One of the important planetary events of 2008 is the transit of the modern planet Neptune from the sidereal zodiac sign Capricorn to the next zodiac sign Aquarius. It first occurs on April 16, 2008. Neptune stays in Aquarius till July 8, 2008 and then with its retrograde motion it returns to Capricorn and stays in Capricorn till February 9, 2009. After February 9, 2009 it will continue to transit through Aquarius for the following 14 years (till April 2022).  Although it is going to be in Aquarius for only about 3 months in 2008 before it returns to Capricorn, Neptune being the most spiritual planet of our solar system, it will certainly affect the matters related to Aquarius in a significant way. 

Aquarius being an air and fixed sign ruled by Saturn, some of its significant characteristics are: intelligent, mentally powerful,  artistic, talented, patient, persistent, strong willed and determined, humane, musical, open-minded, impersonal, intuitive, ascetic and introvert. These qualities complement very well with qualities of Neptune that include: spiritual, intuitive, divine, psychic, magical, highly emotional, moody, clairvoyant, inspiration, imaginative, compassionate and mystical. 

As a result, a subtle and slow change in our collective moral and spiritual perceptions are certainly going to be manifested in the way we never experienced before. This era (next 14 years) will be remembered as the period of spiritual inspiration and transformation. Interestingly, this era also complements well with the era of Pluto's transit in sidereal Sagittarius (another spiritual sign) that runs in parallel during the same time. The way we have been used to deal with religions will no longer be our norms.  Our moral codes will be greatly influenced by our collective spiritual experiences. And in that sense a subtle but most effective transformation of world morality during this unique era of 14 years is likely to take us to a level where the norms solely based on spiritual experiences will dictate and guide our lives with new level of understanding.  

Aquarius, being the sign for academics, scientists, musicians, paranormals, and philosophers, these respective fields will go through significant transformations to reflect the new norms of morality and ethics, advances in science and technology keeping in line with steady progress in longevity, and creation of arts and music that complements our spiritual progress. 

In scientific and technological areas lot of drastic changes and emerging new ideas will find their way into innovations and discoveries.  The scientific and technological growth rate will be at a very rapid pace.  However, it will be the first time the scientific and technological research will be more focused in areas that will bridge the gap between the science and morality. The likely areas of research will be in biotechnology, medicine, spiritual healing, and life-force related activities. A new wave of philosophers with their new perspectives on living, in general, will certainly transform our world in next 14 years to a new level of understanding.  

On the downside, the return of a similar to sixties hippies era is very likely.  The increase usage of mind altering drugs, disregard for social and to some extent moral responsibility, rise in mental disorders, and losing the touch with reality are some of the likely manifestations of negative side of Neptune. 

Other significant planetary configurations for April are: Neptune-Uranus ninefold (March 25 - April 18), Mars-Uranus (April 20-25) and Pluto-Saturn (April 10 - May 11) regular trines, Uranus-Jupiter (March 16 - June 2) sextile, and Neptune-Rahu (April 15 - May 14) regular and Pluto-Uranus ninefold conjunctions.

The Uranus-Jupiter sextile and Pluto-Saturn trine will provide for the political stability around the world. Particularly the Jupiter-Uranus sextile is very positive for bringing out a positive change in religious world by discarding the outdated and old non-useful norms and adapting to new ones. This will be obvious in the United States of America where the religious norms will see the phenomenal shift. The Neptune-Uranus ninefold trine will be reflected in positive growth and advances in technology and scientific research areas confirming the fact that we live in very exciting times.

April:  Papal US visit

The Neptune-Rahu conjunction will certainly be responsible for huge social and political changes in Russia and China. These changes are likely to occur over the next two months or so.  These will have lasting impact on world politics and global economy.  World financial markets will likely to be very volatile.

April 4: Ethnic Unrest Continues in China

The countries that are most likely to be affected during this period would be: Russia, China, United States, Iraq, Palestine and Israel.

• United States of America:    

President Bush and his administration:  

President Bush's most operating and the currently dominating planet Pluto will continue transiting though the 8th house of his ninefold progressive chart during April. As a result, he will continue to be frustrated with the international as well as domestic matters, and he will continue to have disagreements with his own administration with regard to economy, and several domestic as well as international policy issues.

Also, during April Uranus squares his natal Uranus and lunar nodes. Therefore, he will have extremely difficult time in dealing with not only the congress but with his own administration, especially the homeland security department, and that will be reflected in his failures and frustration in governing the country.

The Country:

The Uranus-Jupiter sextile and Pluto-Saturn trine will provide for the political stability and spiritual evolution.  Particularly the Jupiter-Uranus sextile is very positive for bringing out a positive change in religious world by discarding the outdated and old non-useful norms and adapting to new ones. This will be obvious in the United States of America where the religious norms will see the phenomenal shift.

Neptune-Uranus ninefold trine and Uranus-Jupiter auspicious sextile will be responsible for continued advances in technology and science.

Uranus-Jupiter sextile will transform the democratic party to a new level as it goes through the political crisis of inconclusive democratic race for the front-runner. However, towards the end of the month the problem may get solved by itself.  

Overall, April may prove to be relatively a positive month for the country.

·        Russia:  The Neptune-Rahu conjunction (April 15 - May 14) will certainly be responsible for rise in covert activities, especially the ones that involve political dealings of Russia with its adversaries. The international politics will certainly take a turn for new power struggle in Russia due to potential drastic political and social changes in Russia. 

·        Europe:  The Neptune-Rahu conjunction will certainly be responsible for rise in covert activities, especially those that involve political dealings with Russia and possibly with China. There might be an eruption of international crisis that will require European Union to get heavily involved with it. However, the Euro will keep rising against US dollar.

·        China, Japan, and Pacific-rim countries:  For China the second half of the month will be very crucial to deal with both the domestic and international human rights issues. It may reflect in confusion and protest resulting in violence in Beijing for Olympic games.  In addition, the man-made and natural calamities are likely to occur during the same period. For Japan and Pacific-rim countries, April looks to be very positive month from economical progress standpoint.

April 28: China train crash kills 70, injures hundreds

·        Middle East:  The Neptune-Rahu conjunction will be responsible for secret terrorist attacks and continued violence in Middle-East (Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Pakistan region) during April 15 - May 14. Also, Mars-Rahu and Mars-Neptune ninefold quincunxes (April 26-30) will be responsible for intense fighting in Iraq and possibly new wave of violence in Iran and Palestine-Israeli region.

·        Religion:  Uranus-Jupiter sextile (March 16 - June 2) is going to be very positive for most of the religions around the world. The changes in spiritual activities, especially in the United States, will bring out positive changes in religious world by discarding the outdated and old non-useful norms and adapting to new ones. And therefore these new activities, due to their momentum, will result in some significant achievements. 

·        Natural and Man-made Calamities:  The likely notable dates for calamities around the world are: April 15-30. 

April 15: At least 79 killed after plane crashes in eastern Congo

April 15: 60 die as car bombs rip through crowded areas in Iraq

April 17: Suicide bomber kills 50 at Iraq funeral

April 27: Baghdad Green Zone blasted under cover of storm

April 28: China train crash kills 70, injures hundreds

      Earthquakes: Based on our earthquake prediction model, the earthquake(s) of magnitude 7 or higher, if occur, are likely to occur on April 2-4, 6, 9-13 and 22-23.

     While man-made calamities may manifest themselves in terrorism, unrest, violence, accidents, and air crashes, the natural calamities are likely to include extreme weather conditions such as severe cold winters, and equally intensive droughts, hurricanes or typhoons, thunderstorms, earthquakes and fires

Comments on the last month's  World Financial Markets predictions

World financial markets for April will begin with a bullish tone, then after 17 days will turn mixed for about a week, and finally will end the month with a mixed to bearish tone.

It must be noted that the basis for the following predictions mainly includes the influence of the planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars along with the slower moving modern planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. For the ninefold analysis, the fast moving planets like Mercury, Venus, Sun, and Moon can also influence the outcome of the world markets. However, these influences, although usually insignificant, are difficult to account for as the analysis then becomes too complex to make market predictions.  Therefore, should it become necessary to account for the influence of fast moving planets the timely advanced updates whenever appropriate will be provided.

April 1-17: Bullish

April 18-25: Mixed to bullish

April 26-28: Mixed to bearish

April 29: Mixed

April 30: Mixed to bearish

Except for a few days, the world financial markets followed the predictions pretty closely through this month.