The Formula
Venus in a conjunction with Saturn (April 7, 2025, 4:01 am PDT, 25º15’ Pisces) sometimes believes there is a formula to love that, if followed exactly, will yield the desired results -and that formula is, “Work hard, sacrifice, and grit your teeth through the hard bits.” Sometimes, this approach is like forcing a foot into an uncomfortable new shoe; yes, you might be able to stretch out the shoe, but you might also end up with bunions.
Next month, I’ll celebrate 32 years of marriage to the same person. No one makes it through more than three decades of marriage without appreciating Saturn’s finest qualities – dedication, perseverance, willingness to do the work. But Saturn alone doesn’t make for a satisfying relationship. I think most of us have known someone who pushes themselves into a tight-fitting shoe for years, enduring relationship like prison, until one day something snaps; and then the shoe goes flying off, and the relationship breaks, scary and hard, like a femur.
Venus and Saturn are in Pisces at this conjunction, reminding us that at its best, a long-term relationship benefits from tolerance, kindness, and the determination to see the very best in each other. Happy partners share a secret language, inside jokes, and with any luck at all, a delight in one another. But as this conjunction’s Sabian symbol 26 Pisces, A new moon that divides its influences suggests, we have individual work to do as well, and a good partner supports and encourages that work. In this context, working on a relationship might look less like barbells, and more like the gentle yielding to another’s shape and tempo.
Suspension suspiciousness
Mercury stations direct (April 7, 2025, 4:08 am PDT) just in time: our old car is making a suspicious clunking, whooshing sound in its suspension. (Venus is still retrograde through Saturday, and we assume it will cost a small fortune for our mechanic to eradicate the suspension suspiciousness; nothing ever seems to be cheap when Venus is involved.)
I’m no slave to Mercury’s retrograde periods, but if I can keep from doing something to a car or a computer or a piece of software during these times, I do. But it stops there. I’m not extending my caution out to retrograde storms or shadows; if I did, there would be precious little time all year for taking care of business.
But this is the kind of thing I’ve long observed about Mercury: he’s a trickster, and he delights in pushing us into a corner so that we have little choice but to deal with the very things we’d prefer to avoid during his retrograde periods.
Some of your own “move ahead” activities may have been put off since March 14, when Mercury turned retrograde. They may, in fact, have had their origins in that time period. If you’d like to play it extra safe, wait until April 26, when Mercury reaches 9º35′ Aries, the degree where it turned retrograde, before you install that new software. But if the stakes aren’t too high, go ahead and take the plunge this week.
Projects and Serenades
Retrograde Venus forms a sextile aspect to Uranus this week (April 7, 2025, 9:48 pm PDT) at 25º05’ Pisces and Taurus. As well as the different natures of the planets involved, the Sabian symbols for this sextile give somewhat mixed messages. Venus is on 26 Pisces, Watching the thin moon crescent appearing at sunset, different people realize that the time has come to go ahead with their different projects, and Uranus in on 26 Taurus, A Spaniard serenading his senorita. Are we to go in separate directions, or woo the object of our passions?
This is the second of three Venus-Uranus sextiles (the first on Jan. 26, the last on April 20) that taken together, tell a story about how relationships, ruled by Venus, flourish when each partner has their own interests and independence, qualities prized by Uranus. Finding a healthy balance between romantic aspirations and the need for freedom is often difficult, but the sextile, formed between planets in signs of complementary elements and modalities, offers a strong chance of success.
Imbalance
Full Moons in general, and Libra in particular, are closely connected with one-on-one relationships. What we’ll consider at this week’s Libra Full Moon (April 12, 5:22 pm PDT, 23º20’ Libra) is whether our relationships are fair, harmonious, and in balance. Does what we’re putting in to a relationship feel equitable to what we’re getting back?
Interestingly, the Moon’s Sabian symbol depicts imbalance – 24 Libra: A third wing on the left side of a butterfly. Sometimes the key to maintaining balance in relationship is to be willing to assert our own, unique, imperfect self. Only our true selves attract the kind of partners that create balance.
The Sun, Moon and Mars form a high-action T-square configuration at this Full Moon, in which two planets oppose each other and both square a third. It’s a configuration that introduces passion, but also brings potential for conflict in close relationships. If things get a little too contentious, the key to regaining balance is Capricorn, the only cardinal sign not involved in the T-square. The Sabian symbol for 24 Capricorn is A woman entering a convent. So when the going gets tough, retreat to a quiet place for contemplation, and engage in Capricorn work such as drafting strategies and future plans.
The Car, the Lawyer, and the Tattoo
Having been retrograde since March 1, this week Venus finally stations direct (April 12, 2025, 6:02 pm PDT, 24º37’ Pisces). If you’ve been holding yourself back from initiating major purchases, big relationship decisions, and permanent cosmetic procedures, your astrologer is about to open the gates and set you and your credit card free.
But perhaps you can see the value of having waited? The financial landscape has been extremely volatile here in the U.S., at least, in the time Venus has been retrograde. That can impact the economics of everything from buying a car, to hiring a divorce lawyer, to getting a celebratory tattoo. And that’s saying nothing of the emotional complications.
Honestly, I’d wait another couple of weeks before giving Venus free rein. The pressure will begin to lift, but surprises may still be waiting in the wings. Hold off just a little bit longer, and you’ll be less likely to encounter residual Venus retrograde problems.
Writing and images © 2017-25 by April Elliott Kent
For more on this week’s planetary news, listen to my podcast!
