If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world, not some mystical mumbo-jumbo psycho-babble word salad. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT, aka GMT). Also please be aware that, while I never change a forecast once it's published, I do post errata to acknowledge typographical errors and the like.

PLEASE NOTE: This month’s forecast incorporates elements of (and refers to) my complete 2013 World Forecast Highlights (31 8-1/2 x 11” illustrated pages), focused, amplified and elaborated with details for the month as appropriate. If you’d like your own copy of the full 2013 World Forecast Highlights, it’s available in hard copy by mail ($75) or as a PDF document by email ($50). Orders may be phoned in (toll-free from anywhere in North America to 800-527-8761) and charged to any major credit card. PayPal orders may be placed direct from your own PayPal account page to rnolle@astropro.com – or by using the AstroPro PayPal order page.

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
-- Martin Luther
 

There’s acceleration in the flow of time and events starting this month. Partly, it’s due to extremes in the local system – the Earth, Moon and Sun. We’ve got a train of eclipses starting this month, and a train of SuperMoons starting next month. This will certainly be seen in terms of geophysical turbulence: an upsurge in larger earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, higher than usual coastal tides, and a concentration of strong storms with high winds and heavy precipitation.

These are far from the only storms on the calendar: we humans too will be running hotter and colder than usual. And then there are the socioeconomic storms on the geopolitical plane, with Uranus and Pluto holding within a few degrees of their May 20 square, spasms in the global financial system will continue to be much in the news – and you’ll see strong reactions from Wall Street to the streets of major world cities, where the dispossessed angrily protest their lowered circumstances. Watch the period around April 16-28 in particular, as far as this goes: from the Sun-Mars conjunction on April 18 to the lunar eclipse (conjunct Saturn) on the 25th. Remember, the Cypriot bank closures and account confiscations are only one alternative manifestation of what’s been happening in all countries around the world since the Saturn-Uranus opposition of 2008. The citizenry of all nations have been pillaged in one form or another, through taxes or inflation or outright confiscation. It’s not over yet, but it really chafes under these Uranus-Pluto squares. Ask the folks in Cyprus. Remember: FDR did pretty much the same thing in the US back in the 1930s, under the aegis of another Uranus-Pluto square.

That’s not to say that it’s just one hot mess after another as April gets underway. There will indeed be some heart-warming (and heart palpitating) moments as well, especially within plus or minus 3-4 days of the April 7 Venus-Mars conjunction in Aries: primal. Primal’s good in intimate places, not so good when people face off with the feeling that right is on their side. Alas, there will be some of the latter then too, with Pluto’s retrograde station so close on the 12th. It’s a reprise of that archetypal line from the classic 1976 movie Network: "I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore." Only this time, it’s spontaneous. A global melt-down? Hardly. But some blazing hot spots break out, for sure.

Let’s face it, our home planet is a fairly active place. There are storms and earthquakes somewhere every day. But there are some celestial alignments that up the ante for such geophysical disturbances. For example, even a normal new or full moon is an alignment of Earth, Sun and Moon that regularly stirs higher than normal tides in the atmosphere, seas and crust of our home planet. Likewise the Moon’s monthly cycle includes other extremes that raise the storm and seismic risk; for example, the Moon’s perigee (closest approach to Earth, like the one on April 27), and lunar declination peaks and crossings (April 1, 8, 15, 22 and 28). The most extreme alignments of all are eclipses and SuperMoons (new or full moons at or very near lunar perigee). The train of 2013 eclipses starts with a pair this month, and the SuperMoon train starts next month. Batten down the hatches: every one of these periods indicates an unusual level of severe storm activity (damaging winds and heavy precipitation) and news-making seismic disturbances (volcanic eruptions and M5+ earthquakes).

The first geocosmic stress signal for April is the Moon’s south declination peak on the 1st, anchoring a storm and seismic uptick running through the 2nd. Next up is the new moon on the 10th, with an associated shock window running from the 7th through the 16th (extended by the north lunar declination peak on the 15th. A short surge comes with the Moon’s southward crossing of the celestial equator on the 22nd, effective from the 21st through the 23rd, melding into what looks like the big geocosmic event of the month, the lunar eclipse on the 25th, which combines with the Moon’s perigee on the 27th and south declination peak on the 28th to nail down a geophysical shock window stretching from all the way from the 21st through the 29th. A Mars-Saturn opposition is blended into the eclipse, with Saturn conjunct the Moon and Mars the Sun: watch for the Ringed Planet rising in the east with the Moon at sunset. This signifies a certain bellicosity in the air, high tensions and short tempers, a strong likelihood of confrontation at all levels of human experience, from the interpersonal to the international. Find someplace safe.

Remember: all these geophysical stress factors are astronomical in scale, and therefore potentially planet-wide in scope. The atmosphere is everywhere, after all, so storms can crop up anywhere. Coastal tidal flooding is more limited, by definition. Likewise earthquakes (remember, in the moderate-to-severe category, Magnitude 5 and up) and volcanic eruptions are localized to fairly well-recognized places – but there are plenty of those all over the world. All things considered, it’s good to have your emergency kit handy, fresh batteries in your weather radio, a well-stocked pantry with plenty of bottled water and dried or canned foods at the very least – no matter where you live. And if traveling, it’s a good idea to allow extra time for weather-related delays, just in case.

Generalities aside, there are some specific zones of vulnerability pointed about by astro-locality mapping the April 25 lunar eclipse. These include western North America, along a longitudinal zone extending from British Columbia down through Washington, Oregon and California into northwestern Mexico. This same zone emerges on the other side of the globe to pass from eastern Saudi Arabia northward through Turkey, the ‘Stans and Russia. Horizon arcs for this same alignment cross northern and eastern Russia, parts of China, Japan, Papua New Guinea, eastern Australia and southern New Zealand; curving northeasterly from there to graze the Brazilian coast, the UK and Scandinavia.

Acknowledgments

All astrological charts as well as eclipse and astro-locality maps are calculated and produced using Esoteric Technologies’ Solar Fire Gold Version 7.0.8 Sky map images are screen captures from the Pocket Universe app for iPhone. Storm tracks are screen captures from The Weather Channel app for iPhone. Solar activity images are screen captures from the 3D SUN app for iPhone. And earthquake maps are screen captures from Quakes Pro Earthquake Alerts app for iPhone.

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)

Richard Nolle, Certified Professional Astrologer consultations/orders (AmEx/Discover/MasterCard/Visa) 800-527-8761 data/fax 480-753-6261 - email rnolle@astropro.com Box 26599 - Tempe, AZ 85285-6599 - USA www.astropro.com