Astrological Forecast for March and April 2020

As late winter turns towards mid-spring, March and April bring a turning of the Cosmic kaleidoscope. Early March continues February’s focus on our personal lives, as we strive to integrate the changes of late 2019 and early 2020. Late March and early April return us to the collective level as the locus of our attention. We usually move between the personal and collective lenses on a daily basis, but the astrology often pulls us more toward one or the other – a tidal pull we’ll feel during these two months.

March

The first week in March might be called “The Quest for Clarity.” We begin the month with Mercury retrograde in Pisces, while the Sun approaches a meeting with Neptune on the 8th, just a day before Mercury stations to go direct – at the full Moon. We may be looking for clarity, but it’s anything but certain that we’ll find it with this very foggy Pisces/Neptune vibe dominating the skies.

While we try to sort out what’s real and what’s not, Venus, the planet of love and relationship, makes some very tense aspects, squaring Saturn on the 3rd and meeting Uranus on the 8th. We’re incited to action in the area of relationships, although we may not be quite sure what’s actually going on. Jupiter squares his wife, partnership asteroid Juno, on the 2nd, adding further tensions to existing relationships through the first week of the month.

Double-check information and your interpretation of it before acting. Still, these aspects will make it hard to sit still where love life is concerned. Trust your feelings, and the value of your connections more than logic – the heart knows better than the mind. Those with a creative bent will find that the beginning of March offers many opportunities for a new perspective on projects.

The full moon on the 9th is in the sign of Virgo. Unlike last month’s Leo full moon, the sign of Virgo isn’t known for partying, and it’s more likely that we’ll be focused on issues like health and work, and perhaps we’ll see where we’ve been overly critical of ourselves and others.

The Sun enters Aries on March 19th at 11:49p EDT, marking the Spring Equinox. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the days will now be longer than the nights. Aries is consider the ‘exaltation’ of the Sun, because it’s the sign in which Sol changes from being beneath the horizon for most of the day to spending more time above the horizon (the equinox is the point of equality).

Mars climbs high in Capricorn in March. He meets with Jupiter on March 20th, then goes on to connect with Pluto on the 23rd. This is a time of action, and is likely to be ‘go time’ for projects and plans hatched or launched back in January. There’s not likely to be much time to pause and consider, so it would be good to have a direction chosen before mid-month.

A key date for the month is the 21st, when Saturn enters Aquarius, beginning a stay that will last until 2023 (although he will retrograde back into Capricorn from July through December of 2020). Saturn in Aquarius is focused on the collective, politics more than business, and principles rather than profits. Aquarius is a fixed sign, and Saturn can be rigid, so there’s some reason to be suspicious of this placement. Saturn in Aquarius can be so focused on doing the right thing that it fails to realize the personal costs. At worst, it can signal the rise of individuals who “love humanity but hate people.” At best, Saturn in Aquarius will demand that we live up to the principles we espouse, or call us out for our failures.

March’s new moon is on the 24th, in the sign of Aries. At this new moon, we exercise our determination to go forward in our lives. In some ways, it’s the real beginning of the year, the point at which the solar and lunar cycles are both growing, a time to look forward rather than backward. With the Sun and Moon close to Chiron, we could feel somewhat self-critical, however. Note some of the ‘soft spots’ in your life, and resolve to improve what you can.

As we wax out of the new moon, Venus helps us to keep things moving socially and perhaps even romantically, as she trines Jupiter on the 27th and Pluto on the 31st. If we were struggling for clarity earlier in the month, the conclusion of March brings determined – rather than impulsive – action.

Mars also meets with Saturn on the 31st, giving us a taste of what Saturn’s stay in the sign of the Water Bearer will mean for us on a collective level.

April

The month begins with an emphasis on relationships, as Venus moves into sociable Gemini on the 2nd, then trines Saturn on the 4th. The vibe isn’t so much romantic as sociable, more about groups of friends getting together than candlelight dinners. The Sun’s opposition to partnership asteroid Juno on the 2nd is an indication that we’ll be thinking less about commitment and more about independence. The overall vibe shouldn’t stop you from whatever is going on in your personal life, but it may feel like the beginning of April isn’t furthering romance as much as we might expect in springtime.

In fact, our thoughts may be elsewhere as Jupiter meets Pluto on the 4th and Mars goes on to square Uranus on the 7th, the day of the full moon in Libra. These aspects all have potential to ‘trigger’ the seeds that were sown on the collective level and in our personal lives back in December and January. Hopefully, these meetings will signal a time for thoughtful action and the manifestation of possibilities. Some folks may go off the rails around this time though, so give a wide berth to anyone who appears agitated, and take some alone time as needed.

The Sun’s square to Pluto and Jupiter on the 14th and 15th reprise the energy of the previous week, and may in fact be harder to contain. Mid-April has a reputation for being a problem time, and while we can hope for a better outcome this year, the skies are certainly setting up some challenges.

As we wane into the new moon in Taurus on April 22nd, we can feel it’s decision time again. The Sun in Taurus squares Saturn on the 21st, Mercury squares Pluto on the 25th, as the latter stations to retrograde. The Cosmic Messenger goes on to square Jupiter the same day, while the Sun meets with Uranus on the 26th.

Rather than try to unpack these aspects separately, it’s better to describe this time as we’ll experience it – five days that demands decisions and movement. While precipitous and impulsive action is a risk, it’s probably no more dangerous than sitting still when we know change needs to occur. Be as mindful as possible during the last week in April.

Mercury continues to stir things up, squaring Saturn on the 28th and meeting with Uranus on the 30th. While the first aspect indicates a careful argument that may challenge authority, the second – coming at the first quarter moon – could be read as an opportunity to say too much too soon. Yet the Mercurial energy at the end of April suggests at least the possibility of brilliant insights that can offer practical ways to innovate and change things on man levels.

Armand M. Diaz, Ph.D. uses an intuitive and heart-centered approach to astrology to help his clients. Armand has practiced divination for more than thirty years, working with the I Ching and Tarot in addition to astrology. He has published in various astrological journals, including The Mountain Astrologer. Armand’s most recent book, Separating Aspects: The Astrology of Breakups, Divorce, and Other Partings, is available through Amazon and on Kindle. He can be reached through his website at www.ArmandDiaz.com.