March 20: Sun enters Aries at 11.44am.
During the entire Sun in Aries period this year, Mars will be in Pisces. Yes, the urge to new enterprise will make itself felt but in general, a “milder Mars” is the governing force behind all planets in Aries placements (specifically Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon—see my comments below). This is a Mars who is much less obviously assertive and aggressive. The Pisces influence also tells us that it will be important to understand the nature of hidden circumstances and subtle forces behind our urge to move forward. We need to keep in mind that Mars in Pisces as the dispositor of all positions in Aries, does not allow the right foot to move directly after the left. Mars in Pisces creates kaleidoscopic patterns at best, and footsteps swallowed up by mud in the road at worst.

March 22: Mercury conjoins Uranus at 05.02am at 23.08 Pisces.
This is a day for wide-ranging communications, yet one has to be careful to be clear. Idealism may easily conflict with logic and sweeping, global visions and understanding will have to be integrated into a practical format. That said, this can be a great opportunity for inspirational messages of global importance.

March 23: Sun square Pluto at 06.32pm at 03.16 Aries/Capricorn.
Aries/Capricorn squares are very challenging as they indicate a conflict between the new and innovative and the established and traditional. (This will certainly be the case for a much longer period and in ways that are far more extensive when Uranus enters Aries in May 2010 and remains in and out of exact square to Pluto in Capricorn until early 2016.) Aries Sun/Capricorn Pluto indicates that on this day it will be very difficult to avoid blockages and limitations to the urge for new creative freedom and enterprise.

March 25: Mercury enters Aries at 07.56pm.
The Sun, Mercury, and Venus will now all be in Aries until April 11th when Venus moves back into Pisces for a brief interval. The energy of spring will be very much alive during these 16 days. Naturally for our Aussie, South African, and Kiwi friends, the push will be into fall when you can expect that you will be making a lot of plans for new autumnal projects.

March 26: New Moon at 06.08 Aries at 04.07pm.
This is a super-charged Aries day as the Moon joins the Sun, Mercury, and Venus in the sign of the Ram. Keeping in mind that Mars in Pisces is the dispositor of all of these planetary forces, you would be well advised to check out if your background supports your foreground, if your inner matches up with your outer, and if your subsoil supports the extension you may like to make on your building.

March 27: Mercury square Pluto at 03.17 Aries/Capricorn at 12.15pm; Venus retrograde conjoines the Sun at 07.06 Aries.
Blocks to direct communication abound. Secret subliminal messages may affect the presentation of the truth. It will be important to check our real motivations before speaking and writing. Announcements may come forth through the media from powerful figures trying to manipulate the collective. The Venus/Sun conjunction though usually a welcomed transit is marred at this time by the retrogradation of the former in the sign of her detriment. There may be a tremendous “urge-to-merge” in the collective air, but the motivations and true worth of such unions must stand up to the most honest of scrutiny.

March 28: Sun enters 8.18 Aries at 05.04PM. It’s Alan Oken’s 65th Birthday!
Well this definitely maturing “Flower Child” has surpassed John and Paul’s “When I’m 64!” and has officially become eligible for Social Security benefits. A party is being given in Lisbon to celebrate and you are all invited! (By the way, when I’m in Bali I still wear flowers in my hair.)

March 29: Mercury conjoins Venus retrograde at 06.27 Aries at 02.32am.
The urge to communicate with those near and dear will be strong yet true values and our real motivations for such talks need to be examined. Agreements made with people this day may have to be renegotiated after Venus goes direct.

March 31: Mercury conjoins with Sun at 10.34 Aries at 03.30am.
There is an intense need to get your message out to people around you; lots of brief and direct emails and SMS messages will be shared.

April 3: Venus retrograde square Pluto at 03.18 Aries/Capricorn at 10.30am.
This may not be the best day for the world’s financial markets (as if any day these days is a good day). Should this aspect in any way connect with your natal chart (especially to your natal Venus, Saturn, and/or 2nd house ruler), this is certainly not a good day for investments and financial matters. Values in general will be tested.

April 5: Mars opposes Saturn retrograde at 16.21 Pisces/Virgo at 00.56am.
Mars/Saturn oppositions are like driving your car with the brakes on—a very frustrating and rather thankless action. When this is further complicated by the factors of planetary placements in the mutable signs and retrogradation, well a lot of tension (and wasted effort) may occur.

April 9: Mercury enters Taurus at 02.22pm; the Full Moon occurs at 19.53 Libra at 02.57pm.
These two transits occur within a short time of one another. Whenever this hour occurs in your time zone, do not expect too much to be able to move forward. Taurus can be rather lugubrious in its rhythm of movement (I am being rather polite here as “some of my best friends” are Taureans) and Libra in some esoteric circles is known as “the sign of pause” (more courtesy extended to the “sons and daughters of Venus”).

So putting these two influences together, at the equivalent of 02.00-04.00pm GMT where you live, I would combine these two influences and have tea and cakes with a dear one and not worry about a thing.

April 11: Mercury trine Pluto at 03.17 Taurus/Capricorn; Venus retrograde exits Aries and enters Pisces.
The Mercury/Pluto transit is very good for communicating complex and subtle messages that reveal inner truth and hidden forces. Venus can relax a bit more now that she is out of Aries, closely joining Mars in Pisces for a while. This combination can stimulate romanticism and bring out the more spiritual qualities (as well as some strongly projected idealism) into our relationships. This Venus/Mars in Pisces influence will last until April 23rd when then conjoin in Aries and that will spark relationship dynamics of a totally different hue. (See next month’s Lisbon Letter for more extensive comments.)

April 15: Mars conjoins Uranus at 24.27 Pisces at 10.00am; Sun sextiles Neptune at 25.58 Aries/Aquarius at 07.55pm.
Mars/Uranus conjunctions can spark intense conflicts as the spirit of rebellion is very powerful. In terms of weather, it can bring about huge rain storms. When the watery influence of Sun/Neptune is included this day, a great deal of religious conflict (Pisces, Mars, and Neptune all are influenced strongly by the Sixth Ray of Religious, Devotion, and Idealism) as well as “watery weather conditions” in many parts of the world. Troubles on the high seas may also come about.

April 17: Venus turns direct at 29.12 Pisces at 07.25pm.
Time to straighten out relationships that may have faltered or somehow been unclear during the recent Venus retrograde period. A main feature of the next five weeks will be the presence and close proximity of Venus and Mars in Aries and as mentioned above, I will have more to say about this in the next edition of the Letter...

April 18: Mercury trine Saturn retrograde at 15.37 Taurus/Virgo at 00.52am.
This is an aspect that is very good for being clear about details and putting all the pieces of a puzzle together. The retrograde factor in terms of Saturn can be put to good use as in gathering together all bits and pieces of paper that have been waiting to be so organized. A good example of this would be for those of you in the USA who took a filing extension for your 2008 taxes. This would be a great time to get all those receipts in order!