Heavens Above
Celestial Indications for APRIL 2004

By Jani Allan

Aries
March 21 - April 19

Most people know that the symbol for Aries in Western astrology is the ram (signifying power and virility.) However, another symbol for you, Aries, is the lamb. Unbeknownst to many, you are filled with a lamb-like innocence.

In Akkadian, the language of Ancient Mesopotamia, the Mesopotamians simply called this month Lambing, since in their agrarian culture, this is the month when ewes give birth. You may find yourself birthing a new project during your birthday month.

Like your ruling planet Mars, your ability to maintain singular focus is the foundation of your unique capabilities. When focused totally on yourself, the gift of the warrior, you are able to achieve whatever you set your mind to. However, your gift of the joy of being and expressing must be tempered by the challenges of restraining your renowned impatience.

Your approach to life is as straight as a yard of pump water, so it will bemuse you that even your family seems to respond as if you were speaking to them in an obscure dialect from Uzbekistan.

Mentally red flag the fact that Mercury is misbehaving again and is retrograde until the 30th. Your communications, e-mails, or messages could be misunderstood or go missing in cyberspace.

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Taurus
April 20 - May 20

You are encountering the prospect of long-term changes in your life. There is a sense that you are being projected into a drastically different set of circumstances.

Not only the Solar focus, but also the Solar Eclipse/New Moon is in your 12th house on the 19th. The 12th house is anathema to materialistic Taureans, since it is the house of the subconscious, filled with secret murmurings and the whispering of The Conscience, i.e. 'Let's not even go there.' Far more comforting to hear the swipe of a credit card, or the clatter of cash pouring out of a one-armed bandit, we know.

I am afraid that this month you are being forced to grasp the nettle and look inward. A part of your psyche must be acknowledged if you are to allow it to grow and become integrated into your personality.

Your ruling planet Venus and your Warrior-spirit Mars both occupy your zone of acquisitions. Directly opposing this power pair is Pluto in the province of contracts, sex, legacies, and mortgages. Around the 24th the universe will gift you with the unique challenge of realizing that by basing your security and sense of self on your material assets, you are neglecting your potent spiritual bankroll.

This, for you, is the death point of the battle spear. But it could well pierce through the veil and open a spiritual realm that is filled with more metaphorical treasures than exist in any jewel box.

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Gemini
May 21 - June 20

Geminians often behave like the windscreen wipers of the zodiac. They alternate between being show-offs and as shallow as the enamel on a tin tray and being deeply intuitive with the rare gift of uniting and dividing.

Around the 17th you are going to have to choose which role you wish to play. Since your sign is appropriately represented by the medical caduceus, a staff with two twining serpents topped with wings, here's a hint for free: Perhaps it would be helpful if you put your mercurial attention to healing any rifts in your relationships.

Mercury, your ruling planet, is retrograde until the end of the month. Whenever Mercury aspects in your celestial heavens, be aware that what is at work is a process that functions both on the highest and the humblest of levels. The helpful thing is to view this as something that is happening on a sacred level. Remember that the next time you feel as though the Persian is being pulled out from under your feet.

Be of good cheer; for the next few months (until August 7 to be precise), beauty and luxury-loving Venus will be calling and there will be an a la carte menu of pleasure and delight.

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Cancer
June 21 - July 22)

An eclipse is one of Nature's most awesome spectacles. The alignment of two celestial arc lights is deeply powerful. Bear in mind that there was a total eclipse of the Sun in June 1963 which coincided with President Kennedy's natal Saturn. Thus, an eclipse, that narrow 'path of totality', can change the course of human history.

This month the Solar eclipse occurs on the 19th in your house of public standing. The very sound of the word eclipse has connotations of disappearance, removal, blocking out, expunging, eradication - none of which sound all that attractive. However, in your case, dear Cancerian, this month something unique is occurring. Saturn the disciplinarian and general domestic despot has conceded to form a magical triangle with the Full Moon and Neptune. The Divine is guiding you to a complete re-evaluation of you career and position in society.

Meditate. Re-evaluate. Soul-search. Stay centered and calm. As long as your intention comes from a desire for what will serve the greater good of all, hidden hands will help you. As Joseph Campbell said “If you follow your bliss, you are following a path that was there waiting for you all along....”

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Leo
July 23 - Aug 22

For most of the month you are on a royal path to wisdom and a deeper, more mystical understanding of God. You will probably choose to see The Passion of the Christ instead of hanging around glitzy restaurant openings in the hope of being photographed for Bucks Magazine.

All the indications are that the Solar Eclipse and New Moon on the 19th are the commencement of the most exciting journey of all - that of the path to the Divine.
This eclipse will have a lasting potency if you are coming from a place of non-ego. In future months you may find yourself changing the focus of your life. People will see you through a different lens. You are likely, since you are ,after all, still generosity personified, to give away your Manolo Blahniks along with the insights you have been given by Grace.

You will find creative ways to share your understanding with those around you.
Everything, you have come to understand is unfolding precisely as it should. Your thinking, emotions, a part or every aspect of your life have unfurled like the petals of a St Joseph's lily.

It is by giving that one receives and by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiving. It is by dying (the death of the ego, that is) that one awakens eternal life.

So said St Francis. And so say you. S'funny how wisdom never goes out of fashion, does it?

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Virgo
Aug 23 - Sept 22

It is spring, moonless night in the small town of New Hope. Starless and bible-black, the cobble streets silent....the houses are blind as moles...the shops in mourning...and all the people of the lulled and dumbfound town are sleeping now. Look. It is night, dumbly, royally winding through St Martin's graveyard...Only your eyes are unclosed to the black and folded own fast and slow asleep. (That's enough paraphrasing Dylan Thomas.)

You are probably awake and listening to Art Bell on your transistor radio. Insomnia? Perhaps. Interested in UFO's and remote viewing? Possibly. More probably it is also that you are trying to unravel a financial pretzel.

Why do I say this? Because the Solar focus for most of the month is in the house of legacies and wills. Possibly you are finding it as difficult to get to your trust fund as trying to open an oyster with a bus ticket.

With the Solar Eclipse on the 19th when the Sun eclipses the New Moon, you move into a mode of total disengagement. The ultimate development of character is expressed thus: When the thunder spreads terror 'a hundred miles around', you remain composed so that the sacrificial rite is not interrupted.

The God-shaped vacuum that exits in all humankind is urging you through chance meetings and synchronous events to surrender to the Divine Power. Around the 24th be alert for profound insights which may be the result of a casual conversation struck up with a stranger you meet in Dr John Marcus' Veterinary Practice.

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Libra
Sept 23 - Oct 22

"He who does not join the dance mistakes the occasion," says the Gospel of John. Wallflowers step forward! Your dance card will be full until the 19th.
Your ruling planet Venus (the beautiful) is moving through Aries (the bold).

Your relationships will take on an especial mutual luminosity. And not only human relationships; Venus has the ability to lead us to creative appreciation of the intrinsic beauty in nature. Consider - a marriage is not merely a contract between a man and a woman. In its wider sense, it is something infinitely more creative. A "marriage" or coniuncto takes place whenever you dance, paint, photograph or attend a play or poetry reading.
When you express your creativity, the thing you have created - whether it is a herb garden or a historic novel - becomes your child. This "child," in turn, gives pleasure to others. So go forth and be fruitful!

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Scorpio
Oct 23 - Nov 21

For most of the month, your preoccupations will be with service. Jung has always advocated that the key to spiritual growth is unconditional surrender to a Higher Power.

Willing service and humility of the ego are the key and this is difficult for you because as a Scorpion, you tend to rely on your formidable intellect to excavate and explain the world to yourself. The Solar Eclipse on the 19th challenges you to exercise humility in your personal relationships.

With your ruling planet Pluto in your house of possessions and income and your personal SAM missile Mars in the 8th, expect a conflict of sorts relating to contracts of employment. Use your brilliant oratory to find a solution that will leave both parties in a win-win situation.

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Sagittarius
Nov 22 - Dec 21

Whether it is expressing your creativity by crocheting or cooking, for most of the month you will be content pottering about your home. You live to nurture, whether it is to the blue- jays in your garden or to your eccentric neighbor. When on the 6th, Mars squares Jupiter in your 10th house, you would be advised to find some compromise between your wandering, traveling, mind, and your need for financial security. Are you opting for material security rather than pursuing your spiritual path?

Your relationships with friends are also going through a major transition this month. Could you have given friends a reason to mistrust you?

Is the path you are on purely self-centered or are you seeking that which is for the good of all? What are your motives? Will they serve your soul's growth in the long term?

With Pluto in your first house, the Universe is asking you to search your soul. While we may cling to what we think is right, as one clings to a life-preserver, if such clinging changes to relying on, we place ourselves at the mercy of luck.

If all you want in life is to be happy, you're bound to be miserable. When you see happiness as dependent on circumstances, if what happens, happens happily, then we are happy. Joy is different. Joy is that deep abiding sense that all is well even when circumstances are against us.

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Capricorn
Dec 22 - Jan 19

Capricorn is prudent and calculating. Capricorn expects respect, but in order to get respect, the Laws of the Universe insist that he must first let go of all attachment to the manifestations of the material - and forego self-focus. The Full Moon will act as a Cosmic Hammer to get the message into your brilliant business mind.

Chiron, the wounded healer, is in your personal zone for the whole month while your ruling planet Saturn is in the house of relationships. You are still in the process of discovering that only by learning to serve others will you learn maturity.

True kindness arises from inner necessity, involves no forethought, and is purely spontaneous because it accords with our true nature. In the on-going war with our egos and vanity, we must ask ourselves whether we are acting from innocence and authentic kindness or whether we are acting to gain recognition.

The Solar Eclipse indicates that if you practice this with your close family, you may reap the rewards in your vocation.

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Aquarius
Jan 20 - Feb 18

Although Mercury draws attention to the fact that communication and commerce are slowed down or appear to be in a tangle, there is another meaning to Mercury. Mercury retrograde isn't necessarily linked with communication difficulties. A retrograde Mercury (as yours is until the 30th) inclines you to look inside yourself. It makes you hold your tongue and think before you speak. It also alerts you to your intuitions about things and warns you not to initiate action until all doubts are resolved.

The leitmotif of your life is your interaction with the local community. Yours is a tapestry woven with threads of service.

Solar focus and the Solar Eclipse in this arena indicate a shift of focus that will lay the foundation for the theme for the next two years. There are excellent indications that this eclipse will lay the foundations for a financially and spiritually rewarding period.

A magical triangulation exists in your chart this month. Ruling planet Neptune, the Full Moon, and Saturn are the equivalent of three cherries on the fruit machine.

When the Sun sextiles Uranus on the 25th, make a note in your diary; Jani says I have an awesome new idea that will prove useful. (Let me know so that I can crow.)

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Pisces
Feb 19 - Mar 2

When the poet Amergin set foot upon the soil of Ireland it is said that he chanted a strange and mystical poem:

I am the Wind that blows over the sea
I am the Wave of the Ocean
I am the Murmur of the Billows
I am the Ox of the Seven Combats
I am the Vulture upon the rock
I am a Salmon in the water
I am the god that creates in the head of man the fire of thought.
Who is it that enlightens the assembly upon the mountains if not I?
Who telleth the ages of the moon if not I?

A translation, if you need it, will read as follows.

Piscean Road Map for next two years; Acquire (more skills and acquisitions. Change persona in dramatic way. Possibly change environment. Have brilliant ideas. Tell assembly. Now off you go!

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