the messenger speaks

the april 2004 forecast

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go to past forecasts.

jupiter and pluto are retrograde.

venus enters gemini	0°00' gemini	april 3
full moon	16°00' libra/aries	april 5
mars squares jupiter	10°11' gemini/virgo	april 5
mercury enters its retrograde period (stationary retrograde)	1°15' taurus	april 6
venus squares uranus	5°18' gemini/pisces	april 9
sun trines pluto	22°10' aries/sagittarius	april 11
mercury re-enters aries	29°60' aries	april 12
mars trines neptune	15°05' gemini/aquarius	april 13
venus squares jupiter	9°34' gemini/virgo	april 14
mercury and sun conjoin (mutual application)	27°19' aries	april 16
new moon solar eclipse	29°49' aries	april 19
sun enters taurus	0°00' taurus	april 19
venus trines neptune	15°13' gemini/aquarius	april 21
mars opposes pluto	22°00' gemini/sagittarius	april 24
sun sextiles uranus	5°58' taurus/pisces	april 25
mercury trines pluto	21°59'aries/sagittarius	april 25
sun sextiles saturn	8°38' taurus/cancer	april 28
sun trines jupiter	8°58' taurus/virgo	april 28
mercury returns to direct motion (stationary direct)	21°07' aries	april 30

all dates are based on pacific time.

now we know what pluto’s new retrograde period is about, at least in part. near the date of the station, april 24, the israelis assassinated _________, the spiritual leader of the palestinian hamas. the big bombshell, however, was the revelations of former terrorism czar richard clarke, emerging out of the bush camp to impugn their motives and methods in the “war on terrorism”.

pluto maps our course for the summer

these speaks volumes, not only about what is in store for the summer, but also what issues will be kept alive during the coming u.s. election season. this is completely consistent with the events of the past few years, before, including, and since 9/11.

the key “tracking” (the ancients would have said “ruling” as in measuring like a 12" ruler does) planet is pluto. while pluto is not always featured in every terrorist event, most (perhaps all) pluto events coincide with some terrorist event. (the horrific bombing on march 11 in madrid, spain, was tied to the sun’s annual opening square to pluto.) pluto was also highly activated (the most dramatic activation since the mid-1960s) on 9/11.

the roots of our current dilemmas

of course, pluto is only the representative of the great transformative power source that we all have to learn to deal with. it is a human weakness that we can’t deal with our deep unconscious urges and nurture an awareness of them in our children so that violence is obviated.

the keys to these current events lie buried in the past. in the case of israel, which was formed at a time when pluto was prominent (in 1947, it was conjunct saturn in leo), the west failed to negotiate with the arab world, just as it had failed to do since it first began dealings in the mideast, even before the crusades. more specifically, both the entry into peacetime relations with other nations was handled poorly after both world wars. leaders simply didn’t (and still don’t) know how to negotiate with each other. israel got caught in the middle, where it remains today.

will 9/11 stick to bush?

richard clarke couldn’t have timed his assault on the white house’s integrity at a more propitious time if he wanted to damage them. bush has shown his vulnerability, and this correlates with the fact that pluto is transiting a vulnerable place in his chart (his nodal axis and uranus), as it has been since his election. as his heavy-handed “win-at-any-cost” approach to leadership is more and more outed, he becomes yet more vulnerable as saturn makes its way toward both his sun and his own saturn placement. typically, these are both low points in one’s life and/or career.

it remains to be seen whether bush will receive any of the blame for the 9/11 attacks. as reported in michael moore’s dude, where’s my country?, evidence suggests that bush may have been indirectly involved in events leading to the 9/11 attacks. that is, us oil companies had long been salivating over the oil reserves in the mid-asian continent (and still are). to get the oil out, they have wanted to put a pipeline through afghanistan. unocal were on the verge of a deal when the us embassies in africa were blown up in august 1998. the clinton administration stopped supporting the deal, and unocal was forced to back off (perhaps providing motivation to help put a pro-oil republican in office). in the summer of 2001, bush re-initiated contact with the taliban for undisclosed reasons. these talks continued until just days before september 11. although this does not mean that bush was instrumental in triggering the attacks, it sounds as though he might have been able to prevent them, as information was available to him and his administration through a number of avenues.

although bush certainly is not responsible for the attacks, his life-long involvement in the oil industry and close relationship with the bin laden family, the sa’ud royal family, as well as the taliban suggests that his hands are not completely clean either. when put all together, the conglomeration of facts looks suspiciously like there are under-the-table dealings between us oil interests (unocal, exxon, shell, chevron, enron, and haliburton), and (separately) the sa’udis and the taliban.

of course, bush is not the first to seek good relations with those who have the greatest oil reserves. nor is he the first to ignore the direction we need to go in because it is unpopular. however, he is the first to flagrantly ignore the growing need we have to divest ourselves of our need for oil in general (or at least reduce our dependency dramatically), because he is perhaps the first president to be presented with the definite coming need to do so. where he could be stepping up to the plate and leading the nation, he is instead following his weak-hearted and greedy cronies.

the time table for how much this will impact bush and his administration will be fulfilled — on this round — by the middle of september. there are several peak dates to observe to see how this issue will unfold for him (due of course in part to how he handles events, just as for any of us): may 1, may 17, may 30, june 2, june 8–11, june 15–18, july 20, july 25, august 6, august 30, and september 9–15.

for the rest of us

we all have to deal with pluto, and its impact in our lives depends on how closely it touches our chart or the charts of our loved ones. the same dates that are important to bush are important to each of us if march 12 and 24 showed up on the radar. those of us who are most open to this life-changing energy have planets in gemini, virgo, sagittarius, and pisces. if you have planets here (especially true of anyone born in 1966-69), keep an eye on these dates.

pluto gives us the opportunity to make large and long-lasting changes in our life path. it also indicates to us where we need to learn life lessons, although we are under no obligation to do so (only to encounter the sometimes difficult situations which present them to us). whatever happens under pluto, the results stick. this is good news if we are happy about the results, bad news if we are unhappy about them. this is part of why it feels like a death to go through pluto experiences — the decisions of the judges are final.

the messenger speaks

here i’ve been talking about what happened in march all this time, but a retrospective is important, especially when it is also a pro-spective — a window on the future few months. april has its highlights as well. key among these is mercury’s retrograde period. it starts on the 4^th and concludes on the 30^th. unlike some mercury retrogrades, this one should be relatively mild and beneficial. the major aspect it makes during the retrograde is a trine to pluto, which should lead to peaceful and positive outcomes, both in our lives and the world around us. this could be especially beneficial regarding the situation in israel, and bush’s approval rating should rise as well.

mercury retrograde is not necessarily a difficult time. we can be assured that any messages from the gods (the other planets) that we have been ignoring or failing to understand will come to the surface for re-examination and resolution during the three weeks of mercury’s backward motion. however, the situations existed whether or not we knew about and acknowledged them. only if we want to hide from knowledge is mercury our enemy. if we want to know what’s hidden, mercury retrograde is a valuable period when the voice of the divine is louder in our heads.

for this reason, mercury retrograde is a good time to set aside our normal priorities and take care of special projects. we can reverse our priority list and get some of the things from the bottom of the list done that are perpetually uncompleted. it can also be a good time to travel, as we are “between the worlds” during this time.

relationship dilemmas

venus will be chasing mars all month through gemini. this has actually been going on for some time, and it’s not unusual. it certainly will be the norm this year, because, just when venus gets close, it enters its retrograde period (on may 17). this plays out in interesting ways: first, it means that we can’t use this pair of planets to bring projects and actions to a successful conclusion. whether we plan astrologically or not, actions started when mars- or venus-ruled signs are dominant are less likely to succeed. secondly, it has implications for relationships. it implies that it will be harder to bring people together in relationships, particularly romantic ones. this situation does not improve until much later this year. however, that does not mean that we, who have free will and the ability to exert consciousness over fate (selectively), cannot overcome such obstacles. however, it’s good to take these factors into account. for important activities, it’s always good to choose a time astrologically (although intuition can work as well).

eclipse #1

on the 19^th, we experience our first eclipse in aries-libra for 7 years. in 1995, a lunar eclipse on this date co-occurred with the oklahoma city bombing. the planetary patterns of that time are not repeating now, but it does serve to remind us of the power that can be unleashed in the human consciousness at the time of the eclipses. recall that a set of two (occasionally three) eclipses occurs every 5 3/4 months. these celestial events mark a shift in focus, often dramatic, prompted by events in our lives. a car needs a major repair or needs replacing, a young child goes off to school, we suddenly need a new job. these changes come because we reach a new awareness, realizing that something is out of balance and needs adjusting. this has more to do with the houses of our chart that the eclipses are found in than the signs, although there is a social and political theme that correlates to the aries-libra energy.

in this case, the energies have to do with whether to take care of ourselves or others; when to assert ourselves and when to give in to others. this will be true on the world scene as well as in our personal lives. the solar eclipse plants a seed of awareness that we typically act on over the next six months to two years. there’s another eclipse, a lunar one, at the beginning of may. a lunar eclipse requires our active involvement more immediately, like a “hyper” full moon (which it is).

in the us, economic issues will arise in conjunction with this eclipse. once jupiter goes into libra, we can expect the budget deficit to mushroom in the next (hopefully lame duck) budget proposal.

april is likely to be as mild for you as the weather promises to be. although it’s tempting to bask in the warm glow of the sun without taking in the distractions of the outer world, facing the big issues now will prevent mistakes later. may your april lead you to inner peace and prosperity!