Eclipse Hangover
This week’s Cancer First Quarter Moon (April 15, 2024, 12:13 pm PDT) signals the “take action” point in the lunar cycle that began with the Aries New Moon/Solar Eclipse (April 8). The big whoosh of energy that came from that eclipse may have been overwhelming at the time – but now that we’ve had a week to catch our breath, the First Quarter Moon could bring a boost of energy and some tentative solutions to deal with the eclipse hangover.
It’s also the First Quarter in a lunar phase family cycle that began at the July 17, 2023 Cancer New Moon. At the time, I wrote, “This New Moon is in Cancer, the sign of nurturing, finds the Sun and Moon opposed control-loving Pluto. Whether you’re creating a human or bringing a project to fruition, you have to contend with the limits of your control. Whether you love a pet, plant a garden, or build a home, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. But this New Moon offers a simple message: However scary, futile, menacing, or hopeless it seems to do so, give birth to something. Nourish someone. Nurture the life force. Do everything that is within your power – and learn to let go of what isn’t.”
At the Cancer First Quarter in this lunar phase family, the Cancer Moon and Aries Sun are widely opposed and square Pluto, respectively, we’re still testing the limits of our power and control. And at the First Quarter Moon, we must refuse to be defined by the limits of fear.
The Moon, Sun, and Pluto are constellated in a stressful t-square aspect in the cardinal signs of Cancer, Aries, and Capricorn. Libra is the only cardinal sign not occupied by a planet – the only one without a dog in the fight – so the safe haven when things get too stressful this week lies in Libran pursuits: art, music, enjoying our partner, and maintaining balance.
The Empty Hammock
Venus conjoined the Moon’s North Node in Aries (April 17, 2024, 11:46 am PDT, 15.34 Aries) can be a transit that brings important new friends or partners into your orbit – especially if you have points in your chart close to 15º Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn.
The conjunction at 15º34’ Aries is on the Sabian symbol 16 Aries: Brownies dancing in the setting sun. Cherish those magical people in your life who encourage you to initiate action, take risks, and explore new paths; they are the “brownies” who are dancing you in the right direction. And Mercury’s conjunction with Venus (April 19, 2024, 1:59 am PDT, 17º32′ Aries) on the symbol 18 Aries: An empty hammock, is a reminder that new people, new voices, and new ideas will keep you from wasting your days lying around, when there’s so much thinking and dancing and living to be done!
Baptism
The Sun enters Taurus (April 19, 2024, 7:00 am PDT) on the Sabian symbol 1 Taurus, A clear mountain stream. Taurus season represents a fresh, cleansing transition from the hectic pace of Aries month; it’s almost like a baptism.
When I was small, we used to travel over the river on Sundays to a park in southern Illinois, where we’d have a picnic in the same bucolic setting. Nearly every time, there were baptisms taking place in the small stream running through the park. I remember wanting to wade in the stream on one of these days, and asking my Taurus mother, “If I do, will I get baptized?” “No, you have to ask for that,” was her sensible reply.
When we walk into Taurus’ stream, will we get cleaned up or baptized? It’s a pretty down-to-earth sign, but this year’s Taurus season brings the Sun almost immediately into a square aspect with Pluto (April 21, 2024, 10:02 am PDT) – that’s a planet of deep-cleaning, inside and out. So I suppose the answer is… both? We can do our spring house cleaning, but there’s the chance for a little spiritual sprucing up as well. All we have to do is ask for it.
The Only Wrong Thing is Nothing
The big news of this week – and to some extent, of this year – is the conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus at 21º49’ Taurus (April 20, 2024, 7:27 pm PDT). Their last conjunction took place over three exact aspects, in June and September 2010, and Jan. 2011.
Did something particularly exciting develop in your life around that time? Some beneficial piece of good fortune that seemed to leap from nowhere? That could auger well for your experience of this conjunction. It’s taking place in a different part of your chart (last time it was in the last degrees of Pisces and the first degree of Aries), but the magic will be similar.
Jupiter isn’t exactly Santa Claus, but it does amplify and bring an extra twist of good luck to whatever it touches – mostly the kind of luck that comes from maintaining good cheer, optimism, and the willingness to take a risk. Uranus, for its part, brings unpredictability, the unexpected, and sometimes radical changes. Astrologer Steven Forrest’s take was – and I’m paraphrasing – that at this conjunction, Jupiter will bring all kinds of good fortune, if only we’re willing to make the changes that Uranus demands.
Have you been feeling stuck? Well, here’s your chance to get unstuck, and to move in a positive new direction. The day before the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction, both of them receive sextile aspects from Mars (April 19, 2024, 8:28 am and 4:56 pm PDT, respectively). This conjunction brings exciting possibilities, but these sextiles from Mars remind us that we’ll get even more from it if we put forth a little effort. Accept invitations, say “yes” to offers you’d normally decline, and since Mars is in Pisces, listen to your intuition.
The conjunction of buoyant Jupiter and exciting Uranus only comes along every fourteen years. Don’t let it pass you by! Under these exceptional conditions, the only wrong thing to do is nothing.
Writing and images © 2017-24 by April Elliott Kent
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