Astrology of the Week Ahead with Chani Nicholas - The Week of December 18th, 2023: The Solstice, Capricorn season, and a Mercury cazimi mark a restart

Episode Date: December 18, 2023

Episode 157 In this podcast, New York Times bestselling 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 December 18th, 2023, brings us major shifts with deep insight. On Monday, Mercury (the planet of communication) trines Jupiter (the planet of expansion), reminding us to think and communicate with gratitude and abundance. On Wednesday, Venus (the planet of love) opposes Uranus (the planet of breakthroughs), awakening us to submerged feelings in our relationships. The December Solstice occurs on Thursday, marking a restart in the solar cycle and ushering us into Capricorn season. Also on Thursday, Mercury sextiles Saturn (the planet of boundaries), bringing stability and practical thinking to our endeavors. On Friday, the Sun conjoins Mercury in a cazimi, introducing clarity and helpful revelations in our exchanges and travel plans. Also on Friday, Mercury re-enters Sagittarius, initiating communication issues. Finally, on Sunday, the Sun makes a sextile to Saturn, enhancing our ability to ground and think in constructive ways. Overall, we’re sending you many Solstice and cazimi blessings.   Looking for intel on 2024? Check out our 2024 Guidebooks. These 100+ page digital resources examine the year's astrological moments in detail and provide sign-specific activities to support you through every twist and turn. You can order yours at chani.com. This episode was recorded on 11/02/2023. 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.

Hello and welcome. This is the Astrology of the Week Ahead podcast. I'm your host, Channy Nicholas. In this episode, we are talking about the astrology of the week of December 18th. 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 Chaniup. Hey y'all, if you're looking for Intel on 2024, check out your 2024 guidebook. This 100-plus page digital resource examines the year's astrological moments in detail and provides sign-specific activities to support you through every twist and turn. You can order yours at chani.com. It is an invaluable resource for the year. I'm very excited, especially about the beginning part of this week.

I'm actually excited for most of this week. Maybe not Wednesday as much, but listen, I'll take it. This is why I'm excited about this week. This week gives us a restart with a deep insight. And it feels like, looks like is a new beginning of sorts with an added bonus. So the reason why I say that is because this week is the solstice. Now, no matter what hemisphere you're in, north or south, the solstice and the equinoxes are points of the year that are energized by the fact that the sun enters a new season. Right?

We enter a new season because of where the sun is and because of the way it impacts us. obviously in the northern hemisphere, this is the moment where the days are shortest and then they grow longer from here. So in the northern hemisphere, this is a new beginning of the solar cycle. In the southern hemisphere, it's the point at which the days grow shorter. However, because the solstice is this point of the year where we can work with the energy because it's a shift of season. So it's a shift that we can make. It's the initiation of something. So it is a point of initiation, we could say, that lines up with the end of the Gregorian calendar,

which holds absolutely no astrological significance whatsoever, save for the fact that it's close enough to the solstice so that the end of the year and the beginning of a new year. is just like off the mark by about nine days, in my opinion, nine, ten days. So we celebrate New Year's on the first of January, but really there is a lot to say for using this solstice to set intentions with. Now, bearing that in mind, I don't know how helpful it always is to try to make a list of things that we're going to do. Like resolutions aren't really my thing, but working with the solstice to set an intention for how we want to enter this next year, like what kind of experience we want to have from life and then thinking about what we need to do

to grow ourselves into the kind of person that can have that experience can be really helpful. And it can be helpful to keep things very attain. to not overwhelm ourselves with a to-do list. And it's also a really nice time to look back at the past year. And because Mercury is already retrograde, station retrograde last week, that's already happening. There is also this sense of a cosmic review process. And of course, we are being inundated by all the kinds of look at what happened in 2023 articles. So we can look collectively, but I really encourage us to look also individually at what worked this year, what gifts came our way, what do we have appreciation for, what was so difficult, what brought us

to a place of deep prayer and an ability to ask for help or, you know, made us just have to dismantle our ego somewhat so that we could ask for help. What were the things that really made their mark on us in 2023? And what of them or what about them or how do we show up to those events or situations? And what can we be grateful for? Sometimes it's not that we have to be grateful for the thing that happened, but it's being grateful for the part of us that showed up the part of us that was like, I'm ready to grow. I'm ready to be developed in this way. I'm ready to meet this moment even though it's hard. So I'm saying that in part because Monday's astrology, Monday the 18th of December gives us a really nice connection between Mercury retrograde

and Jupiter, who's also retrograde. And they connect to bring us some good news or to remind us to think expansively, therefore, think with gratitude and think with an abundance type of mindset. What could be good for all? What is the highest good for all? Now, do you think this good news is connected to something that happened on December 7th and something that will happen again on January 19th? Mercury made this connection with Jupiter at the beginning of December 7th, does so now on December 18th, and does so one more time on January 19th. These are big, bold, expansive ideas, but they are very practical and workable.

So I just want you to pay attention to the conversations you're having, to the things you're reading, to what you're learning about, that makes you think, huh, I think I could try that come January. And again, it's nothing that we want to really try to put in motion right now, but it is something that come mid to late January will be able to go forward with. Wednesdays astrology is a little bumpy. Venus, planet of relationships, is in Scorpio right now, deep, deep, deep, mysterious feelings and connections and relationship issues emerge. And Venus is making opposition to Uranus. Uranus is a planet of change and upheaval and waking us up.

And it's quite a shocking combo. So it does seem to be writing a story that has a planet. something to do with deeply submerged feelings being woken up and being loud and being obvious. So perhaps some relationship situations arise Wednesday. Not all of us will feel it personally. But for those of you that do, please know that this turbulence isn't going to last for that long. But it is probably important because it's going to wake up a deep need that we have for connection, for relationship, and a need that possibly we can meet, but also something that just needs to be acknowledged so you can see what needs to happen in order for you to be able to

make that connection within yourself. Then on the 21st, the solstice arrives. And the solstice happens at 727 p.m. Pacific time. And that's when the sun's when the sunsets. And that's when the sunsusts moves into Capricorn. So here we are in Capricorn season. At the same time, Mercury is making a sex style to Saturn, which is very stabilizing and really good for thinking along practical lines. And then by the next day, but really at the same moment, Mercury and the sun come together. So the sun is also making this sex style to Saturn, which Saturn rules Capricorn. So it feels really stabilizing. It looks like it's a story about our ability to ground and our ability to think in practical, constructive terms.

Now, a Mercury Kazimi is when the sun and Mercury come together. And Mercury is snuggled in between the sun and the Earth in this particular Kazimi, because it's retrograde. So it's really close by. That means that we're receiving revelations that are quite personal in nature, but also something that is incredibly practical, helpful, useful. And because it's happening at the same time as the solstice, which is a point of energizing astrology, or it's a point in the year that talks about a major shift of energy, a shift of tone, shift of season, we're initiating something. It just feels like this beautiful way in which the astrology is coming together to give us a little bit of help.

And I don't know about you, but I'm recording this way in the past. I'm recording this at the very beginning of November. I don't know what's happening come December 18th in the world, but from my vantage point right now, We need all of the positive restarts and information that we can possibly get. So I'm hoping that the rituals you might do this week or the ways in which you feel a tone shift or you receive a download or you have that conversation that awakens you to the things you need to do. Again, it's very practical astrology. What can I do? How can I be of use? How can I utilize the resources I have available to me to be effective in the ways that I want to? What do I need to plan for? What do I need to strategize for? What can I do in a way that is consistent that will make me feel like I am constructively tending to what I need to tend to? So the Kazimi is specifically on the 22nd, but it's it's it's it's, it's,

close enough on the 21st. So the 21st and the 22nd. Then the mercury leaves Capricorn and it enters, it backs up into Sagittarius, but not until like after 10 o'clock at night, Pacific time. So for most time zones, the whole day on the 22nd is really quite good to work with. So do your rituals, the 21st, the 22nd. And I'm hoping that it will provide for you a nice moment of clarity. And a bit of a reset, a tone shift, a reset. And maybe you're already going out to a festival, a party, something to celebrate the solstice anyways. And it's just a really good time. And being out and being with folks that are lighting candles and calling the light back in. Or if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, partying at the beach, I'm not sure what's going to be going on at this point.

But, you know, like being able to celebrate the sun's cycle and the ways in which we experience it, can be a wonderful thing to do around this time. So I hope just doing that, partaking in, whatever it is you partake in, gives you those insights or creates space for those conversations to happen that feel really enlivening. Now, the thing about Mercury late on the 22nd slash 23rd, depending on your time zone, slipping back into Sajj, is that it starts to get into funkier territory. So I do think that communication issues are a big part of this next. part of Mercury's retrograde. And I will say that communication issues get pretty pointed and a little intense next week. So we'll talk more about that in next week's episode, but just in terms of how we're

working through this weekend and into next week, just know that some people might be really like itching for a conversation that might feel more like a fight. And it's going to be a heightened type of mercury retrograde, especially from the 26th to the 28th of December. That's where things get really slippery and a little weird. So just bear that in mind that conversations next week might be a little bit more challenging or maybe just be like a little bit more confusing and I think that we're going to want to escape a lot next week, which I hope we're able to in a way that feels really helpful and supportive. We also have a big old full moon and cancer next week. So come back. We'll talk about all of that and then some. Until then, I'm sending so many solstice blessings, so many

Mercury-Kazemi blessings. This is a solstice-Kazimi bananza. And I hope that you work with it. If you are a subscriber to the Chani app, we have rituals, guided meditation, alter suggestions, journal prompts to make the most of it, to help you make the most of it. And I hope it feels supportive to you. Thank you all so much for leaving us reviews in the app store. We read all of them. We appreciate every single one. This one is called Natal Chart View on app. Hello, Chani team. I've been a premium subscriber. for the last couple of years and get so much value out of the content. Knowing what the planets are up to and how it impacts my chart has helped me feel sane and

supported by the universe, especially when life gets turbulent. I love what you're doing. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening. I'll catch you next week. Bye for now.