Week Ahead Transits: 28 April – 4 May

Pluto stations retrograde later this week as the Moon in Leo squares the Sun in Taurus. The Pluto retrograde phase lasts too long in my opinion, but astronomically it lasts for six months. Pluto’s orbit is oblong and wide, affecting it’s retrograde and transit cycles moreso than many of the other planets within our solar system. When Pluto stations retrograde, it is slowly passing over a point in our charts that it has most likely passed over once or twice before, solidifying a new form of being within that planet’s existence in our lives. For instance, when transiting Pluto squares, opposes or trines a natal Venus, the effect will last for almost three years total — including Pluto’s direct and retrograde motion. This is why Pluto is more of a slow-burning rather than an abrupt disbursement of energy that a Mercury or Jupiter cycle would bring in. This Pluto retrograde cycle will last until October 13th, station direct at 1° Aquarius and will not station retrograde again until 2027. While Pluto is retrograde, we are met with the burning desires of unmet needs which blazes a trail to our outer circumstances. We are awakened from a slumber of complacency, no longer accepting the bare minimum, we seek and go after what we need in life: sexual intimacy, passion and urges. Pluto is the plunger, excavating what we have been too afraid to confront within ourselves. The raw material that makes reminds us we are merely animals living amongst kin.

 

Venus > Aries and conjuncts Neptune for the last go around at 1° Aries. First time before her retrograde motion was on January 31st, second time as a retrograde morning star = March 28th, and her last and final until they meet again next year is on the 2nd.  The ability to heal oneself does not lie within the hands of another. This is the last time that Venus will be meeting with Neptune this year to help solidify a sense of mystical mourning that happens when we come into contact with reality, regarding what our expectations have been. Venus in Aries is extremely self-reliant, to the point of hyper-independence at times and taking help or advice from another is difficult when the planet of mutual reciprocity finds herself in the self-sufficient sign of Aries. Neptune is also the planet of water, healing and purification, any ill-conceived concepts of co-dependence and self-abandonment come to the forefront for clearing. When Venus moves into alignment with Neptune, it is the perfect time to heal the individuated parts of ourselves that request independence when we should be reaching out, the parts of ourselves that retracts into self-defense when we should be disarming our hearts.