This is a week where cosmic pressure and earthly volatility dovetail in ways that reward clarity, discipline, and foresight. On the astrological level, Mars continues its steady advance through Capricorn (roughly 21°–26°), reinforcing a collective drive for structured results and endurance but also amplifying tensions around authority and ambitions. Jupiter remains retrograde in Cancer, keeping themes of security, protection, and community under review rather than expansion. Saturn and Neptune both linger at the tail end of Pisces, heightening collective sensitivity and symbolic dissolution of old reference points while demanding responsibility and long‑term coherence. Lilith’s direct motion through late Scorpio brings deep questions about truth and ideology to the surface, and Pluto in early Aquarius continues its long structural transformation in social and power networks. Collectively, these transits frame the week as one where actions taken must be measured, purposeful, and rooted in structural understanding rather than impulse
Pressure Points to Watch Internationally, tensions remain acute and unpredictable. The situation in Iran has escalated into one of the most sustained nationwide protest movements in years, with significant loss of life, mass arrests, and communication blackouts as the regime attempts to contain dissent; external pressures including potential U.S. support and threats of retaliation increase the risk of regional conflagration. In Europe and NATO circles, President Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland — framed as strategic necessity but widely condemned by Danish and Nordic leaders — continues to strain alliances, prompting discussions among Britain, Germany, and other NATO members about joint Arctic deployments to reaffirm collective defence commitments. The BRICS naval exercises involving Russia, China, and Iran off South Africa’s coast underline shifting geopolitical blocs and the challenge to U.S. influence, even if India opts out, reflecting fluid, multipolar tension. Financial markets are responding accordingly; bullion prices are holding firm amid geopolitical risk pricing.
Openings and Strategic Guidance Under these conditions, the astrology encourages discerned action rather than reactivity. Mars in Capricorn supports disciplined efforts that build long‑term results; this is a time for structuring plans, stabilising resources, and solidifying alliances rather than charging ahead on impulse. Jupiter’s retrograde in Cancer highlights the value of strengthening foundational security — whether emotional, financial, or organisational — before seeking expansion. High collective sensitivity from late‑Pisces Saturn and Neptune suggests that empathetic leadership, careful listening, and measured communication will yield better outcomes than confrontation. This week’s New Moon in Capricorn (around 18 January) further emphasises the value of new beginnings rooted in responsibility and realistic strategy, offering a moment to reset intentions with long‑range coherence in mind. In practical terms, individuals and communities are best served by conserving energy, prioritising clarity over immediacy, and resisting the pull of polarised narratives — the calm centre, this week, will be the source of enduring influence.
As we surge through the boiling crucible of mid-2025, the planetary alignments are neither gentle nor subtle. Pluto, planetary lord of endings and uncompromising truth, is overhead in regions that matter: the United States, China, Israel, and the Pacific theatre. No masks hold. Power games are laid bare, and those who’ve hidden behind legacy or myth are exposed in scorching celestial light. These aren’t metaphors anymore – these are structural transformations, border changes, leadership implosions.
In Palestine and Israel, Pluto continues to pour its venom straight down from the zenith, igniting a karmic reckoning. There is no public support left for Israel’s policies – not among the conscious, not even among many Jewish communities. The genocide cannot be denied. The question now is how long the United States can hold its increasingly threadbare narrative together. International sanctions, boycott expansions, and fracturing Western alliances have all been swelling through July. Germany may soon begin to tactically defy the US-Israel line, and by August, we hit a moment of choice: the Mercury cazimi around August 19th could open a narrow channel for a ceasefire – but only if arms deals stop and diplomatic pressure from India, Turkey, and Brazil intensifies. Do we believe this? We are likely to see a terminal event in October with the South Node eclipse falling directly across Israeli leadership charts like an iron bar on a magnet – the karmic guillotine is coming, whether political, legal, or seriously terminal.
Russia, meanwhile, is being cracked open from the inside. Uranus, planet of revolt, revolution, and rude awakenings, is hovering overhead across Russia and Turkey. For Putin, this is not a war he can win — not geopolitically, and not astrologically. Neptune fogs his natal Saturn, meaning that,- what he thinks is solid ground is swamp. Internal dissidence doesn’t come from the public – it comes from oligarchs tired of losing yachts and access to their rich lifestyles. Late August could bring a major internal reorganisation masquerading as stability. Watch for Belarus going off-script, and for power to shift silently behind the curtains. Cyberattacks blamed on Russia will increase, and not all of them will be Russian. This is misdirection at its finest.
China is playing a different game entirely. While Taiwan still gets the headlines, the real theatre is economic domination and quiet leverage. Pluto zeniths over the southern provinces, squeezing the supply chains and smothering foreign corporations still in the area that are trying to ride out the chaos. One major Western tech player will fall hard – expect this mid-August. At the same time, Xi Jinping’s leadership takes a hit under September’s lunar eclipse, landing within striking range of his progressed Sun. Don’t look for revolution – look for subtle shifts in tone, language, and the allegiances of mid-tier officials, he is an intelligent and shrewd leader. Drought and water trouble hit the news, blackout mismanagement and another public health breach could become the face of that internal tension.
In the US, it’s all fire. Mars and Pluto are ripping across the American sky like meat hooks. Expect massive disclosures – some accidental, some surgically mastered. The intelligence community’s own zenith lines are being hit, meaning we may see rogue whistleblowing or strategic leaks designed to throw upcoming elections into further chaos. The Southern states escalate their defiance of federal rulings. It starts with immigration but expands into judicial defiance. Trump’s erratic behaviour becomes impossible to ignore as August grinds forward. Biden’s public vitality falters – the full moon of August 12th may be the flashpoint, astrologically. By October, the Pluto return hits again – a 250-year returning blast furnace. Trust in US leadership will crater. Globally, alliances fray. NATO might not break, but it’s definitely creaking.
Britain flails. Mars over the British Isles makes everything feel hot, edgy, and thin-skinned. Labour’s incoming government will quickly look hollow and the shadow cabinet won’t last the year in its current form. Meanwhile, London’s financial sector hits a tremor by mid-August – keep an eye on HSBC and any whispers of insolvency or offshore leaks. Scotland, ever the quiet rebel, may well prepare for another independence gambit around the Equinox. They’re deadly serious this time, and the numbers might shock Westminster.
Africa and the Global South are being drawn into a resource war disguised as climate partnership. Saturn at zenith over the Indian Ocean basin signals false promises and donor or charity deception. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan edge toward a water war over the Grand Renaissance Dam, while Kenya and Nigeria double down on crypto-led autonomy. Meanwhile, South Africa teeters on another IMF intervention. The continent is where the next geopolitical alliances are being forged – not in summits, but in backrooms, quiet trade routes, drone deals, and rogue satellite states.
Europe’s façade of unity is thinning. France will face internal chaos – the astrology for Macron’s chart is siege-like – can he stand his ground? Italy is pivoting eastward, cozying up to BRICS. Germany is quietly preparing for a future without NATO. Leaks in Brussels won’t be minor; expect something structural – maybe a security breach, maybe a political scandal which will undermine confidence in the EU’s relevance as a bloc. This all ramps up post-August as Jupiter in Gemini fans the flames of gossip, spin, and double-speak.
The economic and climate landscape is caught in a tightening vice. Sunspot Cycle 25 peaks in October, and we are already in the blast radius. Expect power outages, satellite failures, and disruptions to communications infrastructure – not all of it will be blamed on the Sun, of course. The Uranus and Mercury zenith over Silicon Valley and Singapore point to instability in the tech sector: AI booms, but there’s a major scandal waiting to drop. Crypto has a final bounce in early August, but by late in the month, it’s a bloodbath. Gold looks good — if you can eat it.
Droughts deepen across Asia and North Africa. This is the real terror: not missiles, but empty reservoirs. By late August, we’ll see a climate refugee surge out of central Asia and Sudan. Grain prices spike, especially since we cannot rely on the harvest in the Ukraine. Expect populist unrest in places that don’t usually make the headlines — like Kazakhstan, or even Italy’s agricultural south.
As we move toward the October watershed, that eclipse on October 8th is a karmic black hole. What falls into it won’t come back. On October 13th, Pluto stations direct in Aquarius and the rebel awakens, the tech mutiny begins; the Age of Authoritarian Control begins to crack from the inside.
If your power is false, borrowed, stolen, or built on blood — the sky is coming for you. Yes, this is a warning.