an opportunity to heal

the april 2005 forecast

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mercury, jupiter, and pluto are retrograde.

venus opposes jupiter	14°03' aries/libra	april 2
sun opposes jupiter	13°58' aries/libra	april 3
venus sextiles neptune	17°04' aries/aquarius	april 5
mars trines jupiter	13°23' aquarius/libra	april 8
venus squares saturn	20°41' aries/cancer	april 8
new moon solar eclipse (hybrid annular-total)	19°06' aries	april 8
mercury sextiles chiron (2nd of 3)	2°44' aries-aquarius	april 8
venus conjoins the lunar north node (eclipse point)	23°04' aries	april 10
sun squares saturn	20°45' aries/cancer	april 10
venus trines pluto	24°27' aries/sagittarius	april 11
mercury returns to forward (direct) motion	1°52' aries	april 12
mars conjoins neptune	17°15' aquarius	april 13
venus enters taurus	0°00' taurus	april 15
mercury sextiles chiron (3rd of 3)	2°58' aries/aquarius	april 16
venus squares chiron	3°01' taurus/aquarius	april 18
sun enters taurus	0°00' taurus	april 19
sun squares chiron	3°08' taurus/aquarius	april 22
mars sextiles pluto	24°19' aquarius/sagittarius	april 23
venus sextiles uranus	9°42' taurus/pisces	april 23
full moon lunar eclipse	4°19' taurus/scorpio	april 24
mercury opposes jupiter	11°03' aries/libra	april 27
venus squares neptune	17°29' taurus/aquarius	april 29
mars enters pisces	0°00' pisces	april 30

all dates are based on pacific time.

the object of astrology is to learn to make the best of every planetary event. in spirit (literally and metaphorically), every one is an opportunity. this month we get lots of chances to practice. the energies are in release, as mercury returns to direct motion. new chapters will be written in the book of life as the eclipses turn our attentions to novel concepts and issues. one of those releases is going to be the election of a new pope. when the color of the smoke changes, we’ll see a new, probably more conservative italian pontiff setting the course of the church and affecting millions of lives.

chiron plays a major conciliatory role.

chiron is a featured planet this month, with mercury, venus and the sun making major aspects to it in its new placement in aquarius. mercury makes two of its three contacts related to its retrograde cycle on the 8^th (the day of the solar eclipse) and 16^th. chiron is widely known as the wounded healer, but my observations of effects that coincide with its prominence give me a more precise sense of what it does. when it is activated, people go through transitions, which is basically what the healing process really is. we can think of chiron as the conductor through life’s passages, large and small. this often takes the form of health matters, even death of the body, as in the case of pope john paul ii and the much-reported death of terri schiavo.

chiron in aquarius

chiron entered aquarius in march, where it will stay until july 31. it nips back into capricorn until january 1 of 06, giving us a last chance to finalize the transitions we made during its stay in that sign, since january 02. these first contacts with chiron in the new sign by the personality planets give us a clearer sense of what it will bring to us during the whole time it is there (through february 2011), but especially in the first two years. our challenge is to take our use of aquarius to a higher level. aquarius is about the balance between independence and obligation to society, between rules and freedom. this is why saturn rules this sign in addition to capricorn. it is only when we take the correct amount of responsibility for ourselves that we are truly free. if we take too little, we are mired in the chaos that this lack of limits creates, like the adult who forgets to pay his/her bills. if we take too much, say for someone else around us, we are burdened by something out of our domain and therefore never free. the limits are right when we don’t notice them and can move through life responsive to the inhale and exhale of the cosmos.

on a personal level, this is what we have the opportunity to accomplish — this delicate inner balance. since aquarius also has to do with the balance in society and government, or more precisely the balance of control between the people and their leaders, there are broader possibilities and larger issues at hand. with aquarius, all cultures face the question of whether to be alienating or inclusive, and historically, inclusive cultures are stronger and survive longer. the challenge (more associated with the long-term forces of neptune in aquarius) is to find ways to create harmonies among and between world cultures — to create a one-world culture without individuals and individual cultures losing their identity. the tendency in the past has been to “imperialize” the world — to create dominance structures. this never goes down well with the indigenous peoples, and once the dominating culture is ousted, a vacuum of power is left behind, imperiling the remaining culture’s viability. this is the source of “failed states” like zimbabwe, iraq, and afghanistan. it leaves the culture open to the control of a dictator like mugabe or saddam hussein.

chiron will bring into sharp focus the question, already looming on the horizon, of how to deal with failed states. it will also bring out the subtler and underlying issue of alienation versus inclusiveness on an international level. if nations are alienated from each other, it is easier to take advantage of the weaker ones and grow rich without guilt feelings. if nations are inclusive, they are expected to be supportive of each other, and this is not so good for the bottom line, or so the thinking goes. however, we know that poverty and disadvantage anywhere holds all of us back. a new model of wealth and well-being will eventually be created, but that will have to evolve out of pluto’s transit through capricorn and aquarius, which starts in 2009. so, chiron reveals the tip of the iceberg we’ve been facing for many years from yet another angle.

saturn & chiron, inc.

saturn has been opposing chiron in one of the most incredible planetary sagas of the century. saturn and chiron travel at nearly the same speed, especially when chiron is at its nearest point to the sun. at its fastest, it moves faster than saturn, briefly gaining on saturn in its orbit taking a mere 18 months to complete its movement through one sign (to saturn’s 30–36 months). however, as it reaches its furthest point, it moves as slowly as uranus, taking about seven years to complete its transit of a sign. this is why for a generation (1951–74) chiron opposed uranus and why at times chiron and saturn have traveled apace. most recently, saturn has been dancing across the heavens with chiron since september 2003, and it will continue to do so through june 2006. however, this is part of the same cycle as the saturn-opposite-chiron that occurred in 1986–95, when chiron was at its very fastest, inching past saturn, then giving way in an endless race for an illusory finish line. this duel continued across sign boundaries and brought into sharp focus the struggle between fear and tradition versus healing and progress, one which has become more urgent as the pressure builds to change from ways that don’t work.

this became especially dramatic for the entire world when the us’s struggle for political leadership took center stage as saturn was passing over the us’s sun in cancer. this ushered g.w. bush into his second term in office, exacerbating a crisis in identity that the us was already facing because of other planetary pressures.

mercury facilitates healing changes.

mercury’s contacts with chiron would not be more than a passing thought except for the other events that co-occur. the solar eclipse on the 8^th is the third solar eclipse to trigger aries-libra in this grouping (the first was in april 04). this highlights issues of life and vitality for all of us, prompting us to question when the spark of life is present, and promising rejuvenation no matter what age we are (consider the marriage of charles and camilla). (note that in the new wedding time the moon is void of course, but since it gains dignity when it changes sign, a difficult beginning see substantial improvement over time.)

jupiter plays a major role.

we can’t forget jupiter plays this month, as it reaches the halfway point of its yearly cycle on the 3^rd. this is especially auspicious as the sun is in exaltation and conjunct venus. even though venus is in detriment, the sun “saves” it. this is the primary aspect under which charles and camilla are marrying, and it speaks to the triumph of true self-affirmation over duty. the trine of these planets to pluto makes their union solid, and by waiting a day they may avoid the potentially difficult energies of the eclipse.

for the rest of us, we get the chance to examine the plans we began last september. are we on track? we’ll feel prompted to take action, to move forward with more urgency. this is a good time for love if your relationship is solid, and new bonds can be formed as well. weak relationships may break up at this time, or issues arise which can be overcome to strengthen the relationship.

other planetary events worth noting

on the 10^th we are reminded of our obligations and may feel like we’re dealing with the hand of destiny. there is grace in the moment, however, and it’s best to let go and turn toward the future with a positive outlook rather than wasting energy by dwelling on the past. the 13^th brings a healing moment and a chance to erase old issues. people with planets in fixed signs (taurus, leo, scorpio, aquarius) may be vulnerable to trickery or a little more sensitive or accident-prone than usual.

the lunar eclipse on the 24^th is important for the us, as decisions that are made now will reverberate for years to come. the key issue is communications, perhaps in the form of fcc rulings and the rights of the minority party in congress to be heard. the high courts are also at issue, since the eclipse triggers the 9^th house of the us chart.

brady’s gathering of kings

in her most recent visual astrology newsletter (march 2005), bernadette brady wrote about the gathering of kings. saturn is the planet of the king in mesopotamian lore, and although it is in the tropical sign of cancer, it is in the constellation of gemini, a sign of gatherings. when it turns around in here, leaders may congregate. this is certainly the case with the pope’s funeral as well as the gathering of the college of cardinals to name the new pontiff. a smaller gathering takes place as charles and camilla wed.

bernadette points out further that jupiter’s square to saturn suggests a challenge to the kingship from a younger “crown prince”, one that will play out over the summer as jupiter completes its retrograde (june 5) and makes its final rush through libra. while the square does not complete itself this year (we have to wait for three contacts in scorpio-leo next year), in the short run the challenge from the prince promises to be gentle. this is because jupiter turns around in the constellation of virgo near the benefic star spica. brady suggests that the crown prince gains power by consensus and is linked with harmony and gifts. this bodes well for the new pontiff, whose choice could invigorate positive changes in the church. the ultimate outcome of this interaction will be seen next year, however, when jupiter and saturn more directly interact in different star groupings.

for the time being, we should make hay while the sun shines. these are relatively harmonious times. next years’ disharmonies will bring out the flaws in carelessly made decisions, so we will see the rectification of wrongs then, perhaps more so than this year. there are benefits to every planetary phenomenon if we only know how to reap their rewards.