Astrology of the Week Ahead with Chani Nicholas - The Week of August 12th, 2024: A lesson in mixed bags and working with what we’ve got

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

Episode 191 In this podcast, New York Times best-selling author and astrologer Chani Nicholas discusses the astrology of the week and what it might mean for us all. The astrology of the week of August 12th, 2024, is as chaotic as it is brilliant. On Wednesday, Mars (the planet of action) forms a conjunction with Jupiter (the planet of expansion) for the first time in 13 years. This transit amps up the intensity of our drive and actions — as well as our propensity for living in extremes. Later, Mercury (the messenger planet) backtracks into Leo, spotlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly within our communications. On Thursday, Mars forms a square with Saturn (the planet of structure) and ups our determination. On Sunday, Mercury squares Uranus (the planet of upheaval), challenging the status quo in the name of truth. Then the Sun conjoins Mercury in a cazimi, bringing disruptive clarity and a surprise or two. Finally, Venus (the planet of pleasure) squares Jupiter, increasing our appetite for equity, peace, and unity. Overall, this week asks us to think long-term about our desires and ambitions — and how we want to call them in. This episode was recorded on 06/10/2024. For more, check out your free daily horoscope on the homepage of the CHANI app — now on iOS and Android. The music featured in the podcast was created by Latashá.

Hey, it's your astrological bestie Channy Nicholas, and this is the astrology of the week ahead podcast. In this podcast, we look at the astrology of the upcoming week and how it will be landing for all of us collectively. For a more personalized reading that dives into the ways that this week's astrology will play out for you, download the Chani app. I'm so happy we are gathering here. today, no matter what day you listen to this. I'm really glad you're here. I think that this week's astrology is pointing to something very significant that is happening this week for us, at least, at the very least, collectively. Maybe for you personally, too, and I just want to say that we do not gather here to do anything that promotes fear about the time we're about to live into. We are,

gathered here to say, okay, what is the quality of time that this astrological moment is presenting us with? And how might I and we best meet this moment? And I just want to say that there's so much to this moment. This is one of those weeks where it does seem like a lot goes on. And I want us to just consider the fact that we might not feel like we can get everything done this week. We might not even feel like the things that we're trying to do are successful. Obviously, I hope that we do feel that they're successful. But if we don't feel that by the end of the week or halfway through the week or at any point in the week, I just want us to remember it's okay.

It's okay. It's not all going to get done this week. It just isn't. It's just not the week for that. This is a week for us to recognize the chaos either before or as it's coming into the room. Like, we're at the circus. There's clowns here. There's all kinds of circus ring leaders here. There's stuff here that is just supposed to be what it is or it just is what it is. which is not necessarily the thing we want it to be if we're trying to get to something that feels ordered and structured and linear and like we can move from point A to point B.

I just want us to take that expectation off the table. If it happens for you in your personal life, great. Then this astrology is not for you. Move along. Help the rest of us. If you feel like things are messy this week as we move into it especially, And also abrupt and a little chaotic, then yes, that's the feeling of the moment. What can we do with it? How do we want to meet that? If I know I'm going into, say, a daycare where

everyone has just eaten sugar, like all the children have just gotten birthday cake for the first time in their life, they're going to be, you know, reacting to that. That's how this week kind of feels. It feels like there is a whole bunch of things going on and getting set off that are just going to take the time they take to run through the system, so to speak. So I just don't want us to expect anything that might be like calming or ordered or predictable. If we're expecting that, this might be frustrating. And there is a signature of frustration here that I want us to pay attention to and that we will be working through. And being frustrated is okay. It's part of life.

It can sometimes help us get to the most important solutions that we can possibly get to. So let's go through the astrology beat by beat, shall we? come with me. Come on this journey with me. We're going to live it out in real time together. I'm in the past. I'm in June of 2024. So I can assume some things about August, which I'm going to do here. But I'm not living it out with you in real time. So this is not commentary on real life events that are happening now. It is my predictions, if you will, about the future. It's the shape of things. It's the quality of time, again, that I can foresee. On Wednesday, Mars and Jupiter meet up in Gemini. And this gives the quality of a lot of hot air, a lot of big things being said, a lot of statements that are either aggressive in nature because

it's Mars in Gemini. The Gemini is the communication part of this. The Mars is the fury and the fuel and the activation. And also the bigness is Jupiter. Jupiter expands. whatever it touches. So a Mars Jupiter in and of itself in its own thing can be an expansion of courage, can it be an expansion of energy, could be an expansion of action, taking action, can be very, very active. In Gemini, it's going to be really active again on a mental level or a verbal level. It's active in terms of the ideas that it stimulates. And so the conversations that go on this week are, yes, very important. These two can only, they don't even do it, but they can only come together like once every 12 years in this sign, unless Mars retrogrades

through it or whatever, but that's not happening. Anyways, Jupiter is only in a sign once every 12, 13 years. So Mars and Jupiter coming together in a sign is what makes it kind of unique. It makes it a unique moment. So Mars and Jupiter together in Gemini is something we haven't had for a long time and we won't have it again for a long time. So it's a mark of something that's very specific to this moment. Now, Jupiter also has to do with law and we could think of that as also pertaining to politics. So is anything really important happening soon or right now that is political in nature or about law or about something that might stoke division? Because we're talking about Gemini, there's this two-sidesness or a two-facedness. I'm not saying people that are

Gemini sons are this. I'm just saying the quality of the sign can be that. Every sign has its helpful and not so helpful iterations. And we are embodiments of all of it always, all the time. So no sign is better than another. Okay. It's just that when something that is potentially challenging, which Mars is always going to challenge us, or like rocket fuel, which Mars is, or even explosive like Mars can be. And it's in this sign. It can be a big kind of splintering or two sides of something or a twinning. And I talked about this in the year ahead podcast.

If you're on the Chani app, you've heard me talk about the book Doppelganger by Naomi Klein. And I think that that book is a very important piece. of curriculum around Jupiter in Gemini and with Mars coming up to Jupiter and Gemini, Mars and Jupiter in Gemini on the 14th exactly making a conjunction. It just feel like the whole nature of that book, Doppelganger, but also just the theory of Doppelganger politics is really important. Like what side is being played off against another side to get something done that is completely different. Like, what is the truth in the situation? And how is that truth being

misconstrued to get to a outcome that has nothing to do with that thing? What is the mirror worlds that we're seeing, right? Because Gemini is very much about the twinning and the mirroring and the two sides or the two polarities and what's the third way of being, right? How do we not end up in these streams where the truth of the situation is being used as a tactic of manipulation. So that's one read on part of the situation. Now, I'm saying a lot of that because as Mars and Jupiter come together, they also make a square to Saturn in Pisces. All these signs that I'm mentioning, Gemini and Pisces, and I'm going to also mention Virgo, they're all something called double-bodied signs. They're mutable signs, which means they're a mix of things.

They're not one or the other. They're both and. So the situation feels mixed. And again, there's not a clear direction necessarily at this moment. It doesn't mean we don't get to a clear direction or solution. It's just that this moment isn't really about that. Because the mutable signs happen in between the seasons, right? It's in between like the cardinal signs come and they change the seasons. They give us the solstices and the equinoxes. And then the fixed signs come and they solidify the season. And then the mutable signs come and they are some of that season, but they're also making way for the new season to occur. And so they're both. They're, again, this mix. So what at this point in the year are we being asked to hold

that is paradoxical, that is a mix, a mixed bag, a mixed situation. It's not what we want, but it's what we've got. How are we going to work with it? Because there's consequences here. As Mars makes a square to Saturn, things go, it's like we screech to a halt. And we're going to have to find ways to move when an opening occurs. So I want us to be exceptionally strategic. this is Mars, exceptionally strategic about how we're moving. When is it important to move on something, especially when it's an idea or an ideal, because Jupiter is also squaring Saturn. So we're looking at the big possibility and the reality of putting that possibility into the world. We're talking maximum growth and confronting something that is absolutely limiting and restricting. And

And Mars wants to go, go, go, go, go and permeate all boundaries. Jupiter wants to expand beyond anything we've ever dreamed of before. And Saturn's sitting here in what we call the superior position going, no, not so fast. This is the reality. We have to deal with this. So we've got to have our ideals, our Jupiter functioning. And then we've got to have our Mars, our courage, and our determination. to move in the direction. We might not get there right now, but to move in the direction that we know

we need to go in. I am determined. I am unwavering. This is the direction I'm going in. We've got to get those two on board or get those parts of us on board to be like, okay, there's going to be obstacles. That's okay. It's not all going to get done this week. In the midst of all that, that's just Wednesday and Thursday. But these are like major hot spots in the year. If I see a Mars Saturn square in a year, I'm going to be like, oh, this is this is not a time to rush. This is not a time to overwhelm my system, our systems. This is not a time to get everything done in the world. This is crunch time. I'm like, okay, there's a lot to do. We have a lot of pieces moving because it's all happening in mutable signs. How are we going to get the one thing done that we want to get done? I wouldn't try to

get a million things done. What is the priority right now just for this week or just for this moment or just for this month? What is the main priority? Work at that chip away at that little by little. Do not give up. Do not be deterred. Keep going. Rest when you can. Mutable signs are really good at meditating while in motion. I think of a lot of mutable energy. It's like the kind of meditation that you can get from doing the dishes. It's like you're moving, but it's a peripatetic meditation because you don't have to really pay attention. And so another part of you can be open to ideas or downloads or a break in a way because you're like, I'm just going to wash the floor. I'm just going to scrub. I'm just going to do this thing. And some other part of me can kind of unwind or I can process something.

I don't mean to only reference cleaning, but, you know, like gardening, like, Being out on a walk, like doing something where you know how to do it. The body knows how to do it. It can do it. And it's restful because we can just fall into a rhythm. I want you to think about those practices this week when things get overwhelming or if they get overwhelming. So in the midst of all that, again, I'm just on Wednesday and Thursday. Mercury moves back into Leo.

It's retrograde. And this is where the Mercury retrograde looks. Again, I'm not in real time with you. But this is where the Mercury retrograde looks like it gets. wily because as it does that, it makes a square with Uranus. On Sunday, the sun and mercury come together, which is called the Kazimi, which is a bright light of clarity, which is wonderful, but it's disruptive clarity because it's square Uranus. It's really disruptive. It is not something that's necessarily easy to know or it's not something that's easy to say to communicate. We're talking about

Mercury. It's not something that's necessarily easy because it's Uranus. But it's freeing, it's liberating, it's the truth, it's what we need to know, it's what needs to get communicated, but it's going to be disruptive. And then at the very, very end of the weekend, Venus, but this is something we're going to be feeling throughout the week as well, Venus is lining up in that other mutable sign that I mentioned Virgo. Nothing's inside right now. Thank goodness. not because it's not fun, but just because it would be too much. Venus is in Virgo and it's making a square to Jupiter and then it's going to make an opposition to Saturn.

Again, this is all happening at the very end of the weekend, Sunday and then into Monday. And that's important because all of this stuff is happening in three out of four of the mutable signs. And that means that there is this emphasis on a mixed situation on something. thing that is impossible to get a hold of. It's not one thing. It's not one solution. It's many solutions in many different ways all at the same time. Now, Venus is a planet of consensus, of peace, if that's possible, of equity and of beauty and relationship. So when it makes it square to Jupiter, it's a overwhelming kind of need for that, or it is a big desire for consensus or a big

desire for equity or a big desire for something peaceful and unifying to happen. But and also at the same time, and right away, it goes on to oppose Saturn, which is much more divisive. It's a little bit of a downgrade on the joy and optimism side of things. So again, we're working with possibilities and realities. We're working with expansion and contraction. We're working with optimism and realism. We're working with these two conflicting planets or planets that do different jobs. Jupiter opens everything up. Saturn closes it down. But it's like breathing. We need both. We need to inhale. Please inhale with me. And we need to exhale. Jupiter is the inhale and Saturn is the exhale. Both are needed. Both are essential.

And these two planets coming together in a square is again something that does not happen every day. It does not happen every year. It is really important because it's just. shaping our values, it's shaping the opportunities, it's shaping our reality. So whatever happens this week and next week, because next week, and for a while, for the rest of this year, Jupiter and Saturn are in this really close square. And they've been in a square for a while. So it's not just this one moment, but the weeks that they come into an exact alignment, we just want to flag. and be like, okay, what is getting shaped here? What possibilities need to be brought into reality? What can we actually do with what we've got? It is not perfect. It is not a straightforward answer.

It's a mixed bag. It's a mixed situation. What do we want to do with it? And y'all, I'm not even finished. I mean, I'm finished for this week, but on Monday, there's a full moon in Aquarius that is sitting in a square to Uranus. So the disruption just carries on. So there's this T-square lineup, this whole situation that's happening with Mars and Jupiter and Gemini, Saturn and Pisces and Venus in Virgo, that again is mixed situations, hard stuff. It's like a traffic jam energetically or literally it's opportunities that are there, but they're hard to get to. It's being overwhelmed by the work that we've got. It's feeling limited and restricted in ways that we absolutely don't want to be limited and restricted and having to deal with that reality and figure out how we can strategically move towards the

goals we know we need to move towards come hell or high water this is what we've got to do let's do it there's that going on and then there's this disruptive chaotic insight that yes is about freedom and it's about being honest and it is about breaking down and breaking through old archaic systems that starts with the sun and Mercury making a kizemi squaring Uranus. And then a full moon happens that does the same thing. Full moon and Aquarius is real emphasis on power to the people since Pluto has been there. And it's about our collective reality. And there's something being really loud and it's shaking awake.

And it feels like such an important week. and it's not over this week because again it permeates all into next week. So what do we do with this? We have patience. We have strategy. We have determination. We know that life is never one answer. So rarely do we get exactly what we need exactly what we want in the time that we need it. We figure out how to work with what we've got in the best way possible. We do not. We do not overwhelm our systems. We do not say yes to work. We don't have to say yes to right now. We stay with our number one priority. And when things get rocky in the world or in your personal life, again, this might not land in your personal life. This might be more of a collective

moment. You might have a fantastic weekend. You might have a fantastic week. I'm not saying that this will make it a bad week at all because there's a lot of times where there's horrible astrology. like, oh, I was good. The world was really going through it and it impacts me. But on a personal level, I'm really good. And I'm so grateful when that happens. And I want you to know that that is absolutely possible. And there's still things here that you're like, aha, I could tighten things up here or I could be more strategic over here. How can we be focused and strategic with our energy this week? what do we want to get accomplished and how are we going to go about doing that no matter what obstacles show up in our way? And if things get rocky and turbulent, how do we implement shock

absorption in our life, in our psyche, in our system, in our friendships, our relationships, in our work life, how do we just like plan for a little bit of turbulence? And then if it doesn't land with us personally, great, great, great, great. And just know that there's like this big full moon happening next Monday. So come back and we'll talk more about it. Thank you all so much for leaving us. Reviews in the app store. They mean the world to us. They move mountains for us. They make us so incredibly happy. I wanted to leave you with this one. It's called Brilliant. Chani and her crew are compassionate, skilled, brilliant navigators of the currents of change, influence and evolution that inform our experience on so many levels, so kind, humble, and helpful.

Amazing support for these tumultuous times. I'm sending you a lot of love, a lot of determination, a lot of deciding that we are going to go in this direction and this direction might take our entire life. When we think about solving big world problems, I think we should think in terms of like hundred-year strategies beyond my lifetime, 50-year strategy. Like, how can we think really long-term about winning the thing we want to win, especially when it's beyond our lifetime? Because that's how so much has been accomplished in this world.

It's not about getting things done this week. Think long-term, be strategic long-term, and act with that in mind. And I'll see you back here next week for more. We're in this together. I believe in us. I know that we can make the most of this moment. I really, really, really do. Sending you so much love, all the blessings, all the strength.

Bye for now.