Astrology of 4/4 – 4/10: Embodiment of Time

There are two Saturns to get to know: one is the socially conditioned kind and the other is a mysterious, deeper expression – perhaps the essence of the archetype which humans inevitably invoke particularized facets of via our participation. What if we soften our filters? The archetype of constraint, structure, gravity and consistency has its social context of needing to be on time or doing things right, but this quality is not entirely exclusive to human convention nor always integrated by human consciousness in a way that people find the synergy… but that doesn’t mean you can’t. Learning the art of harmony with Saturn involves having a relationship to consistency and the gravitational field those habits form – which can take on very obvious appearances as well as subtle ones, like habits of thought and emotion. What happens when you use consistency to embody and strengthen energy flows you really feel called to support? This is a riddle I would like to pose for this week’s transits. Whether or not that is easy to do this week is another story. Often the tension and dynamism present in transits such as ours this week trigger events and realizations to happen because we are under pressure and more likely to confront the realities at hand. This is a good week for the good work – the processes that are not always easy, yet they are rewarding.

Thanks for your patience with this forecast being late. I’ve been moving house and traveling… and though I no longer try to be, I’m not immune from the transits! 🙂 This one just happened to constellate with the perfect house arriving for my friends and I during a time where we’re already in school, working & traveling, and it’s Mercury retrograde square Saturn land. But we’re settling in and I’m excited for what is to come!

Here’s our week:

April 4

Mercury in 9 Aries square Mars in 9 Capricorn: 12:05 AM PDT

• Mercury is now retrograde, and is catching an exact square to Mars on its backward (from the perspective of Earth) trip. The last time Mercury and Mars squared exactly it was from the signs of Pisces and Sagittarius.
• Already you may have noticed the character of this particular Mercury retrograde involves a lot of impatience/urgency and resistance. Exchange, commerce and travel might feel or be delayed, and it can be a good time to breathe with what natural timing is emerging rather than trying to force events (unless, at a deep level and not just an impatient reactive level, galvanizing events to occur is what your intuition and circumstances are guiding you toward).
• There can be things that we want to say, where we don’t know how to deliver the message softly – Aries-Capricorn itself synthesizes like a hammer! But Mercury-Mars also includes the potential for verbal aggression. Skillful use of this transit might be expressing sentiments when we have thought about them and considered many angles and the impact that could emerge. Careful use of timing applies also: such as the capacity for rumination and new experience to refine the mind and our ideas.
• Finding the edge between judicious timing and repression can be a challenge during this time. When we have to compartmentalize something, it can be useful to also make time or space (or be open to that time and space at least) to unpack whatever we packed away.
• You might notice your own or other’s nerves being hotter at this time. Having practices to work with fiery energy consciously mitigates this. It’s not just your fire – the fire is in the air.
• Meditating on Mars to write this, I had a realization I’d like to share: Having an abundance of Mars natally or by transit isn’t just about blowing off steam, the same way we might say “boys will be boys”… (gendering this because of Mars association with masculinity) and to assume people will just have to “let it all out”. I have always found something slightly not quite there when I think about Mars being this brute, unconscious energy that just needs an outlet. There is something else here: Mars energy doesn’t need an outlet just so that it can blow off its excess steam in a supported place… it’s rather that Martian activity can be an experiential, spiritual arena of its own which can teach individuals how to harness force and power skillfully – such as a martial artist or a yogi. These disciplined Martian practices (consider Mars and Saturn connection, Aries-Capricorn, etc.) teach a person how to wield their vital energy outside of the athletic practice as well. A person who uses their body athletically or who works intimately with knives for example, is dealing with bodily danger as they work their craft: which requires a heightened focus and skill level as to not get injured. An individual who experiences this in a literal way will often also perceive the more metaphorical implications that permeate our everyday life, wherever there is risk and tension and the requirement of skill.
• Whether you are deep into your own practice of skillfully using raw energy which can be damaging or destructive or alternately harnessed… or you find yourself needing to embark on a connection to this area of life… this week can see some developments.
• It’s also a good week to be really attentive to procedure relative to your craft. Notice under Aries-Capricorn or Mars-Saturn transits that rushing can result in injury. Mars-Saturn influences can appear to slow down time and give us the extra space to check our foundations and to see that we are actually acting deliberately.

April 5

Mercury in 9 Aries square Saturn in 9 Capricorn: 1:22 AM PDT

Since Mars and Saturn are still close together after forming a conjunction last week, Mercury is activating them both simultaneously. Here are some other things to consider in addition to the above points.

• The energy of stalled momentum – a process which gets locked.
• The potential for locked energy to release when certain foundations or necessities are attended to. Discovering through listening and experimentation, what a situation is requiring.
• The quality of ambition which can handle, and even thrives with, challenges which shape and mature the original vision.
• The need to become more self-aware as to how one acts as a bully. The bully archetype, found in Aries, often actually feels like an underdog and is not skillfully aware of one’s own power or impact.
• The discovery of how to wield impact. Alternately, the anxiety of not wanting to take up space or have an impact, or not wanting to make a bold choice and then fail, and the process of developing will, courage, or inner-authority in situations in which life is really asking us to step up.

April 7

Venus in 9 Taurus trine Saturn in 9 Capricorn: 6:36 AM PDT

• While the Earth signs don’t exclusively relate to the material realm (as in what we can touch and feel with our bodily senses), they do relate to the energy of materialization. So, in a looser sense, a materialized idea might be something that is written into a book, or a materialized emotion might be felt in the body and not just as an abstract concept. See simply that something is becoming denser and increasingly embodied.
• Here, Venus and Saturn harmonizing in earth signs is a lovely portal to materialize our values via the employment of some kind of restraint. Restraint here could be consistency and discipline toward a process, as well as a kind of vow or ethic which streamlines our energy in a particular channel.
• A process of simplification can occur with these planets – a thought that came to mind related to Venus and aesthetic could be a spring cleaning thing – not owning items any longer which one doesn’t value. (And see Taurus connection to possession of worlds things! Which, with the harmonization through Saturn, we can prioritize certain material possessions and cut excess.)
• The connection between spirituality and material pleasure and comfort has a long and varied history, with different cosmologies valuing or devaluing the Earth plane and physical pleasure in vastly different ways. Archetypally, the world of the senses can be a portal into spirituality as well as a comforting illusion that distracts one from their higher self. Or, sensory input can be on overload/out of alignment and skew our perception, like eating foods that aren’t what we need. Perhaps it is not pleasure itself that determines whether it becomes a portal to realization or numbing, but rather our relationship to pleasure. Because pleasure can be so addicting, it is an area of life that also invites the process of balance and responsibility. At the same time, our ability to deeply feel and receive the blessings of life can be humbling and also help us keep things simple – to not keep wanting from a space of lack, but to enter a space of understanding what is “enough” and being able to enjoy what one has (and to know when is the right time to ask for more, too – but from an embodied knowing, and not addictive impulse). Pleasure can unlock forgiveness, healing, compassion, and spiritual insights of all kinds.
• Paradigmatically and practically, we can use the window of this harmonious transit to consider how it is we live in a way that is enjoyable. What is responsible and also feels good? What kinds of ethics or consistent patterns do we want to take up because we value them, not just because we feel like we are supposed to? How do we incorporate leisure, enjoyment, and other replenishing activities into our bigger picture of what a “correct” life looks like? See too, the possibility that entering into simple states of enjoyment allows us to align with gentler, kinder realities of which we can take a part in manifesting.
• Alternately, new habits or choices can actually be very uncomfortable, especially to the part of us which likes routine (even if that routine has become stale and unenjoyable, it might still be comfortable). Capricorn and Saturn both challenge us with the process of conditioning: how do we form new reality grooves? The grooves that already exist are like our default – they have gravity and they’re easier. If we are changing the shape of our muscles and our bones with some athletic practice, or the architecture of our life with some new lifestyle, it is going to feel hard at times because rather than falling into tracks that already exist, we are forming new ones. This experience builds self-knowledge – it is upon us to discover what works for us. And it builds self-esteem, because we realize we have creative influence over our destinies.
• Though Taurus speaks to self-reliance, self-reliance is not really so literal. It can be about discovering one’s own flavor, energy, and capacities outside of ordinary entanglements which keep one from developing certain qualities. However, Taurus is also very resourceful, able to perceive abundance where it exists. Consider which institutions, organizations, groups, (Saturn things) you value bonding with. Such as the difference between someone who wants to study alone, versus someone who goes to school and benefits from the community of teachers and students.

 

April 10

Sun in 21 Aries square Pluto in 21 Capricorn: 9:53 PM PDT

• Watch out for the way in which identifying with doing something all on one’s own can put into shadow the social structures and context from which one emerges. This has all sorts of permutations, such as the potential that when one does separate from a social context, they are also very personally taking on the culture and transforming it through their own unique expression. This mutation can make this individual a leader, teacher, or guide to others who have similar grievances with the limitations of the culture. It is like the “return” in the Hero’s Journey, where the hero who has left the village comes back with valuable knowledge.
• When it comes to emerging more vibrantly as our “authentic self”, we often do confront the matrix we emerge from as resistant towards us… perhaps we have many year long relationships with people who know the older version of us and they are not sympathetic toward how we are changing. Groups systems (like cultures) have homeostatic functions in which those who separate from the norm are culled back into the norm by those who are attached to the norm remaining as it is.
• Unconsciously, or in a shadow sense, this basic tension can yield a sense of being at war; that being oneself is war. This can be very real or constellate events which validate it, however, I am suggesting not to get lost in this particular gestalt lens. People who bring new things into culture can also be celebrated, even if they are contested as well or originally challenged. Remember that as you emerge into a fuller blossoming of your true self, you are not just changing yourself, but you are also changing the culture around you.
• Powerful themes/experiences around emerging or becoming.

Venus in 13 Taurus trine Mars in 13 Capricorn: 11:02 PM PDT

• This is a sweet window for acting on our love in tangible ways.
• With some reflection/stillness, we might also sensitize ourselves to noticing how love is reaching out at us all of the time. Many of you have probably heard of “love languages”, which are different ways of expressing love such as words of affirmation or acts of service. If we tune in, we can translate the various languages of love that are coming toward us, acknowledge them and feel the love!

Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week. My next course is starting so very soon and I hope you’ll be a part of it! This is a chance to learn how to make astrology part of your daily life. You’ll gain an advanced understanding of astrology that can both catalyze personal evolution and enhance your experience of the ever-present numinosity of life that astrology is the lens to perceive.

Join me for my upcoming Evolutionary Astrology Immersion Course starting May 6 – See details here.

Offerings

Personalized forecast reading: Want to know how the transits specifically affect you? This reading is focused on how the current transits of now to six months out are personally impacting your natal chart. We’ll look at longer-acting outer planetary transits as well as significant transit events that exact their alignment in this six month window.

Natal Chart Reading: I offer an analysis of the placement of Pluto, the lunar nodes, and the planetary rulers of Pluto and the lunar nodes, to tune into a Soul-level interpretation of the natal chart. Because the Pluto and lunar node signatures make up what is like the base tone or root of the natal chart, we can access some insights on the deeper “why” questions of one’s life. In addition to providing a Soul-oriented portrait of the natal chart’s major themes, I synthesize any questions you may have with your natal chart’s wisdom.

Soulwork Sessions: Astrological consultations geared to answer your most pressing/difficult questions. Soulwork is a means through which I can provide guidance to anyone working with a challenging situation, paradox, yearning or existential question – something unresolved in your experience that you want to transform or have breakthrough with.

With love,

Sabrina Monarch

Sabrina Monarch is a soul-centered Evolutionary Astrologer who publishes weekly astrological forecasts and teaches. She has been collecting astrological experience for over a decade. She is a novelist and is currently pursuing her masters in Philosophy. She also enjoys kundalini yoga, meditation and ashtanga yoga.