Is April the way forward?

A look back and a look forward as we move into Q2

Overview

Well, March was a month. I’m sure we’re all still processing the grinding energy of the past few weeks. We definitely had some “force majeure” events typical of eclipse season, including two major earthquakes almost exactly on the March 29 eclipse.

In classic Venus retrograde — an astrology signature that’s about stress-testing partnerships —  the U.S. separated ties with Ukraine in early March, then seemed to repair them, but then left the situation in limbo. Even the post-WWII alliance among Western countries in Europe and North America seemed to fray. These are major turning points. That’s what we expected from March.

But still…. what happened?

When so, so much is happening in different areas of life, it can be tricky to find one central storyline appears. Or maybe my Virgo brain is trying to find order in chaos. Maybe you gave up on the news (I’ve tried my best) or maybe life was too busy to think about it.

Ultimately, I still think we’ll look back on March and notice how much began then — even if the impacts show up later this year or 2026. It’s hard to nail down or process what happened because of the back-and-forth energy of March.

Even a simple story like the tariffs reflected the astrology of March: all tariffs are now on, no they’re off, they’re on but different, they’re delayed — now today there was some sort of tariff summit? Who can even follow?

As I noted from my last column:

March might feel like being in a deep dream, and then being awakened, and then going back to sleep temporarily, and then the alarm goes off. Some days will feel like you’ve lost the plot only to have a stark reality or awakening the next day. Because of the Venus and Mercury retrogrades, it may feel like back-and-forth energy until mid April or May.

In April, the back-and-forth subsides. We start to move forward. That’s because we’re finally leaving this historically long retrograde period that began on Dec. 6, 2024. First Mercury will end its retrograde cycle on April 7 and Venus on April 12. When planets appear to move forward in the sky — especially Mercury, Venus, and Mars — things flow easier, action is more linear, and momentum returns. So that's a great part of April.

While they’re both currently in Pisces, and thus hanging onto that foggy dream world energy, by the end of April they’ll be both be in Aries.

Reframing Aries Energy

In fact, we have so much Aries energy coming up in the next decade, we need to understand it better. The Aries pileup began on March 30 when Neptune entered Aries. As noted, Venus and Mercury re-enter Aries in April. And Saturn enters Aries in May. All-in-all, it’s more Aries energy than we’ve ever had. Like in our lifetime. And that can be good! Aries is a sign of leadership, autonomy, self-agency, and pioneering creativity. Seize those aspects of it!

Some astrologers are jumpy, however, because Aries can be correlated to conflict. Surely there’s no shortage of conflict in the news, but let’s reframe the core tenants of Aries and move away from the fear.

Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac and thus emphasizes individualism and independence. It can separate itself from others — but ideally for the benefit of others. Libra, the opposite sign from Aries, is about balancing someone else's needs with yours and it brings people together.

Neither sign is good or bad; Aries can be too independent and Libra can be too co-dependent. They’re the opposite ends of the same coin. And if we're experiencing a huge amount of Aries energy this year — after eclipses in 2023 and 2024 that diminished Libra energy — we need to lean into the positive, empowering side of Aries.

Aquarius and Aries

Another sign that’s about bringing people together is Aquarius. With Pluto in Aquarius until 2044, we’ll be experiencing a lot of structural changes in society that promote community, especially at the local level.

For the next few years, all this upcoming Aries energy makes a positive connection to that Pluto in Aquarius. This essentially means that we’ll have an opportunity to lean into self-autonomy in order to show up for the community.

We can’t help others if our side of the street isn’t clean or if we’re entering community with bad vibes. We can’t rely on others to help us more than we’re helping ourselves. That’s where Aries energy can be empowering in the next few years: We have an opportunity to create better community by being independent individuals.

In fact, the upcoming astrology suggests we’ll have to do so.

Do you know your neighbors? Co-workers? Fellow tenants? If not, can you join an HOA (I did this month — ha!), a local non-profit, or a neighborhood run club? Knowing the people who live nearby will be key to the upcoming structural changes in society.

Of course, these are big-picture, multi-year changes. But March 2025 was so interesting because Mercury and Venus both retrograded in this independent sign called Aries. It’s like they were prepping us for the changes to come.

In April, we get further into the Aries energy. It might feel transitionary at times, but at least we’ll get to move forward again. No more back-and-forth this month. Retrograde chaos is ending. By May 24, when Saturn enters Aries, we’ll most certainly feel the Aries change and need to focus on self-reliance.

As you may have felt around March 22-24, Aries can have barbs. If Mercury is the planet of communication, it may create some barbed words while moving through Aries later this month. When Venus returns to Aries at the end of this month, relationships could get prickly. But rather than let that energy overtake us, try to figure out what it's teaching us about the need to clean our own energy before interacting with others.

At the very least, celebrate how much faster of an energy Aries is compared to all the Pisces energy of Q1. If you’ve felt stuck all winter, now’s your chance to get unstuck.

Mars-Pluto Opposition: April 26

I’m looking forward to this month with one caveat: as it ends, we return to the third and final opposition between Mars and Pluto. What does this mean? Mars and Pluto will appear in opposite parts of the sky and in astrology, it's like a standoff. The energies of the two planets must be integrated somehow.

But that's really hard for Mars and Pluto. Mars can be about conflict and Pluto is about power, so neither likes to yield to the other. Their interaction in the sky can correlate with power struggles in your life or on the world stage. It can even lead to violence (we saw two terrorist attacks when it happened last around Jan. 2).

This isn’t to be scary or create concerns; I’m traveling almost exactly on the date it’s happening. We have to live life. But like the eclipses last month, can you create a little extra room in your schedule for unexpected events? Can you take it easier April 25-27?

On the world stage, I think we’ll see events that began in March come to a boiling point the week of April 26 because of this Mars-Pluto interaction. Do not fight authority or power around April 26; it’s not worth it. You can find ways around any unfair restrictions later. You will also have another opportunity to show your voice later this year.

Alternately, the week around April 26 could feel like we're getting closure from a cycle that began Nov. 3, 2024, continued Jan. 2, and ends in late April. And if that's the case, it may be showing us what this Aries Vortex of 2025 and 2026 really means.

Either way, even if April feels like another preview, it will be an important one. Take note of what comes into your life and what leaves.

Enjoying the last bit of Pisces

For the first half of April, let’s all try to enjoy the return of Venus and Mercury moving forward again. On top of that, most of April has Venus in its favorite sign of Pisces, another great energy. How can we enjoy connecting with others (Pisces) without losing our new-found autonomy (Aries)? I’ve been passing on a phrase I learned from a mentor that I think is relevant to 2025: “Compassion, not co-dependence.”

As we get further and further into the Aries Vortex (a time of heightened Aries energy), we’ll all be asked to lead ourselves, find our own authority, make decisions independently, and keep our energy clean and to ourselves. This is not toxic masculinity or problematic individuality; this is actually a form of engaging with others in the most helpful, productive way.

Ok, enough preaching. Enjoy the spring blooms and I’ll catch you soon — Taurus season is coming!

Housekeeping Notes

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