Astrology of the Week Ahead: February 17th to 23rd – Mars RX in Cancer Finally Turning Direct!

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. There is not a whole lot happening this week. It's a quieter week, but the big news is that Mars is finally going to be turning direct by the end of the week.

We also have a couple of interesting mercurial aspects this week, of Mercury square to Jupiter, a trine to Mars, and the sun will enter Pisces. So we'll cover those things today. There'll be a little extra information for people who have a cardinal sign rising. So that would be Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn. I'll mention the house in which Mars is turning direct this week. That's a big deal for the cardinal signs. And then give you a few thoughts on the other transits for the week, which we will also be covering as the week goes on.

So that is the agenda for today. Remember to like and subscribe before we get into it. It really does help our channel to grow. It's free to do so, and you're doing us a big favor. So we appreciate that. Transcripts of any of these daily talks can be found on the website, which is NightlightAstrology.com. You go over there, and this week, I am giving a webinar. So if you go to the Events page, click on live talks, you will find the webinar that I am doing on Venus Retrogrades, called "Venus Through the Fire: Unpacking the Mystery and Magic of Venus Retrograde." That is taking place this Thursday evening, from 7 to 9 PM Eastern time.

If you can't attend live, after you register, of course, you get a link to the webinar. But if you can't attend live, we give you the recording afterward. You can listen or watch on your own time. So I hope to see some of you there. If you're someone who wants to have a deeper grasp of Venus retrograde, this will also prep you for Venus's retrograde in March. So we'll be unpacking the deeper elements and aspects of Venus's Synodic Cycle and talking about what each phase and part of the cycle refers to, symbolically, and how you can get a lot more out of Venus Retrogrades, hopefully after hearing this talk.

So that's our only announcement for the day. Let us now turn our attention to the real-time clock and get a feel for what's happening this week. Here we go. We're starting off February 17, on Monday. No major aspects forming today, but tomorrow, the sun will enter Pisces, and that means that we are in the last 30 days of zodiacal winter, and the spring equinox will be happening quickly.

We do have a spring equinox event coming up here in Minneapolis, by the way, that should be up on our live events page shortly, and I'll be promoting that if you want to come. It's going to be free. We had a solstice gathering, and now we're having an equinox gathering just to meditate and set some new intentions, reflect on the symbolism of the moment, and get together for a little community time.

So anyway, the sun enters Pisces tomorrow. I have nothing big to say about that, other than you will notice a shift into water that is quite distinct, with Mercury also having recently entered Pisces. And a lot of these planets now making aspects as they go along to Mars, who will be very slow in motion and turning direct. Even tomorrow, the moon will be in Scorpio, and so there'll be a kind of grand watery trine vibe early this week that's noticeable and distinct.

Of course, if you're a Pisces rising, I always say this, but when the sun comes through your first house, I often feel like it's very renewing and can be refreshing and help you refocus on what's most important or valuable, or just take a little bit more time for your health or well-being. It can re-energize and reinvigorate. So I feel like this is good news for those Pisces rising folks out there. If you listen to your sun in Pisces horoscope, it's nice to have the sun in your first house.

As the week goes on, we get the major aspects of the week on Thursday, our first one, where Mercury will square Jupiter. Now, this is an interesting square because there is mutual reception between the two planets. Remember, we had something like this taking place when Mercury was in Sagittarius, opposing Jupiter. They were in each other's signs but opposed to one another and in the places of their detriment.

Well, now we have Mercury in its detriment and fall in the sign of Pisces squaring Jupiter in its detriment, but these are each other's signs. So we have mutual reception going on as well. That mutual reception between these two planets in square can mean that they are working together, perhaps through a kind of tangle of information. The thing that I like about this is that when Mercury and Jupiter come together, there's often an ability to weave a sense of order or meaning out of chaos or disparate pieces, or our capacity for problem-solving increases.

There's also something here about big feelings, big thoughts, big emotions, big ideas, demonstrative communication, maybe also exaggerated emotions and feelings. It might be easy to stretch or bend the facts or truth or let your own subjective opinions cloud something more rational, or for rationality to overstep and maybe crowd out an important level of emotional intelligence. So working with the mental and emotional energies on Thursday of this week, in particular, that would be a very safe general statement to make about this combination, that water and air coming together like this could be mutually beneficial for the sake of rational and emotional energies working together cooperatively.

I also like this as a moment where something a little mystical, imaginative, and romantic has the power to convince or sway the stubborn, rational, controlling space, you know, like the controlling, rational mind that says unless it's objective and factual, and the data backs it all up. And Mercury in Pisces might be saying something like, "What about my feelings? That's a kind of data, too."

The other thing is that if you look at the two whole sign houses in which these two planets are connecting through, you may find that there is an ability to work together harmoniously across the topics of those two houses in your birth chart. So, for example, if you were a Taurus rising, groups, friends, communities, wishes, hopes, and dreams, and things like money, finances, business assets, and resources may be working together harmoniously or cooperating to solve a problem or work through some kind of chaos to find a sense of order again.

I do think it's also interesting that Jupiter has just turned direct, is slow in motion. Mercury is also going through the process of emerging as an evening star. And so there's something also about this transit that could be working behind the scenes or somewhat invisibly. And as the week goes on and into next week, we may find that this contact serves as a jumping-off point for something that will be revealed or further elaborated or brought out from a place that has been where we're thinking about or processing something in a big and important way, and yet the actual appearance of whatever is happening from an inner space into an outer space may not take place for a little bit.

If we take Mercury forward to get it about, you know, about 15 degrees away from the sun, that's going to occur by about February 28. At that time, Mercury's with the North Node and Neptune, and we've just had a new moon in Pisces, and that new moon will be in a square to Jupiter, which makes me feel like this square from Mercury to Jupiter could be about something that's happening a little bit behind the scenes or inwardly, or it's being processed or worked through, and not all of the facts will come out right away, or not all of there's more that will be revealed after around the new moon at the end of the month.

So that's another, just a little detail and interesting way of thinking about the symbolism of Mercury being invisible and in the process of emerging as the evening star, where Mercury was commonly said to bring forth things that have been processed or in process or hidden or somewhat internal into a more external space. So that's an interesting square between Mercury and Jupiter. One thing that I love about Mercury and Jupiter is that their cooperation with mutual reception will often reflect a moment of greater integration or understanding, where wisdom or learning is sometimes highlighted. You feel like you're getting somewhere or you're putting pieces together.

Alright, well, on the 23rd, if we go forward to the end of the week, we have Mercury trining Mars on the same day that Mars turns direct. So February 23, Mercury in Pisces will trine Mars Retrograde in Cancer, and Mars will turn direct. Now, to me, that's really interesting because it is as though there will be some communication or some formulation of thoughts or ideas. And again, Mercury is invisible but coming forth just after the new moon, a few days later, as Mars is turning direct, makes me feel like we're reaching a space of emotional integration, or of a momentum change or shift, or a moment where we've really understood something, or we've processed something, or we're starting to grow in our emotional awareness and intelligence and are ready to start moving forward with that new understanding.

There's a Mars Retrograde cycle in Cancer can reflect a lot of emotional growth, a lot of growth on the level of understanding things like body health, psychology, emotions, relationships, attachments, needs, family, karma. I like that Mercury is trining Mars on the same day that Mars turns direct because it makes me feel as though there is a point of understanding. Mercury and Mars together harmoniously often reflect a kind of analytical executive function, like I'm able to make a decision because I've clearly articulated something, or I've clearly understood something in water. This would be probably about feelings and thoughts coming together, or an understanding that is more dynamic and instinctual and environmental than purely logical.

So, for example, when you understand facets of what's in your body or what's in your environment and how it affects your mind's moods and feelings on a day-to-day level, and you make adjustments, and therefore you see changes in your moods or in the quality of the environment, of the atmosphere, those are very watery kinds of things to learn about. Mercury trining Mars here has this really nice feeling of synthesizing things emotionally, intellectually, and being able to start moving forward with that new understanding.

This is the culmination of Mars's retrograde, right? This is where Mars is done and is now turning direct. So with Mars turning direct in Cancer, there's also a real feeling here of having reached a turning point. A turning point with direct motion often means that I'm done with the hard part. I'm ready to take what I've learned and move forward again, the feeling of being in a class that is all about revision, review, reflection, delays, setbacks, having to rework things, maybe feeling temporarily a little bit stuck, or like you're going backward. All of that starts to end now, which is probably why it is the biggest news of the week, really.

Now, for cardinal signs, this is going to have the most dramatic impact. So I'm going to do a little talk, a little brief touching upon the houses that you will find this Mars turning direct for the cardinal signs later in the week. We'll probably come back, and I'm guessing I'll probably do horoscopes for all 12 signs later in the week. But just to preview, the cardinal signs really have it the biggest. If you're an Aries rising, this is turning direct in your fourth house of home and family roots in your inner life, or the private sphere of life. And so matters pertaining to home, family, property, living environment, or the inner dimension of your psychology, kind of the inner, private sphere of life. You've been going through a lot of changes there, and now we're really at a point of completing a process. And so you're going to start to see a shift or change of momentum and direction, perhaps as things are being integrated and understood, and understanding can now be put into action.

Alright, if we go forward to Cancer rising, this marks a period of concluding or finishing what might be a time of challenges around health, psychology, emotionality, the intersection between your identity and your family, challenges between your sense of self and the roles you play in the world, and your own physical or emotional needs. I look at this also as a time where you may start to implement new things based on a new understanding of your body, your health, what you need to feel good and healthy and happy and whole, and also things that have been churning and burning around family karma for everyone, really, with Mars in Cancer, but for Cancer risings, it's been quite personal. So you may start to see a shift with respect to that process that's been taking place around identity, home, and family.

With our next... whoops, here we go. Where did I go? Oh, whoops, let's go forward. We went to... here we go. I'm getting lost here. Okay, there we go. So let's put Libra on the ascendant. This Mars Retrograde has been taking place in the public 10th house, a place that's often associated with vocation and career, or wherever your life intersects with the social world outside of your home or the private sphere of life, right? The social arena of the 10th house, that which, for many people, is their career house, is going to be the place where you've been experiencing this Mars Retrograde.

So what kinds of challenges, changes, setbacks, learning, or reflection has been taking place around career, professional direction, public or social identity, and reputation? You're going to see that that process is reaching a distinct point of completion and/or a turning point that marks the beginning of the end of that process.

If we go forward to Capricorns, we're going to see that this is taking place in the marriage house, the relationship house. What has been happening with respect to emotions, needs, conflicts in relationships, maybe around competing or different kinds of needs? What's been taking place in the life of a spouse or partner that's been something you've been bearing witness to or holding space for? So in the house of interpersonal relationships, how have relationships been a theme dating all the way back to the autumn of 2024 if you're in the northern hemisphere? But really, so like, you know, September, October, when we started to see Mars going through Cancer direct and now retrograde in the sign of Cancer since January.

So what has been the process been about? What has it included with respect to relationships, love, sexuality, intimacy, maybe the overlap between family karma and marital or relational karma? All things you've been exploring as a Capricorn. Now, if we go finally to... where am I? Nope, I've made it all the way around, didn't I? So we went Aries, we went Cancer, we went Libra, and we went Capricorn. So those are the four cardinal signs that will be really experiencing the biggest impact, like the preview, at least one like kind of grouping of signs for the week that has a big transit coming.

Of course, if you are someone who is a mutable sign, you've got the Mercury square to Jupiter across your cardinal houses, your angular houses. I should say, if you are a, let's see, if you are a Pisces, a Gemini, a Virgo, or a Sagittarius, those angular houses are highlighted with the Mercury-Jupiter square. So you could look there. That would be a place to pay attention to. This week is a little bit more dynamic when things are angular.

Now, as the week goes on, we'll be spending more time with Mercury square to Jupiter, Mercury's trine to Mars, and Mars turning direct. That will sort of be our focus for this week. I look forward to covering these things, and remember, this is also a great week to join me for a deep dive into Venus Retrogrades and understanding all of the different little elements of Venus's Synodic Cycle. Every Venus retrograde is not one thing. It has many distinct phases with unique symbolic meanings behind each part of the cycle.

So I highly recommend, if you want to learn more about it, coming to the webinar this Thursday night. That is what I have for you. I hope you're off to a great start to this week, and this week, also with the wateriness, I think there's going to be a time where I bring on Tina Teardrop. That's her name. She's a little clay teardrop that my daughters made. And I'm going to show you some of the water signatures in the sky this week. I'm going to show you how I used a little clay figure to introduce some ideas about water elementally and symbolically to my little girls.

And I want to do this occasionally, just to give people some thoughts about how you can start to introduce astrological symbolism to your kids. Because I know there's a lot of you out there that are interested in that kind of thing, and even if you're not, these should be interesting. They're interesting ways of conveying symbolism, really, for anybody. So I'll bring that on, and we'll have some fun with that. This is... we should retitle some of these episodes like, you know, people were saying this in the comment section the other day. This is like Mr. Rogers. It's like, I like to think of it like Jim Henson, you know, like the Muppets and all of his creative work too, yeah.

But anyway, I hope you have a nice start to your week. We'll see you again tomorrow. Bye-bye.