Astrology of the Week Ahead with Chani Nicholas - The Week of July 21st, 2025: It’s transformation time with the New Moon in Leo

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

Episode 240In 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 July 21st, 2025, draws attention to our relationships and communications as we prepare for a major reset. Venus faces off with Mars and the lunar nodes, asking us to review what’s working in our connections and where we’re missing the mark. The Sun enters Leo, kicking off an exciting new season of innovation. And a Leo New Moon brings an opportunity to plant seeds for the transformations that help us shine. Any habits or hang-ups that you compost over the next seven days will make space for you to grow.Let’s dive in.This episode covers:Venus’ square to the lunar nodes on Monday, July 21stThe Sun’s ingress into Leo on Tuesday, July 22ndThe Sun’s sextile to Uranus on Tuesday, July 22ndVenus’ square to Mars on Wednesday, July 23rdThe Sun’s trine to Saturn on Thursday, July 24thThe Sun’s trine to Neptune on Thursday, July 24thThe New Moon in Leo on Thursday, July 24thThe Sun’s opposition to Pluto on Thursday, July 24thThis episode was recorded on 6/19/2025.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.

Three things about this week. One, we're going to really annoy each other. Two, we're going to make some pretty big mistakes. And three, we're going to be asked to move into our leadership in a whole new way. Hello and welcome. This is the astrology of the week ahead podcast. I'm your host, your Astro Bestie Channy Nicholas. In this episode, we're talking about the week of July 21st.

So on deck this week, we really have two main points of focus. One is something really pivotal happening in our relationships. Like, our relationships come to a point of like a fateful decision or conversation. And we're really reviewing a lot of material in our relationships. Or the question is, are you going back over? certain conversations in your relationships? Are you having conversations in your relationships that are helping you to like remember what it was about the person that drew you to them in the first place? Are you thinking about how you are showing up in relationships? Is that a

point of curiosity for you? I highly recommend that it is, especially this week, because it does feel like both a moment of decision is happening this week in our relationships. So it's not necessarily like it doesn't have to be as dramatic as, you know, whether or not I'm going to be with this person. Although for some people, maybe, especially for people with important Gemini placements, there's something happening in Gemini this week that makes things feel like they're getting shaped or they are in a moment of transition. And then there's an acute pain point that's all kind of wrapped up in that. Again, it might be us just getting on each other's nerves, but sometimes that is the moment that helps us to pinpoint, address, understand, get curious,

ask questions about what's going on underneath the surface. If there's a pattern or if there's a repetition of a theme, if there's something going on in a relationship that you're usually just allowing to play out. But at this point, seems like a no-go. Like, I don't want to do, like, what is this? That's good. It's good to have conversations about something that always happens in relationships or that's underneath the surface or it's kind of like lurking there or things that have been in the background or a little unconscious, but this week come to conscious awareness, those are the conversations that we want to have. Maybe it's with ourselves.

Maybe it's with people that we're in partnership with. Maybe it's with our therapist. Maybe it's with a mentor. Maybe it's with somebody that knows more about relationships or has wisdom about relationships in a way that we don't. Any kind of conversation that helps you to understand your intimacy issues, your interactions with others and how to be more successful at getting your point across or not caring if people like you are not because that's another factor in this week's astrology. If you are a

people pleaser, all my people pleasers come to the front. You're probably already here, but hello and welcome. This is your astrology to work with because this is a point of friction. By Wednesday, we're all being asked to be a little bit more honest about how something is landing. By Wednesday, we're all being asked to be a little bit more honest in our communication about something, especially as it pertains to any and all relationships that we are in. So on Monday, Venus, planet of relationship, also planet of pleasure and delight and art and beauty, makes us square to the nodes. The nodes are places where eclipses happen. So it's not like the biggest astrology in the world, but it's interesting because of what happens on Wednesday.

So as Venus kind of stumbles over this point in the sky that's related to a faded moment, there is a signature here that says, oh, pay attention to who you meet early in the week. There's a signature here that says, ah, there could be like a pivotal turning point in a relationship of yours. There's a signature here that says, whatever happens in your relationships right now that seems a little out of the ordinary or a little synchronistic even, that's important to pay attention to. Now, by Wednesday, what happens is Mars and Venus also come to a point of friction. And that's a little bit more aggressive. That might be also, again, a little bit more annoying. That might be a little bit irritating. Mars is in Virgo, Mars is extra skilled in Virgo at pointing out what is wrong at being a critic,

kind of harsh critic. And Venus and Gemini is like, I'm too distracted by what's beautiful and gorgeous and funny and gossipy around me to really care. But the point is, is that they come into this relationship where there is this point of like, okay, all right, you're annoying me. And that's really important to address. Now, the other thing is, is that Venus is in Gemini, Mars is in Virgo, these are Mercury ruled signs. That means that Mercury, right now, retrograde, is in charge of this interaction, which means there's something here for us to review. There's something here for us to reconsider. There's something here for us to rethink, rework, edit, come back to, understand from a different point of view.

And because this is about relationships and because it's about being annoyed or being aggravated or something kind of really poking at the problem, we know that it's good to go back and review whatever it is that's coming up in our relationship dynamics. Like first and foremost, very important to just take note of what is agitating you. And it's not even like you have to have the conversation with the person who's, agitating you or annoying you. But it's really good for you to have that conversation with yourself. It's good for us to have the conversation with ourself. And then on the world stage, oftentimes this astrology ends up relating to or reflecting a time that's really hard

for folks that are marginalized, especially in regards to gender and issues that pertain to gender under these structures that we live within. So I'll also be looking for that kind of piece of it. Like what is being agitated on the world stage? What do we need to pay attention to in terms of women's issues, in terms of queer issues, in terms of issues for trans folks and trans youth especially? So we want to pay special attention to that in terms of our activism and in terms of how we can be agitators of the things and of the people that we need to agitate and be a pain in the ass too.

That's the thing about astrology that is about a pain point or about being annoyed. It's like maybe it's not about you and me being annoyed with each other. Maybe it's about us being a pain in the ass to the people that are doing the most harm. Maybe it's about us being a thorn in the side of whatever supremacist structure we're wanting to dismantle because they're all related. so just dismantle one and the rest will topple, hopefully. Maybe it's about us being really strategically agitating to the systems that are doing the most harm and the people that are doing the systems bidding and therefore participating in a world of harm. We know that there's a lot to agitate right now.

We know that there's a lot that feels like an attack right now. I'm recording this in the past, but where I'm standing, there's a lot of conflict. There's a lot of harm being inflicted on each other. And it's being inflicted by a couple of men in power that are just hell-bent on creating the most damage that they possibly can. So it's up to us to be as fiercely agitating to those people in those positions. of power to the systems that prop them up as we possibly can because we know that we are each other's keeper, we are each other's solution, we are each other's reason for being here. If there is a life

purpose to live into, I believe it is to serve one another, which very much is, I think, a theme of Mars and Virgo. Mars and Virgo very much wants to be taking actions that are of service. And if Venus and Gemini is going to teach us something, it's about how to be curious, how to be a trickster in our relationships or in the ways in which we're relating, in this case, square to Mars, to a problem. So how can we build skill? How can we develop ourselves to be the ones who question in just the right way to be the ones who are like, okay, this is a flurry of chaos, where's the opening? and to be like, okay, there's a way to attack this thing, but we might have to be covert or undercover or do it through comedy or joy or some kind of other means. This is a Venus, which is, again, the planet of pleasure and beauty and art. It's in Gemini, which is a sign of comedy.

And we've got to give it to the Gemini's. This is a funny sign, whether they mean to be funny or not. this is about absolute chaos. And that's always our responsibility, right? It's to look at the astrology and be like, okay, this might be how it lands in my personal life. And I do that in great detail in your readings on the Chani app, your weekly readings, because I go through this and how it lands in your specific chart week to week. But it's also for us to look at it and be like, all right, well, how can I flip that? How can I be the one that's working with this moment to do the thing in a way that would bring about the most good for everybody involved. So how can we be a pain

in the ass in the best possible way this week? Then on Tuesday, in the midst of all of this, we move into Leo season. Now, Leo is a sign of the leader. Leo is a sign of great courage and strength and heart. So Leo season is always an invitation to move into our courage, to move into our leadership and to move into our next great hairdo. It just so happens that as soon as we move into Leo season, we also have a new moon in Leo. So we're moving into a new lunar cycle. New sun sign season, new lunar cycle. It's kind of cute when they both meet up. So it feels like a big new beginning this week. And it's a very dramatic one. It's a very cathartic one. It's a very mystical one, if we want it to be. It's very alchemical. So we want to think about how we turn

the lead of this moment, the things that are the heaviest, the densest, and seemingly the dullest, like the most boring. Like fascism is so boring and it's so destructive and it's so egregious. And yes, it's such a drama queen in the worst way. But it's also just, like so lacking in style and vision. It's so narrow. So we want to think about how we show up and use drama, the drama of Leo season, to work with this moment in a way that's going to bring us into a transformation and bring us deeper into the seat of our power, our own individual sovereignty. How do we work with this new moon in Leo that is sitting exactly opposite of Pluto? That's what I'm saying. It's cathartic and transformative and alchemical. This is a hefty signature.

This is a very intense moment. But we've got the power of the Leo sun. We've got the power of the sun in Leo on our side. Which is a very intense moment. We've got the power of the sun in Leo on our side. which is to say we've got the understanding of what it means for us to shine and that we are tasked at this time on earth. And I know some people are going to get mad at me. So go ahead, get mad. But we are tasked at this time on earth with shining our light, with moving into our leadership at a moment where the powers that be, where the people that are in power want us to forget what that power that we have inherently is. They do not want to share power. We're in a time where there are a couple of leaders that are trying to dominate the global landscape and make us feel powerless.

less. And on a collective level, that's what the signature is about. It is about that kind of battle. So there's the Venus Mars that's a point of friction and the Venus nodes, which is a square. It's all a point of friction. But the new moon is in a tug-a-war. And anything that happens in Leo is, again, about how we show up personally. And it's about our own leadership and us remembering that we are sovereign, that we belong to ourselves, that we are all the leaders we are waiting for, and that no one is coming to lead us, no one is coming to save us. It's up to us to lead ourselves together out of this very tumultuous and incredibly heartbreaking time. And so how do we, day-to-day, and I do feel like everyone is getting quickly better at this that wasn't so good at it

before. If you weren't good at being in your own power a couple of years ago, I bet that you're better at it now. I bet that you're less apologetic now. And if you're not, this is a very specific invitation to move into a greater understanding of your power and how to work with it, your energy and how to direct it, your light and how to shine it upon the most important things that we possibly can. Because what else is there? What else is there? But to serve each other, to be curious about the world around us, to be curious about the possibilities. The thing is, is that But fascism is, again, it's a limiting structure. It's a limiting set of beliefs.

It's so narrow. So when we come at it with a great curiosity and we start to poke at it from a million different angles all at the same time, it starts to get very wobbly. It doesn't take much to deconstruct it because it's such a narrow structure. So it's not that sturdy. I'm not saying it's not destabilizing. and I'm not saying it hasn't done and will not continue to do an incredible amount of harm. But what I'm saying is it's not that structurally sound.

And when we really fully live into that reality, I think we get activated in a way that we need to, which is to say we remember how potent each one of us is and that it's up to us to remember that, to ignite that flame every single morning. and then to let that go out into the world that we can remind each other so that when my light is dim, I can look to you and you are beaming and blazing. And when your light is dim, we can look to this person and their light is beaming and blazing. And we can just keep reflecting that back to one another. Also, this new moon is just a powerful moment for you to reset your intention to shine in the part of

your life that you know you need to and that you know you can and want to and that you know you might need to reset that kind of flame. You might need to reignite the flame in that part of your life. So go listen to your reading. Go find out where Leo is in your chart and let's set intentions for a really potent, powerful alchemical change this new moon. All right, y'all, that's it. That's the reading. This week's question comes from a user that wants to know if it's bad, quote unquote, to not have any planets in a certain house in a chart.

And I've answered this question in different ways in other places, but I just think it's really important to reiterate two things. One, nothing's bad. I mean, there's things that are like, oh, that's not the greatest. I wouldn't buy it if I had the choice. But, you know, we can work with everything in astrology. It's not bad if you don't have planets in a certain house. Two, it's impossible to have planets in every single house in your chart.

There's 12 houses. There's only 10 planets in the modern system, only seven planets in the traditional system, plus like north node, south node, and then we can throw in asteroids and things. but still most people are going to have empty houses, what we call empty houses. And that just means that there's no planets in that part of your chart. It doesn't mean that that part of your life is inactive. It might not be the most active part of your life, but I don't know. Like there's a lot that goes on in my life in regards to an area of my chart that I've got no planets in. And this is why. the planet that rules the house that has nothing in it is the planet that will tell you all about that

part of your chart. So say you've got cancer in the ninth house, but you've got nothing in cancer. That means technically your ninth house is empty or cancer in your chart is empty. So what do you do? Does it mean that you don't have any relationship to spirituality or education or higher learning or travel or publishing or me. No. It means that your moon, if cancer is a sign that's in your ninth house, it means the planet that rules that sign, in this case, the moon, would be your ticket to understanding this area of your chart. So say that cancer is your ninth house, and say your moon is in Leo, in the 10th house. That would make your moon angular. That would make your moon really, high up, that would make your moon very prominent. That would make teaching and religion and

or spirituality and or academia and or law and or ninth house subjects really prominent in your life. Why? Because the ruler of that part of your chart is really prominent because it's in what we call an angular house. It's in the 10th house. It's in a part of your chart that's really visible. It's in a part of your chart that's really public. It's in a part of your chart that's really dominant. Do you see what I mean? It all depends on where the planet is that rules the part of your chart you're wondering about. And there's a planet that rules every single sign. So every single part of your chart is ruled by the planet that rules the sign that's in it. So even if you have four planets in Capricorn and they're all in your fourth house, Saturn,

still rules all of that. And say Saturn is in Aquarius. It means that all of the fourth house themes in your chart get pulled into the fifth house. It's a little complex of an idea, but basically it's this. Say, I own this room that I'm in. This is my room. I own everything in it. I go next door. I still own everything here. I'm just next door. And so, everything I own is therefore connected to what I'm doing next door. That's why the ruler of your ascendant, remember the ascendant is the you part of the chart and it is the only part of the chart that speaks specifically and only about you. The ruler of your ascendant, wherever it is in your chart, becomes so important because it pulls you, the first house, the ascendant,

into that domain of life. It means that you, the ascendant ruler, that symbolizes your life direction, need to go in the direction of your chart ruler, of your ascendant ruler. So say the ruler of your ascendant is in the fifth house, you've got to do creative work, you've got to do something that feels self-expressive, you've got to do something with children, or young people, or something that's about fun and games. A lot of gamers will have, like, a really prominent fifth past. Gamblers will also have a prominent fifth house.

Things that we do for fun. That's what we do in the fifth house. Or sexual health and wellness, or reproductive rights, or something to do with conception, et cetera, reproductive health, et cetera. So wherever a planet is, unless it's in its own sign, it's pulling the topics of the houses that it rules into the domain that it resides in. So if your 10th house is Pisces and your Jupiter is in the third house, your 10th house is career, so the ruler of your career, your career, the planet that steers your career, the planet that is in charge of your career, say it's in the third house, well, then you probably should do something that is connected to the

third house for your career. Say your 10th house is empty, but it's Pisces. So I go directly to Jupiter and say, okay, well, Jupiter, what's up? I know what kind of planet you are. You want to, like, make the most out of whatever you've got. You want to bring bounty. You want to bring abundance. But where are you? Oh, you're in the third house? Oh. So maybe you should do something with media. Maybe you should be a teacher. Maybe you should write. Maybe you should do something in your local neighborhood. Maybe you should open a business with a sibling. There's a lot of different variations. But we want to look at where the ruler of that house is and what the house topics are. It's like it's deep, but it's also really simple. It's like just a little coding system. Once you understand like where the rulers, of each house are in your chart and how to bring those meanings together, a lot can open up in your life. My life changed when I finally understood that the ruler of my ascendant was in my third house. I was like, oh, I'm supposed to write. I'm supposed to speak for a living.

I'm supposed to teach. I'm supposed to be yakity, yackety, yackety, yackety, yackety, all the time. It gave me permission. So it doesn't matter if you've got an... I've got a million houses without planets in them. I just look to the ruler of the sign that's in that house and I get all the information I need. You can even look at other people in your life through your own chart

because they'll be symbolized through the planets that rule the houses that are about your friends or your family or your relationships. It's fascinating. I mean, astrology is so fascinating. So I'm so glad. And it gets better as you get old. It really is one of those art forms, like most art forms, but it really is one of those art forms that you're just like, oh, it gets more interesting.

You live through more transits. You get to live out more the meanings of your chart because when we're young, we don't have access to the full meaning. As we grow and work through it and figure it out, we're like, oh, I could also do this thing with this setup. All right. Keep asking me your questions. I love them.

Thank you. Listen, next week, we have Venus moving in. to cancer. And while it's momentarily a little tricky, just very momentarily, the big, big, big, big, news is that Venus and Jupiter are moving ever closer together in cancer, which is one of the best things that can happen. And they're going to make a conjunction early mid-August, and it's going to be gorgeous. And that's the next big moment that we're going to work towards. So that's going to be a really lovely transition. I'll see you back here then. Look, if this was helpful to you, if these episodes are helpful to you, please share them with a friend. It helps us so much. And we love to see what

happens when the astrology moves out into the world. And people start to make these little connections for themselves. And I'm like, oh my God, that is what's happening. Wow, that's so weird. We need these like little signals that were inside of a larger context. And maybe there's something that's really intelligent that's working through us and working with us. I think it helps to soothe something in us. All right. I'm sending you so much love. Thank you for joining. Bye for me.