The Week of October 5th, 2026: Retrograde tension and a reflective New Moon

Chani Nicholas (0:00)

I have a little practice that I like to do each New Moon. I like to envision a certain area of my life and just see it as it exists here and now.

And I like to imagine that I could just take this area of my life and just wipe it clean, like take everything that's in this area of my life and just set it to the side for a moment and start with a blank slate, almost like I'm starting with a vision board in my mind's eye.

And then I like to see what of the stuff I just removed that I already have, that is already happening in my life, do I immediately want to put back on the vision board? And then what that was in this area of my life, do I really not want to put back? It's like really not part of the vision board.

And then I like to see, is the vision board empty? Is it full?

Am I already living into my vision board? Like do I already have so many aspects of this part of my life locked in and present and happening? Or am I really starting from a clean slate?

And do I need to use my imagination to project upon this vision board, the things that I'm yearning for, the things that I deeply desire to experience and the things that I really want to try to create?

Hello and welcome. This is the Astrology of the Week Ahead podcast. I'm your host, your astro bestie, Chani Nicholas. In this episode, we're talking about the week of October 5th. Y'all, it is our favorite time of year. It is astro planner season. And not only is this little ditty available in the United States and Canada, this year it's also available in the UK and Europe. It sells out every single year. Please get yours now before they go because they are bound to sell out, especially now that we are able to get them to so many different places, which we've worked so hard to do. Thank you for being so patient. I can't wait until this is in your hands across so many lands. Okay, look, this is like 300 plus pages of activities. We've got stickers as always. We have these gorgeous monthly pages that lay everything out for you ahead of time. We've also got like everything you need to celebrate each season of the year. We have little rituals for you. We have rituals for every new moon. We have reflections for every full moon. Basically, this is a way to just live out your year in accordance with the seasons, but also in accordance with all of the astrology that 2027 is going to bring us. And it is giving it to you in this very cute cowgirl unicorn motif. There's like a DIY vision board in here. There is a little note from your past self. So one of the first things you can do is write a little note to yourself in the future from your past self. But basically, every month we've got activities for you. We've got every Mercury retrograde, of course, and we've got a little tip and a little trick about how to use each and every astrological transit in the most practical, dare I say, grounded down to earth kind of way. So grab yours now before they go because they will.

The lay of the land is this. Venus is just stationed retrograde. Venus stationed retrograde on October 3rd. If you're listening to this on October 4th or 5th, we know that we are just getting going. But Venus really is on the docket all week.

We have a new moon and this week's new moon is in Libra, ruled by Venus, you guessed it. So, not only that, but Venus does two really important moves this week. One on Tuesday and one on Saturday, the same day as the new moon. So we know that there are a lot of themes that have to do with our desire, that have to do with, does this please me? Do I like this? How are we relating? How are we getting along? What do I do when we don't get along? What do you do when we don't get along? Are we aligned? Are we misaligned? Are we imbalanced? Are we out of balance? What's the deal? Banana peel kind of vibes.

Now, Tuesday is really helpful astrology and Wednesday is really helpful astrology as well.

You might notice a tone in my voice that's going to say, Saturday is very aggravating astrology. Saturday is going to spur us into action. Saturday is going to make us uncomfortable and we're going to have to embrace some of that discomfort and work with it. But let's begin at the beginning. On Tuesday, Venus backs up into Mercury that's still moving forward and they meet in Scorpio. Now, the important thing about Mercury is that it is so influenced. It is like the receiver of the influencers. It is so influenced by whatever planet it is communing with, especially when Mercury makes a conjunction with another planet, meaning they're occupying the same part of the sky, meaning they really meld into one. Like talk about an empath. Mercury might not be like empathetic so much unless it's in a water sign, which it is right now, it's in Scorpio. But it is going to just absorb whatever qualities of the planet it's around. It's going to translate that planet. Now, the planet it's translating is Venus. So usually when we have a Mercury-Venus conjunction, we would say, oh, this is gorgeous love letter astrology. Like this is when you flirt with people. This is when you compliment people. This is when you send notes of appreciation and affirmations. And this is when you just like meditate on the beauty and the sweetness in your life and you talk about it, you articulate it. It's a really good day for gratitude, which is still true.