Hi bb,
How are you feeling during all of April's wild astrology?
The good news: we've made it through the worst of it!
March 25: Lunar Eclipse in Libra
April 1: Mercury stationing retrograde in Aries
April 8: Solar Eclipse in Aries conjunct Chiron
April 10: Mars conjunct Saturn in Pisces
The other news: With Mercury still retrograde until April 25, Jupiter meeting up with Uranus on Saturday (April 20), there’s still a lot of processing to do.
For all of us—and especially those with Aries, Libra and Pisces placements—there have been major breakthroughs, turning points and decisions to make.
I’d love to sit with you and talk about everything that’s come up in this wild time. (I still have a few slots open for the end of April and now is a great time to book a reading — you can do so here.)
I want to emphasize that astrology isn't just for predicting the future, it's also for reconciling the past. Both help us understand the present. Eclipses come in 19 year cycles, so the Solar Eclipse we just had in Aries relates back to an eclipse we had exactly 19 years ago on April 8, 2005.
What were you doing in the spring of 2005? How do those events then relate to what's happening now? (I would love to read some of your personal experiences and reflections in the comments!)
In the spring of 2005, I was a sophomore in high school and was deep in rehearsals for my high school musical: A Midsummer Night's Dream: The Rock Musical. Eclipses were happening in Aries and Libra, just like now. I joke that when eclipses come to your rising sign (mine is Libra) that you become the main character of life. At the time, I was the main character. At least in the play. Cast as Helena, a girl deep in unrequited love, I had the most stage time and musical numbers of anyone in the cast. I didn’t get the last bow (the controversies surrounding this cursed school play are a whole other essay), but I was the lead. My big solo was the climax to Act 1 (the song was fan fiction of “On My Own” from Les Mis…) As eclipse season approached in 2005, there was a harsh aspect between Mars and Saturn, and a Mercury retrograde in Aries, very similar astrology to what we’re experiencing now. As all these transits culminated in March 2005, things took a chaotic turn—
First, opening night was cancelled due to a power outage at the school (non-weather related, just an odd electrical issue). A rescheduled performance for the next evening was also cancelled due to a power outage. Then the morning of the re-rescheduled show, I woke up with a mysterious viral infection and had no voice. I got through the performance with help from the wellness savvy choir student teacher “Mr. Harris”, who instructed me to stay hydrated at all costs and ran to 7-11 to grab me a bunch of honey and salt packets. My most vivid memory of the night is standing out in the parking lot behind the auditorium while my friend and castmate James stood above me on a chair and poured lukewarm salt water from a Poland Spring bottle down my nose and throat. Everyone called me a hero for showing up and trying my best. But it was disappointing not to perform at full capacity. My big star turn was eclipsed.
Last month as the same set of eclipses approached, a few days before my birthday, I got another strange viral infection. I spent my 35th Solar Return in bed watching The Traitors with a very high fever. I cancelled all my plans. I had a horrible cough deep in my chest and lost my voice. The next weekend, I thought I was on the mend, had a birthday party, saw a bunch of friends, and ended up even sicker. My flu turned into pneumonia and I wasn’t fully recovered until early April. Even now, if I talk too much, I lose my voice.
The mystery virus of 2005 also lingered. I was fatigued and out of it for months. I got tested for mono multiple times, but all the tests came back negative. Still don’t know what I had. I sometimes joke that I was never the same after having that virus. I very rarely get sick (exalted Venus in the 6th house of health privilege) so the fact that these twin eclipse cycles pair with twin health issues for me is notable. Despite being physically grueling, both bouts of illness allowed me time to reflect and examine my priorities.
In 2005, I was dealing with big changes in all major parts of life. Most of my friends were seniors and about to graduate, and another good friend was moving to a different state. I was (not so elegantly) navigating the heartbreak of friends leaving. But on a sweeter note, one of my LiveJournal entries from the time describes the joy of reconnecting with my best friends from middle school at a Sweet 16. Through that reconnection, I realized we drifted because we didn’t like each other, but because we entered high school with different priorities. During this time I also quit my job working (for very little pay) as an “intern” and “house manager” at a local community theater. That theater was what I’d (toxically) dedicated my whole life to since I was 12. My family structure was also changing as my older brother had kids and started a family of his own. I was no longer the baby of the family. Then as now, the North Node was in Aries: selfish choices and personal autonomy were taking the wheel. Then as now, the South Node was in Libra—a transit that asks us to step away from draining relationships, codependent dynamics and doing the most for those who don’t the most for us.
I wrote something in my LiveJournal on April 14, 2005 that describes this push and pull as articulately as 16 year old me was able to:
a lot of reflection has brought me to the conclusion that i've changed immensely over the course of this year. i know its not the end of the school year yet, there's still an entire quarter left, but i feel like i've learned so many things this year that i'm overwhelmed with the impact of all that's occurred.
i've really realized who my real friends are, and i've also come to the conclusion that you just can't like everyone, its impossible. not everyone is compatible, its just the way things are.
in a way, i changed a lot of my goals in my life. after wanting nothing but to be in musical theatre, i changed my mind this year. and now, i'm not altogether positive what i want to do with my life.
new people have come into my life, and people come into our lives for a reason.
i think i'm going to become a vegetarian. gradually, that is.
whoa.
i'm spent.
Eclipses are exhausting. Nothing says “the South Node is transiting my ascendant” like “whoa. i’m spent.” I know that I’m in the midst of many similar revelations right now. Some revelations that I won’t be able to articulate until many years from now. Probably better to let my 16 year old self speak for me. I don’t know what everything happening right now is “all about.” I have no idea what it means. But someday in the future, it will make sense as the story continues to both spiral and unwind.
Taurus season begins tomorrow. A very welcome shift that will bring a more grounded energy. Opportunity to connect with the body and the literal Earth after a hot and frenetic Aries season.
I’ll be celebrating Taurus time by teaching my first class What’s Your Phase? with Earth/Body School. We’ll get into how the phase of the moon you were born under actually explains your whole thing. 7 pm EST on May 1, all on Zoom. You can sign up here, I’d love to see you.
Sending you much love as we continue to spiral through a wild April (as I wrote in the monthly forecast, it’s the cruellest month.)
xo, J
I adore everything about this post!!! Thank you for sharing those pictures and really building out your 2005 world 🤩
In spring of 2005, I was 12, finishing up 7th grade, and I was preparing for a summer trip to europe- my first international travel without my parents. It was with the People to People program, and it was about 3 weeks of travel through France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. This prep time was exciting and scary, and my parents were super reluctant about it.
Now? I'm about to *move* internationally for the first time - with my mom this time, and to a country/region I've never even visited. Lots of house-selling and life planning anxiety is defining this month. My mom is having a hard time accepting how positive it is and how it answers all of her desires - she can currently only see the to-do lists and the risks to be mitigated. If I had to guess, this is also how my parents were processing my 2005 travel.
I thiiiink there's something Special about any Aries eclipse for me as a natal Aries moon, and with Aries angular in my 4th House. They're louder than the others! And this 19 degree/exaltation degree spot in Aries is trine my natal venus/NN. In fact, the 2005 eclipse had venus conj the NN, just like right now.
The theme here for me seems to be that new frontiers and opportunities for growth/fundamental change are FELT really heavily beforehand, for my entire household. The house metaphorically shakes and I'm always being taken elsewhere (NN natally in the 12th coded).
I'm upping my prayer practice and breathing through it all! 🧘🏿♀️
I was in the midst of The Gods Are Pounding My Head aka Lumberjack Messiah at The Ontological. I had started working at The Drama Book Shop in February 2005 and was doing a shift or two at The Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Book Store. I was back to starving myself and working out a lot. I was smitten with an actor in the play that was 25 years older than me. I was sorta absurd about it, I realize now. I had just never met anyone that smart and talented before. I was about to write and direct my first play in the basement of The Drama Book Shop that would lead to the formation of Title:Point. I had not been home to KS since I moved Sept 1, 2004 and I missed my family, terribly. I did not have a winter coat. I lived in the living room of a 2 bedroom apartment on 148th and Broadway with my dear friends from college, Averyn and Michelle, who were both making good money as servers. I could barely afford a can of soda.