Astrology Unbound with Evan Nathaniel Grim

Cosmic Clarity Returns: What Mercury and Venus Direct Mean for Your Relationships

• Evan Nathaniel Grim

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Mercury retrograde ends on April 7th, with Venus following on April 12th, concluding a four-month period of personal planet retrogrades that began in November 2024.

• Mercury direct in Pisces conjunct Saturn and North Node brings clarity for creative pursuits and spiritual practices
• Venus retrograde until April 12th means still reflecting on relationships, values, and finances
• Contracts and negotiations should be approached with caution until after April 12th
• Current transits encourage making decisions focused on long-term success rather than short-term gratification
• Relationships now require serious evaluation – visualize if you see yourself with your partner years into the future
• Upcoming Libra Full Moon on April 12th offers illumination and catharsis around relationship matters
• Saturn-Venus conjunction teaches that all relationships require work, investment and compromise
• Inner circles should be tightened, prioritizing relationships worth nurturing for many years

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Speaker 1:

Hey, there, it's Evan Nathaniel Grimm, and welcome to the latest episode of Astrology Unbound, and today I'm going to talk about the end of Mercury retrograde and, very soon, venus retrograde. That's right, these retrogrades are finally ending and it's actually really bringing us to the end of a four-month stint of retrogrades among the personal planets. So we have a lot of reasons to celebrate, but also a lot of reasons to continue to exercise caution. So, before I start, be sure to subscribe to my Substack newsletter. This is where I post my manifestation guides, intention setting rituals. I also provide recorded manifestation and release rituals. In particular, a release ritual I did last March will definitely be relevant again on this upcoming Libra full moon on April 12th, so definitely check that out. Also, I offer predictions on my sub stack. Many of my world predictions have come true. So, especially at a time right now where there's a lot of tumultuousness, you want to keep track of what's going on and what's coming. Also, there is still time to download my 2025 horoscopes and that's because you know there's still nine months left in the year and if you'd like to keep track of you know the new and full moons coming up throughout this year and to get a really in-depth look at the rest of 2025 so that you can plan ahead. Download those videos now.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so pretty much I think everyone who's listening to this right now is now living in a post-Mercury retrograde world. So Mercury will station direct on April 7th at 4.07 am Pacific time. This is, you know, at the very end of a three-week retrograde that started March 14th, and Venus will follow suit on April 12th. So by the end of this week, we will no longer have any personal planets retrograde. This is the first time, essentially since late November, that this phenomenon is happening again. So Mercury stationed retrograde in the previous cycle on November 25th of 2024. And then, shortly after that, mars went retrograde and it was retrograde for a really long time, about 80 days and then Venus went retrograde a week later. So there was a little pocket of time where, at the end of February, where no planets were retrograde, but that was very brief and if you include the pre-shadow phase of Venus, it was very much. You know, still in the thick of the retrogrades. We're finally coming to a conclusion of this again four-plus month period of one of the personal planets retrograding, and we're going to start off with Mercury.

Speaker 1:

Mercury now is direct as of the time you're listening to this, most likely so, with Mercury direct in Pisces, you can have more clarity on what you'd like to do creatively, what you'd like to do with your spiritual practices, what you'd like to do creatively, what you'd like to do with your spiritual practices, how you'd like to incorporate your spiritual practices into your daily life. You might have, I mean, a sharper cognition generally, also an ability to you know, understand the sequence and processes behind things and to finalize those contracts, make those big decisions. Venus does continue to retrograde, though, through April 12th. So I would be cautious still about contracts, because you know Venus has a lot to do with negotiations and you know interpersonal relations and money, and so, with Venus retrograde until the 12th, it's like Mercury direct does allow you to read the fine print, navigate more convoluted documents and the nuances of a situation, but Venus being retrograde is still a time to reflect on the types of people you maybe want to go into business with in the first place or the types of people you want to date or be in a relationship with or friends with. So that is just the rub, I would say, and the slight cautionary tale. Also, mercury is direct now on the North Node and Saturn, and Saturn is about the long term. It moves slow and steady. So Mercury conjunct Saturn over the next week still is a chance for you to take things slow and so make a few big decisions maybe, or focus in on a few processes or work streams. Don't try to do everything and for some of you, feel free to take an extra week to meditate or ruminate on something. And because Venus retrograde is continuing, like I said, you might not know yet who you want to actually interface with to, let's say, sign a contract, sign a deal or enter a relationship with or whatever. Mercury retrograde or sorry, mercury direct in Pisces might also conjunct Saturn, lead some of you to actually start talking to someone again or, in the reverse case, to close off communication with someone. Some of you might decide I want to take a break from this person, officially or no, I want to open up a conversation with them again, on the grounds that we're finally going to settle something that's been, you know, gnawing away at us for a long time.

Speaker 1:

And also, with Pisces, dealing with deception, delusion, illusion and in some cases there could be lies that are exposed. People may have to come clean to you about something. And in Pisces dealing with addiction some people might come clean about an addiction they have or in some cases, people who maybe were able to suppress that or stave off that addictive behavior end up. I don't know, it's kind of a delicate subject but you know, some people might admit that you know they've relapsed or that they have struggled again with, you know, an addiction. And in other cases I think about Pisces as actually dealing a lot with like mental health, and in a lot of ways that's because Pisces is so diffuse energetically and open to other people's feelings, and so Pisces people with a lot of Pisces placements can be almost subjected to the emotions of others and the energy of others, and so they can become and take on almost the persona or the emotions of other people and mirror those energies and that can lead to, you know, a range of different mental health afflictions.

Speaker 1:

But with the retrograde or with the direct motion conjunct Saturn, some people might be resolving as of now to finally tackle a mental health issue they've had or to tackle an addiction they've had, or to find a different way to achieve either mental or spiritual well-being. So it can be very productive but it sometimes will require you to kind of openly admit something to yourself like, oh, I need to face this or I need to finally deal with this, or you know, this is more serious than I expected and you know the South Node is in Virgo, with Mercury dispositing that South Node. So I do think a lot of people are coming to terms with, maybe, some health choices. They've made health decisions, they have to recalibrate and Mercury is trining Mars right now. So a lot of people might also come out of the gates of this retrograde with a really clear plan of action and you might again move really quickly on something and decide that you want to finish writing the book after all, or you want to seek out this new job offer or whatever. And I think, with Mercury conjunct the North Node, ideally you know right now what you need to be focused on, what you need to be working on, and the conjunction of Saturn is showing you what you need to be focused on in the long term. So Saturn delays gratification in the immediate term to really preserve our interest long term and help us achieve the best possible outcome in the long run.

Speaker 1:

Because, as human beings who are trying to survive, we mostly think about how to minimize short-term pain and maximize short-term pleasure, right Like. That's how most mammals operate. We obviously have the cognition, as opposed to most mammals, to consider our long-term interests, you know, to envision a future at all. I mean, you know, most animals are living in that sort of day-to-day sort of minute-by-minute sort of need, primal need. But human beings obviously can exercise long-term judgment and obviously animals can think long-term in certain ways when they're like migrating to different parts of the world in anticipation of certain seasons, certain seasons, but I'm just saying like, human beings are able to withhold pleasure.

Speaker 1:

And you know, for the sake of success over time, and you know, when Venus and Saturn and the North Node were last aligned in 2013, september 2013, I actually quit a job that I'd started very like recently. Before that, I quit a job after like three weeks and moved across the country for the sake of the fact that all my friends had moved to New York and whatnot. So, anyways, it was really painful to leave the job that I had in LA at the time. But by giving that job up, I knew that I was taking a short-term hit to not having a salary for a few weeks, or even a month or so or whatever it was, but I knew I would eventually find a job in New York and the job that I found in New York was at a lower salary. So I did sacrifice all that prep work I had done before to get that job right out of college. But I knew that if I got my foot in the door in New York, where all my friends were, I would sort of build a better life, and I do believe that it was the right choice, even though I eventually moved to LA anyways. Seven years later I was in New York for seven years, so I think it molded me into the man I am today.

Speaker 1:

Could be that you decide to leave a certain employment prospect behind so that you pursue your entrepreneurial path. Or maybe you break up with somebody and accept the fact that you're going to be alone for a bit, but it's going to teach you a lot about yourself and you'll find someone better eventually. Maybe other people will end up signing a contract that is really robust and stable and long-term. Maybe some people will reinforce their vows and their commitments to a partner, because I'm not saying that this is breakup season. It's not like everybody's breaking up. It's just that everyone is having to make these Saturnian long-term commitments. So if you meditate on it and you visualize the partner you currently have, and if you can't see yourself with them seven years from now or five years from now, then you probably will end the relationship. But if you've been struggling a lot with your partner and going up and down, but you can see the vision, you still see the vision and why you're with them, then I think you'll still hold on to that and maintain that conviction and you'll come out of April really feeling confident in the stability of that connection.

Speaker 1:

And I say the end of April not because the retrogrades are secretly continuing until the end of April, but because Venus and Saturn are going to be aligned throughout this month. Because even though Venus retrograde ends in five days from now, it's going to stay right there with Saturn, because when it stations it slows down. So don't expect to have all of your relationship questions necessarily resolved in five days, however, some of you will. Some of you will have it resolved and you will know, hey, this is who I'm meant to be with and you know we're're gonna make it work. But, like throughout the month, you're just like working out the kinks. So, but thank God, mercury retrograde is done, at least the conversations you have with people are more forward looking.

Speaker 1:

Generally, again, cognition has returned to a state of coherence. But the retrogrades are not just all negative. I mean Mercury retrograde is a time to bring yourself back to center relative to that Mercury transit. So Mercury direct in Pisces can sometimes get lost in the sauce, in the fog in the you know it can get disoriented, honestly, can lose sight of the details. But Mercury retrograde in Pisces is actually forcing us to think about how maybe sometimes we deceive ourselves or we gloss over certain details. And so now that Mercury is direct, especially conjunct Saturn, you can be very discerning and very conjunct Saturn. You can be very discerning and very you can be a critical thinker, right and like in a bigger way, because you've re-centered yourself and said and you've or you found the balance between this Piscean imaginative sort of energy and then Saturn's practical, no-nonsense energy. So maybe you combine these energies to be really serious about a creative project or something or a creative contract, a business contract in a creative context. So praise the fact that the north node is right there Because, again, whatever you're giving up or whatever relationship you're giving up, whatever contraction you're experiencing or retraction where you're retracing your steps or pulling back or letting something go, closing something off. I think it's all you know. Again, it's all for the better, it's helping you evolve right With the North Node.

Speaker 1:

And you know, subscribe to my sub stack, by the way, to watch a live show that I just did, which I do every Sunday night, where I actually talked about the Venus-Saturn cycle through the lens of the previous Great Recession we had in 2007, 2008, 2009. And you'll definitely want to look at that, because I talk about markets a little bit, or at least the economy generally, and I look at the transits of Venus and Saturn and the nodes over time to kind of walk through like where I think the markets are going. So definitely become a paid subscriber to follow the economic side of astrology or the astrology of, or the astrological side of the economy. And I also want to highlight the fact that you know, during this, you know the end of these retrogrades.

Speaker 1:

We kind of reached this climax with the Libra full moon on April 12th. You know that full moon on Saturday is very cathartic. Obviously it's a full moon, so it's cathartic, but it is very conclusive, I think again, and definitive with regards to connections, relationships, your financial situation, maybe even the economy, and you will see, with the full moon being so illuminative, you will understand how you're feeling, you will really know what you're, you'll have full access to your feelings and, with Venus ruling Libra and being at the end of its retrograde, conjunct Saturn in the North Node, I think that everyone has the capacity at that time to fuse together their own rational, sensible side with Saturn and their intuitive side with the Moon, so you can have access to your feelings, incorporate that into your decision-making, but still use Saturn as a vehicle vehicle conjunct Venus there to exercise really long-term judgment and make a decision saying hey, this is how I feel, you know, this is how I'm feeling about my partner, but this is also, you know, the reality of our long-term prospects, meaning I feel so much love for them and I also really hate them sometimes. But we both align on some key things and we're willing to do the work to build this and sustain this. So that's really the key right now is again don't operate on a short-term basis.

Speaker 1:

Think about the concepts of Libra here Loyalty, trust, cooperation, balance, mutual exchange, trade I mean with the tariffs and everything but you have to reach some kind of peace accord with somebody in your life, probably. Or you have to reach some kind of peace accord with somebody in your life, probably, or you have to reach some kind of agreement with a professional partner, because you can't be with everyone, you can't be in contract with everyone, you can't, you know, be employed everywhere, you can't pursue every financial opportunity and, if you're an entrepreneur, you can't try to have infinite work streams. Right now is the time when you really want to tighten your inner circle, solidify it, prioritize people and decide which relationships are worth nurturing for many, many years from now. And I would argue that, again, you shouldn't meditate on this. Just sit in stillness for however long and just visualize either your ideal partner, if you're single right now, or the partner you have now, and just visualize your lives together. Do you envision yourselves together at 40, 50, 60, 70, and so on? Is it something that can last? Because, yeah, saturn and Pisces is really teaching us that, even though there is someone out there for us who can fulfill many of our needs and they can, in some ways, be even better than we expected there is no such thing as like a perfect partner, a perfect person. Everyone requires every relationship, requires time, investment, energy, investment and so on. And so that's really the lesson. And you know there's going to be points in your business relationship and your friendship and your romantic partnership when it's not fun at all and it is just work and people are asking you to do something, they're asking you to take on a responsibility and you just have to decide am I willing to do that grunt work to get some kind of payoff in the end? If I help that person out right now, if I'm there for them emotionally, is that fulfilling in of itself, hopefully, but even so it's like okay, well, if I'm there for them now, I build a bond and I build a sense of trust because they know that they can depend on me for that emotional support and maybe they'll be there for me in the future. And obviously, politically, geopolitically, this does raise a lot of alarm bells about the economy.

Speaker 1:

Venus, retrograde conjunct Saturn is not a common thing, especially with the nodes. But again, subscribe to the Substack to watch that video and become a paid subscriber. But I didn't want to touch on that in the podcast today. Mostly, I want to keep that in my inner circle of Substack subscribers because I don't really want to raise any kind of alarm bells unnecessarily with a public post of any kind, at least not in the way that I brought it up on that show, because I really wanted to go in-depth on that one. But yeah, so to summarize, april 7th hopefully you're already listening to this post either on April 7th or right after April 7th, mercury's direct. Definitely expect to have a clear focus right now, a coherence to your conversations. I'm meeting with my accountant literally tomorrow, as Mercury is direct. So I have confidence that we can navigate all the documents involved in that because Mercury is direct. Like I wasn't going to meet with my accountant during retrograde. Mercury retrograde, but Venus continues to retrograde, so like until the 12th.

Speaker 1:

So if your cognition is sharper especially if you're a Gemini, virgo, aries, pisces, because you were the most affected by the retrogrades even if you're a Gemini, virgo, aries, pisces, because you were the most affected by the retrogrades Even if your cognition is sharper right now, you may still be reflecting on the relationships, like I said, the values, your finances, how you want to be spending money that's okay and also with Saturn there. Don't give into pessimism or over-cautiousness, because Saturn just does that. It creates a bit of a bias. Now it's a good time to think seriously about the long haul, the long term, like I said. But don't be so pessimistic that you're avoiding contact with people. Take the time to reach out to someone.

Speaker 1:

We all deserve connection, we all deserve relationships, and sometimes Venus-Saturn aspects will uh want to be loners and lone wolves, and that's okay. I mean, I have Saturn in the seventh, but you know that's just how Saturn, venus or Saturn in the seventh house operates, like it's a little bit more distant and uh, you know Saturn, saturn and Venus there is just making us all a little bit more, I think, discouraged from uh seeking connection in a way or intimacy. But yeah, but it's something you can overcome. It's something you can overcome right now with Saturn and Venus there, meaning you have the power to channel these transits in the best way. With Saturn, it's about just prioritizing again the people in your life, getting really honest with them, being serious with them and laying out your long-term vision, your long-term values and seeing if you guys are synchronized or not. If not, maybe it's time to move on and trust that that was the right decision with the North Node. And if you decide to continue, then great. You can continue for a long time with that Venus-Saturn conjunction and then you know next week's podcast.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to talk about the Mars-Pluto opposition that follows, which is really intense and conflict-prone, but the Mars-Pluto opposition, I think, can still be really powerful. Obviously it's just really key to avoid, you know, hatred, resentment and bitterness during that opposition. But again, praise the end of Mercury retrograde. Look forward to that Libra full moon, april 12th, as a time of restoration of balance, trust and fairness and mutuality in a relationship, or breaking up from someone who doesn't meet you halfway or they don't compromise with you ever. You're going to have relationships that are really, again, they know, long-term companionship Like these can be your long-term companions, or this can be your long-term companion coming out of this full moon on the 12th. So I'll have a sub-sack post about the full moon, obviously, so you'll have to keep track of that as well. But thank you for listening to this podcast. I'm Evan Nathaniel Grimm. This is Astrology Unbound and I'll see you on the next episode, take care.