We’ve Got Traction
Narcissus, Claude Vignon, ca. 1630
This week, I’m doing something a little different with how I structure these forecasts. In the past, I’ve given each day a title, a thematic phrase meant to orient you before you read. I’m stepping away from that. What you’ll find instead is the day’s planetary events as the header: what’s actually happening, stated plainly. I made this change because I noticed the titles were doing interpretive work before you’d had a chance to meet the day yourself. The planetary events are the facts. What they mean for you is the part worth discovering.
The most significant shift this week comes on Thursday, when Mars enters Aries, its home sign. Mars has been in Pisces, where its energy has been diffuse and hard to direct. Now, in Aries, that changes dynamically. Mars rules Aries, and here in its own sign, it has great force and direction behind it. By Thursday afternoon, you may notice you are finally ready to take action on something that has felt stuck for weeks.
The lunar cycle has its own story. The moon moves through phases the way any living cycle does: a beginning, a building, a peak, and a release, and finally death and rebirth. We planted something at the Pisces New Moon on March 18. It reached fullness at the Libra Full Moon on April 1. Friday’s Last Quarter Moon is where that cycle begins to turn inward. The fruit weakens and loosens from the vine. As you move through this week, notice what you’re ready to let go of before the Aries New Moon arrives on April 17.
Every planet is currently moving direct, and that continues until early May. When planets are retrograde, they ask us to revisit and reconsider. Right now, with everything in forward motion, the road is clear.
Monday, April 6 — Moon in Sagittarius
The week begins on a rather quiet note. With the Moon in Sagittarius, our emotional need is for openness and perspective, the sense that we are not locked into what is restrictive or limiting. This is a good day to lift your eyes from whatever has been demanding your close attention and remember the larger context of your life. Where are you headed? What matters to you beyond this week’s obligations? Sagittarius wants you looking at the horizon, not the floor.
You might find yourself hungry for big ideas and wide perspectives today. You might feel impatient with small talk, or suddenly very aware of how much you want your life to mean something beyond its immediate obligations.
- What would genuine spaciousness look like in your life right now?
- What step can I take that supports that direction?
Tuesday, April 7 — Moon in Sagittarius
The Moon continues through Sagittarius today. You may find yourself thinking about the future as you explore ideas more fully, or seek out information that gives you a broader view of your situation. There is energy available for forward movement, though it benefits from having a clear sense of purpose behind it. Sagittarius is philosophical by nature, and today is a good day to sit with the bigger questions your life is asking of you.
When the Moon is in Sagittarius, we think about what has meaning to us. You want clarity within the lived sense of how you are using your time and energy. You want these things to actually matter to you. If that sense has been missing today may bring it back into focus. It is worth asking yourself whether the direction you are moving in is one you actually chose or one you simply fell into by chance.
- Where have you been permitting yourself to stay on the surface of something that actually matters to you?
- What would it look like to follow a question all the way to the horizon?
Wednesday, April 8 — Moon enters Capricorn / Mars sextile Uranus
At 8:04 am EDT, the Moon enters Capricorn, pointing to an emotional need for structure and responsibility. The emotional focus shifts from the open-ended exploration of the past two days toward serious application. What you have been considering now asks to be made manifest.
When the Moon is in Capricorn, your emotional attention turns toward what can be carried forward through consistent effort. You may feel the pull of your responsibilities strongly. There is a willingness to do what is required, even when it is not especially interesting, because you understand the importance of the effort in the long run.
At 12:11 pm EDT, Mars forms a sextile to Uranus. To understand what this opens up, it helps to know where we are in the cycle between these two planets. The current cycle began at their conjunction in mid-July 2024. Whatever was set in motion in your life around that time in terms of bold action, unexpected change, or a new way of moving forward has been developing since then. This sextile is a moment to look ahead. The next Mars-Uranus conjunction arrives in July 2026, and with it, a new cycle begins. This is a good time to ask yourself what you want that new beginning to look like, and what you are ready to start dreaming and planning toward.
- What have you been doing the same way for too long?
- Where is an unconventional approach actually the more direct route?
Thursday, April 9 — Mars enters Aries at 3:39 pm EDT / Moon in Capricorn
At 3:39 pm EDT, Mars enters Aries, one of its domiciles. This is the most significant shift of the week. Mars is our ability to take action and to go after what we want without hesitation. While in Pisces, since March 2nd, that drive has been hard to locate. It dissolves and gets pulled under by feelings before it is able to create momentum. Now in Aries, it can operate freely without being lost in fog. It knows what it wants, and it is more than willing ot go after it without apology.
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, the screaming newborn who knows only that it needs and what it needs, it needs now. There is no patience for process or delay. That urgency is the point and brings you into motion before your more cautious instincts can talk you out of it. Mars will be in Aries until late May. You may feel it as physical restlessness or a sharp desire to act on something you have been considering for weeks.
The Moon continues through Capricorn, providing some useful ground beneath the fire of that Aries Mars. When the Moon is in Capricorn, our emotional need is for structure and follow-through. The steady effort of the Capricorn Moon will have the heat of Mars to push it forward.
- What are you ready to act on now?
- Where do you feel urgency in your body?
- What do you want badly enough to go after without a guarantee?
When the Moon is in Capricorn, there is an emotional need to be realistic about what you can sustain. The Last Quarter phase brings that into focus through action. You may decide to step back from a commitment or to change how you are managing a responsibility. The adjustment here must be practical. It shows up in what you hold onto and what you set aside.
This is not a time for starting something new but for focusing your attention on what is already in place and making necessary changes. You may notice effort that is no longer producing results, or where something requires more than you are willing to give. That recognition will guide your next steps forward.
At 7:55 pm EDT, the Moon enters Aquarius. The shift brings a new view of what you have been working with. What felt difficult earlier in the day begins to engage your mind in a new way. You may find it easier to consider your situation from a wider angle and to see a pattern rather than just the problem in front of you.
- What is no longer working in the way you hoped it would?
- What changes when you allow some space around this situation?
Saturday, April 11 — Moon in Aquarius
The Moon remains in Aquarius throughout the day, pointing to an emotional need for distance and perspective. There is relief in stepping back from what has been demanding your attention and looking at it without the same level of involvement.
When the Moon is in Aquarius, you are less inclined to react and more inclined to observe. A situation that felt immediate earlier in the week can now be considered from a wider angle. You may notice a pattern that was not visible when you were closer to it, or recognize how something fits into a larger context than you had been giving it.
This can show up in simple ways. You may find yourself less interested in continuing a conversation that has already run its course, or you may look at a problem and realize it does not need to be handled in the way you first assumed. The value of the day comes through this shift in position. You are no longer inside the situation in the same way, and that allows for a different kind of clarity.
What changes when you step back and look at this from a distance?
What pattern are you beginning to recognize?
Sunday, April 12 — Moon in Aquarius
The Moon continues in Aquarius throughout the day, pointing to an emotional need to think something through before acting. There is less urgency today. Space opens between impulse and response.
When the Moon is in Aquarius, the mind works to understand how things connect. You may find yourself reconsidering a plan or questioning an assumption you made earlier in the week. A conversation may take on a different meaning when you look at it again with more distance.
You are working with thought rather than reaction, and that shift allows you to respond with more intention. The Aries Mars that arrived on Thursday is still very much present, but today the Aquarius Moon asks you to think before you leap. That combination of clear-eyed thinking and readiness to act is one of the more useful states you can be in.
The day supports decisions that come from genuine understanding rather than from pressure. What you see today may shape how you move forward into the week ahead.
- What are you reconsidering now that you have more space around it?
- What assumption needs to be questioned before you act on it?
If you are looking for a clear, focused conversation about current patterns and the next steps laid out in your natal chart, details about my latest offering are available here.
Your Personal Consultation 2026
TESTIMONIALS
In reading not only my chart but my young daughter’s as well, Laurie had an uncanny way of zeroing in on core struggles, pivotal moments, and guiding questions of our lives. Our sessions were generous both in time and spirit, leaving me with both a sense of affirmation and with great food for thought. She helps clients gain new insights by deftly translating the sometimes complicated language of astrology into utterly real, relatable terms. I highly recommend her to anyone who wants to deepen their self-knowledge and clarify decisions and directions.”
JS – Vermont
My session with Laurie was completely gratifying in every way. Wise, warm, and witty, Laurie’s explanation as to how the stars work with us as we learn the lessons of this life was nothing less than revelatory. Careful and kind, Laurie gave me information that is bound to inform how I move forward from widowhood into the next phase of my life. I feel guided, warned, and bolstered by my personal astrology as it was explained to me by Laurie. I would love to study with her one day because she makes it all so accessible and relevant. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She knows her craft, and she is a born teacher. A gift to her profession and to all of us who are fortunate enough to be directed her way! A beautiful spirit!
ER – New Jersey
Follow Us!