General Comments (and our ongoing Pluto saga): Happy Astrological New Year! The Sun, Mercury, Venus, and the Moon (on April 5th), all enter Aries this month. But what an initiation! These planets will all be “rammed” into a square with Pluto right at the outset of their ingresses. This is quite the entry into the zodiacal New Year, one that invokes challenges of transformation both in terms of our collective and personal lives. Well nothing like a good celestial war to spark some terrestrial changes—just ask Homer! So let’s get real. We all signed our birth certificates with the promise to become more conscious during this incarnation. Strong plutonic transits definitely help us to fulfill these karmic kontracts.

Granted, these are not the most pleasant nor the softest take-offs or landings. The flight takes years, and the jet-lag is daunting. But it is clearly printed on your ticket that if you do your Pluto transits correctly, you will be upgraded to First Class on your next flight--and Pluto Points are also redeemable during the present incarnation! That is if you survive and live beyond the last station of our little underworld friend. Just want to let you all know that I am definitely on this ride with you as my Sun is in Aries, Scorpio definitely rises on the Ascendant, and Mr. Mars is at 0 Cancer in the natal 8th House.

So we have a promise here. The sky in March/April is telling us that it is time for us to let go and open ourselves into a reality that transcends the illusion of separation. Nice New Age phrases, heard ‘em before, and no doubt will hear ‘em again. But truth like illusion repeats—we just need the eyes to identify which is which and make the conscious choice to insist on our personal identification with a determination the defies the tricks and games of lower self. Easily said. But if we do not at least create the intention, the Universe will not know how to lead us to the correct Plutonic challenges, the right focus of transformational tension, and the proper process of healing. Ah, sweet liberation. You know, the weight of the soul is lighter than the weight of the personality. Sometimes a Plutonic diet can be very good for one’s health.

March 20: Sun enters 0º Aries at 05:49 am. Enjoy your gardens, parks, and promises.

March 21: Sun square Pluto at 01º.06´ Aries/Capricorn at 08:35 am. As always with celestial transits, their application on the personal level is much more expressive when the degree points of such transits coincide with your natal map (Astrology 101A). That said, look for this day to be quite conflicting where power structures are concerned. The possibility for violence and power struggles in the world is definitely there (sadly, it seems to be always there these days). If this square “strikes home”, the planet or point that it touches will definitely feel the impact of such tension and awaken the need for change and/or a sense of frustration in your efforts to transmute what this area in your horoscope indicates. Just as an example, let’s say that you have Venus as 0º to 2º of Libra in the Third House. If so, then it will be your relationships with siblings that will take on the trust of this transit.

March 24: Mercury conjunct Venus at 14º21´ Pisces: What a great day to kiss and make up. Hope that this happens on the world scene!

March 27: Mercury at 19º38´ Pisces sextile Jupiter at 19º38´ Capricorn and Mercury conjunct Uranus at 19º43´ Pisces: On a collective level, this is a day when some interesting news concerning the travel and computer technology industries could take place. If 19-20º of the Fish sits prominently in your chart, you may indeed be in the midst of making some travel and/or educational plans.

March 28: Venus at sextile Jupiter at 19º47´ Capricorn and Venus conjunct Uranus at 19º47´ Pisces: These are lovely contacts if you like unusual people (especially foreign friends) and enjoy social gatherings with them. Personally, it’s my Birthday today and I’m teaching a seminar (here in Portugal) on the Development of Consciousness in the morning and having a party the next day. It’s great when the heavens speak to us so clearly. (I would appreciate some feedback from any of you who have 19-20º of Pisces or the other mutable signs prominent in your charts as the events of March 27-28 will be very “interesting” for you, to say the least!). On the global level, high placed international talks about how to fuse and integrate various points of views between peoples of different ethnic and religious backgrounds can prove to be most fruitful

March 30: Sun at 09º58´ Aries square Mars at 09º58´ Cancer: Just what we love, a nice Sun is Aries square Mars just to make our day! Domestic violence a real possibility, tempers smolder and suppressed anger can create great tension. Let’s all go to the gym for a super workout!

April 2: Mercury enters 00º Aries at 05:45 pm followed on April 3 by its square to Pluto at 01º09´ Aries/Capricorn. So on March 30th I tried to get up the courage to tell you off and on April 3rd I think that I will—well maybe not directly. I think that I´ll make up a little plan or scheme these days that I’ll save for later when these squares don’t cramp my style and force me to express myself when I still feel held back. This diminishes neither my temper nor my desire to act, but it certainly piles on the pressure so that when I do release it, you will definitely know about it.

April 2: Pluto goes retrograde at 01º09´ Capricorn. He will travel back into Sagittarius until he reaches 28º30´ of the Archer on September 10th. He will enter Capricorn again on November 26, 2008 where he will reside until 2024. The thought is daunting (especially for the cardinal signs!).

April 6: Venus enters 00º Aries at 05:36 am and squares Pluto at 01º08´ Aries/Capricorn on April 7 at 03:46 am. The Moon conjoined Venus at 29º Pisces just before midnight of April 5th. She then went on to square Pluto at about 2:30 am that same morning, so we have a combination of Moon/Venus/Pluto contacts within a relatively short period of time. This can be very good on a personal level for getting to the real issues underlying challenges in our personal relationships. But Pluto squares have a way of repressing things until they may be expressed more openly at a later time. At the very least, we can take the opportunity to observe the way our emotions are giving us certain hints and messages. On a global level, this is not the best set of aspects for the world economy, but they are brief—the larger global economic crises/challenges/transformations will be much more long lasting.

April 10-18: Mercury is moving very quickly in Aries (seems only right and proper) and then still quickly through Taurus (amazing!!) and creating a number of aspects with the other planets.

April 10: Mercury square Mars at 15º12´ Aries/Cancer while the Sun this day is also square Jupiter at 21º05´ Aries. Cautions about quick judgments made on false promises—too much projected idealism can lead to self-deceit. Good idea to think about things now and then act when there are more harmonious aspects.

April 13-14: Sun sextile Neptune at 23º45´ Aries/Aqaurius; Mercury square Jupiter at 21º21´ Aries/Capricorn, and Mercury sextile Neptune at 23º47´ Aries/Sagittarius. Great days for philosophical discussions, speculation, and inspiration but I wouldn’t believe what the psychic medium tells you.

April 16: Mercury conjunct the Sun at 26º41´ Aries. Busy day for one and all.

April 17: Mercury enters Taurus at 09:07 pm.

April 18: Mercury trines Pluto at 01º05´ Taurus/Capricorn and then trines Saturn at 01º52´ Taurus/Virgo. This is great time to get a lot of practical things done and even be successful at doing them. This is especially the case should 0º-2º of the earthy signs figure prominently in your natal chart. This grand trine in earth between Mercury-Saturn-Pluto can be very powerful in terms of those making important economic decisions make the right choices. One can only hope (that the really wealthy and powerful were really conscious—Oprah and Bill Gates notwithstanding) and wonder what the world would be like if China gave back Tibet to the Tibetans (now THAT would be a cause for Olympic celebrations on a big scale). Much love to one and all.