Astrology of the Week Ahead: March 17th to 23rd — Venus and Mercury Burning Up!

Hey, everyone. This is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology [https://nightlightastrology.com/]. Happy Monday, everybody. Today we're going to take a look at the astrology for the week ahead. That is March 17, Monday through Sunday the 23rd. There are a number of really interesting transits this week that we're going to look at. We're kind of in a week that is relatively slow for the month of March, considering how many dynamic transits there are taking place in the month of March, but still, some big ones that we'll look at: Sun conjunct Neptune, Sun entering Aries, a Venus contact with Pluto, and a Sun contact with Pluto and Venus cazimi. So, if you consider that a quiet week for March, that's kind of the type of month that we're in. So anyway, we're going to take a look at that.

I will have a little bit of horoscopic insight for cardinal signs today due to the Venus cazimi and the sign of Aries. We'll be looking at those Angular houses for the cardinal signs, and then we'll have some horoscopes later in the week for the Venus cazimi itself, for all 12 signs. So that is our agenda for today. Before we get into it, remember to like and subscribe. We had a video the other day that sort of went viral. That was crazy. It was, I should have known, when I titled the video, "Saturn is about to die," that it might be a fun, provocative title. And it's not really false. It's not untrue, because that's the way ancient astrologers talked about the cazimi and the rebirth of Saturn and its death during the combustion and so forth. But wow, it took off. So anyway, the subscriber count on the channel jumped up considerably. A lot of new people have just joined the channel. Thank you. Welcome. Glad that you're here. Hope you'll enjoy the content. If you are not yet subscribed, take a second to do so. It's free and helps our channel to grow. You can find transcripts of any of these daily talks on the website, which is Nightlight Astrology.com. I'm going to take you over there right now for a couple of quick promotions before we get into our content for the day.

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All right, let's switch over to the real-time clock and take a look at what's going on today. I need my epic pen. Give me just a second. Let me open it up. There you are. Okay, so let me here we go. So I'm going to lay out for you the transits of the week. We're going to go through them one at a time. I'm going to talk about them. I'll tell you a little bit more about how content will be rolled out this week, so you know what to expect. And then we'll do a little bit of treatment on the cardinal signs for the Venus cazimi at the end.

So starting at the beginning of the week, it's quiet here on Monday, nothing major happening. You might pay attention to that Moon in Scorpio. This is a disseminating moon in the midst of an eclipse cycle. So fallen Moon in Scorpio for a couple of days. Watch for emotional catharsis, a kind of a feeling of releasing something deeper and more emotional. As the moon is waning and moving through eclipse season, it hits Scorpio, you might find that certain things are coming to a head emotionally. It's a little bit of an intense moon, but also does have mutual reception with Mars in Cancer, so whatever Mars is also continuing to work on in your chart, after the retrograde in Cancer, you kind of expect the first couple of days of this week to possibly highlight that, but I think in mostly a constructive way, where emotional energy is flowing nicely and hopefully in a supportive manner, even if some of the topics or feelings are a little heavier or deeper.

But then the first major transit of the week is on the 19th. That's this Wednesday. The Sun will conjoin Neptune in Pisces at that anaretic degree. This is really important, because we are moving from the dream of darkness into the dream of light across the Pisces-Aries threshold. From the symbolic standpoint of the northern hemisphere in astrology, the sign of Pisces is wrestling the darkness, wrestling the light away from the darkness as a transitional space that brings us to the spring equinox and into the light half of the year. So this culmination of the Sun and Neptune, followed on the 20th, Thursday, by the Sun entering its exaltation in Aries, is really significant because it's also giving us a little feel for the transition of Neptune into Aries, which also happens at the end of the month. This is, I think, very fascinating. Sun-Neptune conjunctions are, in general, times where the highest, loftiest, most otherworldly, or sometimes subtlest, vibrations from the Sun and Neptune are infused together, and we get this feeling of yearning, longing, reaching up towards something, trying to wrestle from a space of discontent into new beginnings, the discontent leading to a new beginning, or the yearning or hoping or wishing or imagining that leads the very next day to the Sun entering Aries, where there's such inceptional power, meaning the power to start something new. So I really like this transition that's happening in the middle of the week, from Sun-Neptune into Sun at the equinox, because there's a very visionary thrust to it. It feels like there's a spark that is being lit by this conjunction. Sounds kind of funny because it's in a water sign. But the longings, the hopes, the wishes, the fantasies, the dreams, the otherworldly aspirations that we see so frequently with the Sun and Neptune coming together, are followed immediately by the ignition switch being flipped on when the Sun enters Aries, where we are about to get a solar eclipse at the end of the month, and then Neptune also enters Aries, which is truly the starting point of the Zodiac, the starting point of spring, as seen from the northern hemisphere. And that point, symbolically, is really about the initiation of new cycles and phases in life, quintessential of new beginnings in the zodiac. And so I see this Sun conjunct Neptune moment at midweek, followed by the Sun entering Aries and our Equinox moment as an incredible space of imagination and action coming together. We'll talk more about that in the middle of the week. We're going to spend some real time on that one, looking at Sun-Neptune from a philosophical perspective, and from a mundane perspective, which means I'll give you very practical things to watch for, and I'll give you some deeper philosophical meanings to think about in the way that ancient astrologers thought about the Sun.

So on that note, let's go forward a little bit further in the week, and you're going to see, let's move forward. So there's the Sun entering Aries the next day, and then on the 21st, we get one of two contacts with Pluto that I think are interesting. It's always nice when you can talk about a harmonious contact with Pluto, because Pluto can be so deep and intense and powerful and disruptive, and there's often a real eruptive force that comes with contacts to Pluto. So when you see a sextile from Venus retrograde to Pluto, at the very least, what we're talking about is a kind of harmonious encounter with Pluto from Venus. Remember that sextiles were of the nature of Venus for ancient astrologers, and so there is a harmonious contact with Venus retrograde hitting Pluto the day before she goes into the heart of the Sun. So here's Venus at three degrees of Aries contacting Pluto at three degrees of Aquarius. She is in seriously burnt-up shape with the combustion, which means that some of the deepest karmic releasing of this Venus retrograde cycle is taking place, but we get a nice little supportive boost from Pluto. The transformation can be felt with this contact along with the combustion. But Pluto's help might be to aid in a smoother process of transformation, release, deterioration, breakdown, burning off, a sloughing off of the old skin is taking place. A little nice boost from Pluto in the mix of it that could mean, for example, very practically speaking, I see this as though, in the midst of having to do something difficult or let go of something difficult, there's a small silver lining that appears, oh, there's another door that might be opening in the process of this difficulty. Or there's some unexpected aid or support. There's something that contributes to this letting go or releasing, being a little harmonious, although let's not forget Pluto, deep, intense, powerful. Those energies will be there, but you may experience them as just giving you a little extra sense of trust that what's happening is okay right now. So that's the way I would look at that one.

But then if we go forward the next day, it's very interesting that Venus will then be cazimi, meaning at the heart of the Sun. This is the rebirth moment for Venus. These days are often actually experienced as a very empowering day within the Synodic Cycle of Venus, where the reset and rebirth that the entire cycle of the retrograde implies. I mean, the retrograde takes us to this moment. And this moment, as we were talking about Saturn dying the other day, this is the moment where Venus has died and is now being reborn, resurrected, and will start to gradually emerge as the morning star in the weeks ahead. This means that if you've been dealing with difficulties along the lines of Venus or in the whole sign house of Aries in your birth chart, you're going to start to see a new agenda, a new archetypal ideal, being imprinted upon Venus from that numinous realm that the Sun represents, the realm of the day, or the archetypal thoughts and directions from the universe that live in the mind of God, whatever way you like to talk about it. But for ancient astrologers, remember, the Sun was emblematic of that which is divine, eternal, transcendental, and infusing the life force of our solar system and our cosmos. The Sun had many meanings, many very practical, mundane, earthly meanings, but its philosophical meaning was quite lofty. And so why? This is why we also associate the Sun with the ninth house. It was called The Joy of the Sun. The ninth house was, anyhow, when Venus conjoins with the Sun, that Venus is going to receive the seal of the king or the queen, the Seal of that divine new image that she will bring forth as a morning star, which is a very assertive phase for Venus, where compared to Venus's normal sort of receptive, harmonizing nature, she still is harmonizing and receptive, but more forceful in the expression of something new that will be carried forth from the conjunction with the Sun after this moment. So you can think of this moment as an empowered moment for Venus, where ideas, images, thoughts, downloads, epiphanies, new directions, clarity of future direction, where you might start to understand that there's a reset happening here. And I would look at the qualities of Venus: love, relationships, sex, art, women, friends, all the typical Venusian things. But also look at that whole sign house of Aries. We're going to be revisiting that for horoscopes later in the week.

So anyhow, on that note, the Venus cazimi is on the 22nd. What's interesting is that then the next day, the Sun picks up the sextile to Pluto. And then what I want you to notice, and we're going to be covering this next week, is Mercury will then go through the exact same thing that Venus went through. Mercury is going to be badly combust. But then Mercury will go through the sextile to Pluto and the cazimi with the Sun. So this little sequence is very Plutonian. The rebirth of Venus and Mercury is pretty heavy and deep and intense. But you're going to find that some elements of this process of death and rebirth for both Mercury and Venus is aided by a Plutonian element that will provide some ease, some harmony, some flow, a little bit of relief and silver lining. And you know, every time a planet is combust, that's the part of the when the karma is burning off, sort of most acutely, the flip of the karma, the redirection occurs at the station retrograde, right around a week or so, around that time, before and after. And then when you get into this phase of the synodic cycles where the combustion is most intense, that's usually where the old is really burning off, and then the reset occurs. Well, isn't it interesting that, as this reset is occurring, Sun and Pluto are combining in a sextile, Mercury's burning up. Mercury will then combine with Pluto in a sextile, then Mercury will reset. So just a fantastic sequence. And what I like about it is that, like I just said, these combustions can be so difficult when you have helpful energy from Pluto, it is as though there's some part of you that just knows, "Okay, I see where this is going. I know this needs to happen. I can understand how this is a good thing, or a helpful thing, or a useful thing, or I can see the benefit in this." The sextiles provide that underlying feeling of like, "This is hard, but it's okay," or "I've got a lot of work to do," or "I've got to rearrange things or redirect things," those are typical scenarios for retrogrades burning up, but "I can feel that there's some benefit in doing so." Yeah, so let's see if Pluto doesn't help us with that just a little bit. So Sun will sextile Pluto on Sunday, and then the next week we'll again, we'll have Mercury going through some of the exact same stuff. And then we will be well into talking about the solar eclipse, Neptune entering Aries. The last week of March is one of the busiest weeks of the entire astrological year of 2025.

So on that note, what I would like to do to close today's overview for the week is just give you some very basic reminders about where that Venus cazimi is going to be taking place for the cardinal signs. Because the cardinal signs, if you're a cardinal rising sign horoscope, then you're going to get this in an angular house. Now the reason that I recommend this, if you're new to the channel, listening for your rising sign is, as a Hellenistic astrologer, I use whole sign houses. All horoscopes are done in whole sign houses, and so the whole sign house that corresponds with your rising sign will match the whole sign house version of your birth chart, which means that the transits that we cover in horoscopes will be the most accurately located in your actual birth chart if you use the rising sign horoscope. That's why I recommend doing that. You can listen for your Sun or your Moon or anything else from a kind of divinatory symbolic perspective. It's always interesting to do that. There's no penalty for doing it. But if you want to know where the transits are actually located through the whole sign version of your birth chart, then listen for your rising sign. Okay. Well, anyhow, later in the week, again, just to remind you guys, I will be doing horoscopes for all 12 signs. These are just quick hit reminders on Mondays. I look at whatever whole signs are getting the biggest transits of the week in their angular houses. So the Virgo eclipse, the mutable signs, got it this week. Venus cazimi in a cardinal sign, the cardinal signs will get it. So let's take a look.

Now, if you're in Aries, this Venus cazimi is taking place in your first house. There is no place more basic than the first house for looking at issues pertaining to your identity, your style, your appearance, your esthetics, your values, your relationships, but mostly from the standpoint of who you are, who you're becoming, how you need to change, what that individual part of your psychology needs or wants or has to become within a relationship. So when Venus is in the first house, the emphasis is on identity in relationships, individuation within relationships, a remaking of things like health, appearance, vitality can also be at play right now, but it's very existential for you. Aries folks out there, this entire month, I mean, wow, what a powerful lineup of planets you have in your first house. It is a major crossroads for you with respect to character, identity, Dharma, what is most essential about me that needs to be a part of who I am in the world.

Now, if you are a Cancer, you've got all of these Aries planets taking place in your 10th house. I wonder, I can't help but wonder, for Aries folks, what the intersection is between your health, your identity, your vitality, your energy, and your work in the world, your career. What things are you wanting to do or change or shift with respect to your career focus or priorities, changes in the workplace, but with Mars ruling and in your first house, and having gone through this big retrograde, I can't help but wonder what kinds of career changes or the change of focus in your work life, your public-facing self, is interacting with the kinds of revisions you've been doing on the level of health, body, self-care, and identity, and it's a little tied together there for Cancers. But regardless, if you are retired, the 10th house is going to be the place where you interface with the public, with the world outside of just the private sphere. So like that still is active for people, even when they're retired. So you can think about it that way. But Aries, this Venus cazimi in the 10th house, a redirecting of professional dynamics and relationships, values, and what is most attractive to you? Or how is the goddess announcing herself in your career? What demands is she placing on the direction of your career focus? She may have something of a new agenda for you, but also relationships, love, sexuality, sensuality, esthetic, style, appearance, something Venusian trying to rework itself in the career house for Cancers.

Now, if we move forward to our Libras, this is all taking place in your seventh house. So it is the house of relationships with the planet of relationships, retrograde, combust, cazimi this week in the house of relationships, along with Mercury. And then you've got that solar eclipse there, Neptune entering. So just such significant changes for Libras around relationships. Now for Libras, that often has to do with the give and take, my needs versus your needs. Librans are natural harmonizers, of course, the Aries energy you're talking about at best, the kind of like sacred selfishness, like, "What is who am I? What do I need? What do I want?" It's not always easy for Venus-ruled signs to assert themselves. We could be seeing some emphasis on that in the seventh house, but also just in general, what is being reworked, remade, redirected, revised, what is the shift of karma within the house of interpersonal relationships? That is the major focus for Librans right now. Could be romantic relationships, new relationships coming in, old relationships ending. It doesn't have to be a romantic relationship or a marriage. It could be really any kind of intimate interpersonal connection. And then also watch for changes happening in the lives of partners or spouses, because sometimes seventh house transits will show up that way.

Finally, with Capricorns, we are talking about the Venus cazimi this week and combustion in that fourth house of home and family. There's so much emphasis there for Capricorns right now. Transitions, transformations around your roots, your living environment, parental or ancestral karma, familial karma, burning off, changing directions, relationships around home and family, changing course or directions. It's there's a new era entering your life right now, from the standpoint of home and family. Are you moving in with someone? Are you moving out? Are you buying or selling property? Are you rearranging your home? Are parents or grandparents ready to pass out of this body? Are generational changes happening? You know, pregnancies or births in the family, marriages, all the kinds of things that happen in the fourth house. With the fourth house Aries transits are about inceptions and beginnings and also ongoing transformation over the next couple of years with Saturn and Neptune moving through that house together, around home, family, and roots. All right? Well, that gives you just a few things to chew on here at the start of the week. I'm really excited to get into it as the week goes on. We're going to spend time with Sun and Neptune and Sun entering Aries. We're going to look at that Venus cazimi from a few different angles, and that'll probably be the main focus for the week. Might throw in a little bit on the sextiles to Pluto, but probably the main focus will be on that Sun-Neptune, Sun-Aries transition, followed by the Venus cazimi. We'll do some horoscopes, both some philosophical and mundane takes on things. So lot to look forward to. I can't wait to hear how you're experiencing all of these things.

So remember, if you're new to the channel, on this channel, for a long time, we've used this hashtag #grab. It comes from one of the names of the planets called Graha in Indian astrology, which means grabber. The planets grab us when we are living unconsciously and not participating in a conscious relationship with them. But the same word, Graha, grab, also means to grasp, as in to grasp and understand and see. And so when we live a conscious lifestyle with the planets, we have a way of participating in their unfolding. We have a way of participating more consciously in the creative design of our lives, and that's really what this channel is dedicated to, helping everyone find that creative, participatory connection with an enchanted cosmos. So if you have a good story to share about a transit where you got grabbed and then you grasped something, you learned something from it, use the hashtag #grab. Tell us the transit briefly. Tell us your story, and we may use it in a future storytelling episode. If you want to listen to them, if you're new to the channel, go back. Search the channel for the #grab series, or look at that playlist, and you'll find a really good series of transit stories that people have shared on the channel. They're fantastic for learning about archetypal combinations as well. You can email us the story, #grab, to Nightlight Astrology.com, if you prefer. All right, that's it for today. I will see you again tomorrow. Bye, everyone.