Why is everyone angry and on edge? How the solar eclipse and Mercury retrograde stir the pot

The breezy, daffodil-sprouting, hope-heavy energy of spring has been unceremoniously hijacked — and the vibes, as the kids say, are most certainly awry.

But why?

For starters, we’re in the portal portion of eclipse season, which began with a lunar eclipse on March 25 and will bookend with the total solar eclipse on April 8.

Eclipses are the grizzled midwives of destiny, and right now we’re in the ether between live births. Solar eclipses, like the one coming down the pike and across the sun next week, are traditionally a touch less activating than their lunar counterparts — opening doors and lighting the way.

Yet, in this liminal time before we’re flooded with the unexpected, the radical, the joyous and the new, we’ve got some doors to close, patterns to cease and dead skin to donate. Endings are as difficult as they are necessary, so be gentle with yourself and trust that what’s done is done, what’s dead was meant to die, and, I promise, if you squint and keep the faith, you’ll see that the best is yet to come.

Mercury is meddling

Add to the mix that Mercury, the planet of the mind, and its multitudes began a fresh hell retrograde cycle on April 1 where it will be backpedaling and meddling through April 24.

As the firstborn sign in the zodiac, Aries is synonymous with “I” and the proverbial “ID.” Aries is bold, relentless, independent, unafraid to fail and unashamed to ask for more.

Governed by war-mongering Mars, Aries rules the first house of the self: personality, appearance, first impressions, expression, vitality and self-concept. Aries defines itself by what it desires most.

Because retrograde asks us to reimagine themes related to both the planet and zodiac sign the retrograde is backpedaling in, our task this month is to revise the story we tell ourselves (Mercury) about who we are and who we can be (Aries).

Astrologer Elise Wells of Planet Poetica tells The Post, “Mercury retrograde in Aries is quicksilver moving backward through fire. It should and does feel like a forging of fresh thought, of rewiring a thought pattern — especially one tied to our desires and drives.”

As Wells maintains, we’re welding our wanting into an actionable plan, my babies, and now more than ever our ideas can beget the actions that can — and will — pave our way forward.

Eclipse season suffers no fools and pulls no punches

Eclipse seasons, like the one we are enduring, are tied to the north and south nodes of the moon, which are currently cycling through the Aries/Libra axis.

In astrology, the north and south node are known as the head and tail of the dragon. Interestingly, and according to Chinese tradition, 2024 is the year of the Wood Dragon. Wells expounds on the firepower present at his time: “We are in a Dragon year and Aries is a fire sign; dragons are creatures that wield fire but belong to water. Like the eclipse itself, dragons represent the integration and acceptance of elemental extremes.”

While the retrograde asks us to seek our internal truth, the Aries/Libra axis calls us to consider how we express our needs, face our fears and fulfill our desires.

As Wells tells The Post, ‘”Remember, you can only be brave when you are terrified. This is the energy of vitality and renewal that we are reckoning with and preparing for. New moons and eclipses force our focus to the here and now, toward the sky and inward to see how that same sky is mirrored in our bodies here on Earth. Honor this moment and this axis by telling yourself, ‘My blood is pumping, my heart is beating, my lungs are breathing, my bones are holding me up, life wants to live, and I will let it.”

A mantra of primal presence for now and forever.

When is it getting better?

Wells promises that, post-eclipse, brighter days are brimming,

“After the total solar eclipse on April 8, the moon moves into Taurus and we will all begin to revel in the garden of earthly delights,” the private birth chart or transit reading expert tells The Post. “Better prepared for its bounty because we have gotten quiet, witnessed and held fast to the mystery that connects and animates us all.”

Can dig.

Stay safe, be true, and see you on the other side.

Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girl’s guide” to strip clubs, and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.