Jupiter retrogrades from April 10 through August 11, but don’t worry — it’s not as catastrophic as Mercury retrograde.
All planets retrograde. Everyone knows about and dreads Mercury retrograde. In the fall we went through a two-month Venus retrograde.
Since it’s further from earth, Jupiter retrograde doesn’t affect us as dramatically as these planets. Jupiter retrogrades for about one-third of the calendar year, so it’s a comfortable state of astrological affairs.
Jupiter is an expansive planet. It rules abundance, which you can take as gluttony from its Greco-Roman namesake Zeus, the notoriously lustful king of the gods. That abundance can take the shape of material wealth or ideological maturity.
Jupiter retrograde doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll all suffer misfortune or stop growing until August. Instead, it’s a period to turn Jupiter’s outward-reaching energy inward and reflect on our growth. The week ahead is full of transits that can ease you into a summer of Jupiter retrograde.
Transits for April 7-14
Mercury sextile Saturn, April 7: Mercury went direct at the end of March but stays in dreamy, introspective Pisces until April 17. It’s a difficult sign for Mercury to be in as the planet of communication. If you feel like you still haven’t recovered from Mercury retrograde, Mercury kicks off this week in a favorable aspect to Saturn, which can clear up some of that gross Pisces energy.
Saturn is a downer. It rules discipline and responsibility. Saturn brings some much-needed structure to Mercury’s two-month bender. Take these next few days to catch up on emails and pay people back on Venmo.
Venus conjunct Neptune, April 9: Neptune rules Pisces, so we’re in no way done with the charms of my impractical sun sign. Neptune presides over our intuition and spiritual lives. It encourages imagination, which makes it a favorite planet of creative people. But when Neptune sits on top of Venus, planet of love, that penchant for delusion can be dangerous.
You might catch yourself daydreaming a step too far. Neptune can bring a kind of psychic overconfidence. If your brain jumps straight to wedding plans after one positive social interaction with someone cute, take a step back and consider it could be Neptunian romance warping your perception.
Sun square Saturn, April 10: This can be a useful and terrifying transit. Take the dour, disciplinarian energy of Saturn, put it in a hard aspect to the Sun, and you get an existential crisis. Saturn wants you to take a long hard look at your life and fix it. This transit is a good time to evaluate what you’re doing or not doing to grow yourself. Write a lot of lists — to-do lists, bucket lists or, in witchy terms, lists of things to manifest.
Sun square Pluto, April 13: Pluto is a planet given to obsession. It’s very intense and tends to get carried away by the strongest emotion possible, regardless of logic or propriety. With Pluto in hard aspect to the Sun, this transit has the potential to lead down dark paths.
Whether you get into an explosive fight or throw yourself a pity party alone in your house, the end of the week is a sensitive, agitated time. I'm not surprised to see this transit hanging over Little 500 weekend.
