Astrologer Susan Miller on What April's Overlapping Retrogrades Mean for You
Susan Miller is InStyle's resident astrologer and founder of AstrologyZone.com. Her latest InStyle sign-by-sign column appears in the April issue, available on newsstands and for digital download now.
April will require patience. Things will change for the better at month’s end, but before we get to the last week of the month, you'll need to address certain challenges. Planets clang against one another for a reason—to expose situations that need to be corrected so that balance can be restored.
The beginning of April will bring a difficult influence from a new moon that appeared several days prior to the start of this month, on March 27th, that was not a bit friendly. Powerhouse Pluto was continuing a long-standing argument with unpredictable Uranus—so you may find a pushy person in your environment to be very domineering. You will have to manage that person, and your emotions, to get through this period.
As a rule, new moons set up a chance to take advantage of new opportunities. All the actions that you take in the ten days that follow a new moon have weight and purpose. Five heavenly bodies were in entrepreneurial, action-oriented Aries—the sun and new moon, plus Venus, Mercury, and Uranus—so no matter what sign you happen to be, you will want to quickly start new projects. Aries typifies the bud on the tree—all new life and fresh starts. You may want to start your own business or work on new technology or the biosciences—something new, where you would be blazing a new trail. However, you will need to hold yourself back for two reasons.
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One, Venus is still retrograde, a trend that started March 4th and will continue until April 15th. Venus rules not only love and good looks, but also money. To generate profits in a new business, you would need Venus in a strong position. Admittedly, Venus will begin to move in the right direction after April 15th, but will only gradually ramp up to full speed, a process that will take until May 18th.
There are several things you should not do when Venus is retrograde: Venus rules beauty, so do not make any dramatic changes to your appearance. That includes not changing your hair color from dark brunette to platinum blonde, for example, and not scheduling plastic surgery. You should not take risks with your appearance in April. If your dermatologist wants you experiment with a new untried technique he has recently developed, say no, even if the treatment is free. Instead, stick to tried and true salon treatments—trims, touchups, regular and routine waxing, manicures, and pedicures—but no new-to-you treatments.
Also, Venus retrograde is also not the time to start a new love relationship or to take on a big step in a present relationship, such as to get engaged. Venus rules affection, and when Venus is retrograde, the signal it emits is reduced, and so after the first stage of love, you may feel frustrated by the lack of warmth during the term of the relationship.
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Also this month, Mercury will be retrograde from April 9th to May 3rd, and you will feel the impending slowdown of Mercury retrograde the moment April beings. You should not sign a contract, agree to anything verbally, nor begin a new job. (The exception to the “never start a job with Mercury retrograde” is if you are going back to work for someone you worked with previously. Still, if you were asked to sign a new contract at your present job, I would still say, “Not now—I will sign in mid-May.”) If you can’t wait, then sign, but know that the job will not turn out to be as you imagined it to be. For example, if you have hoped to learn a great deal working under a special boss, you may be dismayed to hear after a few months that the person you quit your former job to come to this one is now leaving. Things like that can happen with aspects like these.
Finally, do not buy electronic equipment during a Mercury retrograde period, as the item will not give you the pleasure you anticipate.
The full moon of April 11th, like the March 27th new moon, appears to be a tense time for many. Uranus will conjoin the Sun and oppose that full moon directly. This might make you feel that life is completely unpredictable, as Uranus is the planet of all kinds of surprises. Now it might be that only good things occur, but we don’t have to plan for those—we need to prepare for adverse events so that we don’t feel broadsided. Keep your antenna up. Keep your schedule light within four days before or after April 11th, just in case news goes the wrong way.
Your life will improve noticeably as you get to month’s end. The new moon in Taurus, April 26th, is a marvelous new moon, brimming with many opportunities we associate with friendly new moons. Thanks to a silvery beam from Neptune, this new moon will be especially helpful to those who work in artistic professions or with talent in a support position. Saturn will add a measure of stability to your actions taken after this new moon, and Pluto will help by giving you access to, and favor from. top VIPs. One special weekend for love and fun will be April 15-16th, when Venus will receive a loving beam from her sweetheart, Mars. That’s the same weekend that Venus goes direct, so it should be a special time.
Mars will zoom through Taurus from the start of the month until April 18th, giving earth and water signs (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn; Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) the edge. Then Mars will visit Gemini from April 21st onward, giving the rest of the signs—air and fire (Gemini, Aquarius, and Libra, and Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) the advantage.
This is a month to stop, look and listen, but not to act. Observe carefully, review your past actions and decisions. Assess your relationships on all fronts, including with your sweetheart/ spouse, friends, coworkers, associates, and family members. See if you can improve and strengthen the bonds you hold with the people in your circle, even if those bonds are already strong. You will have plenty of time to make course corrections before you start to commit to an important new direction. Having time to think is always good news.
