NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day website has been running April Fool jokes pretty much consistently for around 15 years. This is today’s specimen, titled ‘I Brought You the Moon’. Photo taken in a single exposure in Valladolid, Spain, by Fernando Cabrerizo.

The Libra Full Moon passed quietly enough on Saturday, without any major shakeups (at least so far) on the double holiday weekend (both Easter and Passover).

Mercury-Sun conjunction in Aries. To the right is Chiron in the last degree of Pisces; and to the left is the Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries, and Venus in Taurus. Chart by Io Sprite animation program, a product of Time Cycles Research.

Our current astrology involves two near-simultaneous conjunctions. Sunday at 1:53 pm EDT (17:53 UTC), the Sun conjoined Mercury.

This is the midpoint of Mercury retrograde, which will last until April 15.

In the accompanying chart, note that Venus is also newly in Taurus, and Chiron is in the very last degree of Pisces.

I wrote about Chiron ingressing Aries in Thursday night’s edition. That takes place on April 17, two days after Mercury stations direct. I’ve seen that the interior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun — the moment when Mercury passes directly between the Earth and the Sun — provides some relief to the negative effects of the retrograde. In the midst of much other activity, it can be a moment of transparency, and some positive message or idea that manifests in a tangible way.

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Tonight’s top story — apart from millions of people rising up against the NRA, the criminal politicians who support them, and gun violence in general, and apart from Stormy Daniels appearing on 60 Minutes — is that Venus is passing through the Uranus-Eris conjunction.

Let’s take a step back and review: currently there is a rare conjunction happening in Aries: two slow movers (Uranus and Eris) aligning, which was exact to the degree in 2016 and 2017. This is a once-per-century kind of event (technically, about once per 90 years), and this is the outer planet conjunction of our time in history. It presents a picture of the zeitgeist or the spirit of the times.

Venus, at 23+ Aries, is conjunct Eris at 23+ Aries; it will be conjunct Uranus at 27+ Aries later this week. Chiron can be seen in late Pisces. It will reach Aries on April 17. Chart above is set for the time of this writing, set in Io Sprite by Time Cycles Research.

Eris is a new factor in consciousness and astrology. It was discovered in 2005 and named in 2006, resulting in the re-categorization of Ceres and Pluto as dwarf planets. (That is mainly what Eris, itself a dwarf planet, is remembered for. I’ll comment on the absurdity of that category in a future article.)

When there are slow, outer-planet conjunctions, occasionally faster-moving inner planets pass by, and that’s what is happening now. Today and tonight, Venus is conjunct Eris, timed perfectly for Stormy appearing in her first nationally televised interview. Then Wednesday, Venus will be conjunct Uranus.

Said another way, Venus is passing through the Uranus-Eris conjunction. Outer planet conjunctions represent environmental conditions, and can be difficult to perceive. As Rob Hand once explained to me, if you cannot see a planet with the naked eye, it represents an alternate or altered dimension of consciousness.

Yet when an inner planet passes by, it can bring the effects right down to Earth, and that is what we’re seeing happen right now. To make things more interesting, as of Sunday night, the Moon in late Cancer is square Venus, Eris and Uranus, which makes the conjunction even more available to the senses and what you might think of as ordinary consciousness. The inner (sometimes called personal) planets are more palpable, and represent feelings and events we associate with the everyday world.

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We are in the last days of the astrological year, which resets with the Vernal Equinox on March 20, just past noon ET.

Photo by Steve Parker.

This was preceded by the Pisces New Moon on Saturday. And it will be followed closely by Mercury stationing retrograde, which takes place on Thursday.

Starting yesterday, here’s the sequence of events in synopsis format: Pisces New Moon, very close to Chiron; Sun conjunct Chiron; Sun goes void of course; Sun enters Aries; Mercury stations retrograde in Aries. When the Sun reaches the vernal equinox, it’s directly aligned with the Aries Point, the “reset” point in the astrological year. It’s like a long day ends at midnight, and a new day begins.

The Aries Point has a special quality that seems to be dominating our lives now, which is that we’re standing in this frantic crossroads between the individual and the collective. That’s the feeling we have of being blown in the winds of change, of so much happening nobody can keep track, and of time moving so fast that it seems like we live a month in a week.

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The outstanding aspect today is Mars square Chiron. This aspect happens just once a year in some form, and it’s about your relationship to the idea of integrity. We could say that about all Mars-Chiron meetings, though the square is one of the more significant aspects describing structure and strength.

In the case of the Mars-Chiron square, that strength is often used against itself, in the form of a mentally rigid quality.

Detail from a false-color view of Mars’ Marathon Valley, taken March 13, 2015. Photo courtesy of NASA and Mars Rover Opportunity.

Mars is about desire and self-assertion. Chiron is about awareness and healing.

The two combine in many forms to describe how one expresses the energy of the “spiritual warrior.” That’s one who uses the male energy for the purpose of growth and leading events in the direction of the right thing happening. Yet when Mars and Chiron are in a square, there can be an obsession with integrity: with doing things right, with not making mistakes, and with not expressing sexual desire because it’s supposedly not spiritual to do so.

This manifests as blocks, hesitancy, refusal to assert oneself, and backing off from what one wants, due to self-doubts, or the desire to maintain an image. It can represent a fixed viewpoint; and thinking you know everything and therefore not being open-minded and finding out more.

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Although there’s a significant concentration of bodies in Pisces this week, the focus shifts to other signs for the main events — specifically, Aries (planets changing sign) and Scorpio (Jupiter’s retrograde). You may notice a shift in tone, tempo or orientation as a result.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

Early in the week, Mercury and Venus both leave Pisces and enter Aries on Tuesday. Mercury makes its move at 2:34 am EST (7:34 UTC), and Venus follows suit at 6:45 pm EST (23:45 UTC).

At its most basic, this nudges emotions, thought processes and communication into more impulsive, inventive and enthusiastic (or possibly reactive) territory.

You might find that you need to make a little more effort to sustain your concentration at times, or to put yourself in another’s shoes and offer some empathy. Yet with several notable planets and the Sun still swimming in Pisces, there’s a natural softening and stabilizing influence to keep things balanced. We’ll be getting some good Aries initiative to pair with the dreamy visioning Pisces is so famous for — and that can be a recipe for getting really interesting things done.

Yet there’s another dimension to Mercury and Venus entering Aries: they’re landing on the Aries Point — that hot little parcel of zodiac real estate that connects your personal experience with that of the collective (such as through politically charged events and issues).

Not only that, but Mercury and Venus make aspects to three minor planets that have featured prominently in Eric’s Art of Becoming annual readings: Salacia in Aries, and Pholus and Quaoar in Capricorn.

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This week’s astrology peaks with the Virgo Full Moon on Thursday. This is the first Full Moon after the Aquarius New Moon eclipse, and therefore carries that event’s signature in some way — although it does so with a slightly different flavor, thanks to the Sun and Moon being in new signs.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

As with all Full Moons, you may experience the sense of energy or emotions building, or an interpersonal situation that seems to be at a standoff. With the Sun and Moon in mutable signs, however, you might feel like there’s more wiggle room or flexibility available to you.

This could be especially worth tracking in terms of the youth outcry against the lack of gun control in the U.S. With the eclipse, a real seed seems to have been sown to change a cultural pattern of inaction on this issue.

By no means will the gun control problem come to its only peak or resolution within a month; it is far too complex for that. But I am curious to see what shape the current standoff takes this week. I suspect it’s highly likely that there will be further escalation of emotion and energy among the youth who are now fed up and demanding change.

This Full Moon has the Moon in Virgo opposite the Sun in Pisces (exact at 7:51 pm EST Thursday / 00:51 UTC Friday). You can think of this as the axis of manifestation: Pisces offers the vision and passion, and Virgo offers the way to make that vision tangible via intellect and method.

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The Sun entered Pisces today, joining Mercury (which entered Pisces yesterday), Venus, Neptune and Chiron. On Friday, the asteroid Juno will join the pool party. You may be noticing that last week’s edginess is softening, or feel a sensation like pressure has finally equalized.

Partly this is a typical shift after any eclipse, but it’s being emphasized right now by the cluster of planets in Pisces.

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This week we get the second in our pair of current eclipses: a partial solar eclipse during the Aquarius New Moon on Thursday, Feb. 15. There’s been a lot on Planet Waves lately about interrupting old patterns to allow new ones to form — patterns that will better suit who you’re in the process of becoming — thanks to the general topics of eclipses and Aquarius. That might have you feeling edgy; but the chart for this eclipse underscores the themes in a way that, hopefully, will feel empowering for you.

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