One of the features of April’s astrology is that four planets will change directions. Venus will turn direct while Mercury, Saturn, and Pluto turn retrograde. In short, different areas of our lives will switch gears in a four-week span of time.
I know you all get a little nervous when you hear the “R” word, but don’t. Retrogrades are a natural time in the year when we shift polarities with a planet. Instead of going out and covering new ground, which is more of an active energy, we pull back, reassess, and edit, which is more receptive. Life is built on active and receptive, yang and yin, Sun and Moon. Astrology measures different cycles of time and retrograde; direct “stations” mark a symbolic hour.
Our first station this month will be Saturn. The planet of responsibility, authority, and achievement will turn retrograde on April 6, signalling a check in on how we’re growing up and learning our lessons. Saturn is the “master plan” planet. We all came to achieve something while here on earth, so Saturn is going to hold us to it.
Saturn has been in Sagittarius since September 2015 and during this time our collective lessons have been around how we see the world. What do we believe in? What philosophy guides us? What do we put our faith in? Have we lost faith? Saturn will make us question everything. The point is that by having our faith or our philosophy rattled, we get clearer about what we believe in. We build a new or stronger framework in how we see the world.
Saturn also makes us feel time and the weight of getting older and the responsibilities that it entails. It’s not a fluffy energy, but it is a necessary one. We all have a date with Saturn at various points in our lives, a time when we have to answer for our choices as well as any tendencies to stray from the Master Plan. Use the energy this week to get down to brass tacks, as they say. Create a bigger vision for your life and hammer out the steps you will commit to in order to achieve them.