You have a powerful emphasis on your career and on your living situation in April, and as eager as you may be to make improvements in those areas, you will need to be patient. Retrograde planets will make it necessary to watch and wait, rather than make any binding promises or announcements now. You will also need to be agile as unexpected developments might come up out of left field mid-month. Dear Cancer, I know you want to hear things are rock solid and not shifting, but they are underway, and until you see which way things are going, you won’t have all the information you need to make an informed decision. All signs will be feeling this changeable atmosphere, not just you, so take comfort in that truth.

Let’s look at your career first. Last month you had the most important new moon of the year on March 27 to bring opportunity to your tenth house of honors, awards, and achievement. That new moon opened a portal of energy that would allow you to establish yourself on a new level in your industry, and all depended on actions you took in March’s last week, or will take in April’s first week. You might be interviewing for a top position, taking on a new high-profile role in an industry group, or if self-employed, be busy pitching a new, prestigious client, as three of many possible examples of how you are taking advantage of this new moon.

Winning your new position will not prove to be easy, as you have considerable competition, as seen by the position of Pluto to that new moon. A candidate who wants the same job you do may be ready to pull out all the stops and do almost anything to get it, even if his tactics prove to be unfair. It is alternatively possible that this aspect will manifest in a different way, that you and your partner (a romantic or business partner) may not to seeing eye to eye, and as a result, you may be feeling intense pressure to comply to your partner’s demands. If you don’t want to agree to what you are being asked to do, continue to speak up for yourself or consider leaving. I wrote about that new moon of March 27 (which will affect you for a while) in the main body of your March forecast and in the Summary too. As you begin April, you may still be dealing with this pressured situation I referred to. I hope not – you may have already taken care of it.

(A point of information: You can always read the previous month’s forecast. On my website AstrologyZone.com online, look to the bottom of the Cancer forecast pages and on every page, you will a blue box that reads View Previous Month. On my apps, you can also see your previous month’s forecast and here is how to do that: Once you are in the current monthly forecast, swipe left to see the previous month’s horoscope I wrote for you.)

Mars is the natural ruler of your solar tenth house of career fame and honors, and Mars is now in Taurus, until April 21, touring your house of friendship and groups. This means that your friendships, casual contacts, and membership in a club can have a strong influence on your career progress now. It will be important to mix with others to get tips and industry intel. Go to trades shows, attend professional club events, and have lunch with colleagues who are in your industry and in the know. Your friends and contacts will be the golden key to unlock some of your greatest career opportunities. If you have business cards of people you had meant to follow up on seeing, now is the time to do it – before Mars leaves on April 21.

Once Mars leaves Taurus, it will enter Gemini and fill a very private part of your chart, the twelfth house. This house is perfect for building strategy in secret, and for working quietly but intently on a project that is not ready yet to show the world. It seems you need to keep certain business plans under wraps, lest a competitor find out what you are doing and mobilize to copy your idea. You seem to have more work to do on this project, and you should wait until Mars tours Cancer from June 4 to July 20 to launch your new project and start speaking about it publically.

Now let’s look at your home life, which will be your focus at the full moon on April 10, in Libra 22 degrees. That full moon is certainly a little gremlin. On one hand, the full moon will enter majestically holding the arm of the dignified planet of good fortune, Jupiter. That is as good as it gets, for Jupiter is likely to give you enormous luck in any matter involving home, real estate, property, or any projects you have that you are focused on to improve your home. You will have strong family support for your ideas too,

However, the universe is about to throw everyone a curve ball at that full moon. At the very same time of the full moon, April 10, Uranus, planet of unexpected events, will be directly opposed to that delicate moon and Jupiter, and likely bringing on a jarring, sudden incident that you won’t expect. It is likely to involve an assignment, say, when a project goes off the rails, or when management issues an announcement that comes out of left field. However, Uranus is going after that moon, so the surprise may affect your home life and your money seems to be affected. You may need to spend money you had not anticipated for your business or for your home / family, as the Sun will be conjunct Uranus, and the Sun and Uranus both rule your solar financial houses. You may have to pay something or find a new source of income.

At that full moon you will have to quickly split your attention between your home and family and your job. Doing this will require a lot of your strength. At the same time, watch the health of your mother and father, or a person you think of as a parent, lest your beloved relative may need assistance from you too. This is quite a complex full moon with all kinds of contradictions. It’s good that Jupiter is in your house of home, protecting your parents, so don’t freak out reading this.

You will have one other positive aspect from Saturn on the full moon, April 10. Saturn, from his perch in your solar sixth house of work projects, will rush in to help you, as he is in the perfect place in the sky (mathematically) to offer a stabilizing effect on your career reputation and help you keep the ship from rocking in regard to your team, a subordinate, or a project. (One of these areas would likely be the area of consideration.) Your ruler is the moon, so you will feel this full moon directly, and the moon will be temporarily under siege by Uranus but helped by Jupiter and Saturn. If your birthday falls on or close to July 14, you will notice something is up. I feel you will be able to take care of the matter well.

    After a month of lots of concentration on important career matters and on your living quarters / family matters, you’ll need something happy to look forward to doing, where you can relax and unwind socially. It is coming, dear Cancer, with the lyrical new moon in Taurus, April 26. From that day on, you’ll be out with friends, and ready to hit the dance floor, moving your hips to the sound of the music.

Here is why I feel that way. Had Jupiter not entered arm-in-arm with the full moon, the effects of the full moon would play out very differently and be quite upsetting. Yet benefic Jupiter WILL be conjunct that tender full moon, protecting her fiercely, and that makes all the difference this month. You are holding strong cards, dear Cancer, so you can turn things to your favor with a bit of agility to show quick reaction time. Full moons deliver news, but the good part is that full moons demand an instant response, and then they are over.

After a month of lots of concentration on important work and living quarters / family matters, you’ll need something happy to look forward to, where you can relax and unwind socially. It is coming, dear Cancer, with the lyrical new moon in Taurus, 6 degrees, April 26. That new moon will receive shimmering beams from heavenly Neptune, the planet of imagination, inspiration, creativity, and love. Any event you go to should be quite dream-like. Saturn will also be involved in a helpful way, so if you make a new friend, you are likely to become bonded for a long time. This new moon will do what Mars was hoping to do for you earlier in the month, to get you out and about, to meet new people, and to follow up on those contacts.

If your birthday falls on June 28, plus or minus four days, you will benefit the most socially from this new moon. The same would be true if you have Cancer rising 6 degrees, the natal moon in that sign and degree, or a natal planet in Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces at 6 degrees.

I had written in the start of your April forecast that retrograde planets will make the going slow this month, and that you would have to be patient. Now I will explain which planets I was referring to when I said that. Venus is still retrograde, a holdover from last month, when Venus first went retrograde March 5 in your house of prestigious career matters. Venus will continue to retrograde until April 15. Even though Venus will awaken on April 15, she will, like many people who just wake up, take time to reach peak performance. For Venus, that return to former strength will occur on May 18.

Put off all plans for plastic surgery or experimental dermatological treatments. Venus has a lot to do with how you look, so for example, hold off on buying new sunglasses or dramatically changing the way you wear your hair, or its color. To be clear, you can continue to do normal grooming – trims and hair touch-ups are fine, but make no dramatic, radical changes until May, ideally after May 18.

Venus is the icing on the cake of life, for this graceful planet rules all that beautifies and embellishes, but when Venus retrogrades, you go to a more no-nonsense, Spartan mode. Venus rules expensive jewelry, flowers, wine, perfume, parties, love, and affection. It might not be the best idea to buy an expensive diamond or emerald ring, for example, or to have a lavish charity benefit.

It’s best not to start a new love relationship now, either, so focus on career and home-related developments for now. Venus happens to be retrograde IN your house of career, so things there will slow down. However, Venus RULES your fourth house of home, causing stoppages there too. In terms of home or needed decisions retaining to your parents, you may feel like you are not making enough progress, but I believe you will see movement as a result of the April 10 full moon.

As I said, there’ll be a twist you have to be ready to address regarding home or family, but overall, you are under good aspects for moving ahead. It could be as simple as the proposed buyer of your house – who has given you an attractive bid – may come back to say he is having problems getting a mortgage approved for your house. Or, it may be that you discover through his appraiser that you need to make an unexpected repair on your house before you can close the sale.

Not only will Venus be retrograde, but Mercury will also be retrograde too this month from April 9 to May 3. Like his sister Venus, Mercury does not wake up immediately upon turning direct – it will take Mercury until May 20 next month to become back to former strength.

Mercury covers communication, negotiation, contracts, shipping, and the mail, both post office mail and email. Mercury also rules all electronics, such as computers, tablets, smart phones, flat screen TVs, expensive Dr. Dre headphones, and the like. It’s not wise to buy any new electronics, for later you may find the product does not bring you the pleasure you had anticipated it would, for any number of reasons. Do not sign a contract or announce any big decisions, for the conditions around you are changing, and later, if you made a big commitment, you will have to change or renegotiate the contract – and that is assuming if you would even want to stay in the situation at all.

I wrote an article called “All You Need to Know about Mercury Retrograde,” found on my homepage of AstrologyZone.com, on the lower left side, near the end of the page. If you have my premium app, you can find it on the menu under Life + Love, and then once inside that section, go to Susan’s Essays.

According to research statistics my team gives me, we know that many readers are checking their monthly forecasts on the Internet on their smart phone browsers, but there is a better, easier way to view my monthly forecasts. Download my fee app called “Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone Daily Horoscope” on Apple App Store or Google Play – find it by simply searching for Susan Miller. You will recognize my app icon by seeing the deep blue square with white letters: AZ. You will get my monthly reports in their entirety for each of the 12 signs plus a free daily horoscope for each of the 12 signs, too.

If once you are inside my free app, you decide to you buy a subscription to my premium version for $4.99 for one month, you will get all my essays and articles, the monthly horoscope too, and best of all, my long, detailed daily horoscopes for each sign. Each Sunday, in place of just a daily horoscope, I show you a forecast for the week ahead and how to best use the week for maximum productivity and enjoyment. Whether you opt for my free or premium paid app, you will always get my free monthly forecast for all 12 signs. Check yours, or your partner’s, read your mom’s outlook or the one for a friend. You can also send a friend a link to show them something you read. In January, my app made finalist in the Mobile Excellence Awards in two categories: Best User Experience and Best Content. It was exciting going to the awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Check out my app – your eyes will thank you, for it’s easier to read your horoscope and access reports on my app.

Pressures at work are mounting as a result of the recent new moon in Aries at the end of March, and everyone, of every sign, is feeling those stressors in different ways. Saturn was in hard angle to that new moon, and because Saturn is in your workaday sector, it seems part of the problem is too few people are in the department to get the assignment out. This means everyone will likely have to shoulder more responsibility for a while, possibly making most workers cranky or overtired. This is a situation that will go on for several months before it will be fully resolved, so pace yourself, dear Cancer.

Management may not have the funds to hire more recruits, or, if you are self-employed, you may not be able to find qualified, experienced, affordable workers to pitch in. You’ll have to use ingenuity to bring about a resolve. The key may come from a friend who seems to have an original yet practical idea that you may be able to use. Additionally, if you belong to a professional society, Mars’ position suggests that one of the members can give you a great idea to solve your staffing situation.

The full moon of April 10 will find you pulled in two directions, between needing to give erratic demands from clients or management at work and wanting to enjoy the positive, comforting situation culminating at home. Your living space or a family member, most likely a parent, seems to be on your mind. It is clear that home will win all your attention at this full moon. Your family adores you, so nestled in their presence is where you will likely find a cozy haven against the volatile forces your workaday world. Uranus is opposition the full moon to tight degree, so your nerves are likely to be on edge near or on April 10. Every one of every sign will feel the tension, but fortunately Jupiter is prominent too, and will add a soothing element You may feel your life is in very high contrast this month, with home bringing good news, but work bringing a cascade of challenges that have to be solved instantly as they come up within four days of April 10.

With Mars moving into Gemini and your twelfth house on April 21, see if you can work outside the office during the rest of the month through the first week of June. You might want to work at home, in your home office, or at the library, away from the dramas that appear to be bubbling up regularly at the office.

Let’s pivot now to the social activity you can look forward to doing this month, which will bring exciting news after the new moon of April 26 arrives, plus ten days. It seems you are getting ready to enjoy a festive event with friends. It might be that you will be attending a wedding, birthday party, or victory party for friend who won a promotion. Whatever it is, you will be able to kick back and relax. In coming weeks and months, you will be able to join friends more often, as this new moon will open up your schedule in subsequent weeks and allow you more free time to enjoy friends.

Venus has been retrograde since last month, March 4, and will go direct on April 15. It will take a little extra time beyond April 15 for Venus to be strong and helpful again. Venus governs beauty and affection, so April’s first three weeks would not be a time to look for someone new to date, or to make any dramatic changes to your appearance. Follow along on tried and true skin care program rather than experiment, and don’t book a new dermatological treatment, and avoid scheduling plastic surgery. Save those actions for May, when better aspects prevail. Venus is the natural ruler of your home sector, too, so you may change your mind about a vacation home you want to rent, or in your choice of roommate, as two examples. Make no firm choices involving a living space or the care of an elderly family member. This is a month to think, and not act quite yet.

Making things more complicated, Mercury will be retrograde too, from April 9 to May 3. Don’t rail against delays – go with them. Mercury will retrograde in your career and friendship house. Professionally, you’ll have to go over old ground and change projects to fit new dictates from the client or management. Socially, however, you’ll enjoy a benefit of Mercury retrograde because Mercury will be moving backward in your friendship sector, so you’ll see at least one beloved friend you’ve not seen in a long time. It will be exciting to catch up and share stories.