Astrology of the Week Ahead with Chani Nicholas - The Week of March 16th, 2026: An uncertain Equinox

Episode Date: March 16, 2026

Episode 274In 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 March 16th, 2026, is a mix of missing details and new beginnings. A dreamy New Moon in Pisces gives our intention-setting and creative genius a boost. The March Equinox and zodiacal new year spring us forward into a fresh start. And Mercury finally stations direct — though it’s still slogging through Pisces and continuing to cloud our communications. This is a time for careful review and much-needed renewal. Say goodbye to the retrograde rut.This episode covers:Mercury’s conjunction with the North Node on Tuesday, March 17thVenus’ square to Jupiter on Wednesday, March 18thThe Sun’s sextile to Uranus on Wednesday, March 18thThe New Moon in Pisces (sextile Uranus) on Wednesday, March 18thThe Sun’s entrance into Aries and the March Equinox on Friday, March 20thMercury stations direct in Pisces on Friday, March 20thMars’ trine to Jupiter on Saturday, March 21stThe Neptune cazimi on Sunday, March 22ndMercury’s conjunction with the North Node on Sunday, March 22ndThis episode was recorded on 03/10/2026.For more, check out your free daily horoscope on the homepage of the CHANI app — now on iOS and Android.Want to know what Chani’s reading beyond the astro? Join her book club, The Next Chapter, to explore her favorite titles and build community around books that reckon with and reimagine the world we’re living in.The music featured in the podcast was created by Latashá.

The blessing and the curse of astrology is that it helps us understand what kind of cycle of time we're in. What is the quality of this time? And the way it helps us do that is we can look at, well, when was the last time this astrological event occurred? I wonder what was happening then. Now, it just so happens that in 26, we are going through four major. reoccurrences.

One is Pluto and Aquarius. The last time Pluto was an Aquarius, we had the American, French, and Haitian revolution. We also had the industrial revolution. So, hello, robots. I know you're listening. Then the next cycle of time we want to look at is Neptune in Ares and also Uranus in Gemini. The last time those things happened, we were in a civil.

war. We were also experiencing reconstruction, obviously after the Civil War, but this country was going through probably one of the most important eras of its time, didn't last. That doesn't mean we cannot pick up that stitch once again. And then the next time Uranus was in Gemini, which we could say was the last time Uranus was in Gemini, was World War II, which gave us, of course, a new world order. It was a restructuring of how the world powers interacted. Then we had a Saturn-Neptune conjunction 36 years ago. Fall of the Berlin Wall, also a reconfiguring of the powers of Iran and who the supreme leader was. So we find ourselves all at once, back in those four cycles all together now.

All here right now. Saturn and Neptune have just made a conjunction. First time in 36 years. Different sign, but first time in 36 years. Neptune is back in Ares, first time in 165 years. Pluto is back in Aquarius, first time in 248 years. Happy birthday to a certain nation. state. And of course, Uranus is about to come back into Gemini. And that will happen at the end of

April, but it was already in Gemini in 2025. All these planets were in these signs in 2025. That's why 2025 was a game-changing year. And that's why everything that began in 2025 is now getting further entrenched. And I want to add this. Everything that began in 2025, is being further entrenched in 2026. I want us to remember all of the good things that happened in 2025, all of the ways in which our communities were galvanized and were given the like, okay, this is for real, for real orders. It is us or nothing. We only have each other and we are all we need. and we're really in this thing. This is not something that is going to end in a couple of weeks. I don't care what Trump says. This is not something that is just going to go away and all of a sudden become

better. We are in a long haul transformation. And as scary as it can be sometimes, I'm never going to pretend that it's not. As scary as it can be sometimes, we now have all of that historical hindsight to our advantage. What worked? What didn't work? What are we going to do? How are we going to refuse defeat? One of the main themes of Neptune and Ares is about fighting for our ideals. And that is where we find ourselves here and now. Hello and welcome. This is the astrology of the week ahead podcast. I'm your host, Chani Nicholas, your astro bestie come hell or high water, which is where we find ourselves now. In this episode, we're talking about the astrology for the week of March 16th, which definitely highlights Neptune in Ares. So I wanted to remind us

about the quality of that transit. It's a transit that lasts over a decade. This is just the beginning of it. It doesn't mean we're going to be at war that whole time. It doesn't. But it does mean that there will be people that will try to say this is a holy war. This is a war where we are fighting because God chose us and we are the chosen ones. Or this is a crusade. This is to say, save our souls. Why? Because Neptune. Neptune is always going to be about ideals and delusions and fantasies. And in Aries, it's going to be about how we mix that all up with war, how we mix that all up with aggression. But it's also about using our imagination to fight. We have to be able to wield our creative energy as the kind of weapon that we need now. We cannot let them

steal our imagination. War is not inevitable. Conflict is, but war is not. Conflict is inevitable between humans, but violence is not. That is a choice. And that is a choice that this system will tell us again and again and again is the only choice. And we know that it's not. Okay, I promise myself that I wouldn't ramble too much because I'm going to be honest with you. I filmed this episode 15 times yesterday and I didn't like any of them. And I really feel like it's the astrology, but this is the last time I'm going to film this. So I apologize ahead of time that you're just going to get what you get this week. I'm a little unhinged because A of all, I'm recording this really close to the time that it's going to air, which I think makes me stumble and fumble a little bit

because I'm trying to include my brain wants to try to include everything that's just happened and how it's so much the astrology because it's so, you know, eerily accurate in its translation of current events. But when I do that, I really go off the deep end sometimes. So I'm going to try to keep this as succinct as possible. First of all, the things about this week that are very local to this moment are really quite good. We have a new moon in Pisces that's really positive. It gives us a major confidence boost. We also have the Equinox that's happening, which launches us into a new season. It's very energizing. And on the same day as the Equinox, we have Mercury stationing direct. Hallelujah.

Yeah, this is phenomenal. It's not without its complications, but these are all really good signs, correct? Yes. Okay. So we agree that this is good astrology. And we also know the context of the world that we are delivering this information within. So what can we do with this good astrology? What can we do with these really good moments, considering the onslaught violence that we are living through without dissociating from that, but without also being disempowered by the very, very pointed and on purpose onslaught of all of the things. So the first thing that happens this week is Mercury slowing down to station direct, right? As Mercury stations direct, it slows down. Now, it's slowing down in the sign of its detriment and fall, meaning that most of the week,

the communications are probably going to get a little worse. And we might notice that tech issues and planning and getting specific with things is a little bit harder than it would have normally even been before. It's going to turn around, but on the way in, it might be even more of a mudslide than we've already experienced. Mercury is also stationing direct at the North Node. Now, the North Node is just a point in space that tells us that eclipses happen here. If there's a new moon or a full moon near the node, it will be an eclipse. So we just came through eclipse season, and that is in part how we, you know,

astrologically, we were told that that would be a time period, the end of February, beginning of March, that would speed things up and ramp us up and put us in a position that we weren't in prior to eclipse season. So here we are. And Mercury is now going to just hang out at the North Node and say, oh, there's important conversations happening. There's important information coming out. there's a fateful kind of message for you and I to receive both personally and then also collectively. One thing that I will say, again, I'm going to try not to get too derailed with this, but one thing I will say, because I'm recording this so close to it being released, is that to live through a mercury transit through Pisces, then have it stationed retrograde in Pisces, then it be retrograde,

in Pisces. Again, the hardest sign it can be in for a retrograde for any reason, but then you add a retrograde and you add eclipse season into that and it ruled one of the eclipses to live through that as an astrologer and then as a human being to receive the onslaught of the release of the Epstein files in a, I think, purposefully chaotic way I think both the administration is profoundly inept and also profoundly evil, that they act in ways that are profoundly evil, that it is not a coincidence that they were released in the ways that they were released. That survivors were left vulnerable and that perpetrators were, for the most part, protected. and that the public, all of us, all of us, were absolutely not protected. None of this was trauma-informed.

None of this was about justice for survivors. None of this was about perpetrators facing consequences. All of it was to flood the zone, to flood our systems, to make us feel like, oh, all of that stuff that always happens out in the world that happened to me, that happened to my mom, that happened to my sister, that happened to my aunt, that happened to every woman, every child, queer person, all of the survivors that we know, because we all know a lot of survivors. All of that is just how the world works. That's what they're trying to get us believe, to believe in an unconscious kind of way. Okay. To have all that happen during the most messy

mercury retrograde and eclipse being ruled by that mercury retrograde, and having these conversations of the Epstein files come out. And then, of course, you know, get covered up or get pushed out of the news cycle because, oh, the person Trump, who's in the Epstein files a million times goes and starts a war. And I get it. Like, it's not just about him trying to divert the news away from that. he is a malignant narcissist who most likely has dementia, who is absolutely a pedophile and a human being that has gotten away with every single heinous crime that he's ever done so far.

I get that. And I get that this kind of gender-based violence happens all the time. It's not just with folks that are in the quote-unquote Epstein or elite class. this kind of violence happens all of the time in small French villages, in your hometown, in mine, in boardrooms, in dark rooms, in every single kind of space, in every class, in every kind of situation. It is not about money only. It is never about the situation only. We live in a world. that is drenched in gender-based violence. We live it, we breathe it, we swim in it. We don't know it because it's so prevalent. And so to have these files flood our systems and the ways that they have

has brought up everything that all of us have already lived through or we've witnessed or we've heard about or we know happens but don't know it happens that much. So all that to say, I think as Mercury has done this trip through Pisces and we've been flooded with the most horrific information that has confirmed so much for so many of us, but we've been left with this flood of information and no way to categorize it. No way to be like, okay, this document means that we then go and prosecute this individual to not have like an A to B to C to D process. That's what Mercury should do. When it's in its good signs, that's what it does. Or when it's in a good condition, that's what it does. And when it's in a destabilized condition,

it is a flood of information without anywhere to put it. And that's what we're living through. So I just want to confirm that or say, you know, astrologically, like that definitely lines up. Of course, it will change. It's not all going to flip over as soon as Mercury Station's direct. But it is about us changing the systems we live within and addressing gender-based violence at every single level of society. because it is everywhere, it permeates everything. So this is, of course, a particularly horrific moment to live through because no one has yet to face a

consequence. I just had to say that. Again, I'm sorry, this is just going to be a little rambly. Mercury is still in Pisces. Okay, so on Tuesday, Mercury makes a conjunction with the North Node. This is a signature of something being really loud or of, again, a deluge of information. And as Mercury moves towards Friday, on Friday it will station direct and then it will bump into the North node again because it backs up into it and then it goes just past it, stations direct and moves over it again. I do think there's going to be some other kind of deluge of information this week.

I do think that there is going to be some kind of outpouring of a situation, something leaked, something gets exposed. And another little rant, I'll just warn you, we don't need any more information. We need consequences. We have enough information. We know the information. I mean, yes, all the files should be released so that we can move towards the appropriate consequence for every single person involved. But getting more information isn't necessarily even the thing we need. We need a process so we can move towards appropriate next action. So we can feel like we're moving towards something instead of just being flooded with information. Nevertheless, I do think there will be some other kind of

flood of information this week as Mercury stations direct and as Mercury is bumping into the North Node again. So that's the Mercury channel of the week. That's what's happening all week. Mercury will station direct on Friday on the day of the Equinox, which does feel like a turning of the page. It does feel like an energetic reboot. It does feel like an okay. It's still a mess, but we are in a new season and we are moving into a new chapter. Before that, we have a new moon in Pisces that is exactly sextile Uranus, which speaks to doing things in an experimental interesting, new, innovative kind of way. This is the end of Pisces season.

This happens on Wednesday, the 18th of March, the very end of Pisces season, we get a new moon. So it's like we're closing a chapter. We're finishing something up. We have one little moment of like, okay, let's reset this, finish something up before we move on. And the finishing up feels really good. So I do on Wednesday want you to think about what could I initiate, what could I begin that would help me to close this loop. That would help me to close the gap. That would help me just to like wrap this thing up. That's what a new moon at the end of a sign is like. It's like, okay, I'm going to take one little action, one little kind of moment to initiate this thing so that I can feel like, yep, I've done a full circle. I've done this whole thing. I've wrapped it up. I've figured it out. And now I've can move on. This is a good new moon in a lot of ways, even though it's happening at the end of the sign, because again, it has that innovative energy from Uranus. It's like, okay, what can I do

in a different kind of way, in an interesting way, in a way that helps my dreams be reignited and helps me to like shake myself awake a little bit. Like, okay, I just need to do this one little thing, close a sloop, move on. But also on Wednesday, Venus and Jupiter make a square to each other. And that is a really nice confidence boost. And it is a really good boost for our relationships and for our ability to be generative through our creative pursuits. Venus and Jupiter are also the rulers. Venus is the co-ruler. It's the exalted ruler of Pisces. And Jupiter is the traditional ruler of Pisces. So the fact that the rulers of this new moon are also making contact on this day is really, really helpful. So Wednesday is a lovely boost of energy. Wednesday is a

beautiful kind of re-ignition to help us finish something. And then on Friday, the equinox happens. And on the same day, Mercury stations direct. These are gorgeous little moments of astrology. We get a reset, we get a reboot, we are moving into spring in the northern hemisphere, we are moving into fall in the southern hemisphere, we are moving into a different time frame. Of course, there is equal light and equal dark. So we want to think about what is in balance, what is out of balance. In the northern hemisphere, we want to be doing a lot of springtime cleaning rituals. what are we moving out of our house, of our home, of our space?

What are we needing to clear? Think of all the stagnant energy that builds up over the season of winter. And then spring is here and it awakens something in us. May it awaken our fighting spirit. May it awaken our courage. May it awaken our desire to take actions towards. being a part of a global anti-war movement. For example, I don't know, just to say. There's something here that is about moving towards our ideals. Why? Because as soon as we're in the equinox, we are in

the Neptune-Kazini. Neptune and the sun are going to meet up on Sunday, but they're basically hanging out, like at the same degree. The sun moves into Aries on Friday. It is the equinox. it is glorious, do some kind of cleaning ritual, do some kind of spring cleaning, move the old energy out, make space for the new emerging energy to come in. Mercury is stationing direct. Yes, it's going to be a flood of information. We're going to learn how to surf through it. We're going to learn how to swim. We're going to learn how to float. We're going to learn how to ride the waves. We've already had to do that. We already are doing that. The world is going to do what the world does. I'm sure there's going to be some kind of flood of information around this time.

around over the weekend for sure. And we need to just be like, okay, well, what is my action that I can do? It's Erie season. It is time to take action. And because the sun and Neptune come together, it is like another seed planting. It is another new beginning. It's the beginning of a Neptune kind of solar cycle. And it is crystallizing what Neptune and Ares means. So I began this podcast saying the last time Neptune was in Ares was a civil war in the United States. But it was also the time period that brought us reconstruction. So what are we fighting for? And where are we wanting to go once we win this fight? What would it have meant for this country, but also for the world, if reconstruction would have remained? If all of the gorgeous things that were created during that time

would have been able to flourish. Is it not our responsibility to make sure that kind of sentiment gets seated now? I do think, I really do think, considering everything, but just in general, that this is the time for a global anti-war movement, that this is the time. Neptune back in Ares is like, okay, we are all in this together. This is a massive global movement where we either decide that we are going to be siphoned off, that we are going to be fighting one another, that we are going to be at war with one another, or we're not. And I know it's not that simple. I know it's really quite complex. I know that there's a lot of special interests and a lot of things that are against us. I get that. And I also, I know, I know deep, deep, deep, deep,

deep in my bones that we have way more on our side than anything that opposes us. I know that it is collective action that will save us. And so I invite myself and you and all of us to find a political home, to find an organizing home, to find a home where people are taking action after action after action towards their ideal, towards an ideal situation for all of us. Humans, animals, insects, trees, the land, the earth, all of it. The whole thing. This is always about saving all that we can. And that's the kind of ideal that I hope is seated this weekend in all of us. And then, of course, it's about taking action from that place, taking action towards that

ideal. We have a whole lot to work on this year, to focus on, to dedicate ourselves to, and to also take back from the jaws of everyone and everything that is trying to devour it. everything we save is important. I truly, truly, truly, deeply believe that. And I deeply believe, like I said last week, that this is such an important time to be alive. This is such an important time to act from a place of conviction. We literally have nothing to lose, and we literally will lose everything if we don't. No pressure, but that's the deal. That's where we find ourselves in world history. So we must be here for a reason. We must be in this moment for a reason. So may our courage be

rallied this week. Now it's time for a question from the audience. Hi, Chani. Inspired by the question from twins with different rising signs. My sister and I were born three and a half years apart, but we have the same rising sign. And I'm just curious about, despite the fact, that pretty much everything in our charts is different. How does that shared rising sign? What does that say for our relationship and our paths in life and our overlap? Thanks so much. I really love your podcast. Bye. Okay. This is a great question. Everybody with the same rising sign will experience the celestial bodies in the same area of their chart at the same time. meaning everything that's happening in the sky is happening in the exact same part of your chart as it is for

everybody else with the same rising sign. I know that sounds kind of general, but it's actually not because then you overlay the fact that you also have every planet and point at a specific part of the zodiac. And that's quite personal to you in many ways. And those planets and points are also having a special relationship to everything in the sky. So on one level, like say, let's take Saturn, for example. So if you have the same rising sign as me, we're going to be experiencing Saturn moving through Ares in the same area of our life. Of course, it's going to impact us slightly differently. It also depends on if we have other planets or other points in that sign or in signs where Saturn will make a square or opposition or what have you. But in a general kind of way, which is how I do the readings, right,

I do the readings based on your rising sign. So all Libre risings will from 2025, 2025, 26 onwards for over a decade, have Neptune in their seventh house of relationships. That's just a thing that all Libre risings will share. Aries risings, you'll all share having it in your first house. So it's going to be these like big kind of like time periods that you're sharing in terms of where those planets are impacting you. But then we think about quick events, too, like everyone with a Virgo rising over the course of 2025, 2025, 26, will all have eclipses in the first house near the South Node. That's going to be something kind of temporarily that all Virgo risings will experience. Or say, if we've got a Leo rising and there's a new

moon in Leo, then all Leo risings are going to experience that in their first house. So in one way, on a kind of like general way, if we level the playing field, and we're just looking at the ascendant or the rising sign or the first house, all the same thing, if you have and when you share the same rising sign as somebody else, you're going to be experiencing the big, like, top level meanings of the astrology in the same area of your life. life. And I see this all the time because I'm always looking like, okay, are all my cancer rising friends going to have a glow up when Jupiter goes through cancer? And I see that like, yes, they do. It's in different ways because they're different people and they also have different

charts. But they're all experiencing Jupiter through the first house. And that is going to boost something about their way of being known in the world and about their sense of self. And it's a time for growth for them on a personal level. And then it all depends on, you know, like what it is that they're growing themselves into, how comfortable that is for them. So on one level, you're going to be going through the same kind of moments of timing as other people with the same rising sign as you. And then you'll notice, like, if you're Libre Rising and you have friends that are Libar Rising or family members that are Libar Rising, that when Venus does its retrograde, you'll probably notice like, oh, yeah, this is a big time period for all of us in different ways,

but we're all experiencing this thing happening in the same area of our life. And because Venus is my ruling planet, it's your ruling planet. And you might even notice that with Tor. rising people too. So there's a way in which you can think about like what planet rules the rising sign. But specifically when you have a rising sign the same as somebody, then the longer term transits are going to impact you in the same way. But every transit is going to be impacting the same area of life as it is for you, as for them, as for you as for them. And then you add on like if it's also impacting certain planets in your chart because then that makes it extra impactful. And they might not have that. You know, so it might be like in a general way you're sharing something. And then in a more specific way,

it's different for you than them. But great question. All right, y'all, listen, come back next week. We've got a Saturn Kazimi. So between Sunday and next Wednesday, what's happening is the Saturn Neptune conjunction that occurred on February 20th is being. lit up because the sun is going to move over those two planets and is going to clarify what this moment is about and clarify what we're fighting for, the ideal we're fighting for, the dream we're fighting for, and the reality of the work that is ahead of us. And again, we just have to do one thing after the other. Thank you for listening to my rants. I hope they made sense. I hope it was somehow, some way helpful. I'm sending lots of love, many, many blessings to all of you.

I'll see you back here next week. Bye for now.