The Witches Astronomy Journal for Monday, April 2nd
Great Goddess, bless each and everyone of us
Shine your loving light down upon us
And help us to improve our daily lives
May we grow and blossom
May we be surrounded by love and friendship
May we be gift with good fortune
May we do our best for ourselves and others
May we appreciate what we have
And may we make the most of any opportunities
That you may send our way.
Great Goddess, Mother of us all,
Bless us
Shine your loving light down upon us all
And help us to improve our daily lives
So Mote it Be
–Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook: Wonderfully Witchy Blessings, Charms & Spells
Deborah Blake
Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Monday, April 2
The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 97.59° E
Sun Altitude: 18.19°
Sun Distance: 92.915 million mi
Next Solstice: Jun 21, 2018 5:07 am (Summer)
Sunrise Today: 6:38 am↑ 83° East
Sunset Today: 7:17 pm↑ 277° West
Length of Daylight: 12 hours, 39 minutes
The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 258.91° W
Moon Altitude: -0.96°
Moon Distance: 240668 mi
Next New Moon: Apr 15, 20188:57 pm
Next Full Moon: Apr 29, 20187:58 pm
Next Moonrise: Today9:41 pm
Current Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 95.1%
Source
Astrology of Today – Monday, April 2, 2018
The Moon is in Scorpio.
The Moon is waning and in its Full Moon phase.
The Full Moon occurred on March 31st in the sign of Libra. The Last Quarter Moon will occur on April 8th.
Mercury is retrograde (Mercury is retrograde from March 22nd to April 15th).
Moon in Scorpio
Intensity is what the Moon in Scorpio is all about. Whether it’s passion, elation, sorrow, or desire, emotions are felt on a deeply personal level. We are motivated by the desire to get to the bottom of things, and we instinctively read between the lines. Superficiality won’t work for us now. The Moon in Scorpio urges us to uncover our own power, and it’s an excellent time to rid ourselves of old fears and limiting habits. It can be an intimate and passionate time. Avoid manipulative tactics, brooding, and suspicion.
The Moon in Scorpio generally favors the following activities: Taxes, accounting, intimacy issues, psychological examinations, research, self-examination, getting rid of old things
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Daily Overview Of The Stars & Skies for Monday, April 2, 2018
Mars aligns with Saturn in the sign of Capricorn today, and the Moon in Scorpio forms a sextile to both. There can be a reality check of sorts now, as realism now tempers our enthusiasm. However, a stronger sense of responsibility, purpose, and direction can come to us now. We might exercise better judgment as a result of circumstances happening now. Traditional methods work better than less conventional ones right now, and thoroughness brings rewards. Pushing ahead, however, can be costly or could result in frustration, as “slow and steady” is the only way to go just for now. This can be a time when a goal is realized or is close at hand, but we may have some second thoughts, or we recognize some of the practical details or consequences that we hadn’t considered in the past.
The Moon spends the day in Scorpio, and we’re drawn to experiences that change or heal us.
The sky this week for April 2 to April 8
The Full Moon returns, Mercury reaches inferior conjunction, and Mars and Saturn rise together, all in the sky this week.
By Richard Talcott
Monday, April 2
Mars and Saturn rise together a little before 2:30 a.m. local daylight time and climb some 20° high in the southeast by 5 a.m. The two planets pass within 1.3° of each other this morning, their closest approach since July 2008. Mars appears a bit brighter than its neighbor, but stands out more for its distinctive orange-red color. The pair appears against the stunning backdrop of northern Sagittarius, with the 5th-magnitude globular star cluster M22 just 0.4° southwest of Mars. When viewed through a telescope, Saturn shows a 17″-diameter disk surrounded by a stunning ring system that spans 38″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight. Mars looks bland in comparison, with a few subtle details displayed on a disk 9″ across.
Tuesday, April 3
The waning gibbous Moon points the way to Jupiter this morning. They actually rose before 11 p.m. yesterday evening, but they appear more prominent as they climb higher and edge closer after midnight. By the start of morning twilight, less than 5° separate the two. Of course, Jupiter is easy to find all week because it shines so brightly, at magnitude –2.4, against the faint backdrop of Libra. A telescope reveals the planet’s 43″-diameter disk and four bright moons.
Wednesday, April 4
Although the calendar may say it is spring, the so-called Winter Hexagon remains prominent on April evenings. One of the sky’s largest asterisms — a recognizable pattern of stars separate from a constellation’s form — the hexagon stands out in the western sky after darkness falls. To trace the asterism, start with southern Orion’s luminary, Rigel. From there, the hexagon makes a clockwise loop. The second stop is brilliant Sirius in Canis Major. Next, pick up Procyon in the faint constellation Canis Minor, then the twins Castor and Pollux in Gemini, followed by Capella in Auriga, Aldebaran in Taurus, and finally back to Rigel.
Thursday, April 5
Brilliant Venus appears low in evening twilight all week. Look for the blazing point of light about 10° above the western horizon 45 minutes after sunset. The planet shines at magnitude –3.9 and is by far the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. A look at Venus through a telescope shows an almost fully illuminated disk that spans 11″.
Friday, April 6
One of the spring sky’s finest deep-sky objects, the Beehive star cluster (M44) in the constellation Cancer the Crab, lies high in the south after darkness falls. With naked eyes under a dark sky, you should be able to spot this star group as a faint cloud. But the Beehive explodes into dozens of stars through binoculars or a small telescope.
Saturday, April 7
The waning gibbous Moon joins forces with Mars and Saturn this morning. From mid-northern latitudes, the Moon rises first, at around 1:40 a.m. local daylight time. Saturn follows about 15 minutes behind Luna and Mars 15 minutes after the ringed planet. All three lie against the backdrop of northern Sagittarius, though the Moon’s bright light drowns out most of the constellation’s deep-sky wonders. Notice how the gap between the two planets has grown in the five days since their conjunction. This morning, Mars lies 3° east of Saturn.
Sunday, April 8
Last Quarter Moon occurs at 3:18 a.m. EDT. You can find the half-lit orb rising in the east with the background stars of northeastern Sagittarius around 2:30 a.m. local daylight time; it hangs relatively low in the southeast as twilight begins. The Moon also reaches apogee today, at 1:31 a.m. EDT, when its orbit carries it farthest from Earth for the month. It then lies 251,123 miles (404,144 kilometers) from us.
Source
In the Sky This Month
April 2: Moon and Jupiter
Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet, is putting in a good appearance tonight. It rises below the Moon before midnight, and looks like a brilliant star.
April 3: Streamers
Under an especially dark night sky, away from city lights, you might see a few thousand stars. All of them belong to our home galaxy, the Milky Way. It’s likely that some of them were born elsewhere, but the Milky Way swallowed their home galaxies.
April 4: The Hyades
The V-shaped face of the bull stands about a third of the way up the western sky at nightfall. Bright Aldebaran marks the bull’s eye. But the rest of the face is outlined by the Hyades, which is closer than any other star cluster, at about 150 light-years.
April 5: Evening Milky Way
The subtle band of the Milky Way arcs low across the west this evening. It sweeps from Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, in the southwest, through Orion, and over to W-shaped Cassiopeia low in the northwest.
April 6: Moon and Planets
The night will get brighter after about 2 or 3 a.m. tomorrow, as the gibbous Moon climbs into view. Saturn, the second-largest planet in the solar system, stands just below the Moon as they rise, with slightly brighter Mars farther along the same line.
April 7: Moon and Mars
The planet Mars is easy to find early tomorrow. It stands to the right of the Moon at first light, and looks like a bright orange star. The planet Saturn is close to the upper right of Mars, completing a beautiful display in the dawn sky.
April 8: Camelopardalis
Camelopardalis, which represents a camel with the spots of a leopard, stands above W-shaped Cassiopeia in the northern sky at nightfall. You need skies that are dark enough to see the Milky Way to pick out the stick figure outlined by the camel’s stars.
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Cosmic Calendar for Monday, April 2nd
Keep sending out your healing thoughts and prayers to a struggling humanity following Saturday’s full moon.
Being an ambassador of goodwill can make a great difference in the lives of millions of souls especially as Mars unites with Saturn at 9 degrees of Capricorn (8:45am).
Even though many astrologers will look at this conjunction with concern and worry, Mars is said to be exalted in this tenth sign of the zodiac and Saturn is Capricorn’s ruling planet. Anything you can do to advance career aims leads upward to residency in the executive penthouse of your most fervent ideals. However, heeding cautionary and conservative attitudes makes practical sense with these two celestial orbs energizing only one degree out of the 360 degrees in the zodiacal circle. Pressing a panic button or going on an egocentric power trip for any reason is not advised.
Keep a notebook by your bed overnight to record vivid dreams or out-of-the-body excursions while the moon in Scorpio trines imagination-boosting Neptune in Pisces (7:35pm).
[Note to readers: All times are now calculated for Pacific Daylight Time. Be sure to adjust all times according to your own local time so the alignments noted above will be exact for your location.]
Source
Cosmic Weather Horoscope for April 2018
Jane Lyle, Astrologer
From The Astrology Room
Welcome to April, 2018. April’s big astrology theme focuses on power, recycling, and regeneration on many levels – from spiritual development to plutocrats and global scientific projects, megawatt business ventures, and cultural projects.
This is thanks to a second meeting between two powerful planets, giant Jupiter and underworld Pluto. It locks into place on the 14th April, but is active all month long. It can be a very positive time to explore, learn, and expand. With Jupiter and Pluto in the financial signs of Scorpio and Capricorn, finances can benefit of course. But it would be a pity if that’s the only manifestation, since there’s rich potential for something deeper and more imaginative too.
Jupiter loves to travel and learn, and in Scorpio that could invite us to delve into the unknown, mysterious, occult or paranormal.
Pluto is very much a banker in Capricorn, but rules Scorpio and is right at home in the subterranean worlds of our imaginations too. Pluto’s forensic detective skills are intrigued by what lies beneath – whether that’s in the mind, the cosmos, or the earth itself. Pluto’s realms include buried treasure of many varieties.
So what might this potent April astrology uncover? Ancient sacred sites, amazing archaeological discoveries, and cash-in-the-attic are all in focus. And it’s worthwhile looking back over recent dreams, thoughts, and projects too. Jupiter is backtracking now, until July, so digging up something you’d overlooked or set aside in the last six months or so could bring pleasing results. Projects that started last autumn could benefit from a re-think now as well.
April’s exact sextile between Jupiter and Pluto is at 21 degrees of Scorpio and Capricorn, although they are working together all month. Their final meeting is in September, at 18 degrees. If you’ve got planets around these degrees in your own natal chart, especially in Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn or Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, then here’s a fertile opportunity that encourages expanding and refreshing some area of your life over the coming months.
Thought for April:
“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”
– Stephen Hawking, physicist, legend, inspiration, Capricorn 8th January 1942-14th March 2018
Enchanted April: Enjoying Venus in Taurus
Venus, goddess of love, art, money and pleasure, is earthy and sensuous in her home sign, Taurus, until 24th April. And while there’s plenty to concern us this month, the April journey of Venus in Taurus brings us all some beautiful opportunities for enjoying passion, indulgence, art, food, music and nature.
During April, Venus makes some luscious astrological aspects. These phases favour doing something lovely, seeing friends, and above all tuning in to ideals of universal love, and beauty in the natural world. Yes, Venus in Taurus can be extravagant, greedy, or rather too fond of money. Yet there’s a wonderful spring-time life force here, and awareness of this – and all the shimmering goddesses that embody it – is free.
Here are three special times to celebrate the many pleasures of Venus this April:
Monday 9th April – Thursday 12th April:
1: Yin and yang are in harmony, as active and receptive energies dance together. They create an affectionate, graceful, sensuous atmosphere in one corner of the cosmos. This easy, flowing moment will be exact at 14 degrees on Wednesday 11th April. Could be a beautiful moment for indulging in love, friendship, and cake, obviously.
The aspect is: Venus in Taurus trine Mars in Capricorn, 14 degrees.
2: On Thursday, 12th April, Venus works with dreamy Neptune in Pisces, emphasising music, movies, fantastical fashion design, and the beauty of water. Hearts open, dreams are vivid. It can be bewitchingly romantic. A symbolic setting for this beguiling pair could be found in a dream-like garden beside a lake, or a grove of trees growing close to the sea.
Your creativity and imagination are enhanced if you have planets or points at around 14 – 16 degrees in your own natal horoscope, particularly in Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn or Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. A sextile aspect is very productive and dynamic if we choose to work with it.
The aspect is: Venus in Taurus sextile Neptune in Pisces, 15 degrees.
Tuesday 17th April:
3: It’s a steamy moment. On one level it symbolises deep passion, desire, and even obsessions about sex, art, or music. On another astrological level there’s money, and our relationship with it. Magnetic Venus nudges the oligarchs and power brokers – Jupiter and Pluto – wealth, mergers, and acquisitions are highlighted in the news. Powerful women are in focus too.
This aspect is exact today at 21 degrees of Taurus, Scorpio and Capricorn, but begins building on Saturday, 14th April. Taurus, Scorpio, and Capricorn are all connected with banking, money, security, assets and wealth in astrology.
The aspect is: Venus in Taurus opposition Jupiter in Scorpio, trine Pluto in Capricorn. 21 degrees.
Sunday 15th April – Tuesday 17th April:
Back to the Future: Mercury turns direct, a buzzy New Moon rises, and Chiron dips into Aries
These April days could be a bit of a fight club, with the pioneering and adventurous sign, Aries, emphasised by three astrological events. These are days when we think actions speak louder than words. But we’re not always right about that.
1: Some sparky moments lie ahead, as media Mercury turns forward in eager, confrontational Aries on 15th April. Mercury battles on through Aries until 15th May. People want to tell it like it is, and hang the consequences. Yet there will be consequences, inevitably.
2: Then a tingly new Moon rises at 26 degrees of Aries on 16th April. It’s aligned with unconventional Uranus in Aries, ready to spark off a few lightning bolts, eureka moments, and original plots and plans now and in the month ahead.
3: Our third Aries event begins on 17th April, when Chiron enters Aries for the summer, leaving again on 25th September. The strange comet asteroid body returns to Aries in February 2019, staying there until 2027.
This summer gives us a hint of what’s in store. Since Chiron represents life lessons, and generally teaches us something, those lessons or pivotal moments will be filtered through sport, battles, fighting for our rights, and highlighting situations where we must ask questions about identity, ego, and what our mission might be.
These situations or motifs surface when Chiron activates another planet or planets in our own charts, or more collectively when Chiron aligns with other planets’ current orbits. I suspect that Chiron in Aries understands martial arts very well – and that the lessons of what happens when strength is pitted against balance, focus, and strategy will be highly visible this summer, and during the years ahead.
Rocky Road: April Astrology’s Mountain Trail
April astrology’s rocky mountain trail requires stout boots, stamina, and caution. Spring is here, yet the serious, dynamic, and wintry sign, Capricorn, has still got a lot to say. Mars, Saturn, and Pluto are all traveling through Capricorn – action, karma, and powerful forces are at work, challenged and set off by planets in hasty Aries.
The feeling that ‘enough is enough’ is carried through from struggles and clashes in March, with much chewing over the ‘facts’ as we perceive them. It’s certainly argumentative. The Sun and Mercury in Aries can be impatient and hot-headed, but action plans tend to be frustrated by risk-averse Saturn and Mars in Capricorn early this month.
Situations involving sport, military plans, media campaigns and sabre-rattling exercises are looking very tense. But projects needing hard work and patience can succeed, and eventually have enduring value. However, we can’t expect anything to be achieved in a hurry, and Saturn’s restrictions or limitations can seem immovable, much like a wall of rock. Some of these disagreements are still causing exasperation at the end of April, so it’s worth seeking ways to mediate certain situations this month, or maybe decide to just back off for a while.
We can expect high levels of ongoing global tension, civil unrest and probably mad weather in various locations including the UK, Australia, Haiti, and much of the EU. We’ll need to cultivate patience in our personal lives, or at work. Take extra care, this can be an accident-prone phase.
Tremendous energy wells up during April’s final week. By then, warrior planet Mars will be working with expansive Jupiter and brooding Pluto.
Watch out for some dramatic – possibly military or sporting – developments, secret negotiations, and a deep desire to regenerate, or flush out toxic elements in both society and from the polluted Earth itself. And although they are rarely out of the news, we’ll see some notable news or developments from Russia, China, and Germany at this time.
Monday 30th April:
Walpurgis Night and a Full Moon in Scorpio
So just how witchy do you want it to be? Walpurgis Night is May Eve, a traditional night for spirits and sorcery. It’s just like Halloween, but juicier. A full Moon in psychic Scorpio (9 degrees) is practically perfect.
A season of magic and mystery is about to entrance many of us between now and August. Jupiter in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces are working together in subtle, yet spellbinding, ways during these months. They’ll connect exactly in May at 16 degrees, and again in August at 15 degrees. There’s some beautiful creative and intuitive potential here, if we care to tune into it.
So – to celebrate this uncanny moment – here’s the stunning, and darkly dramatic Walpurgis Night sequence from Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ (1940). The music – ‘Night on Bare Mountain’, by Rimsky-Korsakov.
The Current Witches Moon Phase for April 2nd
Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 95%
TODAY – MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018
The Moon today is in a Waning Gibbous Phase. This is the first phase after the Full Moon occurs. It lasts roughly 7 days with the Moon’s illumination growing smaller each day until the Moon becomes a Last Quarter Moon with a illumination of 50%. The average Moon rise for this phase is between 9am and Midnight depending on the age of the phase. The moon rises later and later each night setting after sunrise in the morning. During this phase the Moon can also be seen in the early morning daylight hours on the western horizon.
PHASE DETAILS FOR – MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018
Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 95%
Moon Age: 16.78 days
Moon Angle: 0.51
Moon Distance: 390,776.26 km
Sun Angle: 0.53
Sun Distance: 149,561,496.70 km
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A Did You Know for the Month of April
April gets its name from the goddess Aprilis, who is the Romans’ version of Aphrodite. Her name means “to open,” which is exactly what Aprilis does….she opens the path to playfulness and the way to personal enrichment.
We all know the rhyme “April showers bring May flowers.” So consider what energies you want Aprilis to sprinkle on you this month for personal flowering. Overall, any magickal efforts aimed toward growth, love, pleasure, improvements, and developing one’s inner child will benefit from working during this month.
Witches Of The Craft® 
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