Probably the most important characteristic of this month’s daily charts is that we now have the two real “heavies” in a chart appearing to move backward. In retrograde motion, a planet’s influences are thought to be modified or directed inward.

Saturn has been retrograde all of this year and goes direct early next month. With Saturn in Virgo, we’ve probably experience delays in projects and problem-solving, or things we thought completed crop up anew. Perhaps we’ve had concerns about our health, perhaps a flagging of self-discipline. At least a lessened sense of urgency and anxiety.

Pluto goes retrograde April 2. Any impulse toward immediate change may be modified, or held for reconsideration, reevaluation, and the gathering of more facts. We’ll recognize that there are many more facets to be considered before a final decision can prudently be made and that we’ll have to dig in to find the significant kernels of wisdom.

As an added bonus, Mars in Cancer is more protective than aggressive, more interested in comfort than dominion, so his fiercely competitive warlike instincts are lessened.

Many of the charts hold long-lasting contrary patterns: action-oriented challenging t-squares and grand trines to promote easy-flowing interaction among energies. But the squares for the most part link the most compassionate planets, and the trines are largely grounded in earth signs.

Overall, it looks like a pretty good month. And the newness of Spring makes it even better.

TUESDAY APRIL 1

We can feel a bit self-satisfied as this new month begins, and be amused by the antics of those who continue the traditions of April Fool's Day. We’re beginning to see that we have made important progress in past weeks, although the goal or goals we seek may still be a long road ahead, and we’re intent on starting that journey. Still, don’t really feeling outgoing.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 2

A mild brain-fog that’s dulled the past few days should lift now, as Moon crosses in front of Neptune and goes void at 2:14 am, and becomes more clear when Mercury slides into Aries at 10:45 am to rev up his role as courier of information.

Shortly after Moon moves into Pisces at 1:55, the big news comes with Pluto’s retrograde station at 2:23 am PDT.

From now through September, this big guy’s apparent retracing of his journey calls for rethinking the use of our personal power, our will power, our ability to change and to create change, to make sure we’re on the right path. This occurs in the first degrees of Capricorn, which means it most directly affects the structures and rules we’ve set up for ourselves, and the aims we’ve established for creating and/or maintaining our stature in the immediate world around us.

Once Pluto starts moving forward again in September and transits through Capricorn until 2024, we’ll recognize this influence in many ways but especially in relation to the position of Pluto at the time of birth. From many of us, born between 1939 and 1958, Pluto will be demanding serious adjustments in lifestyle. For those born 1958-1972, the changes demanded may be easier, but the details more important. The Pluto-in-Libra generation, 1973-1983, will be challenged to reorganize relationships; those born during Pluto’s tenure in its own sign, Scorpio, from 1984-1995, should look for opportunities to optimize their dependence on others and their ability to call on knowledge beyond the ordinary. The timing of intensity for each of us will depend on how early or late our individual birthday falls in the period. The coming six-month period is auspicious for all of us for getting serious about advance planning.

THURSDAY APRIL 3

Keep your eyes on the nitty-gritty today but don’t get discouraged. A Pisces Moon can feel enervated by its lack of boundaries, so her staring across the chart at Saturn can be intimidating, and Mercury’s square to Pluto along with Sun’s to Mars are pushy. Whatever it is you have to do, it will all work out, but the course of action is not likely to be smooth.

FRIDAY APRIL 4

Today is apt to feel like an “ouchy” in a number of ways. Irascible Juno is starting to put the pins to Pluto and the two are harassing Moon, Vesta, Venus and Mercury. We need to think before we speak (or it may not come out as intended) and keep our sensitivity under control. It lightens up when Moon conjuncts Venus and goes void at 2:43 pm, entering Aries at 5:27 pm.

SATURDAY APRIL 5

We’re far more ready for action today, and eager to get on with it, with Moon hitching up with Mercury in Aries and Venus joining them late tonight. But Luna’s square to Mars in Cancer may slow visible progress.

The New Moon at 17 Aries occurs late in the day, 8:55 pm on the west coast, 11:55 pm in Washington DC. Moon slides away from its investigative square to Pluto during the morning, meets up with Mercury to glean some leadership ideas, then picks up a square to an apparently complacent Mars in Cancer to focus on inner needs, before conjuncting Sun. Mars is now within orb of an opposition to Jupiter in Capricorn, a steadying influence on the red planet’s ordinarily aggressive energies. That’s a lot of wholesome fodder to nourish our intentions for the next four weeks.

The coming fortnight is a time for inner work, for pawing through the ideas and possibilities that have been compounding over the past several weeks, sorting out and discarding the chaff and bookmarking those germs of genius that show potential. We should reflect on the probable reasons for things that haven’t gone our way recently (making notes to help avoid repeating those mistakes) and relish the ones that have (making plans to help retain and nourish those gains).

In our nation’s chart, the t-square emanates from Sun-Moon in the fourth house of security to encompass values and resources, our own and others’. There may be hopeful news about efforts to shore up the economy and cap the burgeoning number of home foreclosures. There may be polite, but firm, insistence from other nations whose economies are being negatively affected by our financial problems. The t-square outlets in the tenth house, which represents our leadership, in Libra, a sign known for its inclination toward mediation and conciliatory intentions.

Venus, the most peace-loving planet, holds the strongest position in the chart, being closest to an angle, a mere 3° past the nadir—the point that initiates concern for roots, foundations and family safety. Her sole classic aspect is a square to Pluto, which could add a compulsive note to the pursuit of security. But she is also quincunx Saturn, a spur to modify and restructure rigid conventional thinking to allow more productive end results.

The centaur Pholus, recognized only about 15 years ago, is gaining credence with many astrologers. In this chart, he sits less than a degree past the ascendant, which makes his angular affinity even stronger than that of Venus. While most agree that we are still gathering evidence of influences related to Pholus, some commonly accepted interpretations are intriguing: hidden potential coming slowly but thoroughly to manifestation; radical but unexpected change; and, as the “key” to Neptune, vague precognition that opens doors to infinite possibilities.

The Sabian symbol for 17 Aries: Two dignified spinsters sitting in silence; the ability to transform a natural lack of potency into poise and inner serenity. “Life has turned inward,” Rudhyar says, “in a self-created mirroring.” But many of us have learned through psychotherapy that richness lies inward and self-mirroring leads to growth.

SUNDAY APRIL 6

Moon is void again from 8:02 am until she enters Taurus at 6:20 this evening, so it may be good to welcome this as a day of rest. Today is a good day for directing your energies toward yourself and your own comfort level, although there may be minor protest from someone in your camp who thinks the primary need is theirs. Be pleasant, but hold your own.

MONDAY APRIL 7

Stick-to-it determination is drawn from Moon’s trines to both Saturn and Pluto, so we sail into a new workweek with a can-do attitude. We may nonetheless have to modify what we want, quite possibly because our expectations are much higher than warranted by the circumstances. Quixotic humor may suggest some unusual but intriguing alternatives.