The Four Retrograde Planets of April, 2017

It’s a really “happening” month with planet changes, so keep your seat belts fastened.

4/05/17 – SATURN goes Retrograde. This is our slowest-moving planet. Changes he makes are significant, often affecting broad segments of society from law enforcement to the working class, and laws concerning same.  Saturn has been transiting fire sign Sagittarius since January 26th. This has been a wonderful let-up for those with Scorpio Moons (especially) or Rising Signs, where it had been stationed for over two years.  Capricorn and Aquarius are the signs ruled by Saturn. The retrograde motion may make them have to work harder to reach their goals.  Now we have three planets in retrograde motion. There will more explanation of retrograde planets, in general, below.

4/09/17 – MERCURY goes Retrograde.  Yes, here we go again. This condition will last until May 3rd. Virgo and Gemini are the signs ruled by Mercury. They get affected in the following ways:  With Mercury crossing Aries at this time, that is the 11th house for Geminis. Thus income may actually see some nice increase now. However, the Virgos do not fare so well, as Aries is their eighth house.  Whatever “transformations and vulnerability” they may have been going through since March 26 when this transit began, could intensify now.  This could affect the areas of career and health. Mercury retrograde can cause confusing and misunderstandings, in general.

4/09/17 – On this day, we now have FOUR planets in retrograde motion, which is the appearance of going backwards. Already, the great benefics Jupiter and Venus have been retrograde for some time. As we see above, Saturn goes retrograde on 4/05 and now Mercury on 4/09.  That is a LOT of “backwards motion”!  Those ruled by Venus (Libra, Taurus) and Jupiter (Sagittarius, Pisces) have already been having the opportunity for some introspection and re-examining any old issues that had not been previously totally resolved.

Now we have those ruled by Saturn (Capricorn, Aquarius) and Mercury (Gemini, Virgo) in that same boat.  It is best to view circumstances that arise now as impersonally as possible, not letting emotions cloud our thinking, or actions.  It is a time to use caution and patience, not going with urges or rash, quick decisions.  It may indeed feel like affairs are “going backwards” or “just marking time” in your life, but once each planet moves forward again, and crosses the degree it had reached at the moment it went retrograde, the time is ripe for reaping the harvest of our actions and hopefully noticing some new advantage and perspective that we may have ignored earlier, to help propel us towards our goals. This is a time when many “buried” behind-the-scenes actions in government or elsewhere could be revealed and come to light, with the end goal of cleaning up many messes.

4/12/17 – MERCURY goes into combustion with the Sun.  Thus there is the double whammy of this planet which rules communication, tactfulness and commerce being both retrograde and too close to the Sun for comfort, at the same time. You know what that means, Virgos and Geminis, as you’ve gone through this type of cycle many times before, but it is never comfortable. Hang in there!

4/12/17 – MARS moves into Taurus.  In the previous transit of the sign of Aries, Mars was very strong and feisty, since Aries is its own sign, bringing out some war-like, competitive qualities of Mars.  Taurus is the second house for those with Aries Rising or Moon signs and connects them to wealth, family and communication, so not a bad transit at all. For Scorpios, who are also ruled by Mars, this will be a good transit, too, representing their seventh house of business, partners, travel and marriage, connecting them more with these important arenas of life.

4/13/17 – The SUN enters Aries. Here the Aries Rising and Moon sign people had just gotten rid of one fiery malefic planet (though Mars is a “functional benefic” for them, since it rules their charts),  only to have another one move into their sign. The Sun is in its sign of Exaltation here and thus very happy and powerful. This is a positive placement for the Leos, as the Sun rules their chart and will now be transiting their very best house, the ninth house of good luck, good fortune, dharma, Natural Law, remedies and pilgrimage. This transit will bring out leadership qualities in those with Aries Rising or Moon signs, though their egos could be a bit overbearing now.

4/15/17 – VENUS gets out of retrograde and goes direct motion. This will bring a sense of progress and moving forward for the Libras and Taureans.  Now we will be down to just three retrograde planets, which is still quite a lot!

4/27/17 – MERCURY gets out of combustion with the Sun. This helps communication across the board for everyone, and is especially helpful to those with Virgo or Gemini Rising or Moon signs.

Blessings of the planets to you, from the Sunshine Corner in from Sedona, AZ.  Tel. 928-284-4060.  Thank you for any referrals you may send me.  I offer many services such as: natal chart readings, yearly updates, couples compatibility or astrocartography (location) readings.  If you would like to book an appointment for yourself, or as a gift for a family member or dear one, please call me, and we can schedule a 90 minute, taped session.  Thank you, Mary Stevenson, Vedic Astrologer, healingevents@yahoo.com. ethereal-grain.flywheelsites.com