Aries, April 2016

Happy solar return, Aries! April kicks off with the Sun in your sign, reconnecting you to you. March was an incredibility intense month: There were two eclipses that pushed you to examine unconscious parts of yourself and found you reevaluating your relationships. April is way smoother (despite the Mars, Pluto, and Mercury retrogrades coming up later this month)! Let's see what's in store for you:

April 5 is an exciting day—sexy and seductive Venus enters your sign, Aries! Venus is the planet that rules all the good stuff: love, beauty, money, and harmony. When it enters your sign, you'll feel a huge boost in your self-esteem, and you'll feel extra attractive and confident.

Also on April 5, the planet of the mind, Mercury, enters luxurious Earth sign Taurus, which will bring your focus to material and financial matters. Both Mercury in Taurus and Venus in Aries are funny combinations: Venus is likes to be chased, while Aries adores the chase, and Mercury is all about flexibility, but can you imagine a cow (Taurus) twisting itself up in some yoga moves? No, Taurus is meant to be solid and stable.

All these contradictory energies coming together will create a little tension, but, hey, you kinda like that! You're capable of stepping outside of your comfort zone, Aries. With Venus in your sign, open yourself up to the possibility of being chased and adored. With Mercury in Taurus, reflect on your thinking: Is it too rigid? Also, are you being smart about Taurean things, like your wealth and even your self-esteem?

New moons bring new beginnings, and there is no "newer" a moon than one that takes place in the first sign of the zodiac: your sign, Aries! The new moon in your sign arrives on April 7, and it will be a time for you to hit "refresh" on life. Are there any promises you're making to yourself for your birthday this year? This new moon is the perfect time to create a ritual (or simply sit in meditation) around your goal.

On April 12, sweet Venus trines (a super easy astrological aspect) your ruling planet, warrior Mars. Mars is currently in Sagittarius, a Fire sign just like you, where it's inspiring you to break out of your comfort zone. The trine between Mars and Venus—let's note, a planet that loves to chase and a planet that adores to be chased—will create amazing give/take in your life.

You'll especially feel this combination play out if you're traveling or if you're in school, but also if you're doing anything related to publishing or media. That said, Mars and Venus are certainly two very sexy planets, so you could totally feel this play out in your relationships too: You'll feel generous and open to pretty much anything!

The second half of the month brings retrogrades! (Please, never say something is in retrograde. It simple is retrograde.) The retrograde that will arguably have the biggest impact on you is the Mars retrograde, which begins on April 17, starting in fellow Fire sign Sagittarius and eventually dipping back into Scorpio's murky, dirty, sexy waters.

Retrogrades are a time for review. Their purpose it to help push us forward by reminding us what our motivation is. It's like when you break up with someone who wasn't right for you but then start to miss them when you've forgotten how annoying they were, only remembering how they used to get you chocolate all the time. You might retrograde and get back together with them, causing you to remember why it ended in the first place. Or maybe it will work out a second time? Probably not, but who knows. A retrograde takes you back to bring you forward!

Mars, the planet of war, isn't fond of moving backward, and as it's your ruling planet you may need to be very gentle with yourself during this retrograde. You Aries people like to move fast. Remember, this is a time to slow down and reflect. You and Mars want to charge ahead, but sometimes to win a war you need to retreat. Or take a nap. A soldier can't fight for days without sleep. If you were leader of an army, would you expect your troupes to do that, Aries? No way, so don't push yourself to keep charging ahead either.

So how will this Mars retrograde hit you? You'll begin reviewing the things you've learned: If you're in school, this will be an important retrograde for sure. If you're traveling or learning a new language, this will also be an interesting time period. Sagittarius, the sign Mars is retrograding in, is a very philosophical, even spiritual energy— your beliefs and your faith will also be a topic for reflection. Next month, Mars will dip back into Scorpio, pushing you to work with themes around sex, transformation, and shared resources, but we'll discuss that in May!

On April 18, power planet Pluto stations retrograde in hardworking Earth sign Capricorn. This retrograde will be activating the sector of your chart that rules fame and fortune, so themes around your career goals, popularity, and your "public life" will come up for examination. Both Pluto and Mars have themes relating to war: While Mars is out in the field fighting the battle, Pluto is behind the scenes, pulling strings, having secret meetings, and keeping its finger hovered over the red button. Will you push it, Aries?

Before Mercury retrograde kicks in later this month, we do have the Sun entering Taurus on April 19, again bringing your focus to the material matters in your life. Taurus rules the five senses, so this is a fab time to get in touch with yours. Cook your favorite meals (or have your favorite Cancer cook one for you), ask your Libra and Aquarius friends to share some new music with you, or critique some art with a Virgo. Indulging your senses is the best way to use Taurus vibes.

April 22 brings the full moon in Scorpio. Full moons are times of illumination and realization, but aren't they also totally a time for transformation? This is when the werewolves and were-rams come out—when our other side comes out to play. Scorpio is the sign of death and rebirth, intimacy and sex and deep transformation: Expect to work with all these themes during this full moon. What side of yourself will come up for examination?

On April 28, everyone's favorite retrograde begins: Mercury retrograde! The most painful part of being an astrologer is offering advice about Mercury retrograde—you already know the drill: You'll run late, you definitely need to back-up your files, and put one of those weird leashes around your phones like some people put on their kids. You need to keep an eye on any piece of technology that could crash or run away from you.

Mercury is all about the mind: communication, logic, all the good stuff. During the retrograde, you might find yourself having the same conversations over and over again. But this time, Aries, don't feel annoyed about it—instead, know that Mercury is bringing whatever topic it is back up for you to really work with and reconsider. Mercury isn't causing repetition just to fuck with your head, as trickster Mercury oftentime does.

Again, Taurus occupies the sector of your chart that rules material goods and cash, so expect this to be a topic of conversation during Mercury retrograde.

On April 29, lovely Venus enters Taurus, which will certainly bring you a warm and fuzzy feeling about money. Venus rules cash, in addition to love and beauty, so Venus in luxurious Earth sign Taurus will be fab for finances. If you've been thinking this spring is your season to commit to wearing silk robes and gold jewelry all day, please go for it, Aries. You're usually covered in mud from trekking through the woods on survival missions—and, being ruled by Mars, sometimes there's grosser stuff than mud on your clothes, so between Venus being in your sign this month and then entering fancy Taurus, you might be inspired to get dolled up. Or not: You do feel at home in your camouflage, ram!