Retrograde Planets – Retrograde Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto
As I started writing this blog post on 10 April Mercury, the trickster and the messenger of the gods, is turning retrograde at 4 degrees Taurus 51 and will turn direct again on 4 May at 24 Aries 16. Mercury rules communication and transport so you can expect misunderstandings, missed appointments, transport delays or strikes. Therefore, during this Easter school holiday period it is important that you double check all your appointments and travel schedules. Mercury is not the only planet currently retrograde or about to turn retrograde. Venus, the planet of love, finances, resources and values which turned retrograde on 4 March at 13 Aries 9 will resume its direct motion on 15 April at 26 Pisces 55. Currently it is conjuncting Chiron, the wounded healer, so there may be opportunities to heal deep wounds in relationships. Jupiter, the planet of law, overseas travel and higher education, which turned retrograde on 6 February at 23 Libra 8 will turn direct again on 10 June at 13 degrees Libra 13. Saturn, the planet of structures and stability, turned retrograde on 6 April at 27 degrees Sagittarius 48 very close to the Galactic Centre and will turn direct on 25 August at 21 degrees. Pluto, the planet of transformation, will turn retrograde on 20 April at 19 degrees Capricorn 24 and will turn direct on 29 September at 16 degrees Capricorn 51. When these planets are retrograde the energy is turned inwards rather than being projected outwards giving an opportunity to review matters pertaining to these planets.

Full Moon In Libra 10/11 April
The Full Moon will occur at 21 degrees Libra 33 on 11 April at 4.08 pm AEST  Sydney time. Libra is concerned with relationships and partnerships and on a collective level with right human relations. With a Full Moon things come to a head and with the challenging configuration of a T square with Jupiter conjunct the Moon in Libra opposing Uranus conjunct the Sun in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn there could be fireworks. Jupiter, the king of the gods with his thunderbolts, magnifies everything he touches. Therefore,  with Jupiter’s conjunction with the Moon representing our emotions,  we can expect our emotions will be intensified. Uranus represents unpredictability and being in the sign of Aries it can be very impulsive so when it faces off with Jupiter and squares Pluto we have a very volatile mix. We only have to view the current world events that have preceded this full Moon to be aware of the potential powder keg with the US taking unilateral action by firing 59 cruise missiles into Syria to retaliate against the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons against it own civilians even before a UN team could verify it. It seems the bromance between Trump and Putin is now terminal. The US  has suddenly changed its tune from focussing on working with Russia to fight the common enemy Daesh and Al Qaeda to now demanding Russia stop supporting the Syrian government and agitating for the removal of President Assad. With Mercury being retrograde there is a lack of clarity with confusion over the US’s long term goals and which seems to be in direct contradiction to Trump’s election campaign isolationist rhetoric. We have to remember that Trump is a Gemini so he can switch his position on policies in the same day as has been witnessed in his early morning twitter rants. He also has Mars, the planet of war and aggression, right on his ascendant. The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is also talking tough on North Korea.

Some people have warned against a knee jerk reaction of taking out the leader of a sovereign nation as the precedents of taking out Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and Gaddafi in Libya have only led to a vacuum where even more lethal forces have taken over. It is a very complex situation and so needs to be thought through carefully rather than giving in to impulsive action which could only escalate an already precarious situation.

Swedish Prime Minister lays flowers near the site of the terrorist attack in Stockholm

There have been other sporadic attacks in both the west and the east. On the very day that the Sun entered Aries an attack was carried out by a British citizen as he mowed down members of the public with a car on Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament resulting in 5 deaths and injuring about 50 others people. There was widespread condemnation of this heinous act and rightly so. However, this has also served to highlight the hypocrisy of the west who is profiting from the sales of arms to our supposed enemies. The UK for instance is the world’s third largest arms manufacturer. In Sweden a truck was driven into civilians in Stockholm killing four people and injuring 15 people.

Mourners carry the coffin of one of the victims from the bombing of St Mark’s Church in Alexandria in Egypt

Two suicide bombings on Palm Sunday occurred at two Coptic churches in Egypt killing 44 people which has resulted in President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declaring a three month state of emergency.

A special meeting to discuss Syria will be held in Italy on Tuesday morning when the foreign ministers of the G7 countries (the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, the UK, France and Italy) will be joined by the top diplomats of the Middle East region. With Easter approaching we will need to pray for world peace and hope that the better angels of our world leaders prevail having warm hearts but keeping cool heads.