Astrology of the Week Ahead with Chani Nicholas - The Week of August 31st, 2026: Boundaries and blessings with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

Episode 298In 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 31st, 2026, brings both obstacles and opportunities. When Jupiter (the planet of good fortune) trines Saturn (the planet of structure), it feels like all our hard work is finally paying off and we’re being blessed with the growth and abundance that we’ve cleared space for. But when Mars (the planet of action) squares Saturn, it’s a whole different story. This face-off is sure to spark serious frustration and stuck-in-the-mud energy. Thankfully, Mercury (the planet of communication) also makes a supportive sextile to Mars, encouraging conversations that break the tension and clarify where we need to move next. Now’s the time to tune in to your intuition and trust your gut. Those instincts will not only help you stay true to yourself, but they’ll come in handy when your plans get off track.This episode covers:Jupiter’s trine to Saturn on Monday, August 31stMars’ square to Saturn on Tuesday, September 1stMercury’s sextile to Mars on Tuesday, September 1stThis episode was recorded on 8/5/2026.For more, check out your free daily horoscope on the homepage of the CHANI app — now on iOS and Android.Have you heard? Frequencies launched in the CHANI app. The newest audio tool for manifestation, grounding, and relaxation, our new Frequencies collection uses vibrational sound therapy to align your energy with your intentions. Head to the Audio tab of the app to start listening and get in tune with your inner wisdom.The music featured in the podcast was created by Latashá.

Imagine with me for a moment. You're incredibly late for an appointment. You run into the building of the place you've got to go to. You just get on to the elevator that you need to take. The doors close. You know that there's somebody else in the elevator with you, but you're not really looking at your phone and being like, I'm so sorry, I'm late. I'll be there in two seconds. I'm on the elevator. And all of a sudden, the elevator stops. It's stuck. and you realize that you're in a jam. And then you look over to see what the other person in the elevator is thinking

and you realize it's your nemesis. Hello and welcome. This is the astrology of the week ahead podcast. I'm your host, your Astro Bestie, Channey Nicholas. In this episode, we are talking about the week of August 31st. There is some sort of glitch. There's some sort of jam we're in. There's something that feels like, oh my God, is it back to school already? And not like a yay, my kids are going back to school kind of way, but more like I have to go back to school. Or my papers do and I didn't do it. I got too

carried away last weekend with my summer vacation. Or there's some kind of a deadline. There's kind of a time crunch. And by the time you listen to this episode, you might very well be in it. I'm not saying that there's more coming. I'm actually saying that by the time we get to Tuesday, this is it. September 1st is some very hefty astrology. One of the things I need us to know, though, is that there's only two major things happening this week. One happens on Monday. It's really, really good. Sorry I didn't lead with the good news. And the other thing that happens is on Tuesday and it's really, really hard. And both of these things, the really, really good, they're really affirming, the really helpful Monday's astrology and the really, really tough Tuesday's

astrology, they're basically happening at the same time. So it's like all together. But they both have to do with the principle of discernment. And we're going to be successful in the beginning of the week and throughout the week and even throughout the month and even throughout the year, if we're able to really focus on the powers of our discernment and of our dedication and of our ability to think long term. I'm saying this because Saturn is involved in both the difficult challenging moments of this week, but also in the glorious, gorgeous moment of this week. Okay.

Tuesday, the hard stuff, let's start there and then we'll move into the good stuff. Tuesday's hard stuff is Mars square Saturn. And the reason why I gave the elevator example in the beginning of this episode is because it just so happens that Saturn is in Mars's sign. So Saturn has to depend on Mars, right? Saturn is in Mars's house. It's in Mars's domain. But Saturn and Mars in the traditional system,

and this is reductive, so we have to just know that. But Saturn and Mars in the traditional system are like enemies. They're frenemies. They're nemesies of each other. But if one is in the other sign, then that one has to depend on the other. Now, there's, Saturn is depending on Mars to get it. through. Saturn is in a sign it really, really struggles in. But it just so happens that Mars is in a sign

that it really struggles in. So Mars is not in a position to be able to even help Saturn out, even if it wanted to. So both planets are in these places where they are wobbly, where they don't function in the ways that they'd like to, where they're under-resourced. You know when you're tired and hungry and late and then stuck on an elevator, like, don't talk to me if I'm late, hungry, and stuck on an elevator, you're going to get my worst self. I wish it wasn't so, but it's true. So this is the deal with these planets. Is there in the worst positions that they can be in? They're in the crankiest positions or the least stable, least resourced conditions that they can be in. Then we have to add the fact that,

Saturn gets up first. So Saturn will rise in the morning sky before Mars will. Why? Because it's an Aries. And it'll go, Aries will rise first and then Taurus and then Gemini and then cancer. And that's when Mars will rise. So Saturn is able to get up and do a lot of stuff. Like do, get ahead of the game, do all the things it needs to do before Mars is like Mars is late to the game. So Mars is under Saturn. But Saturn is relying on Mars. And then Mars is under-resourced, aka we're stuck in an elevator with our nemesis, and we just have to wait it out. So what can we do? Well, we can't get to our appointment right away because literally we're physically stuck. Is there something else to do in the elevator? I don't know. Is there some other work we can do?

Can we work on a breathing exercise? Can we do anything else? Is there something that we can do while we're in this waiting game? If we're feeling figuratively stuck in a situation, then this is a aspect that can help to spur us into action. But again, the planets in charge aren't in the best condition to help us make really good sense of the situation. So the actions that we take are going to have maybe like minimal results. I know that doesn't sound good. But I just want us to really manage our expectations.

There is going to be something this week that it's just going to be frustrating. And it's going to be acutely felt at the very beginning of the week. And then it's going to start to dissipate, right? Because nothing lasts forever. Tough things don't go on and on and on and on. God willing, hopefully. Mars and Saturn remain in this position until the end of September. Mars will officially leave cancer on the 27th of September. So there's echoes of this until the end of September, but the acute frustration has been building over the past week,

and it will continue to build and peak into Tuesday, and then it will start to slowly dissipate. one thing that I've been saying in your readings in the Chani app and on this podcast for a little while is I wanted you to underschedule yourself at this juncture in the year. Like, are you late to the meeting, metaphorically speaking, because you double booked yourself anyways? And then the delay comes and then you're like, I should have just not done this. I knew I should have just not overbooked myself. It might be too late to give you the warning now, but if you're feeling frustrated and if you're

feeling overbooked, then what is it that you can learn from this lesson? God willing, you're not like me. Like, please, please, please do not follow in my footsteps. But there are so many things that I say yes to still to this day. And I'm really like, I'm just going to make a pledge to myself and to you as my witness. I'm going to stop doing this. but I say yes to things sometimes. Knowing full well, I'm not going to want to do it when it comes the time.

Knowing full well, it's too much. Or knowing full well that there's something in my gut that's telling me, I don't know about this. I don't know about this. And am I trying to override my gut instinct and gut impulse to please someone, to be good, to make somebody else happy, same same as pleasing somebody, to prove to myself or to the world that fill in the blank, whatever it is I'm trying to prove.

Like, why am I saying yes to this? Why am I doing this thing? And then when it starts to go sideways, I'm always like, I knew I didn't want to do it. Why did I say yes to it? Now I'm in this position yet again. That's just me and my personal, you know, bullshit. But what's yours?

Really getting to know what yours is is a good idea over a Mars square Saturn aspect, because it will teach us our limits like nothing else. It'll also show us what we need to do in order to meet the challenge of the moment. So if Mars is in charge of the whole situation, which it is, it's in charge of Saturn, and it is not in its own rulership, but, you know, it is involved in the situation, and Saturn is in its house. It's in its sign. It's in its domicile.

It's in its domain. So if Mars is debilitated, it's in its fall, it's like starting from below zero in cancer, then we know that Mars can't act directly or it has a problem. Like maybe being direct isn't the way to go. Like maybe you don't want to have an all-out fight with your nemesis when you're stuck and trapped. really in an elevator with them because that's not going to be the best use of space. Maybe it's like not the time and maybe it's not the thing to do anyways.

So what we have to do in that situation is sink down a level. And I talked about this last week in the podcast. So forgive me if I'm just repeating myself, but I am. I need us to sink down to the gut level to our gut instincts, to our gut knowing. I don't want us to lose our ability to think critically ever, ever, ever. But I never want us to forget, you know, the secondary brain, the belly brain, the brain that's in our gut, our absolute actual other place from which we know things. And I say that because cancer rules the stomach. Cancer is a very instinctual sign because it's ruled by the moon.

And the moon is a nocturnal planet. right? We only see it mostly in the night, a little bit in the day, but mostly in the night. And so it's about our nighttime instincts. It's about being able to see in the dark, know the dark, the wisdom of the dark, the power of the dark, the regenerative energy of the dark. But it is a deeper place that's not held in the full light of consciousness. It's the wisdom of the unconscious and the dark. And so Mars is moving in that kind of style. That's how it has to move. now. And so what is it that we can tap into if we go down into our gut instinct? What is it that our gut knows we need to do now? Because it is a action-oriented aspect. A square is friction,

so it does move us into action. But it's asking us to move into action in a very stuck situation, i.e. being late, rushing to the appointment, and then being stuck on the elevator. The elevator's going to move, though. It's going to move this week. It's going to get going. You're going to hear like creaks and bumps and starts. And then probably by the end of the week, it's going to start to get going. But we cannot deny the restriction in the moment. And the restriction or the obstacle that's coming to us all, or that we all have to face, the grindiness of the moment, the like stuck between a rock and a hard place kind of thing is information, but also did you know not to get yourself into this situation, I guess is my main point.

And yes, that's my own read on myself, but does it work for you too? Or does something just like pause for a moment? Do things just like stop? Then the other side of the story is like, you're waiting for the elevator to come, but it's broken. So is the action to go take the stairs? Is it an appointment that's on the 26th floor? Like, is that just like an impossible thing? I might as well wait. But then you keep waiting and you're like, oh my God, I'm never going to get there. What is the scenario? What's the setup? Okay. So that's the stuck thing that's happening. It's occurring in the part of your chart that contains cancer and

aries. So if you're cancer rising, that's first house of self and body and 10th house of career. And so you want to look at those two areas of life and see like, okay, what is it that is impeding me? Is there a block that's happening in my public life or in my career life? If you're allele rising, then this is going to be way more behind the scenes because Mars will be in your 12th house. And maybe you'll be grappling with some things that you're afraid of or didn't know that you were hiding from yourself. or didn't know you had to contend with, or maybe there's a behind the scenes project that's really just taking the life out of you to be able to accomplish. Maybe it has something to do with publishing or a long-term plan because of where Saturn is.

So you want to think about how these two places in your chart go together. And of course, it's all for you in your reading for the week. I go into great detail about it. So that's the bad news. The good news is that Jupiter, the planet, of wisdom, the planet of philosophy, the planet of generosity, the planet, yes, of growth and abundance, is making a trine, so a really harmonious aspect with Saturn. And Saturn is this planet that Mars is also squaring. So right before Mars square Saturn, Jupiter will trine it. Now, this is an

aspect that is going to happen for the next year off and on. These two are going to trine each other a total of three times. So again, this is the first time and it's going to happen again a couple of more times in 2027. I know because I've already recorded your 2027 readings and I talked about it a lot there. And this is a really wonderful aspect. I don't know who came up with this saying, but I remember somebody, teachers, I think a lot of different astrologers have said this. Jupiter is like the train of opportunity, and Saturn is the tracks that that train needs to roll along. And so Monday's astrology is gorgeous because it talks about the work that we have done in the area of our chart that contains Ares and the goodness or the opportunity or the

abundance or the generosity that's coming to us in the part of our chart. chart that contains Leo and how one thing supports the other. Like a set of train tracks is fine if there's no train, but what is its purpose? It's kind of ugly even and it's carved a path into a mountain and was it worth it to do all that work? And then all of a sudden you hear like, chew chew, you're like, oh my God, the train's coming. And then here comes Jupiter. And it's only going to go as far as we've laid the tracks down for it to roll through. So there is an opportunity that's coming through our lives and our world this week. And I want us to take note of how important it has been to do the work that we did and that we have been doing for like the past year in change. Because Saturn has been in

Aries since 2025. It was there for a little bit, and then it left, and then it came back. And so timing-wise, this is nice, because we've had about a year and a half to build something in the area of our chart that Saturn has been moving through while it's been in Aries. And now Jupiter's going to come through the part of our chart that contains Leo and be like, Bing, Bing, Bing, hey, here I'm coming. Look at all the things you built. I'm going to come and bless them. I'm going to come and like roll. through and bring about a lot of openings for you. I'm going to come in and hopefully restore some of your faith in the work that you've been doing and also restore some trust in the long-term progress of what

it is you're trying to build. So the area of your chart where Saturn is, the area of your chart that contains Ares is really being worked this week. It's being blessed by a trying to from Jupiter and it's being harshed. Like it's it's harshing the vibe also by Mars. But I might say that like Saturn's also harshing the vibe of Mars. So you know what I mean? It's both the sight of irritation and frustration and great opportunity. Both things are true at the same time this week. And that's like the week, except for one other little thing. On Tuesday, right, after Mars square Saturn. Mercury makes a sex style to Mars. And what this means is that there's going to be a conversation that comes in and breaks up some of the challenge of the moment. Mercury is trying to

get in there by asking questions. And this is the key to how we are going to work through the issues about being stuck or stalled or frustrated in the beginning of the week. We're going to remain curious. We are going to listen to our gut. We're going to follow our gut instinct, or at least just acknowledge it and be like, uh-huh, yeah, I think I knew this. And here I am being proven right. Or here my gut is being proven right. Maybe next time I'll listen to it. But and also, because Mercury is breaking up the kind of static between Saturn and Mars, it's being like, hey, hey, hey, ask this question. Maybe look and see, like, is there a phone in the elevator? Oh, yeah, there is. Call security. Call assistance. Call for help. You call for help and then things

start moving again. That's the deal. That's the map of this moment. We have to ask for help. We have to ask questions. We have to ask ourselves, how am I not being curious in this moment? what else might I ask, what else might I not know? Yes, it's really easy to get fixated on frustration or what isn't working. And we need to understand what isn't working and we need to understand that we're frustrated. And then we need to also start asking questions. What is this good for? What is this use for? Is there another way out? Is there another way to look at this? Is there another person to talk to? Is there something else to learn? How am I framing this? How might I also use this to my advantage. How might I work with this moment? Or what am I just not seeing?

Like, what am I not being curious about? That's the key to Tuesday's frustration. And then this is a little like outsider baseball. Is that the way you say that? Both the moon and Mercury hit their exaltation degree of the signs that they're in on Tuesday. And that's saying to me that there's something here that is going to help us to again clock into remember our intuition, remember our gut knowing and be like, yeah, there's a lot of different ways to know. There's a lot of things to be curious about. Let me tune into and listen into all of the ways of knowing. And remember that there are a lot of different ways to gather information to help me move through an obstacle course. All right, now it's time for a question from the audience. Thank you so much for sending

these in. Hi, Chani. I have a question about when transits are conjunct natal placements. So, for example, my natal Jupiter is in Leo at 13 degrees, which is the same degree point as the Jupiter, Saturn, Trine that is end of August. So wondering, what does this mean how to think about it. Does it mean something in particular to my chart? All right. Appreciate it. Great question. And yes, it means a lot for your chart. It's actually really wonderful. I'm really excited for you. First and foremost, we want to know where this is happening in your chart. So where is Leo in your chart? What house does it occupy? Where is your natal Jupiter placement? This is the area of life where you'll most likely see and feel and understand the

results, the biggest. One thing that's happening is that you're having your Jupiter return. So everybody with Jupiter in Leo is having their Jupiter return right now. Jupiter returns happen once every 12 years or so. And they signify a time where we get to understand the nature of our Jupiter placement. Jupiter is about faith. It's about religion, spirituality. It is about our philosophical viewpoint in life. It is our morals. It is the things that help us to engender a sense of trust or a sense of like, this is my place in the universe. This is what the meaning of life is. It's like the big, big, big questions of life. That's what Jupiter is really concerned with. Jupiter is also a planet that's about teaching. And yes, it's about luck and abundance and growth.

but it's really about the growth of our understanding that we are connected to a source of abundance that could never be hoarded, could never be shrunk, could never be drained, that the spirit, the great creative spirit that moves through all things, moves through us too. And so when we're really tapped into Jupiter, when Jupiter is really strong in our chart, we know that. You'll know that when you meet people that just have this sense of abundance in them. Maybe they're Saj ruled or they have a hefty Pisces placement or Saj placement or again, like an angular Jupiter or Jupiter really prominently placed in the chart somewhere like with the

sun or with the moon. There's a sense of generosity. There's a sense of optimism that is just. exuded from the person. It all depends on the style within which your Jupiter is in, the sign that it's in. So if it's in Leo, it's a little bit of a disco ball. You know, the confidence is quite magnificent, even if you don't always feel confident yourself, you will probably have the kind of vibe that is like, oh, that person is either a party or they have a natural confidence or there's some sort of brightness that comes from them. Leo's a fire sign. It's bright, it's loud, it's

performative, it's able to gather attention. So that's one aspect. You're having your Jupiter return. The other thing is that you're having transiting Saturn trying your natal Jupiter. It just so happens to also be trining transiting Jupiter as well. So this is like a stellar lineup for you. And again, it's all about the work that you've done, the work that you've put into something, and the ways in which the opportunity that's now coming towards you can be realized because of the structure and the work and the discipline that you have been demonstrating. Or we can say, if you haven't been doing the work or you haven't been demonstrating discipline and work ethic, then the opportunity might come and you might not have anywhere to put it. You might not have

any way to contain it or you might not know what to do with it because the training that Saturn demands from us is the ways in which we will build the muscle to meet the moment, right? We don't, as Jalen Brunson said, we don't rise to the occasion. We sink to the level of our training. And that's a Saturnian thing to say. It's also a Virgoan thing to say. He is a Virgoan thing to say. He is a Virgo, but I digress. This also leads me to another very important point. When you hear me talk on the app or in this podcast about the transits that are happening, I'm talking about the things that are going on in the sky.

So there's how things are moving in the sky and how they're aligning in the sky. And that impacts all of us. And if I know you're rising sign, then I can place it inside of certain houses in your chart in certain areas of your life. But then if you go to the transit section of the Chani app, it'll tell you if that planet is doing something specific to the planets in your chart, your natal planets, your natal placements. And that's like doubling, tripling down on what is already occurring. So something is happening with Saturn in the sky and something's happening between Saturn in the sky and your chart, then Everything is going to be that much more felt. It's going to be deeper. It's going to be more crystallized in this situation because it's Saturn.

But it's going to be that much more potent. So looking at your transits in the transit section of the app will tell you how things are landing for you personally. And you'll notice like, oh, Cheney was talking about Saturn and Jupiter in this week's podcast or in my reading. And here I've got Jupiter conjunct Jupiter and also Saturn trine Jupiter. So my Jupiter is right in the mix of this really important Jupiter Saturn trine. And we don't get Jupiter Saturn trines every day. We don't get them every year. These are slow-moving planets. So this is a very important opportunity and signal from the skies that we're building something and that the enthusiasm and the inspiration and the creativity that's coming through right now

wants to be harnessed and wants to be worked with. So please go listen to your reading and find out where this is happening in your chart because that's how you can make the most of it. Okay, y'all, that's the reading. Please come back next week and we will talk about the fact that Venus is moving into Scorpio and we're going to get deep. And also next week, there is a new moon in Virgo. So come back and we'll talk about that kind of major reset, deep.

cleaning. Deep, deep, deep cleaning next week. Bye for now.