Mars Enters Aries, Mercury Enters New Territory
Dear Friend and Reader:
This week’s horoscope looks at the transit of Mars through Aries, where it will be very busy for the next six weeks. Mars made its Aries ingress this afternoon, and Mercury comes out of its second shadow phase as well.
Reach out if you want to contact me. This is the time of year when I can do personal consulting.You can reply to this email, or write to me or my colleagues at cs@planetwaves.net. I have excellent, helpful services at the Astrology Boutique, prime among them my Inner Light – Inner Peace readings.
Have fun. Pay attention.
Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ —
The former Astrology Studio / Birthday Reading series has been replaced by the “In Motion” series of sign readings, published throughout the year. These readings include your solar return but go much beyond that idea, looking at transits that develop in your chart over the next 12 to 14 months. A solar return is the positions of the planets on one day; I am looking at movement throughout the whole year. In Motion readings are offered separately and also included with the Astrology Pass and the Galaxy Pass.
My Inner Light – Inner Peace readings are in the top-two annual editions, giving detailed, sensitive and human-centered readings that cover events lasting years into the future. That’s because so many important transits begin in 2026. In this reading, you will learn about the effects of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Chiron, as well as many of the smaller planets that are important factors in the mix.
Planet Waves for April 9, 2026 — By Eric Francis
Aries (March 20-April 19) — Self-discovery can be violent. I don’t mean in the sense of a sledgehammer or gun (though sometimes so), but rather in the sense of asserting yourself in ways that bang into others and provoke reactions. Then there is the use of aggression as a cheap means of ‘self-actualization,’ a specialty of the digital age. With Mars passing through the last few degrees of Pisces this past week, you may have felt some of your paranoia or irrational fear squeezed out of you. As Mars enters your sign, you must discern which concerns are real and which are imaginary. Here in the digital simulacrum, anything can seem like anything. If you remain conscious, you can seek peaceful means to discover or assert who you are. This may be difficult, and you might find yourself acting out of character. If you’re paying attention, you will notice when you’re doing this. You don’t need to hurt yourself or others, emotionally or otherwise.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
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Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Uranus is in its last moments in your sign for this 84-year cycle. It began its trip through Taurus in 2018, and this has been a wild ride for everyone — though especially for you. The combination of personal instability and being immersed in society’s obsession with technology has been challenging. You may have experienced this as the pressure to be who you are not, to believe what you know is not true, or to change your life in ways that are out of character. It will be helpful to review the past seven or eight years and see if you can notice the ways in which you’ve been pressured to change. You may decide you liked the old you better. You may not be able to go straight back, but you can reclaim some of what you love. Travel back in time and discover what you’ve left behind, and bring it back with you.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Mercury has finally entered new territory after one of the most excruciating, seemingly endless retrograde phases in many years. What did you learn? Have you kept your head above water? How have family matters shaken out? Have you figured out who is telling the truth and who is deceiving you? Has anyone been compelled to take responsibility for their choices or their actions? This is the slippery part: you may be blaming yourself for something that’s not exclusively your responsibility. Or you may see the ways that others are responsible but miss the ways that you are as well. You may finally have enough distance on the situation to do a careful assessment. The idea here is to prevent anything like this from happening again, and also to find some peace of mind through accountability. This is not a popular theme. Under the digital frame of mind, nobody is responsible for anything; everything is an illusion; nothing matters. None of that is really true.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
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Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Mars moves across the sensitive midheaven angle of your solar chart beginning Thursday. This may bestow a sense of direction, and that sense may not be accurate. You need real-world reference points for what is true and what is not. Map your experience against your understanding of what is supposed to be. Map your experience against your past understandings of reality. Ask others for their point of view — and verify against your own experience. The effect of Mars in Aries is that of driving quickly through a fog. You must slow down to match your confidence level. And do not just follow the car in front of you. Your reference points need to be the white lines that our ancestors generously painted for us along the sides of most roads. Driving with your high-brights on also will not help. Work in low light. You will have a much more accurate perspective. The shadows are not what you think. And don’t let anyone talk you out of being motivated to do the right thing.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Let your work be a labor of love. That means you do it for its own sake, and you do it well for the sake of those who may benefit. It will be easy at times and seem difficult at others. Your sense of purpose will guide you through. You’re likely to make new contact with your leadership abilities, which are based on the example that you set, and not the words that you say. One helpful action will be to make food for people. This has been relegated to either an insult or the latest version of Celebrity Chef when really, preparing food is one of the most basic necessities of existence. And it’s something we are losing track of as the electronic age progresses; seed-oil slop in a plastic container delivered lukewarm passes for something nourishing. Above all, be real about food; invest your food with the love of existence and of the people whom you feed.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
Eric Francis reads your solar chart. Visit the Astrology Boutique.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — One persistent challenge of your life is seeing your existence as independent of others. I don’t just mean your activities, your finances and your commitments (though those things count). I mean your psyche (or personality) seeks its completion in another person. This runs so deep, you could call it an unconscious process — but you know all about it. You know because you so often feel incomplete without a partner, regardless of how the relationship feels. The challenge is envisioning yourself existing as separate from those with whom you so closely identify. Every factor in your solar chart is urging you to define yourself as your own being, apart from corporate commitments (by which I mean family, marriage and household). By now — after such astonishing and rare astrology in Aries — you crave this with your whole being, though only part of the time. So as long as you wait it out for a while, things seem fine and you’re not in any way compelled to take action, you can go back to the status quo. Each time that happens is a missed opportunity.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
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Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Mars arriving in your opposite sign Aries is likely to churn up some controversy, and you’d best not go blow-for-blow. It will be difficult to see people for who they are, and for them to see you for who you are. It will be better to take it slow and let people’s true colors come out. You will be amazed at the results you get by tuning out those whose only role is causing dissension. Unless you believe something that is not true, they will be harmless enough. Focus on sorting out what’s real from what’s not. Past track records count, though occasionally honest people wake up one day and decide to be fraudsters. Be patient and let them reveal themselves. Push may finally come to shove around the time Mars reaches its conjunction to Saturn in about a week and a half (on the 19th). Bide your time, be observant and keep as open a mind as you can.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — If you’re feeling unwell, it’s unlikely to be a disease or illness; it’s more likely to be that you’re worn down from overextending yourself, trying too hard and doing too much. Tempting though it may be to push, push, push, you would be wise to go in the other direction, and retreat from as much activity as you can. Take it easy with workouts for a few weeks; you don’t need to aspire to pain=gain. It’s more likely to be a warning of injury, so know when to quit. And finally, mind-altering substances are not a good way to relax right now. Under the influence of a Mars-Neptune conjunction (beginning imminently) a little could become a lot. You may notice that you feel worse, not better, and that may take care of any temptation. Overall it will be an excellent idea to tune into what your body is telling you, and what your emotions are hinting at.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
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Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You are in one of the most creatively fertile phases in years, and now is the time to take chances. I don’t mean bungee jumping, late-night bobsledding or taking the Snake Handling for Amateurs class at Omega Institute. I mean creative risks, though this may have little meaning if you don’t consider yourself any kind of artist. That does not matter. Your solar chart is bubbling with the potential to express yourself in ways that are not words. That means anything visual, sensory, auditory or musical. This is preferably not digital, but music, photography and video often are. The feeling you’re reaching for is play, a state of consciousness most people have forgotten. Frequently when writing Sagittarius readings these days, I come back to the quote by Brian Eno that children work by playing and adults play through art. Therefore, this is not about talent or accomplishment. Pleasure is your measure, and that can include sex where there is a spiritual connection.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
Jim Morrison said Sagittarius is the most philosophical sign. Visit the Astrology Boutique.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Mars conjunct Neptune right at the bottom of your chart describes you feeling as ambitious as a lush. So don’t worry if you’re not accomplishing what you want to or if your motivation is not where you think it should be. Ideas count for a lot right now, and you are in receptive mode, not assertive. Mars is the verb in this sentence, but its effect is reversed when it’s in the vicinity of Neptune. So metaphors may arise such as seeing in the dark, or telepathy through sound (clairaudience). The assertive part would be your attention and your awareness. You are likely to see how influential merely noticing your surroundings is. Your attention changes the world around you. It always has, though you are more likely to notice it now more than ever. And from that state of being, you may be inspired to take action. Just proceed gently, like you’re moving under water.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
Mature when you’re a child, grows younger as the years go on. Visit the Astrology Boutique.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — In modern astrology, Uranus is considered the ruler of your sign. This works well enough, except for the benefits and assets that Saturn (the traditional ruler) brings. What both have in common is changing signs within a few months of one another — Saturn a few weeks ago, and Uranus in a few weeks. Together, this represents a significant change of perspective, and in both cases in the direction of being expressive. Mars is about to jump into the game as of Thursday, firing up your verbal and mental imagination. This particular transit, which you’re already feeling, can turn on itself, so you will need to consciously proceed in a positive direction. We are in one of those “beware of alcohol” situations, and “beware of anything that might interfere with your meds.” Your state of mind is going to be intense enough and your imagination sizzling, with your primary challenge being putting your ideas and feelings into words. That would be plenty.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
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Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Make slow moves with all matters relating to money, or none at all. Your sense of reality and of self-worth are unlikely to be accurate at the moment. You are in a holistic reorientation on how you assess your worth and how you present yourself — that is, with perception — in a world that is obsessed with selling and glam more than it’s concerned with truth or value. And your role is to recognize truth and value and set aside the glam. Aspire to substance rather than appearance. And remember that value is often difficult to perceive. Mars moving through Aries for the next six weeks will have its ups and downs, though at the end of this stage you’re likely to have learned enough to get your financial house in order. But for you especially, it all comes down to being real about who you are, and bringing that reality and that truth into all of your personal interactions. Not everyone will appreciate this, though that does not matter.
Get your full 2026 reading at this link.
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