Personal Growth Week
Dates and times are given for U.S. Pacific Time zone. Click them to see the date and time where you are.
Whenever an astrologer starts talking about “personal growth,” you can safely gird your loins for some stormy astrological weather. This week has plenty of that—but it does have a great payoff toward the end, too. Let’s ease into it with the first important transit of the week…
Big Tent
Venus makes its annual conjunction with Neptune (April 9, 11:14 pm PDT) on 18 Pisces and the Sabian Symbol, A gigantic tent. Is it a religious revival or a circus tent? Either way, it feels like a grand opportunity to either watch or perform a big show.
In my earlier incarnation as a singer, I enjoyed my time onstage, singing for an audience, more than any other part of my life. It wasn’t applause I was looking for – it was the feeling of being connected with a roomful of people in a pleasurable exchange of emotion, as though I were simply the conduit for the song I was singing.
That’s the feeling, I think, as Venus conjoins Neptune: as though we’re just the thing that love uses to manifest. Embrace any moment around April 9 when you find yourself feeling “in the flow,” happily engaged in doing something you love for the sheer ecstasy of it, and because it somehow dissolves the barriers between you and someone else. Remember that feeling, as we enter rougher waters.
Shining your light – no matter what
The Sun makes one of its two annual squares to Saturn this week (April 10, 1:47 am PDT). In the days leading up to this transit, frustration tends to be high and energy low. You may feel you’re just not getting anywhere, no matter how hard you try—not being noticed when you try to let your light shine, or not being acknowledged for the right things.
This is Saturn’s way of being helpful, though it doesn’t feel like it, by not letting you get noticed for something that isn’t really you. You don’t want to peak too early, like someone who, say, stars on an iconic and possibly stupid TV show and then is never really able to have a career doing anything else. When we succeed before we really know who we are, we run the risk of long-term limitation and even failure.
The Sun also takes on Pluto this week with one of two annual squares (April 13, 1:04 am PDT), and with it comes reminders that being ignored or our enthusiasm dismissed hurts and makes us feel small. By design, we should be the Suns of our own little solar systems; but Pluto, so far from the Sun as to be immune to its warmth and vibrancy, couldn’t be less impressed with us.
But consider this: Think how confident you would feel if you truly didn’t need anyone else’s approbation. This is a short transit, only a couple of days really – but pay attention to any situation in which you are disrespected or completely ignored. Ask yourself, forget what naysayers say—do *I* approve of myself? If the answer is yes, you are a lot less dependent on outside approval.
After the humbling of Saturn and Pluto, bask in a life-affirming trine from the Sun to Jupiter (April 14, 6:40 am PDT) – part of a “grand trine” wherein the Sun in Aries and Moon in Leo trine both each other and Jupiter in Sagittarius. This is the “full steam ahead” day you’ve been waiting for. Jupiter will have turned retrograde a few days earlier (April 10, 10:00 am), so blessings might come from an unexpected direction; but go ahead and take a chance on something you’ve been wanting to do, and you’ll certainly get something worth having.
There is always time for a nap.
While the Sun is busy getting beat up by Saturn and Pluto, Mercury is in the wings with a pin, ready to square Jupiter (April 11, 9:18 pm) and burst every bubble of enthusiasm and imagination. At least, that’s what it feels like – but then it never feels good when your exciting, big ideas are received with pesky questions. Mercury in Pisces is well-meaning, and its pin pricks are not nearly as painful as those of, say, Mercury in Gemini or Virgo. Mercury in Pisces questions are along the lines of, “But how will this affect others?” and, “Is there time for a nap first?” Jupiter in Sagittarius sighs; naps and interpersonal relations are not his job, he says – he’s in charge of the big picture.
But those pesky interpersonal relationships keep rearing their heads. For example, the First Quarter Moon this week falls in Cancer (April 12, 12:08 pm). This is the natural sign for the First Quarter Moon, the phase when we are moving away from solitude and self-determination and toward tribal identity and the desire to interact with others. Natural tension is created when the Sun in pioneering Aries must take the needs and feelings of others into consideration. This is especially difficult because, as mentioned earlier, the best response to this week’s Sun/Saturn and Sun/Pluto squares is to embrace our own true selves and not be defined by the opinions of others. But being true to ourselves doesn’t mean we don’t have an obligation to be kind and attentive to the important people in our lives, and that’s the point of the First Quarter Moon in Cancer: none of us is an island. And with the Moon’s North Node currently in Cancer, we’ll take comfort more than ever in being with people who feel like family.
© 2019 April Elliott Kent
