just wanted to share something from a site i like to check in with sometimes
http://www.evolvingdoor.ca/lowdown/current/lowdowncurrent.htm
Apr.17 – Venus Stationary Direct (29:11 of Pisces) (Apr.18 in AU)
For up to a week before and after this date, you may experience or witness a shifting of energy affecting finances, relationships, love, resources, values pleasure, beauty, harmony and/or balance. Situations or issues related to these areas that have been occupying your attention during the past 6-7 weeks (while Venus has been retrograde) may reach a turning point now. It is a time when decisions and choices could be made—perhaps out of necessity. .
If you have felt unusually introverted or extroverted during the retrograde period, this could shift back the other way again. If you have experienced difficulties or challenges in close relationships, this may be a time when decisions can (and perhaps must) to be made about them. Adjustments, compromises or renegotiations may be necessary; and if this is not possible or tolerable, it might be necessary to consider ending the relationship. During the retrograde phase, you may have encountered people or social situations from your past, and now it's time to decide if you want to continue with the contact or to bring closure and move on. You might have experienced a change in your finances—for the better or worse. This change could simply revert to its previous state, according to a natural cycle of ebb and flow. Or, you might be faced with a choice of what to do from here—to change something in your life so that your situation improves (or so that an improvement continues), or to let go and move beyond this period of temporary change.
Whatever you have learned, embraced, questioned or invested your time in during the last 6-7 weeks, you will begin to apply and integrate in a new way over the next 4-5 weeks (while Venus is in the Shadow). This has been a detour allowing you to explore hidden territory, complete unfinished business or reconsider possibilities in the affected areas listed above. It's time to come back to the main path again, bringing with you new learning and values that will gradually be integrated into your life. The Direct Station is another shift in your life's balance point that enables you to keep moving, changing, growing and evolving.
When Venus stations this particular time, she is conjunct Mars. Mars takes 4 days to catch up (exact on Apr.21), but is just 3 degrees away when Venus stations today. This puts an interesting spin on the Venus station! It underscores the possibility that this is a time to make decisions and put those decisions into action. However, both the Venus station and the exact conjunction take place in the final degree of Pisces, which is also the final degree of the Zodiac – another intriguing quality of this station! Venus remains at this degree for almost 2 weeks (Apr.11-24), so this period is likely to be quite intense and powerful.
The Sabian Symbol for the last degree of Pisces is "The Great Stone Face" which alludes to the story of the same name by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The symbol reflects the magical moment when all preparation, development and manifestation come together to form the result, which then becomes the beginning point of a new cycle. It is the creation of a seed, produced by its parent tree which itself was grown from a seed, and this new seed will go on to produce a whole new tree. The fact that Venus stations on this momentous degree indicates not just a time of fresh beginning, but also of selecting carefully and wisely which seed you choose to plant, since this will largely determine what kind of results are possible. The Venus station brings you back to a point where you can double-check the decisions you have or are about to make. It's a second chance to consider whether you are making the best choice for all concerned.
With Mars conjoining stationary Venus on this degree, it suggests there is great power in your desire, intuition, decision or compulsion about which fork in the road to take. Caution is advised, however: although this impulse could feel like the Hand of God propelling you in a certain direction, it could just as easily be colored by your own unconscious motives, yearnings or fears. It's always a good idea to acknowledge and work with those unconscious feelings, but it might not be wise to equate this with "what is meant to be." This is a time when self-honesty and self-integrity (consistency between inner motives and outer intent) are important assets.
