This morning the news was filled with more chaos. The two stories that caught my eye were the 12 dead, 200 injured  in the Belarus subway bombing and Japan ups nuke crisis severity to match Chernobyl.

April strikes again!

It gave me chills. I saw it coming. I wrote about it here and on Haunt Jaunts. (See: Madame Mroch’s Prognostications.)

Well, I didn’t see the Belarus bombing coming. (Not that it would be a subway bombing or in Belarus, but I’m not surprised someone felt the need to blow something up like that. April has a penchant for such events.)

But the Japan thing…how anyone didn’t see that coming is what perplexes me. First off, not only is it April, but didn’t we learn anything from last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf? It’s always worse than the authorities let on. They never tell the truth until the situation gets so out of control they can’t lie about it any more!

And as I was reminded of yet another sentinel event that happened in April (the anniversary of the start of the Civil War –or the War Between the States, depending on where you live and how it’s interpreted), I wondered: Was it Mercury Retrograde then too?

Which got me wondering if a Mercury Retrograde cycle has been in place during the other April Curse events.

And what about self-fulfilling prophecies? Is April really cursed with more than it’s fair share of sentinel events, or am I trying to make a fit? (Or do other people see how bad things happen in April and get the idea they’ll do something then too? The Columbine Massacre could sort of fit in with this as they boys were said to love Hitler and Nazis and wanted to do something big in honor of something big the Nazis did in April. I forget what it was now, but something with the Holocaust.)

When people are responsible for the mayhem (ie. the Belarus subway bombing, the Columbine massacre, the Oklahoma City bombing), do they unleash their crazy in April because of seasonal factors? For instance, was it a very cold winter that left them homebound with more time on their hands than usual to plot their craziness? When it finally starts to warm up in April is that why they come out? Does increased sunlight play any factor? (For some, more sun in Spring makes them more frisky in a sexual way. Maybe it affects their crazy/destructive side somehow?)

I really want to study this more. I think it’s super fascinating. And I’m growing more and more curious about what kind of correlations I might find…or might not, as the case may also be.

Last year on Haunt Jaunts I wrote about how I believe April is a cursed month. Was I surprised when a coal mine exploded in West Virginia, the Polish president’s plane crashed, the volcano in Iceland erupted, and the BP oil spill happened? Heck no!

There were other factors at play last April, though, too. Planetary type of things. (It was also set to be a period of Mercury Retrograde, and Saturn was re-entering Virgo, which mostly had the potential to affect Virgos but perhaps influenced other factors too.)

I realize not all bad things happen in April. It just seems like April has more than it’s fair share of notable catastrophes.

That’s why I keep watching the Japanese nuclear reactor situation with such interest.  With April only a week away, I’m wondering if a meltdown is inevitable. Or something equally as catastrophic. (I don’t know all the nuclear terms for what can go wrong, but it sure seems to me that’s the path all that’s headed down.)

Last year I found it curious after I did an Internet search that I’m not the only one who believes April’s cursed. I keep threatening to do a study of which months have the most disasters to see if there’s something to it all, but I haven’t been that ambitious. I only get that way as April draws near.

But as I’m writing this I also wonder if it’s not just April, but something else I alluded to above. Did certain astrological influences influence April’s potency last year?

I wonder if anyone’s ever done a study on which stars were aligned how when certain bad things happened? Be it April or otherwise. That’d be interesting to look into also.

Hmmm…I’m certainly never at any shortage for project ideas, but this one keeps nagging at me. And apparently evolving. Now I’m curious to know not only if April is a cursed month, but what was happening astrologically when certain major events happened, be they in April or otherwise.

Oh boy. Another book idea has just been born.

My husband, who for all intents and purposes is the rational and logical one between us, believes in astrology. So do I, but it makes sense for me to. I’m the one with Gypsy Magick, tarot cards, and a dream journal camping out in my nightstand. He’s got sailing instruction manuals and copies of Investor’s Business Daily on his.

TWO VIRGOS

However, we’re both Virgos. As long as I can remember (meaning ever since we started dating back in 1986), he’s read his horoscope.

About 15 years ago, he started noticing something: whatever happens to him, happens to me (or vice versa). It was simply uncanny and unmistakable when the horoscope said we’d be experiencing X, we’d both experience X.

It might be a little bit different, but you could see the similarities. Someone would call me out of the blue, same thing with him. I’d have an issue with a family member or co-worker, so would he.

THE BLACK CLOUD

In 2008, I started noticing what I called a “black cloud” hovering over us. I even wrote about it when I still worked for Families.com. People had all kinds of suggestions for trying to get out from under it, and Wayne even thought I was attracting all the doom because I kept focusing on it.

However, in 2009 he got more into the astrology after I was diagnosed with cancer and again reiterated it had to be a black cloud. No way could someone be through all we’d gone through with my mom and sister in 2008, then five months later get cancer too without some kind of something being involved.

Guess what? I was right. There was a black cloud –well, more like a black planet. Wayne figured out Saturn was to blame.

THE BIG, BAD BLACK PLANET

Saturn had entered Virgo in 2007. That was a challenging year too. I spent half of it away from Wayne because he’d moved back to Florida to take a new job, which left me behind to try and sell the house. It was no fun.

Five months later the house was still not selling (or not for what we were willing to part with it for) and the new job was sucking it. He decided to move back and get his old job back. That was November 2007. Three months later my mom went down and next thing I knew I was moving her in with us to care for her.

We learned a lot of life lessons during those years. It forged us in ways we maybe haven’t even realized yet. When 2009 drew to a close we were celebrating because it also meant kissing Saturn goodbye. Bye, bye Black Planet, hello happy times are here again!

IT’S BAAAAAAAACK

But then we learned Saturn was going to pull a fast one on us. It wasn’t done with us yet and was going to come back into our lives for a brief stint in 2010.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

Today Wayne sent me a link explaining April was going to throw us a double whammy: Saturn moves back into Virgo for a 14 week stay starting April 7 and Mercury goes Retrograde (which poses problems for all signs) on April 18.

SENSE OF FOREBODING

The last few days I’ve had this bad feeling. A feeling that this nice, happy life we’ve been living lately, the one that so resembled our life pre-Black Cloud, was going to evaporate. Something “else” was going to happen and rain on our parade again.

I knew Saturn was going to affect us again, but I hadn’t paid attention to when. Here’s my head’s up that I need to buckle up and strap in for another bumpy ride.

But the good thing is it won’t last too long. Come July 21 we’ll be done with Saturn for another 36 years.

MORE ABOUT SATURN THE BIG, BAD, BLACK CLOUD PLANET

Even though I’m not too fond of Saturn because I associate it with cancer, trauma, alienation, and betrayal, astrologist Susan Miller sums up Saturn best: the teacher-taskmaster planet. (She also referred to living through Saturn influences as surviving the “cosmic bootcamp.” I thought that was so clever and perfect because that’s what it felt like!)

While it is true that Saturn will make you work hard and teach you many maturing life lessons, the gains you make during these rare Saturn cycles will be yours to keep forever. You’ll also be quite proud of your accomplishments, for those will be hard won, but worth the effort. Saturn brings stability and structure – we all need both on which to build our dreams. ~excerpt from Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone Virgo Horoscope for 2010~

Interestingly enough, the last time Saturn was in Virgo (before the 2007-2009 time, that is) was 1977-1980. Those years sucked balls for me too. It was when my parents broke up and the custody battle began.

ON THE UPSIDE

From April 1-24 is supposed to be a good time for travel at least. Great! Because 4/21-4/25 we’ll be down in Destin for a volleyball tournament. (It’s also supposed to be a good time to be with friends and for sports so that really has the promise of being the fun time we’re all anticipating it to be!)

Also, Susan Miller wrote that the last time (2007-2009) Saturn was in Virgo, all the “learning” (a.k.a. trauma) had to be handled alone. (Oh man have I never felt as alone as I did, especially from 2008-2009. However, it was curious learning that was also cosmically-influenced).

This time around when Saturn enters Virgo there will be an aspect that’s different: Jupiter in Pisces. This change means that there’ll be partners offering “good ideas and methods to inspire and assist you.” I’ll take it! (I hated that feeling of being so, so, so alone. It got better when I got cancer. Wayne’s love shined through and friends made it abundantly clear how they felt, but before that…very lonely time!)

Also, it’s just 14 weeks and the effects are not supposed to be as intense for birthdays in the earlier part of the sign. (Anything after Sept 17-23 though is supposedly in for a little stronger medicine. Apparently they didn’t get the “full effects” of Saturn’s wrath –er, I mean influence– the first time around because it left before it made it to their part of the charts to complete the cycle or something.)

However, my guard is now up because I’ve had this unsettled feeling lately. But unless it kills me, I’ve lived through hell. It did make me stronger. So, bring it, Saturn. I’m ready.