Breaking the Cycle: April’s Most Karmic Week + A New Moon in Taurus to Manifest Again

This isn't your typical Taurus New Moon—expect fated endings, explosive energy, and a deep call to self-responsibility. Astrology this week isn’t soft, but it is necessary.

Finally, after a long, grueling period of eclipses and retrogrades, it is now safe to manifest and set intentions again!

We have a New Moon in Taurus coming up on Sunday, 27th April—a great time to resume your manifestation practice. But this New Moon is surrounded by chaotic energy that builds throughout the week. Unfortunately, it won’t carry the usual soft, luxurious, and pleasurable Taurus quality we typically associate with this sign.

Not going to lie to you—this week is tough. We’re dealing with heavy, explosive energy as some of the malefic planets come into contact. Don’t be surprised if you feel like you’re losing your grip. The energy could make you feel as though everything is out of your control. The key takeaway this week is self-reliance. With Saturn—the planet of discipline—in focus, you're being asked to mature and take responsibility for your choices, your dreams, and your future. This week may highlight where you’ve been too dependent on others and where you now need to step up, apply discipline, and hold yourself accountable and responsible for your decisions. It’s time to stop pointing fingers and start taking action—Saturn has no patience for victimhood.

Tough week ahead, tough lessons ahead.

I don’t enjoy writing about how difficult astrology can be, but I believe in offering a realistic account. Those of you who’ve followed me for a while now, know I strive for balance—I’m not one of those ‘everything is magical!’ social media astrologers because that’s just not true. I always say: real astrology is not for the faint of heart. Astrology is the study of time, and time is complex. Life is complex. Why would astrology be all fairy dust and rainbows?

That said, astrology is poetic—though not always in a positive way. This week has already shown us that with the sad and unexpected passing of the Pope (I’ll go into why that is later in the article).

Heads up: this article may be difficult to read if you're already feeling sensitive. Sometimes you don’t want to read about how tough lessons lie ahead when you’re already going through it—I get that. And yes, this is another long article, (I know, I know—my articles are always long lol), but this is an extra-long edition because this is one of the most karmic weeks of April, maybe even 2025.

My advice? Stick to plans or a routine and stay as grounded as you can. I’m not fear-mongering, but with the transits unfolding from Wednesday to Sunday, I personally wouldn’t be going anywhere unfamiliar or staying out late alone. Anger and frustration are peaking, and not everyone will exercise the same self-control you might...

On the flip side, even if you’re safe and sound at home, this week, you’ll either be experiencing a breakdown or a breakthrough. That will depend on you of course and where these transits are happening for you, as well as your personal placements—Mars is in Leo, the Sun is in Taurus, Pluto is in Aquarius, Venus and Saturn are in Pisces. If any of these signs show up in your Big 3 or even Big 6, you’ll feel the impact more intensely.

To be honest, everyone will feel the heat, no matter what your sign is. The coming energy is intense and nothing to play with! And as someone who’s experienced life-altering breakdowns, I can tell you that tough transits like this often push us toward necessary transformation—sometimes necessary to force you to change or move—even if you don’t like it. The Sun in Taurus might want to resist change, but the other planets are pushing you—hard.

We’re also coming off one of the most karmic transits of the year, overlapping with this week’s chaos: the North Node’s conjunction with Saturn in Pisces (a rare event that happens roughly once a decade) on April 21st, the effect of which will last all week. This is your karma unfolding.

Also worth noting: with both the Sun and Saturn in challenging positions, keep an eye on the health of your parents or grandparents—especially father figures. Saturn represents the elderly and the Sun represents authority figures, including father or grandfather.

Okay are you still with me? Good, now let’s take a deep breath and go through the astrology of the week.

Monday 21st April: North Node conjuncts Saturn in Pisces

Though this exact transit peaked yesterday, its influence is felt all week—so pay attention to what unfolds. This can be a powerful new chapter if you let it.

I haven’t done a full breakdown of the North Node yet (an article is coming), but for now, know that it represents a karmic point of destiny. Its placement in your birth chart shows where your soul is being called to grow. When it meets Saturn—the planet of time, discipline, and structure—we’re dealing with a karmic, fated beginning.

As we know, beginnings don’t come without endings.

When you have both the North-Node (fate and destiny) and Saturn (karma) joining together, in the sign of Pisces nonetheless (one of the most spiritual signs of the zodiac)—the message is this: the Universe is exposing deeply rooted karmic cycles that invites you to break the cycle or stay trapped in the loop.

If you’ve felt like you carry the burden of family karma, karma passed down from generations before you, this is your chance to end the cycle. If you can identify the unhealthy pattern, this transit is giving you the opportunity to rewrite your story, as long as you have the courage to do things differently—Saturn only rewards you once you’ve put the work in.

This week, Saturn will show you exactly where you’ve been trapped in the past and where you’ve attached yourself to a karmic pattern that you need to release in order to move forward. Where have you overstayed your welcome and why is it your comfort zone? It’s difficult to do the thing that’s different, to actively choose the path unknown, but if you genuinely want a new beginning, this week is your chance. Real change requires courage.

This goes back to what I said earlier: self-reliance. Where can you carve a new path for yourself or your family? Where can you reclaim your independence? You don’t have to carry the burden of family expectation or family karma. Let it go.

It’s time to get serious about what you really want in your life, that’s the point of this transit—the reason why this week is karmic. Use the energy to help fuel the vision you have for your future. Saturn can equal severance, which means you may be challenged with a major decision that brings a necessary ending to something you’ve been clinging onto for too long. I didn’t say this was going to be easy.

That ending could show up in various ways for you personally. But I’ll bet for the majority of you, this is to do with your relationships. Why? Because Saturn also meets Venus in Pisces on Friday morning (1:05am BST). This will bring a major relationship decision to the forefront—will you commit or is it time to end it once and for all?

We’re talking karmic love. Are they really ‘The One’ or just someone you’re comfortable with? Are you afraid of losing them—or afraid of change?

Saturn wants you to be honest with yourself—if you’ve outgrown them, it’s time to let go. If the relationship is stuck in a cycle of repeated patterns, this is your chance to end it. Either way, Saturn wants your decision.

Besides relationships, Venus also rules finances. With Saturn involved, debts may come knocking. Unexpected expenses or overdue payments could surface. It’s time to get serious about money and financial planning.

Wednesday 23rd April: Sun squares Pluto (6:10pm BST)

If the above wasn’t enough to deal with, we hit Sun square Pluto—and it’s only Wednesday!

The Sun in Taurus squares Pluto in Aquarius—an aspect of intense pressure and transformation. The Sun represents your identity, ego, career, and sense of purpose. As I mentioned earlier, it can also signify people in positions of authority, world leaders, fathers, grandfathers, powerful celebrities etc. Pluto on the other hand, represents death & rebirth, destruction, power dynamics, sex, taboo topics, things that are hidden, secrets.

Collectively, we may see shocking news related to leadership, celebrity scandals, or topics involving control, sexuality, or corruption. Personally, you could be dealing with unresolved trauma or hidden feelings that are resurfacing. You may be dealing with life-threatening health issues of someone close to you, or finding out secrets from close ones that alter your entire perspective—I will say, the truth can be a gift, even when it’s not a truth you want to hear.

Collectively and personally, this transit will bring themes of power dynamics, particularly power struggles, to the surface. This could be internal struggle. The Sun is linked with your career and goals, meaning you could be feeling frustrated with your progress (or lack of) this week. It may be helpful to reflect on where you’ve been doing the same thing for too long. How can you switch things up? Don’t be afraid to move in a different direction.

Sunday 27th April: Mars opposes Pluto (2:05am BST) | New Moon in Taurus (8:32pm BST)

Mars opposes Pluto:

And so we’ve come to the final boss. This is like entering the final round of the fight before the game is complete. Mars in Leo, opposes Pluto in Aquarius. Mars represents drive, passion, action, violence, explosions, guns, knives, separation, cutting, fire. Apply these themes with what I said about Pluto and you can start picturing the potential outcome…

At the time this is going to take place, the moon will be in Aries, the sign Mars rules and feels very comfortable to do its job. We have double fire—moon in Aries and Mars in Leo—highly volatile. Now you know why I said I’ll be trying to keep myself to myself this week!

Don’t take the bait. Do not react. It’s not worth it, not with this energy at play!

This is triggering. You may have already started to feel the tension either around you or within you. Whenever we have Leo and Pluto in the conversation, we are talking about ego and control. Leo in it’s shadow expression, can be egotistical and known for wanting success for the wrong reasons i.e. doing anything to be famous or rich. Add Pluto to that and the question becomes, are you acting with integrity, or hiding a self-serving agenda? Perhaps this isn’t you, and maybe you notice others around you, be it colleagues, business partners or friends, manipulating an outcome—exposing their hidden motive.

New Moon in Taurus:

If you’ve made it this far then you’ll know why this won’t be your typical calm and sensual Taurus New Moon.

Because of the difficult aspects from the Sun and Mars to Pluto, this lunation is charged with tension. These are both important to factor in for this New Moon because a New Moon is when the Sun and Moon are together in the sky. So now the New Moon is also comprised in the same difficult aspect as the planets aforementioned.

That doesn’t mean all hope is lost and you can’t manifest—it just means your intentions need to be grounded and realistic.

Taurus is ruled by Venus, and as we've discussed, Venus is meeting the karmic North Node–Saturn conjunction. Your manifestations must be rooted in the new beginning you want, with a solid plan behind it. This isn’t one of those New Moons where I’d advise you to write down anything and everything you want. This New Moon asks for practicality—is what you’re manifesting tangible? Have you made space for it? Remember Saturn is here, and he is the disciplinary—your manifestation can come true as long as you’ve proven that you’re willing to put the work in to achieve it.

Pope Francis (1936-2025)

At the start of this article, I mentioned how astrology can be poetic, and not always in the pleasant way. The passing of Pope Francis is a prime example—and astrologers around the world are reflecting on its symbolism.

If you’ve noticed, I’ve been talking about an end of an era in my articles for some time now. This is mainly due to Pluto in Aquarius as well as the anticipated life-changing astrology of 2025, particularly last month in March.

One thing to note about Pluto is that it’s one of the slower moving planets that effects a generation—also why it’s known to correlate with the collapsing of empires and old societal structures. When an empire or an old structure is starting to collapse, the sign of the times is typically the fall of a leader, and in this case that’s Pope Francis. Pope Francis' death marks the close of one spiritual epoch and the dawn of a new one.

The timing? Not a coincidence.

His death came right as Saturn met the North Node in Pisces—a sign tied to spirituality, religion, and divine wisdom. Saturn represents both elderhood and father figures. Pope Francis was seen by many as a spiritual father and at the time of his death, he had fulfilled his spiritual calling, his purpose.

The Sun also crossed his chart’s Midheaven (his public legacy point) at the time of his passing, shining a light on his legacy—there was bound to be news about him made public on this day. Additionally, he has Uranus, the planet of sudden shock, sitting near the same position the Sun highlighted. His Moon and Venus are both in Aquarius, with Pluto (planet of death and rebirth) currently transiting there. The Aquarian energy in his personal planets speaks to why he was a leader for the people, and why the collective loved him. He was also born with his Saturn in Pisces—poetic as Saturn is currently in Pisces, Pisces is also the last sign in the zodiac, representing endings. In fact, his Saturn sits in the 8th house—the house of death and endings. The astrology is hauntingly poetic.

And here’s where it gets deeper.

I’ve been informing you in the past few articles about the change that Neptune in Aries will bring. I’ve discussed this in my article here, but also during a podcast feature which you find here. Neptune rules Pisces and represents some of the same themes: religion, spirituality, but also illusion, delusion and fogginess. Neptune leaving Pisces and entering Aries was a major transit of this year, one that’s going to leave a lasting effect for years to come.

Neptune’s shift into Aries ends the dreamy, optimistic hope that we had in Pisces. Pope Francis’ death aligning with this shift signifies the end of that era. What’s coming next will look very different. Aries brings directness, disruption, and personal power and pair that with Pluto in Aquarius (power given to the people), old ways of doing things are gone. Old societal systems and frameworks are dead. This is a new religion, a new faith, a new era.

This is one of the most historic shifts we’ve just experienced. Pope Francis' passing is the symbolic goodbye to that Piscean era of faith.

Whew. We made it to the end.

This was a heavy one, and not easy to write with so many intense transits in play. But here’s the truth: this week may be karmic and unpredictable, but you do have control over how you respond.

Let what needs to fall, fall. Let what needs to end, end.

Because beyond the chaos is a powerful opportunity: a clean slate, a new path, a future of your own making. This week gives you the opportunity to put the past in the past for good so you can enjoy your new beginning and more importantly, make it last.