In my other life, I’m an editor, so it’s somewhat essential for me to keep tabs on what Mercury is up to. Since I have Mercury in Pisces natally, I wandered into our multi-week tour through Mercury in Pisces somewhat naively. How bad could it be? Maybe we’d speak through art!

I did find an old watercolor set that I’ve been practicing with, but the grand visions have been somewhat lacking. Instead, we saw information withheld at crucial moments for the sake of manipulating a narrative — magical thinking being a Pisces talent, but not always used to positive ends, as we have now seen. As Mercury wraps up its time in the mutable water sign, I’m hearing a lot of people say they feel like their sense of time has been thrown out the window. That sounds very Piscean to me. So, let’s take the opportunity to check in. How do you feel now, on the other side of this long swim?

• Having difficulty with compartmentalization and task organization?
• Surprised by your adaptability to strange new situations?
• Feeling more compassionate than ever for your fellow struggling humans?

Pisces isn’t all bad — adaptability and compassion might even be called strengths — but I think we can also see why this isn’t a sign where Mercury functions with its usual clarity. Mercury will finally move into Aries late in the evening on April 10, and if you’re excited for this shift, you are not alone.

So in Aries, what do we expect? Well, Mercury in a fire sign is forthright. People may be more likely to blurt out ideas — and they may actually be good ones. Instinct tends to be strong for fire signs.

Aries is ruled by Mars, which means Mars in Aquarius will have a special role to play during this brief period. This is a nice arrangement, with a sextile between the fixed air and cardinal fire elements. Sextiles help each other out in subtle ways; Mars will give Mercury the energy it needs to make all those intuitive connections and to communicate its needs directly.

While this will be a brief transit (Mercury moves right along into Taurus just a couple weeks later, on April 27) it marks an important reset, with Aries being the first sign of the zodiac. Words will have exceptional power to set things in motion at this time, and the effects will carry through for months to come.

Notable dates during Mercury in Aries

• Mercury sextile Saturn, April 11. Aries and Aquarius are supportive of each other, and this is a great day to get clarity and perspective on the work ahead. Moon in Sagittarius won’t hurt, either, adding optimism.
• Mercury sextile Venus, April 17. This is another friendly air–fire aspect, this time between Aries and Gemini. Talk to people you like and admire today; also a great evening for flirtation!
• Mercury sextile Mars, April 18. This is that energy boost I mentioned earlier. Look for data-driven decisions and avoid rushing to conclusions; what are the unknowns? Don’t let the Pisces moon scramble your attention too much, but definitely make weird art if you have the opportunity.
• Mercury square Jupiter and Pluto, April 25. We live in interesting times, and this is a day likely to rank higher than usual in cognitive dissonance. Take things slow and consider other angles; this will be a good opportunity to prepare for the next shift, with Mercury changing signs into Taurus just two days after this.