By Barry Rosen
Mars entered Pisces on April 2nd and will remain there through May 11th. Normally I welcome this transit. Pisces is ruled by Jupiter, a friend of Mars, and the calming, spiritual energy of the Fish tends to soothe Mars’ hot-headed nature. But this year, Mars is walking into a crowded room, and the company is intense.
Saturn is already sitting at 12-14 degrees Pisces. Mars will conjunct Saturn exactly on April 20th at about 13.5 degrees, right in the heart of Uttarabhadrapada nakshatra, which is ruled by Saturn itself. When Mars meets Saturn, you get the warrior running into the taskmaster. Saturn says slow down. Mars says charge forward. The friction between these two creates frustration, blocked energy, and a feeling that no matter how hard you push, the world is pushing back.
Then Mercury joins the party. Mercury enters Pisces on April 11th, entering its sign of debilitation. Mercury in Pisces means our sharp analytical mind drifts into fog, intuition, and confusion. The challenge deepens because Mars and Mercury are bitter enemies in Vedic astrology. When these two travel together, the conflict between acting and thinking becomes almost unbearable. Mercury conjuncts Mars exactly around April 21st. From about April 14th through the 26th, Mars, Saturn, and Mercury are all within a few degrees of each other in Pisces. That is a lot of compressed, conflicting energy in one sign.
Meanwhile, Rahu holds steady at 13 degrees Aquarius in Shatabhishak nakshatra, spinning its usual webs of anxiety from just next door. Saturn and Rahu together are always creating mental unease, and this month you may feel it more than usual.
I have personally been through periods like this, and when I talk to my friends and clients, I hear the same thing: a sense of distress that seems bigger than the circumstances warrant. People are feeling stuck, anxious, and overwhelmed. Health challenges pop up. Financial pressures seem to come from nowhere.
Here is what I want you to understand: much of this is the planets doing their job. Saturn creates emotional and psychological fog that tugs at us but does not always manifest as physical problems. It starts in our head. Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now reminds us that 99% of the fears that manifest in our mind are illusion and never actually come to pass. We need the awareness from spiritual practice to step back and say, “There goes Saturn again, creating useless fears.”
The trick this month is engaging Mars for courage while dismissing the rumbling subconscious anxiety running in the background. Mars in Pisces, despite the challenges, carries Jupiter’s calming, compassionate influence. The Uttarabhadrapada constellation is connected to the wise old man, to the crown chakra, and to the culmination of spiritual knowledge. This is deep water, but there is treasure at the bottom.
There is good news. Venus enters its own sign of Taurus around April 20th, and Jupiter remains strong in Punarvasu nakshatra. If we search deeply, there is an underlying core of wellbeing that we have to hold onto. It is there. Jupiter and Venus are somewhere soothing the rough edges. We have to tap into that core and not buy into the mental worries that Saturn and Rahu keep spinning.
What to do this month:
Reach back and find the beauty and wonder in small things. The flowering plants when you take a walk in nature. The innocence of small children that reminds us of simple play and joy. The love of family and friends. The mystical magic of your spiritual practice.
Meditation is your most powerful tool right now. If we do not reach back and find that lightness of being, we are going to get gripped by Saturn’s grumbling and complaining. Exercise is essential for moving the Mars-Saturn frustration through your body. Yoga, walking, and any practice that grounds you physically will help enormously.
Handle important communications and decisions in the morning when Mercury’s debilitated fog is lightest. Avoid making major purchases or signing contracts April 17-23 when all three planets are within a few degrees of each other. Be patient with misunderstandings; Mercury and Mars together make it very easy to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
What will be will be. Find those moments of love and lightness to fall back on, or you will be doomed to the gnawing, complaining mind. Find the sweetness of Venus, trust in the Divine, and move into grace.
We are always given a choice. Do we get caught in the fear that wants to send us over the cliff, or do we turn to the Divine and focus on all the good things that are also happening? I know which choice I am making.
Saturn rarely whispers. In my Secrets of Saturn course, we look at exactly how to work with its energy rather than be overwhelmed by it. Currently on sale for $149: appliedvedicastrology.com/product/the-secrets-of-saturn-mastering-the-energies-for-growth-and-transformation/
About the Author
Barry Rosen has been practicing Vedic astrology since 1988. He has visited and studied in India on four occasions and has spoken numerous times at the Sedona Vedic Astrology Conference since 1999 and also the British Association of Vedic Astrologers in London since 2006. He has been involved in Vedic culture since 1973 and is a longtime meditation and yoga teacher and a published poet.
Recently, he has been pioneering research in other areas of Vedic astrology including Vedic Astro-locality, the effects your current physical location have on your chart, connecting astrology to hatha yoga for therapeutic purposes and developing transformational healing work to move through karma and the spiritual dimensions of Vedic astrology. He is a Neo-Vedic astrologer and uses the outer planets. He is particularly interested in Jaimini astrology and the soul’s journey through the physical world and its karma and purpose and has taken live seminars in London with Sanjay Rath.
For questions, please contact Barry by email at: [email protected] or call Fortucast at 800-788-2796.
