For April, 2018:
Welcome to the beautiful month of April, 4th month of this 2/11 year, the first full month of Spring. This month we take the masculine/feminine balanced energies of the Spring Equinox and integrate them into our bodies. As we work to harness and ground these energies, they find expression in our environments, and even through the weather. The 4 expresses the energies of the 2 squared and is profoundly feminine; it represents grounding and support, and the Earth itself– the 4 elements that make up physicality (fire, air, water, earth), and the 4 sacred directions that orient us in space. In Cosmic Consciousness, the 4 etheric bodies (spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical) form the essential components of our existence (see the Lower Body System in the CC Corner).
According to Cosmic Consciousness, when vertical and horizontal polarities (bridges) intersect, they create 90-degree angles (or squares, in 3D), requiring a higher perspective to bring the energies together. This higher perspective results in stepping stones which elevate our consciousness beyond 3D conflicts and stresses, allowing us to integrate and apply these energies to the experience; it becomes a strength for us to use.
The 4 is the connection between the manifestation of an idea into its embodiment through the diligent gathering of energies; it is the result of creative thought leading to creative action. The 4 corners of the square form the base of a pyramid upon which the triangular energies of manifestation rests.
In Cosmic Consciousness, Taurus is the 4 o’clock hour of Conscious Obedience to our inner guidance system, which guides us, providing us with the stability we need, whenever we follow it. Venus is the dispositor (ruler) of Taurus; it is in our hearts that our inner guidance is found, and when we connect with it we expand our capacity to love with the higher mind. We sense the Truth of this guidance and seek its expression through higher thought and action. There is no room for doubt or fear, we Know what to do.
We have manifested the seeds of new beginnings, and this month we are building the foundation upon which they grow, sending down roots to ground these beginnings, and sending up shoots to receive cosmic energies through the crown chakra. The strength of this foundation, how well we grow this new world we are creating, is determined by the quality of our thoughts and the purity of our hearts; the breadth of our vision, and the depth of our commitment to bringing all parts of our lower body system into alignment (healing) and remembering their unity (wholing). Last month’s Pisces new moon conjunct Chiron, and Chiron’s entry into Aries this month signals the beginning of this aligning and wholing process.
There is so much happening this month! April features Chiron’s entry into Aries, the first time in 50 years; the end of the Mercury retrograde, also in Aries; and the retrogrades of Saturn and Pluto, both in Capricorn. Black Moon Lilith Mars spends all month in Capricorn, along with Mars, making Aries and Capricorn, the Power signs of the mental and spiritual domains, so very important this month. The spiritual and mental bodies relate to the divine masculine, and all month Venus and Mars, co-rulers of the divine feminine, make significant aspects. In every way we are healing misqualified energies that obscure the balance of those energies within us.
April opens with Venus newly ensconced in her home sign of Taurus, manifesting with Quaoar before he goes retrograde, delivering our hearts to new levels of understanding. Mercury, in the middle of his retrograde, meets the Sun in an inferior conjunction at 12° Aries, and Mars manifests with Orcus, joining the Saturn-Orcus manifestation before the Mars/Saturn new cycle on 4/2. Our physical bodies are being redefined as we connect with our immortality through the vehicle of our broadened mental operating system.
Quaoar goes retrograde at 2° Capricorn, following Ixion, who went retrograde 3/28 on the Galactic Center (27° Sag). With last month’s calibration of mind/heart energies, we have the opportunity to conceive a new paradigm of thought based on a higher, clarified consciousness and review how it affects our life’s purpose. We are manifesting a grander, broader vision of mastery over the lower self (Chiron) with Varuna; we have access to Vesta’s devotional pure intentions to help us if we so choose. Vesta then enters Capricorn. And that’s just the beginning.
On 4/2 retrograde Black Moon Lilith, representing the place within each of us where we have access to the Divine Feminine, reenters Capricorn, forming a bridge with Varuna and a resource with Chiron. The Sun manifests with the Soul Star Chakra, and Mars and Saturn begin a new cycle of empowered right action based on inner authority and the expanded viewpoint available to us. We grow in our capacity to act from wholeness. Mars/Saturn is all about the restructuring of the physical–of the body and the world.
Over the next few days the divine feminine is very active as Mars, co-dispositor along with Venus, calls our attention to the recalibration of our physical being with the higher frequencies. On 4/4 the retrograde Mercury/Mars stepping stone allows us to strengthen our mind/body connection, as our bodies prepare for the upcoming transmutational new cycle with Pluto on 4/26. Also on 4/4 Venus conjoins newly named Albion (formerly 1992 QB1), creating a new cycle of energetic downloads to the heart through the frequency of sound. This is where the heart sings. Mars returns to the ecliptic 4/7, conjoins Black Moon Lilith (4/10) and manifests with Venus (4/11). Our divine feminine energies seek physical expression; since our bodies are the conduits for these frequencies we must clear any stuck places and allow the energies and e-motions to move through.
On 4/10 Venus intersects the Moon’s nodes, making stepping stones with the Soul Star and Earth Star Chakras. Standing on the bridge between past and future, we can raise our consciousness through the heart frequencies. The Vesta/Quaoar new cycle, also on 4/10, makes purity of new thought forms available as we calibrate our hearts to a higher level of Love, underscored by the Venus/Neptune resource on 4/12.
Varuna goes direct at 29 Cancer 31, on 4/12, marking his final journey through the mastery of the sign of emotional power. Our emotions add spice and color to our lives; they do not define us. When our emotions are balanced, the inner harmony experienced delivers us to the capacity to expand our perceptions beyond what we think possible. Varuna has been moving back and forth between Cancer and Leo for almost 2 years, honing and perfecting our conception of emotion in our lives; in June Varuna enters Leo for good. This is significant since it will be another 23 years before Varuna changes signs again.
The Sun enters the Light Bridge of Awakening Unity Consciousness on 4/13 and begins a new cycle with Eris, just as Venus did with her new cycle with Eris on 3/25 that awakened and recalibrated our hearts.
On 4/14 Jupiter resources Pluto as the 2 archetypes move closer and closer towards their new cycle in 2020. Jupiter is most expansive, and Pluto operates at the collective level, and together they are bringing deep transmutation of our social constructs and belief systems. The energies of this resource is part of the New Moon in Aries.
When Mercury is retrograde, we have a few weeks to go back over all the expansion we’ve undertaken and gain clarity, definition and much more of a realization about what’s happening in our lives. We can rewrite any script we aren’t happy with; we can rethink any action we want to take. On 4/15 Mercury stations direct at 5° Aries. Now we can begin to make all kinds of new connections with the inner Self and/or with the outside world, which in 5D are the same thing. For the remainder of the month the Great Messenger connects with Orcus (great eliminator), Saturn (stepping stone) Ceres (manifesting) and the nodes (manifesting with the Soul Star Chakra) for the 3rd time, bringing new realizations and insights to our higher minds.
The Aries New Moon also occurs on 4/15, at 9:57 pm, at 26° Aries. It is a powerful lunar event, and unique for many reasons. The Sun/Moon new cycle is right on the High Way to Awakened Unity Consciousness Light Bridge, right in the middle and conjoining Uranus and Eris, and bridging Haumea. Chiron, Varuna and Black Moon Lilith are all on the 29° master degree. The New Moon manifests with the Black Moon and Ixion, and makes a stepping stone with Varuna, which has just stationed direct on 4/12 and is not moving; Mercury, bridging Makemake, has just stationed direct as well. Meanwhile, both Saturn and Pluto are in their storm period, preparing for their retrogrades. There is a lot of energy being released from the planets that have shifted, or are shifting direction.
According to Cosmic Consciousness, Aries is the sign of Mental Power (Higher Mind) and personal awakening. It is known as the divine spark of creation, because nothing can ever begin without Aries energy to strike the match that brings the Light into being. It is no coincidence that the Great Awakeners are situated in this sign. The New Moon promises to bring much awakening to all who are ready. Mars disposes this sign, bringing the results of our awakening to the physical world.
On 4/17 Venus forms a bridge with Jupiter and manifests with Pluto. The Black Moon conjoins Ixion on the Galactic Center and manifests with Uranus. Our hearts are expanding and transforming while our access to the divine feminine connects to Source consciousness and awakens to a new expression of purpose. The Sun also manifests with Ixion, reminding us of why we are here.
But the big news is Chiron, Master Teacher/Healer, entering Aries at 4:10 am. For the rest of the year Chiron will retrograde back and forth on the world axis between Pisces and Aries, which, according to Cosmic Consciousness, is the birth canal, where the spark of new life begins. There he brings his lessons of alignment and wholing to the Portal of Truth that encompasses the Divine Masculine connection between spirit and mind.
For as long as the Divine Feminine has been suppressed, the Divine Masculine has been repressed, and the sorrow of that repression must be expressed and released, in order to heal and realign the balance between masculine/feminine energies. None of us can achieve wholeness without this realignment. It is time for the divine masculine to gain mastery in a wholistic way; we must rethink and recalibrate what it means to be ‘male’ in 5D (notice the Mercury retrograde effect of going over our old ways of thinking? Mercury is co-ruler of the Divine Masculine, along with the Sun, and both begin the month in a retrograde (interior) conjunction—you can’t make this up!).
Chiron forms a bridge with Makemake in Libra, intersected by Quaoar in Capricorn, which will last for months. We are provided with clues for new ways to align, master, and whole our Selves according to the higher laws of nature, of Love, of the One.
In Aries, Chiron’s energies take the form of mastering the conscious discipline of speaking to our Selves with Love, which requires diligence and focus. We tend to be negative with ourselves, often very subtly, and we must keep coming back to forgiveness and compassion, shifting those thoughts back to Love, until it becomes automatic. In this way we work on our own piece of the collective energies. As Ram Dass puts it, “one works on oneself as a gift to other people so that one doesn’t create more suffering.”
It’s no coincidence that Saturn goes retrograde on the same day, 4/17, at 9° Capricorn, for almost 5 months. As we balance and calibrate our lower body systems, we are ready to go within and reexamine where we give away our personal authority, where we are inauthentic, where we are out of integrity. Saturn represents that part of our Selves that Knows the Truth and knows when we are hiding from our Selves; it reflects the Inner Guru who lives in each of us, whose guidance, coming from Source itself, delivers us to the Self-esteem and personal authority needed to be the author of our own lives. The work we do with these energies will lead to new levels of mastery and wholing. This month the work begins.
The Sun/Uranus new cycle on 4/18 brings sudden new realizations and revelations to our consciousness, and completes the Sun’s involvement in the Unity High Way. Uranus too is moving on, in May. First our hearts received new insights in March, now our awareness follows. Our mental operating systems get their turn when Mercury meets Uranus in May. Meanwhile, on 4/19 the Sun makes a stepping stone with Varuna and manifests with the Black Moon before he enters Taurus at the end of the day. The highest viewpoint we can perceive must include the divine feminine. Now we are ready to ground ourselves in our hearts.
Pluto, the gatekeeper to higher dimensions and frequencies, is the 2nd archetype in Capricorn to begin the journey towards Source, going retrograde at 21° on 4/22 for 5 months. Stationing planets are very powerful, and Saturn and Pluto station within 5 days of each other, a mere 12° apart, in the sign of Spiritual Power. Saturn represents the structure and definition of our consciousness, and the part of us that keeps us honest and congruent with ourselves. Pluto is the archetype that delivers the soul to wisdom after going through profound experiences. When we emerge from such a transformative experience we learn that we created each role that played its part in that experience; it’s our movie, and the parts we don’t like reflect a part of ourselves we need to attend to. If we feel victimized or abused, it’s vital to realize that we are victim, abuser and hero, these are all aspects of our Self. There is no one else ‘out there’. When we recognize this, we resurrect ourselves into wholeness, gaining access to the higher realms, becoming transformed. We work with Pluto’s energies when we stand in our Truth, when we observe the extent of our power and use it to unite and strengthen others, when we surrender to Source.
Capricorn is the quality of consciousness where we gain access to the highest spiritual energies of Love through our connection to Source. It supports the divine inspiration of a new beginning or new cycle. Pluto has had many retrogrades since he entered Capricorn in 2008, but with 5 other planets in this sign, and the impending Mars/Pluto new cycle, this retrograde is even more notable. It affords us the opportunity to review our relationship to power: within ourselves, in relation to others, and to our connection to Source. We are already observing new expressions of authentic personal empowerment, and shifts in external power structures, leading up to the Saturn/Pluto new cycle of 2020. Stay tuned.
On 4/21 Venus and Sedna, the classical and galactic 5D dispositors of Libra, meet in a new cycle. Venus represents the heart, emotions, and divine feminine in each of us; Sedna’s higher octave reflects the collective remembrance of the Divine Feminine and all the Wisdom that was held through the ages until we reached the capacity to access it. This new cycle heralds the integration of Divine Feminine energies into the planet and each of us, directly through the heart chakra. From there, on 4/24 Venus resources Varuna and enters Gemini. Our hearts, Infused with multidimensional energies, access a wider perspective and higher frequencies of Love, before entering the Conscious Wisdom of Mercury’s sign, where Love does the thinking. Of all the planets, Venus is the first to connect with Chiron, in a resource that unites mind and heart with the wisdom of the awakened soul.
Pluto is barely moving when Mars, the co-dispositor of the divine feminine, reaches the Gatekeeper for a new cycle on 4/26. Mars/Pluto is all about personal verses spiritual empowerment; our will verses Divine Will. Are we able to surrender to the higher Self and allow the divine plan to unfold? Are we feeling capable and steady, or are we looking outside ourselves and giving our power away? These are issues to consider during this new cycle.
On 4/28 Juno, representing the new unity consciousness we have awakened to, enters Aries for the next 2 months. The Juno/Chiron new cycle on 4/29 reflects a new beginning in the capacity to bring conscious awareness of our unity with everything we perceive as “out there” into action; by elevating our thoughts to Love, which becomes reflected in our physical reality, we work towards mastery.
Following this new cycle, also on 4/29, the Full Moon occurs in Scorpio, bringing the intense and transformational energies of the previous Aries New Moon to a peak. Once again, Saturn and Pluto are huge players in this lunar event: the Sun forms a Grand Earth Manifestation with Saturn and Orcus, while the Moon resources both planets, and Pluto is the dispositor of Scorpio. The Moon is on the Master Path in Scorpio, making responses more intense, bringing up issues we’ve been suppressing or avoiding.
The Sun and Moon form stepping stones with the Moon’s nodes, creating a Grand Crossroad in Love (formerly fixed) signs. The mechanism of Love is activated among all the etheric bodies of the lower 4 body system. The Sun and Moon represent the spiritual body, and are the generators of our individual consciousness. Ceres, about to make a new cycle with the Soul Star Chakra on 4/30, is part of the Grand Love Crossroad. From the center we can choose which bridge to stand on, which road to take to clear karmic debris or bring blessings to our future creations. Love is the only way to get there, and all roads lead to Love.
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With all the planetary changes in direction we may feel like we’re in free fall, with nothing to hold on to. Nothing works as it used to, and there is nothing to do but allow whatever arises to be experienced, and leave thinking at the door. The Divine Feminine is very much in evidence, and as old traditions, paradigms and beliefs continue to fall away, the tendency is to grasp at anything to slow the fall, to make sense. This month we will find grounding in the present moment, in our bodies and hearts, holding the space of Love as we move through each moment. The Master’s mantra and affirmation for Taurus is I AM Present and I AM Guided from Within. Reciting these mantras form the basis for the practice of the month. Let us program our 3rd Eye Chakra with the intention to quiet our minds and listen for the prompting of the heart’s inner guidance, which alone provides protective balm against the winds of change. We have whatever we need within us.
“That’s who we all are on this path, spiritual family and friends. It’s just one big family. We’re all relatives until we realize we’re really all the same and there’s only one of us—one loving awareness.” ~~~Ram Dass
Shelly Leal can be reached for comments at shelbai@aol.com