Astrology of the Week Ahead — April 28th to May 4th

Hey, everyone. This is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology [https://nightlightastrology.com/]. Today we are going to take a look at all of the major astrological transits for the week ahead. That is today, the 28th through May 4.

It's a quieter week astrologically, a little bit of a calm between major dynamic periods. By the end of May, Saturn is going to be entering the sign of Aries, Jupiter and Saturn will square again in June. Jupiter will enter cancer in June. Uranus will enter Gemini in June.

So I have to say, it's kind of nice to get a few weeks here or there where there's not a million things happening. But there are a few transits that I'll remind you of for this week. We'll take a look at them.

We also have our monthly overview for the month of May coming up, and then we have horoscopes for May coming up this week as well. So that is our agenda for today.

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All right, let's go ahead and take a look at the real-time clock and just preview our transits. So at the start of the week, it's quiet here on April 28, Monday.

But on Wednesday of this week, the 30th, Venus will enter the sign of Aries. Now, the reason that's significant is because of a couple of reasons.

One, Venus began her retrograde cycle several months ago in Aries, and so now she is returning to go back over ground already covered during the retrograde.

She's been doing that for a while in Pisces and with Saturn in the north node. We spent some time talking about that the past couple of weeks.

But now into Aries, where she will immediately meet Neptune. So the story of this week is really Venus entering Aries, a Mars-ruled sign, where there's a little bit of passion, a little bit of tension.

It can be very creatively rewarding, but attention that we nonetheless have to explore this week, which we will do. And then, of course, Venus is going to conjoin Neptune.

Now, you guys have heard me say this before, but when an outer planet first enters a new sign, one of the ways that you get to know the outer planet in the new sign is through some of the earliest aspects that the planet receives or makes.

In this case, Venus conjoining Neptune will be one of the first and brightest examples of what Neptune in Aries is all about.

The reason for that is that sometimes outer planets are so vast in their arc in the archetypal field that they signify, and Neptune can be so nebulous, that it really helps when we get an inner, fast-moving planet like Venus connected with so many tangible things.

Like our sensual bodies, our relationships. It contacts Neptune, and all of a sudden you go, "Oh, Neptune's in Aries." I'm going to talk a little bit more about that as we go today.

But that is definitely something to pay attention to. I'm realizing I think my microphone settings are off. Let me just fix that. Okay, there we go.

Okay, sorry about that, guys. Okay, so I think the mic quality should be better now. So Venus conjoining Neptune will be one very significant transit of the week, and really the only major transit of the week.

The only other transit that we're looking at this week is going to be—and I'm going to say a little bit more about each of these in a second—if we go forward to May 4, we're going to see that on May 4, Pluto is stationing to turn retrograde.

I am going to do some reminder horoscopes this week of the whole-sign house that Pluto has recently ingressed into for all 12 signs.

And we're going to talk about what it might mean that Pluto is turning retrograde and effectively beginning a period of revision, refinement, crystallization of insights that have been coming up for us since the ingress happened at the end of 2024.

It's worth it, in my opinion, to look at moments when an outer planet is stationing, especially early on in its entrance into a new sign or house, because these are the points at which you're starting to see the first turning of the wheels of a process.

And, you know, sometimes the direct motion, we're just getting to know the sign. It's the retrograde that comes up, and suddenly we go, "Oh, there's been this new curriculum in my life called Pluto in Aquarius."

And now I'm starting to reflect on what it's been doing. I'm able to kind of see the outlines of destiny along the Pluto in Aquarius lines when the planet turns retrograde, especially when it's stationed to turn retrograde.

So this is obviously coming off right after the Mars-Pluto opposition as well, which also suggests a deeper, maybe more impactful retrograde from Pluto.

And again, that's just—I mean, the Mars-Pluto opposition was very dynamic. We're coming off from that and then seeing Pluto immediately turn retrograde.

So we're going to pay attention to that this week as well. Now, in addition to looking at the Venus conjunction with Neptune this week and Pluto turning retrograde, horoscopes—like I said, there will be some focus on the astrology for the month of May.

Both astrological overview with Whitney and Alexandra, and then horoscopes with Dana and Alex for all 12 signs. Now, those horoscopes for all 12 signs will really be focused on the astrology of May.

I'm going to do a separate video where I do horoscopes for all 12 signs, just for the Pluto retrograde, because again, I think that's going to be an important time.

And I think that gives us an opportunity to reflect uniquely on the recent entrance of Pluto into a new house in our charts. So that's kind of the outline for the week.

I want to go back and say a few things about each of these transits. Now, let's talk about Venus conjoining Neptune in Aries briefly.

Let's go back when? Here we go. Okay, sorry about that. Now, when we back this up a little bit to May 2, remember that Venus enters Aries on April 30.

So that's Wednesday, and it's going to take it until Friday to conjoin Neptune. That's only a degree of separation.

So the first thing to know is that April 30 through May 2 of this week, you're really going to be feeling the Venus-Neptune dynamic at play.

Beyond this, even May 3 into the fourth, Venus is separating within just a few degrees. So that's kind of the time range within which you may see any of these symbolic manifestations.

The first thing that I love about Venus-Neptune is the romantic quality—otherworldly, sensual, imaginative. I think Venus and Neptune wants to honor the life of fantasy and the life of imagination by telling us that life is really nothing without our capacity to visualize.

Or to experience different layers and levels of happiness, beauty, pleasure, and connection. Venus is a planet, obviously, that signifies relationships.

But the relating capacity for Venus is really about finding congruent, harmonious channels through which to connect to experience.

The most primary relationship that Venus signifies is the relationship between the soul and experience—life, the variegation of being itself.

So how do we relate as a being to being, being to being? Relationship? The first lens of our relationship is the psychic lens through which we experience anything—from the weather to other people to the things happening internally.

And Venus-Neptune contacts can make us aware of those subtler dynamics, like, for example, what influences create harmony versus discordance.

Or what subtle, imaginative, romantic levels of experience grant greater depth and satisfaction and happiness and connection.

And those can suddenly—those subtle things can become much more—we can become much more aware of them when Venus and Neptune connect, which is lovely.

If there's also a way in which Venus-Neptune can create projections and delusions and fantasies that are ungrounding and, you know, not always helpful.

Like sometimes we have to work through Venus-Neptune by not getting carried away or staying grounded. And Venus-Neptune is one of the transits that can over-promise, you know, over-promise and under-deliver.

So a little bit of grounding advice, potentially. But I also don't like to make too much of that, because I think a good, a really good, healthy thing for most of us is to connect to what we love.

And imagination and fantasy are really how life—how the soul engages with life, soulfully. The soul is a storytelling—like, we're beings of story and storytelling.

That's a simple way to put it, and I think that the only way that I know how to appreciate a novel or a play or a movie is the extent to which the story and the costumes and the characters are all imaginatively satisfying.

I mean, what is life without some level of imaginative—let's call it romantic or creative satisfaction? Venus and Neptune will also emphasize the level at which our life is or isn't satisfying us romantically.

And by that, I mean something deeper than just romantic connection with another person. I mean romantic connection to life, to experience.

So the fact that we are getting this Venus-Neptune contact in Aries is interesting, because the sign of Aries may funnel these significations, this symbolism, into the path or journey of individuation.

So—I got something stuck in my eye—like, for example, when we receive feedback about what is or isn't satisfying creatively, that may be part of flipping a switch, so to speak, that urges or pushes our individuation along.

"Oh, well, if this is satisfying to me and I want more of it, then I'm going to do something about it, because I'm recognizing that my very selfhood and my identity are connected to my ability to recognize, honor, and advance the things that make me happy."

That connect me harmoniously to life or to other beings, to people. So you can see how the sign of Aries can take this question of pleasure and connection and funnel it into self-development and individuation.

That may be one very beneficial component of the connection between these planets this week. On the other hand, there are maybe issues of selfishness that arise along the way.

Where the opposite sign of Libra, Venus's natural sign, may say something like, "Well, you may be clear that this is what you need or want or desire, but does it come at the cost of discordance with other key people in your life?"

And then how do we navigate that thoughtfully as well? You know, you can't go too far. You don't want to bulldoze people or discard the relevance of other people's needs or feelings in relationship.

But you also don't want to deny something fundamental within yourself. So navigating the personal, the interpersonal connection this week with respect to pleasure, desire, fantasies—that could be quite interesting.

Also, just the natural Venus-Neptune in Aries dynamic of, like, a warrior goddess. I think of—you know, like Xena. You remember that show, Xena the Warrior Princess, or whatever her name was.

There's kind of an archetype of, like, a little bit of a Joan of Arc vibe—like goddess meets flaming sword. So anyway, we'll be covering that more as the week goes on.

And then the next thing is just Pluto turning retrograde in Aquarius. By the way, with the Venus conjunct Neptune, I forgot to say, I will go back and show you the entirety of the Venus retrograde cycle.

So you can track this week along the lines of Venus's last visit through Aries. So we'll kind of cover the entirety of Venus's recent retrograde cycle in that way.

So May 4, let's take a look at this again. Mars will—or, excuse me, Pluto turns retrograde, coming right off from the contact to Mars through opposition.

To me, this suggests that the opposition is, again, as we've been saying, a kind of culminating point, not just within the Mars retrograde cycle, but within the early developmental offerings—let's call them—of Pluto in Aquarius.

Which is why I'm going to do horoscopes for you this week. So we'll take a look at that whole-sign house and try to reflect on what kinds of lessons we've been learning.

But Pluto in Aquarius has gathered a lot of insight in the first three degrees, which we've been visiting the past couple of years, really, with a couple of little dips into Aquarius and then backed into Capricorn and so forth.

But now we have a retrograde that doesn't take us back into Capricorn. It is fully within those first three degrees of Aquarius that this retrograde will take place.

And so there's a bit more of a refinement and a focus on that whole-sign house of Aquarius and the early gifts that Pluto has been offering us.

Pluto, as a planet, brings this depth and power and revision and regeneration—like death and rebirth is a phrase that I get sick of, you know, but it's not inaccurate either, which is why I continue to use it.

Because in some ways, there's just nothing more accurate to describe what Pluto does than to bring things up that are hidden and unseen, that are released with transformative and sometimes destructive force.

And then through that process, there's often a remaking and a rebirthing or a redesigning of things that happens. And it's a very fertile process, but it's like to turn over that soil is also—there's some upheaval that's related to it.

So, you know, we're gonna—again, we'll take a look at that through horoscopes this week. But early things—I would say one question that we could all start asking ourselves as Pluto starts retrograde this week is:

What paradigms of thought and what ideas have been shifting or changing in our lives along the Pluto in Aquarius timeline?

So, you know, at least since November-ish of 2024 up until now, it's kind of like, what paradigmatic changes have been taking place in that whole-sign house of Aquarius?

What ideas have we been revising or rethinking? What structures of thought or paradigms are opening? Or what kinds of upheavals, disruptions, and regeneration has been taking place, especially with respect to the ideas by means of which we live our lives?

All air signs, especially Aquarius, really point to thoughts and thought structures and how they inform our lives on so many levels, including things like technology and so forth. But we'll get to that later.

I think the most appropriate way of thinking about Pluto in Aquarius, the sort of most general thing I could ask myself would be:

How are the ideas that shape my life changing or evolving? And you know, there's a lot to consider there. So we will, again, visit that with some special horoscopes this week.

I think it's a good time to reflect on—well, the end of the week will feature a first quarter moon. I'm not spending time with that, but that first quarter moon in Leo will also bring up some of the tension between the Leo-Aquarius axis.

So even though Mars and Pluto are separating, you know, they're still in a whole-sign opposition, with Pluto turning retrograde, there may still be a little lingering feeling of the Mars-Pluto dynamic this week in the wake of that transformative encounter between the two planets.

Like, what are we learning? What are we implementing? What changes are still coming through? So we'll thread that into our discussion of Mars and Pluto—or Pluto retrograde—as the week goes on.

Anyhow, so that is it for today. You will stay tuned for more on Venus-Neptune, and then astrology for the month ahead, and then horoscopes.

And then we'll round off the week with Pluto in Aquarius retrograde horoscopes as well. So that is it. After I sign off, stick around to learn more about the upcoming Year One program, Ancient Astrology for the Modern Mystic.

A one-year course in ancient Hellenistic astrology with elements of modern archetypal astrology involved in the entire program. It's a wonderful program for people who take the next step with their astrological journey.

I think it's good for everyone at some point to study in community, in a structured program with a teacher that you feel aligned with. For me, it's been important to have a few of those along the way.

But I think there's nothing better you could give yourself than the gift of being able to read more and do more on your own as an astrologer, while always having trusted guides and resources.

It's wonderful to develop that within yourself. So anyway, I'll leave it there. Stick around for more on the program, and we'll see you again tomorrow. Bye.