spats may turn into feuds if you insist on hogging the moral high ground. An offhand shrug serves you just as well as a scrap. Here, the bumpiest part of the month promises to be around the 26th.
Mars’ opposition includes those close to you as well as rivals and blatant enemies, but where romance is involved, prospects grow as the month proceeds. Mercury’s move into Aries from the 17th is followed by Venus on the 21st, both favouring social circulation and a winning touch with whomever you fancy.
One does, of course, need funds for the good life. Saturn in your cash zone probably isn’t doing you many favours in that regard, but with the skinflint planet drawing to a halt at the end of April, any crisis should start to ebb away.
Capricorn
As we head into peak Saturn (and peak Pluto), you have to expect a few bumps in the road, even Sea Goats, who are ruled by the inexorable planet, especially if you are a birthday circa January 10 and have Saturn currently sitting on you. Saturn is characterised as the taskmaster, and for good reason, but the tasks it sets pay off handsomely in the long run (long term being very much Capricorn’s thing).
With Saturn being squared by the Sun in Aries (exact on the 10th) and then coming to a halt at the end of April, many of you will be handed extra responsibility, whether at work or home. Others may be on a long haul back to good health or wondering how to keep Castle Capricorn out of the hands of the bailiffs. Whatever the scenario, strip back your activities and attend to the core issue. April represents something of a hump, and once Saturn and Pluto are in retreat, your load lightens.
Assorted planets are helping your cause. Venus, exalted in Pisces, offers especially delightful company until the 21st (and Pisceans make a good crush for you just now), while Mercury, now flying right after last month’s interminable retrograde, lets you catch up on delayed tasks and misunderstood messages. The new Moon of April 5 favours re-addressing any problems around your domestic set-up, including property. The full Moon of the 19th likewise illuminates both home issues and your career profile.
The season of Taurus – always obliging for you, being a fellow earth sign – comes with added ‘wow’ factor this year, thanks to planet Prometheus now being ensconced in the Bull (for some seven years!). As suggested last month, this is quite a transit for new arrivals, unconventional people, fresh interests, fascinating dates. These are early days, but the key message should be clear enough; you are now living in the future, and the past, as the saying goes, is another country.
Aquarius
The Urn Bearer being an air sign, planetary activity in fellow air signs and kindred fire signs is supportive, especially for an outgoing, social agenda, more of which shortly. First, however, let’s consider Saturn and Pluto, the heavy (very heavy) weight duo ensconced in Capricorn. For you, this is a somewhat out of the way position, favouring plans that you prefer to keep quiet about, at least for now. It’s a period of incubation, a secret life even, ready to be unveiled once Saturn reaches Aquarius in 2020. In April, with Saturn and Pluto drawing to a halt, that hidden agenda deserves special consideration and planning.
(The situation is different if you were born in 1960/61 or 1990/91 with Saturn in Capricorn, in which case your astrologer suggests you read the forecast for Capricorn as well.)
Your outgoing agenda is undeniably more attractive. Warrior Mars in Gemini is for you a go-get energy, whether you are pursuing a sporting triumph, a hot date or a swell party. Self-expression is the keynote here, and if you are the creative type, the next six weeks is ideal for throwing yourself into a project.
Planets in Aries – the Sun (until the 20th), a new Moon on April 5, Mercury (from the 17th) and Venus (from the 21st) all have a similarly extrovert quality, allowing you maximum outreach to your social circle and the acquisition of new skills (or polishing those you already have). If you are in the dating game, go the extra mile in pursuit of a fresh face (an Aries would make a nice fit).
For some, a bold new chapter beckons. Planet Prometheus, often touted as the ruler of your sign, has just taken up residency (for seven years) at the root of your ‘scope, and is joined by the Sun in Taurus on April 22. If you have a birthday January 20-24, this is very much a transit to kickstart a new phase in your outlook, a feeling of liberation. Also worthy of note is the full Moon in kindred air sign Libra on April 19. This arrives at the very end of Libra and makes a perfect connection to those of you born January 18. At the least this is a moment to savour the limelight, but also a recognition that one life chapter is being superceded. The future calls.
Pisces
There are two Fishes in the symbol of Pisces, one heading upstream, one swimming downstream, one striving for self-improvement and a place in the world, one given to sensuality and imagination. Pisces is a duality then, but your Fishes are bound together and your mission is to bring the duo into unity.
April looks a good month to do so. You have been obliged to slow your pace over the last month as Mercury slid backwards through your skies. Now the messenger planet has resumed forward motion you can catch up on delayed business and get clarity on deals that have been lost in the fog (see introduction). If you have been obfuscating, it’s time to get off the fence. Mid-month, when Mercury moves on, is a handy deadline.
At the same time (until the 21st) Venus in your skies offers you the chance of a charm offensive, fine company (romantic if that’s your thing), and the chance to indulge your sensual, escapist Fish. Venus and Neptune together – an exact conjunction on the 10th – is a giddy, perhaps misleading moment. Likewise Mercury/Neptune and the Moon together on April 2 and 3.
However, your upstream Fish also calls for your attention. That your traditional ruler, Jupiter, spends the month stationary at the peak of your chart is a reminder to see and be seen in professional circles as well as on the dance floor. Saturn coming to a halt in Capricorn – a handy placement for you, earth for your water – emphasises the importance of networking and impressing superiors (so-called). A spring clean of documents and commitments fits the frame nicely.