Astrology of the Week Ahead with Chani Nicholas - The Week of January 1st, 2024: Gathering momentum with Mercury direct and Mars entering Capricorn

Episode Date: January 1, 2024

Episode 159 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 January 1st, 2024, starts out a bit measured and murky, but ends with greater speed and clarity. On Monday, Mercury (the planet of communication) stations direct, but since it’s in a square to Neptune (the planet of illusions), details will remain hazy. Also on Monday, Venus (the planet of love) squares Saturn (the planet of boundaries), bringing a bit of a reality check. On Thursday, Mars (the planet of action) moves into Capricorn, helping us get things done. Though this week starts out slow, by the end we’ll have the motivation to initiate our plans, boldly and practically, into the new year.   This episode was recorded on 11/10/2023.  P.S. The 2024 Year Ahead has officially arrived in the CHANI app. If you head to the “This Year” section of the CHANI app homepage, you can read your 2024 horoscope, listen to your sign-specific astrology readings for each quarter of the year, and delve into the rituals, journal prompts, altar suggestions, and guided meditations that will support you through the next 12 months. Here’s to an abundant 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.

Hello and welcome. This is the Astrology of the Week Ahead podcast. I'm your host, Chani Nicholas. 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. Hey, y'all, I have an exciting update. The 2024 year ahead has a fifth.

arrived in the Chani app. If you head to the this year section of the app's homepage, you can read your 2024 horoscope, listen to your sign-specific astrology readings for each quarter of the year, and delve into the rituals, journal prompts, alter suggestions, and guided meditations that will support you through the next 12 months. Here's to an abundant 2024. Happy New Year, happy Gregorian calendar. It means literally nothing to me except for the fact that we've all agreed upon the fact that this is the first day of a new year. It is not an astrologically aligned kind of way of thinking. However, January 1st is close-ish to the December solstice.

So in that way, I do agree that there is a kind of renewal that happens at that time. Either way, here or there, January 1st is Monday this year. Monday, Mercury Stations Direct, so we can signal the little party emoji to go off on our screens, but also, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, it's stationing direct in a very sticky, tricky situation. So I just want us to all think about how we communicate, what we're communicating. the details that go missing. I want us to just consider that we're still in a Mercury retrograde E kind of moment, meaning there's going to be a lot of misunderstandings or things getting lost until next Tuesday. So this first week of January should be out of office as much as is possible.

I know that's not possible for everyone. But to whatever degree you can consider thinking that way, please do. there are supportive things happening this week. I'm not saying it's all like that, but I am saying that this is just exceptionally mushy and murky and unclear. As Mercury stations and turns direction, even though it's going forward now, it pulls focus and it's very slow. So we can think of like communications and plans and decisions and accounting, needing to be very slow. but because it's stationing direct in a square to Neptune, it means that the details are still very fuzzy and hazy. And that's okay.

I hope that's okay. I hope that we have this first week of the year to not rush, to not try to have to be exact, to not know yet. It's like coming out of the haze of New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, it should go slow. And there's another thing on Monday that happens that says, slowness or a stopping. Venus, planet of delights and pleasures and relationships, is making a square to Saturn, planet of boundaries and structure and discipline and discernment.

So it feels like a little bit of a hangover day. I don't mean that because you've gotten intoxicated the night before, although maybe. But Venus wants to have a delightful good time and Saturn is a sobering reality. So it feels like we're kind of like, coming to and then Mercury Stationing Direct, which is good, quote unquote, good. And it's doing so in a weird situation. So we should just keep going a little slow if we can or where we can, when we can. And by slow, I mean being thoughtful and considerate and also allowing ourselves time to space out. Spacing out is essential. Dreaming, daydreaming, fantasizing, fantasizing, imagining is such an important state of being to appreciate and to cultivate and to do

consciously. This is a great week to not make any solid plans quite yet. Just give it until next Tuesday. And instead, just let yourself wander around possibilities. Keep saying as much as possible, can I get back to you on that? Let me get back to you next week. can I get back to you next week? I'll have that. I'll have an answer next week. And you'll be good. The really cool thing that's happening this week is that Mars is moving in to Capricorn on January 4th.

This is a totally different tone than everything I just said. So two things can be true at once. We can have some communication problems. We can have a little bit of a reality check. on Monday can be a tough kind of coming to beginning of the year if we think everything should line up and make sense. If we're like spacious and okay and it's cool and we'll work with the mess, great. By Thursday, when Mars moves in to Capricorn, it begins this time period, this first bit of the year that is so helpful for getting things done. Remember I said two, things can be true at once. So Mars will be extra good or we'll be able to do a lot after the ninth. So if you just think of that, like by the end of this week, something else is starting to

come together. The part of our chart that contains Capricorn gets some high octane support. Or we can think of it as wherever Capricorn is in our chart, whatever that house domain is, those activities in our life, we could probably get some amazing work done in those areas. And I focus on that in this week's reading for you in the Chani app. If you're not there already, your weekly reading talks all about that. And it just gets better over the course of January. I will say, also, if you're on the Chani app, listen to your first quarter reading for 2024. I talk all about what is good, what to do with it, how to think about this first section of the year. And I do think, like, if you're someone that sets intentions or goals or what have you for the year, again, it's good to really dream on them this week. It's good not to pin anything down necessarily. And then to start next week getting a little bit more specific and to think about this first chunk of the year, maybe not thinking about the whole year or having some like really long term goals, but thinking about how this first chunk, this first couple weeks of the year, you could start to orient yourself.

towards it. I love next week. I love the week after there is and also the week after that. Like the rest of January past this week has excellent astrology. I have no idea what's happening in the world. I'm recording this in early November of 2023. No clue. No idea. I hope it's a lot better than what it is now, the world that is. And whatever is going on, January is supportive of us moving the pieces strategically forward. There are some very gorgeous, victorious wins available to us this first month. Just not necessarily this first week. So take note of what you fantasize, what you dream about, what you imagine.

And then again, by Thursday, Friday, into the weekend, we start to feel like, huh, I think I'm starting to form a strategy about this. I think there's some good motivational energy. It's kind of like what the universe, what the planets are saying is an excellent, that they are going to be an excellent coach. This is excellent coach energy because Mars loves to move quickly or loves to move, we could say. And in Capricorn, it's said to be exalted. So it's the sign where it kind of becomes famous or well known for its best attributes.

its best attributes are going to always be to have courage and valor and strategy and strength, a strength of character, we might say, or a strength of determination. And Capricorn is an earth sign, so it tempers the heat of Mars, and it makes it move towards things in a very practical check off. the list type of duties and responsibilities. It's responsible to something. And it just signals a time where it feels like we've got the resources that we need to do the things that we want to do. And so it's a potent really start to the year, again, especially after next Monday goes past. So just take note of like what feels a little messy this week, what might potentially.

be a mess on Monday and then know that beyond that we're going to be able to move some mountains together, which I'm always excited about. So I hope this was helpful, sending you so much love, so many blessings for 2024. We are going to need all of the strategy that we can possibly think of, communicate, and to connect with. And this is a year. that's going to really divide our attention in a lot of different ways. Again, listen to your 2024 readings and the Chani app. I go through it or you could download a guidebook that is for your sign that talks all about it, about it. But the beginning of the year being so helpful in terms of orienting us towards the goals that we want to set and then move strategically towards

is a really good signal. And I hope that we work with this moment to the best of our abilities and think about what kind of collective wins we can make, what kind of collective strides we can make towards a generous, positive, abundant for all type of year. Thank you all so much for leaving us reviews in the App Store. I wanted to leave you with this one. It's called Best Part of My Day.

Not only is Chani a world-renowned astrologist, her voice is so calming and the meditation's cathartic. Her authenticity inspires and her work is so on point. So grateful my sister showed me the app and Instagram. It's introduced me to a community I belong to. All right, I'll see you back here next week where we'll talk about a very special new moon in Capricorn. Bye for now.