Astrology of the Week Ahead with Chani Nicholas - The Week of May 4th, 2026: A confidence boost, courtesy of Mars

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

Episode 281In 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 May 4th, 2026, offers a much-needed morale boost. When Mars squares Jupiter, our confidence to take action skyrockets, and our nerve is bolstered by how we’ve handled all the challenges of the last few weeks. And as Mercury squares Pluto, right before the planet of the underworld stations retrograde in Aquarius, we’re asked to identify the problems in our systems and dive into deep conversation about the changes we need going forward. Then the Sun’s sextile to Jupiter reminds us that we can take our time and relish the things that bring us joy. Don’t let this surge of energy go to waste.This episode covers:Mars’ square to Jupiter on Monday, May 4thMercury’s square to Pluto on Tuesday, May 5thThe beginning of Pluto’s retrograde on Wednesday, May 6thThe Sun’s sextile to Jupiter on Sunday, May 10thThis episode was recorded on 04/27/2026.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.

At the beginning of the week, I want you to use every single opportunity that comes your way as a springboard for your eventual success. I want you to think as you're going into this week, the force is with me. Hello and welcome. This is the astrology of the week ahead podcast. I'm your host, your Astro Bestie, Chani. Nicholas, and yes, I used that slogan in that way. May the fourth be with you and be with me and be with all of us. And it actually is astrologically speaking because on Monday, May the fourth, Mars, the planet of force is in Ares, the sign that it belongs in. And it is squaring, being energized by,

causing friction with Jupiter, the planet of abundance and making whatever comes into its orb and across its path bigger. And Jupiter right now is in cancer. That is the sign of Jupiter's exaltation. So it is about the power of the local and how powerful it is to invest in what is right around us. And so again, I want you to see every opportunity that is in your path that is right outside your door, that is right beside you, that is neighboring with you. I want you to see every opportunity as your springboard for success. And I also say eventual success, because by the end of the week, we have another really helpful little moment of astrology. It's the sun making a sex style with Jupiter.

So we begin the week and we end the week with these signatures of confidence and with abundance and with a feeling of being successful in whatever we endeavor. And both Mars and the Sun are connected to leadership. And because Jupiter, again, is extolling the virtues, is pronouncing. the virtues of knowing the power of your local life and understanding the power of your local influence. This is a time to think of how you are leading in your life in everyday, really simple, neighbor-to-neighbor interactions. This is a time to think about how you can just take the next small action, the next action that's right in front of you, and how doing so will give you

results this week in a really immediate kind of way. And I used the phrase neighboring, which is actually a phrase that I heard used by Peggy Flanagan, somebody who is running for Senate in Minnesota. And she used it talking about. the actions that everyday people, that the people of Minneapolis have taken to protect one another from ice. And that is a word that has come about because of the actions of that community, neighboring. What does it mean to be neighboring? What does it mean to protect what is right around us? What does it mean to protect who we live with? And what kind of bounty and what kind of goodness and what kind of protection comes from doing that? That is one of the signatures of Jupiter

and Cancer. Now, Jupiter is about to leave cancer. And I've got to tell you, Jupiter has been one of the biggest signs of protection for us in this very chaotic astrological landscape. And yes, we are going to lose that. But that does not mean that we lose the lessons that we learned from it. Just after Jupiter entered cancer last year, you'll remember in June of 2025, was the first little piece of good political news that we got. And by we, I mean, yes, anybody living in America, but also it was felt around the world. Zoran Mamdani won the primary for the New York City mayorial elections.

He would go on to win the election. But the powerful thing about his campaign was, yes, his policies being very democratic socialist, the only thing that could really fight fascism. But the reason why he was successful wasn't just because of that. It was because how that galvanized an entire city of people on a local level to go out to their neighbors and knock on doors and say, hey, have you heard? Have you heard the good word? There's somebody running for mayor that wants to make it so that we have fast and free buses and that we have a rent freeze and that we have universal child care.

that would change the ways in which we lived in this city. That would change dramatically the quality of life for so many working families in this city. That is local brilliance. That is local politics. That is the brilliance of local politics. That is the brilliance of thinking locally. And when shit hits the fan under fascism, like it has so many times in this, country and many countries around the world. And you get a city like Minneapolis responding

in the ways that it has and does and will in the future. You get the power of neighboring, of being a neighbor. And those are just a few of the lessons of the bounty and the beauty of understanding the potency of our local lives as how. has been demonstrated by this past almost year of Jupiter and cancer. And so I'm waxing poetic about it because, yes, it's leaving. It's leaving in June. It's entering Leo and it's going to get really heated. And then we're going to have an eclipse in August near the South Node in Leo with Jupiter there.

And it's wild times. And it is, again, overheating us and the system that we're living in. It's reflecting a time of excess fire. I'll just say that. Saturn will be in Ares. Neptune will be in Ares. Jupiter will be in Leo. There will be eclipses in Leo.

That's a lot. And then there's a lot in air signs. Pluto's in Aquarius. Uranus is in Gemini. And there will be eclipses in Aquarius. That's a lot of air. What do air and fire do to each other? Well, they hype each other up.

air whips fire up, right? Makes fire bigger or is the element that fire needs just to exist. So it's not bad, but in excess of it is going to be wild. And so right now, while we still have Jupiter and cancer, and while it's being featured this week in some very like, you know, small, mild kind of ways, but in some very important ways, I want us to remember these examples and all the other examples that you can think of in the countries or the cities or the towns or the friend groups that you exist within. What have you learned about mutual aid? What have you learned about neighboring? What have you learned about the power of the local and about supporting our local ecosystems and the networks that we are in and how have you seen things change because of that?

That's the note that we begin this week on because Jupiter and Cancer is superpowering Mars and Ares. And Mars and Ares is again a force. It is energy. It is courage. It is drive. It is a weapon that depends on how we wield it. So use these opportunities to the best of your ability to bring out the most generous actions in yourself,

to inspire the most generous actions that you can possibly conceive of. Because that is how we create magic. That is how we create change. That is how we create goodwill in our lives. It's not just to do it because it's good for us. but everything that's good for the ecosystem we live in is also good for us, so it's just common sense. So wherever Ares is in your chart and wherever cancer is in your chart, the beginning of the week gives these areas of your life a really big boost.

As always, go and listen to your reading and see what I say about those areas of your life and about this astrology. Now, we've got this gorgeous signature at the beginning of the week, and that very helpful, lovely, wonderful little boost of Sun Sextel Jupiter at the end of the week, again, we are in a week that is bookended by really positive astrological moments. So what is the meat in between? Well, my friends, it is a very deep dive into a conversation, into the archives, into an investigation, that must be had. Mercury has just moved into Taurus, and it is making a square with Pluto.

Pluto is stationing retrograde. All of that happens in the mid part of the week. On Tuesday, Mercury will square Pluto, and on Wednesday, Pluto will station retrograde. These aren't like era-defining moments of astrology. None of this is. Monday is quite unique, though, because Mars only gets into Ares like once every two years and because Jupiter is only in cancer once every 12 years and they don't necessarily align within those times, that is significant. That is significantly successful astrological markings to work with. Mercury making a square to Pluto happens about two times a year, and Pluto stationing retrograde happens every year.

So these things aren't totally extraordinary, astronomically speaking, but they are really good for getting to the bottom of an issue. And if we are trying to shirk responsibility, if we don't really want to know the truth about something, this astrology will be really tough for us. but if we do want to get to the root cause of something, and if we do want to get down to what it is that is the origins of a certain issue, this astrology is really, really good for us. If a relationship in our lives requires some due diligence and some deep reflection, this is astrology that's going to bring it. And I do want to say, with Mercury in Taurus. I've been thinking a lot about an idea that someone said on something I saw. I'm really sorry I don't remember who it was. But they were talking about the importance of doing things

well and how many times it takes to do something well. And I do a lot of things in a day and in a week like you do. I make a lot of content. And I have always gotten down on myself for not making it fast enough or for not doing enough of it a day. And then I heard that advice or I heard that sentiment and I thought, you know, I'm just going to take that. I'm going to take that and I'm going to fold it into my daily work and my daily life. And if it takes me 17 takes to get the opening of something correct, because it often does, so be it. If I'm going to record something and I'm not quite sure about it or I think I can do it more

succinctly, so I do it over again. So be it. And I've just kind of let myself think about quality more than quantity. And it's not always helpful for me because it means that I do get behind, but it's actually really beneficial for me because it puts my mind. at ease. It makes me feel like I'm rushing myself less because I am. And then it makes me feel a little bit more secure or a little bit more confident about what it is I'm actually creating and putting out into the world because I am because of all the things that ended up on the cutting room floor. And I'm saying this because Mercury is in Taurus right now. And so it is about quality. and not quantity.

But it is also about the abundance, because it's Taurus, and Taurus is a sign of earthly abundance, but not rushing anything. And so it is a sign of saying, well, a lot can be fruitful, but you don't have to speed through it all. There's a time for speed, and there's reason for speed. And Mars and Ares is giving us plenty of speed. But this Mercury and Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius, two signs that are not about speed. Let me tell you, they are not going to do anything fast, let alone think and articulate themselves.

This combination is about deep reflection, introspection, but also rigorous study and rigorous examination of what it is we're thinking about, what it is we want to communicate, and what it is we're researching. And so the deeper you can go into the matter, into a subject, into a conversation, into your own writing process, into anything that you are wanting to study, learn, or communicate, the deeper you can go in to that process, the better. The better quality of information you're going to get. And also, the clearer you're going to be able to communicate something.

Midweek is also just really good for therapy. So traditional therapy or anything that feels therapeutic in terms of conversations that we have with mentors and besties, therapists and healers, and maybe just with ourselves. And then again, on Sunday, the sun in Taurus makes a sex style to Jupiter and cancer. And it's a lovely, bucolic, beautiful kind of Sunday situation. So allow yourself some time again to nourish, to hydrate, to rest, to relax, and to enjoy. It is Taurus season after all.

All right, Jail, now it's time for a question from the audience. Again, thank you so much for sending these in. We love hearing from you. And you can do so on the app. You can record a little question for us on the Chani app. Hi, Chani. My husband has Libra rising and I have Taurus rising. So the planet that steers our lives is Venus.

How do you think about that when the charts are so different, but the planet ruling the chart is the same. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. Okay, I love that. And you get to understand the different ways in which Venus works. So Venus as the ruler of two signs that are different, but that also have a similarity. They're both ruled by Venus.

So they're both signs about beauty and about pleasure, and about sweetness and about relationships. Now, Libra is a sign that's much more focused on the balance in between you and I, the balance of the relationship, of justice, of equity, of getting to fairness between you, me, and everybody we know. Taurus is a sign that's much more focused on pleasure, beauty, and steadfastness. It is a sign that is about the slow growth of an orchard and all that it can produce if we give nature the conditions it needs to bring forth its bounty. And so both are signs that are ruled by a planet that is about relaxation in a way.

It is about opening. Both Venus and Jupiter, we can say promote an ease, or that is where they prosper the most. They prosper the most in conditions that bring about ease. That is where they are able to bring about goodness and sweetness. And that helps to foster relationships. So there's a sharing in that. But and also signs that are ruled by Venus, aka Taurus and Libra, they are signs that are hemmed and held back by one car,

common denominator. And that is people pleasing. Venus is a gorgeous planet. We want to have a well situated Venus in our chart. And the red flag of Venus, because there's a red flag with everything in the universe, including every single planet, the red flag of Venus is that we want to make sure that we are not afraid to upset the apple cart. Apples belong to Venus. We want to make sure that we're okay with things getting ugly or things being not calm or not imbalance. And I'm not saying that Lieber risings are totally balanced. Actually, the opposite is generally true because they are so aware of imbalance. They are so aware of what is unfair that they are constantly trying to make up for the thing that is not equally measured. And I'm not saying

that Taurus is always even keel, but they're trying to get there. Or there might be a propensity for controlling a situation for fear of it getting out of control. And so neither sign is good with chaos or with disruption or with things that might make other people upset or might upset the conditions. So they go about it in different ways. But the people pleasing and the need to have things beautiful or imbalance or harmony or chill might prevent an acceptance of the many disruptions and the many fluctuations and the many uncomfortable aspects of life and living it and being in a relationship. Now, our rising sign is just one part of our chart. It is a very sensitive component. It is a sign. It is a sign.

that most of us will operate within to a large extent because it's such a personal part of the chart, but it's not the whole part of the chart. If you have like sun uranus situation, you can be really chaotic and really disruptive, but that Libre rising or that tourist rising is going to have a reaction to that part of you. So again, it all depends on the whole chart and how you work with your whole chart and their whole chart and how they work with it. But there will be these central themes. In the relationship, you might find that you're both really good at being in a relationship or there's a natural affinity for partnership and for creating spaces that feel gorgeous, are gorgeous, that feel lovely, are lovely, that feel conducive to pleasure and connecting

with other people or creating art or creating beauty in some way, shape, or form. And you might also notice that there is a retraction from things that are ugly, from things that are unsettling, from things that are discordant. Now, another thing that you haven't told me, but it's also really important is where your venuses are, what signs they are in, because maybe they're in a disruptive sign or with another disruptive planet. And so that will layer on something else, another aspect of the story, or another complexity or another paradox, which is also really important to fold into how the two of you connect. But I love the question and thank you for it. All right, y'all, once again, may the fourth and the force

be with you and me and everyone we know and everyone on our team because we have a lot to win, locally, globally, et cetera. Come back next week and we will talk about the new moon in Taurus, the very energizing, the very creative, the very full of potential new moon and Taurus that might have a sentiment that is very like heads will roll during this new moon. It's right by the fixed star Algoal, which is going to kick things up a notch. Come back and we'll talk all about it then. Bye for now.