April 2022 horoscope: our hot-headed tempers may provoke confrontation

With April beginning in fiery Aries season, we are eager to speak our minds even if we come across impulsive and childish

1April 2022

TextGrace McGradeIllustrationGabrielle Rosenstein

Grace McGrade is an intuitive astrologer and host of the podcast “Bitchcraft: Spirituality for Bad People.” Her sessions include natal chart readings, transit readings, energetic clearings, and tarot readings

April begins in fiery Aries season, enlivening all signs with the spirit of individuality, purpose and drive. After a dissociative Pisces season, we are called back to our sense of personal mission and are eager to assert our personal needs. The Ram is the first sign of the zodiac, symbolising the beginning of a new astrological year, turning our focus back to our sense of self. A brave New Moon in Aries on the 1st encourages us to lay down the framework for the next astrological cycle, setting intentions for new beginnings and self expression. With Mercury newly in Aries, we are eager to speak our minds, even if we come across impulsive and childish. Our hot-headed temperaments can provoke confrontation – but can also be used to amplify our sense of drive and ability to get stuff done.

Mars and Venus move into Pisces this month, increasing our proclivity for fantasy and compassion when relating to our friends and lovers. On April 12, one of the most eagerly anticipated astrological moments of 2022 occurs – when Neptune and Jupiter form a planetary marriage in Pisces. These powerful outer planets rule our spiritual centres, our sense of imagination, luck and abundance. We are being given a celestial makeover, pushed to let go of the past and open our channels to the divine. In the same vein, we can be eager for escapism and prone to overindulgence. Try and use this date to form your own spiritual retreat, opening yourself to the mystical and imagined.

A Full Moon in Libra on the 16th forces us to confront disharmonies in our relationships, and draws our attention to our counterparts. It might be time to even the playing ground or have a heart to heart. Our perceived senses of injustices will need to be spoken to and sorted through. The following day, the Sun’s ingress into Taurus on the 19th helps us keep a steady pace. We now opt for comfort and stability over impulsive action. Taurus season tunes us into our senses, and encourages us to slow down and smell the roses. Our sense of beauty and creativity is enhanced, as we take time to tend to our personal gardens and enhance our daily beauty practices. This is a call to slow down and draw our focus to the body.

Mercury and Pluto station retrograde on April 29, pulling us into a cycle of inner transformation, and encouraging us to inspect how our subconscious blockages affect our inner monologue. The month culminates with a Taurus Solar Eclipse on the 30th, furthering the themes of transformation, but in this case, encouraging us to detox our bodies and eliminate earthly duties weighing us down.

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ARIES

Happy Birthday season, late Aries! March was a lethargic month, but with the Sun still shining in your sign early April, you are nursing a restored sense of purpose and motivation. The New Moon on April 1 in your sign is a big day to set intentions and push yourself to expand your gifts of self innovation and inspiration.

A powerful conjunction between Neptune and Jupiter on the 12th asks you to expand your mind and think outside the box. Follow your imagination and build upon what you believe is possible. Miracles are afoot! The second half of the month gives you the chance to organise your pocketbook, and inspect your finances and security. It’s time to reign in the impulse spending, and think about the bigger picture. Focus on where you can earn more, and fine tune your expenses.

Aries Beauty Product Recommendation: Dieux Skin Forever Eye Masks Dieux Tattoo

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TAURUS

Aries season shines its light on your sector of spirituality and emotional wellness, and you may spend the first few weeks eager to retreat inward. Use this time to rest, replenish and restore your energy. Don’t be hard on yourself about how much you get done, as the planets are making their annual tour through your subconscious until the 19th.

On the 12th, Neptune and Jupiter conjoin, making a once in a lifetime collision in your sector of wishes and dreams. This is the perfect time to set intentions for your upcoming birthday year. By the end of the month you are in a more celebratory space, eager to socialise, see and be seen. A Solar Eclipse on the 30th in your sign may illuminate understandings about your sense of self and purpose, and will add some self assurity to next steps.

Taurus Beauty Product Recommendation: Natasha Denona Retro Palette

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GEMINI

Aries season prompts you to take action steps, assert your needs and make adjustments to your social circle. The company you keep is important to you, Gemini, and as the resident social butterfly of the zodiac it’s imperative that you aren’t making too many allowances for people who take without giving back. It’s a good time to take a look at the personal stories you have about friends and how they show up for you. How many of your stories are a self-fulfilling prophecy? Where do you need to flip the script?

Spiritual assistance awaits when Neptune and Jupiter make a once in a lifetime conjunction on the 12th. This is a good time to anchor in assistance from the great beyond, by meditating, praying or simply carving out time to retreat into your inner world. The hazy, otherworldly atmosphere dissipates when Taurus season plants us firmly in reality on the 19th. Watch out though – as Mercury begins it’s retrograde in your sign on the 30th. It is recommended that you use the last two weeks of April to organise and declutter, to make the upcoming retrograde a bit more bearable.

Gemini Beauty Product Recommendation: Byredo De Los Santos Eau de Parfum

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CANCER

You are making career moves in April, dear Cancer, stepping up to the plate and embodying greater self ownership. Utilise the energy of the New Moon on the 1st to set intentions about your potential direction this upcoming astrological year. A conjunction between Neptune and Jupiter on the 12th could catalyse your career dreams into a tangible reality – so try and hone in on your visualisation magic and prepare to embark on a new adventure.

A Full Moon in Libra on the 19th may have you seeking remission from professional burn out, so take time to return to your home sphere and cosy up. Taurus season encourages you to take care of your body, and a New Moon Solar Eclipse on the 30th enhances the romance in all areas of life. Ponder ways to surround yourself with more beauty.

Cancer Beauty Product Recommendation: Aesop x Rick Owens Stoic Aromatique Candle

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LEO

You’ll be relieved that we kick off April with the Sun in fellow fire sign Aries, as March was a bit too dreamy for your liking. Thanks to the newfound celestial clarity, April gets you back to your sense of mission, purpose and drive. A New Moon on the 1st encourages you to pay attention to what you want more of. Keep your eyes peeled for more of your deepest desires, because on the 12th, Neptune conjoins Jupiter, a rare astrological configuration that can grant wishes.

April challenges you to alter your perception, and choose to view the bigger picture of your life with optimism and grace. It’s time for you to reshape what you look for and pay attention to, so you can create abundance yourself. When Taurus season rolls around on April 19, your focus shifts to the material, and you are making major career moves. Your professional life is in the spotlight, and a powerful Solar Eclipse New Moon on the 30th catapults you into a period of career expansion. You are giving off CEO energy for April and beyond.

Leo Beauty Product Recommendation: Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40

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VIRGO

With Venus and Mars in your sector of partnership in watery Pisces, you are inspecting projections. What do people impress upon you, that maybe has nothing to do with you? Where do you want to be more seen by some, and less seen by others? Realisations around this balancing act may reach a head on the 19th, when the Full Moon in Libra exposes where we are out of alignment with our fellows.

You are pragmatic and practical, but the celestial bodies are conspiring to make you a little more “woo”, when Neptune and Jupiter conjoin on the 12th – stretching the limits of self imposed beliefs and encouraging you to adopt a more mystical outlook. Mid-April, when the Sun ingresses into Taurus, your feet are firmly on the ground and you are ready to inspect the stories of self worth that seep into your daily routine. Amp up the romance for yourself, and embellish your daily rituals with a little pizazz.

Virgo Beauty Product Recommendation: r.e.m. beauty Eyeshadow Palette Gogo Boots

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LIBRA

Last month, you were drowning in the Piscean propensity for martyrdom, attuned to your own suffering and compassionate to the suffering of others. Aries season wants you to reestablish assertiveness, independence and personal flair. Be brave, be loud, be impulsive. Do away with convention and throw indecision to the wind. Aries is your opposite sign, and challenges you to inspect codependency. Where are you making other people responsible for regulating your inner climate? Where are others doing the same? These issues may reach a resolution on the Full Moon in your sign on April 19.

One of the more spectacular astrological events of the decade occurs on the 12th, when dreamy Neptune conjoins abundant Jupiter, granting wishes and opening up our spiritual channels for divine upgrades and guidance. Use this date to anchor in assistance from the great beyond. Taurus season brings you back to earth, slowing the pace and increasing your appetite for self nourishment.

Libra Beauty Product Recommendation: Medik8 Lipid Balance Cleansing Oil

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SCORPIO

The first half of April has you inspecting your health and daily routine. Do some detective work and figure out what your body needs less of and what it needs more of – your resolve to detox is supported by the cosmos. A powerful conjunction between Neptune and Jupiter on the 12th of the month upgrades your psychic ability, making your intuition a powerhouse that is impossible to ignore. Look out for lightning quick realisations and insights. With so much unfolding in the heavens, it is vital that you formulate new methods of caring for your body.

In the second half of April themes of romance and partnership are highlighted, as the Sun makes its annual passageway through your opposite sign of Taurus. It’s the perfect time to take inventory of your one-on-one relationships, and seek comfort and security in your fellows. A powerful new cycle begins in how you relate on the 30th, when a Solar Eclipse in Taurus illuminates old patterns and provokes a fresh start in your relationships.

Scorpio Beauty Product Recommendation: Herbivore Jasmine Body Oil

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SAGITTARIUS

Kick start the astrological new year by jotting down some intentions, starting with the New Moon in Aries on the 1st. This fellow fire sign’s self starting attitude encourages you to follow your gut impulse, embrace a bold attitude and become your own boss. On April 12, Jupiter, your planetary ruler, makes a celestial marriage with Neptune (God of Fantasy and Mysticism). Creative inspiration is abundant, as is your boundless appetite for escapism. Try to channel this configuration by opening your spiritual channel, and carving out time for introspection and play.

Taurus season brings you back down to earth on the 19th, and has you inspecting your finances, opening potential earning channels as long as you can return to your groundedness. A powerful Solar New Moon Eclipse on the 30th promises that what you believe you deserve is on its way. Expand upon it all.

Gemini Beauty Product Recommendation: Lisa Eldridge Liquid Lurex Eyeshadow

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CAPRICORN

Spring cleaning is in order in your home sector, dear Capricorn, so it might be time to trade the business suit for an apron and some garden shears. Your focus is attuned to building a solid base for world domination, decluttering and finding order in your living quarters. Matters of family and your upbringing may be emphasised early April, and it might be time to tidy away some old familial patterns that keep you in a rut.

The most cosmic configuration of 2022 occurs April 12, when Jupiter and Neptune collide in Pisces. This adds an air of unreality to the mix, and may have you questioning what’s real and what’s imagined. This configuration supports spiritual work of all sorts, so lay out some time to tune into your dreams for the future and do some deep diving. Taurus season anoints your fifth house of romance and fun, imbuing your days with a giddiness and appetite for pleasure. Let yourself be driven by romantic inspiration, and look for beauty in dingy places.

Gemini Beauty Product Recommendation: Maude Vibe

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AQUARIUS

April has you firing off outlandish ideas, some you can execute and others you can’t. You are imbued with a restored sense of clarity and drive, and you may be prone to the occasional heated rebuttal with a close friend or colleague. Who cares? Someone has to speak the truth, and as the astrologically appointed authority of the New Age, you are more than built for the job.

Taurus season has you inspecting changes you have made to your sense of what's important. Simply put, the things you pedestalize and place great weight on have shifted. Take this time to prioritise people and things that match your shifting sense of values. A New Moon Solar Eclipse on the 30th shines its light on these areas, and encourages you to make a firm resolution to embody greater self love.

Gemini Beauty Product Recommendation: Rare Beauty Positive Light Liquid Liminize

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PISCES

Aries season encourages you to revamp your self image, and try on a braver, more impulsive modality of being. Follow your impulses, speak loud and proud. Don’t be afraid to take action. A New Moon on the 1st encourages you to set intentions around your new and improved sense of identity and purpose. On the 12th, Neptune and Jupiter collide in your sign, amplifying your intuitive gifts and bestowing you with boundless blessings, so long as you can use your imagination to anchor in your most dazzling daydreams.

The focus turns to your physical body when Taurus season begins on April 19, and you are beckoned to reconvene with your vehicle. Ground yourself and try to find beauty in your daily routines. A New Moon Solar Eclipse in Taurus on the 30th gives you the opportunity to anchor in greater self love, and set intentions for bodily love and self ownership.

Gemini Beauty Product Recommendation: Malin + Goetz Rum Body Lotion

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