The energy of November 2026: the month of courage of the heart

November: a month to act from the heart

If October asked you to say things as they are, November asks what you are going to do now that you have said them. It is a month for moving into action, and not just any action: the kind that grows out of something you genuinely care about.

It comes in three movements. The first days still carry the noise of late October and call for some calm to sort through what happened. Mid-month brings its most powerful stretch, with Mars and Jupiter together in Leo, the sign of the heart and of generosity. And in the final week, after a Full Moon loaded with the unexpected, it is time to get into the details and look after the people closest to you.

The thread running through all three is courage. Not the courage of someone who jumps without looking, but of someone who knows why they are doing it and who it is for.

The first days: digesting what October stirred up

November opens with two planets still moving backwards: Mercury in Scorpio and Venus in Libra. Mercury rules the mind and the spoken word; Venus, affection and what we value. While they are retrograde, the time is better suited to reviewing than to launching, and that is exactly what these days ask for: understand what happened over the past few weeks before you take the next step.

If October left a sore spot somewhere, 4 November offers some relief. Venus and Jupiter, the planet of confidence and expansion, support each other. It is a good day to shake off the weight of an argument and turn back towards what brings you joy.

That same day the Sun meets Mercury in Scorpio. In astrology this meeting marks the midpoint of a Mercury retrograde, the moment when whatever was under review comes into sharpest focus. With that clarity, the wisest move is sometimes to let the matter rest for a while instead of going round in circles.

New Moon in Scorpio: letting go of an old story

On 9 November there is a New Moon in Scorpio. New moons open cycles, and Scorpio is the sign of depth, of what cannot be seen at first glance and of transformations that begin on the inside.

It is a very good moment to look inwards: to explore the part of you that you rarely show, to ask what really drives you, or finally to let go of a story you have been carrying for far too long. A grudge, a version of yourself that no longer fits, an explanation you kept telling yourself so you would not have to change.

Letting go is not forgetting. It is no longer carrying it with you everywhere you go.

10 to 16 November: Mars and Jupiter together in Leo

The days after the New Moon are the most special of the month, and they come one after another:

• On the 10th, Venus in Libra and Mars in Leo support each other: desire and action pull in the same direction.
• On the 11th, Jupiter crosses the Moon’s South Node, and Mars follows on the 15th.
• On the 13th, Mercury turns direct, and Venus follows on the 14th. The two reviews that began in October come to a close.
• On the 16th, Mars and Jupiter come together in Leo.

Mars is drive and courage; Jupiter is meaning, confidence and the urge to grow. When they meet, the energy multiplies. And in Leo, the sign of the heart, that energy wants to be put to work for something noble.

The Moon’s nodes are two points that astrology links to each person’s path. The South Node is associated with what we already know how to do, with what we inherited and with what we need to leave behind in order to keep growing. Jupiter and Mars crossing it suggests using the strength you already have, but not to repeat the same old patterns.

The archetype of the generous hero

Leo has a vain side, but also a deeply luminous one: the storybook figure who puts something on the line to defend what is right, without waiting for applause. That is the version of Leo that wakes up in mid-November.

It is an excellent time to throw yourself fully into an important project, a shared cause or a big goal. Whatever you do from clean motives can build a momentum of its own, the lasting kind, and give you something that success alone does not: the sense that it all means something.

“The courage that lasts is not the kind that wants to shine, but the kind that knows who it serves.”

The trap is ego. If the drive comes only from wanting to win, to be seen or to be right, the same force turns against you. The question worth asking these days is a simple one: who else does this benefit, besides me?

18 and 19 November: strength is put to the test

On the 18th the Sun in Scorpio squares Jupiter, and on the 19th it squares Mars. Wherever there is a lot of momentum, resistance shows up too: people, structures or habits that would rather nothing changed. Sometimes the resistance is outside you, and sometimes it is inside, in the voice telling you not to make waves.

But the 19th also brings support. Chiron, which astrology sees as the wound that turns into wisdom once it is understood, forms a harmonious angle with Mars and Jupiter. What has hurt you may be exactly what gives you the authority to stand up for something.

These days help you see clearly who holds the power in a situation and how they use it, yourself included.

Sagittarius and the Full Moon in Gemini: the unexpected

On 22 November the Sun moves into Sagittarius, the sign of trust, wide horizons and big questions. The mood opens up and turns more optimistic.

Two days later, on the 24th, there is a Full Moon in Gemini, sitting right next to Uranus, the planet of the unforeseen and of sudden change. It is the most electric lunation of the month. Around the same days the Sun is supported by Neptune, the planet of inspiration and ideals, and by Pluto, the planet of deep transformation, and on the 25th it stands exactly opposite Uranus.

Plenty of energy and a good dose of surprise: news that changes plans, ideas that arrive all at once, twists that were not in the script. Full moons shed light, and this one does it like a flash of lightning.

A change bigger than you

Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are the slowest planets, the ones astrology connects with large collective shifts. When all three are activated at once, the climate is not only about your own life but also about the world around you.

Many astrologers describe these years as the passage from an era shaped by earth — the material, the stable, what accumulates — to one shaped by air: ideas, networks, what circulates. They date it to the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius in December 2020, and it is a process that will take many years. If so far it has mostly been about what is falling apart, late November may bring the first hints of what comes next. The Sun in Sagittarius helps you look at it with confidence rather than fear.

On 29 November, Uranus and Pluto form an exact trine, the second of five between July 2026 and May 2028. It is one of the background pieces of this whole period.

The final week: fine-tuning

From the 26th, the tone of the month changes completely. Mars leaves Leo and moves into Virgo, the sign of detail, method and practicality. On the 28th Venus and Jupiter support each other again, on the 29th Venus stands opposite Chiron and on the 30th the Sun forms a harmonious angle with Saturn, the planet of structure and persistence.

This is the time for fine-tuning. What you dared to start mid-month now has to fit into real life: schedules, budgets, everyone’s limits. It is not slamming on the brakes; it is what turns an impulse into something that holds.

Relationships, back at the center

With Venus opposite Chiron, partnership, family and friendship come back to the foreground, and an old wound may be touched. It is a useful reminder: however big the changes outside, what holds you up day to day are warm, trustworthy relationships.

Give these last days to the people closest to you. A phone call, an unhurried meal, a small but concrete gesture of care.

Five ideas for November

1. From the 1st to the 8th, sort things out before moving on

Write down what October left you with: what became clear, what is still open and what you no longer want to keep holding up. A journal helps a great deal in seeing it with some perspective.

2. At the New Moon on the 9th, let go of one thing

Just one. Name it, write it down and decide what you will do differently from now on. Pay attention, too, to what you dream around those days: Scorpio often speaks that way.

3. From the 13th to the 16th, commit to something that matters

With Mercury and Venus moving forward again and Mars next to Jupiter, this is the best window of the month to take the step: sign up, propose, begin. First, ask yourself one question: who else does this serve?

4. Around the Full Moon, leave some slack

From the 23rd to the 26th, do not fill your diary to the brim. If a surprise turns up, you will have room to take it in without being overwhelmed.

5. In the final week, look after your people

Go over the details of what you started and, above all, spend quality time with the people who hold you up. It is the best way to close an intense month.

A closing reflection

November does not ask whether you are brave. It asks what you use your courage for.

Every birth chart is unique: the combination of positions at the moment you were born never repeats. That is why these transits are not lived the same way by everyone. It depends on which areas of your own map they touch, and also on your history, your stage of life and how you are doing inside. What will be a month of projects for one person will be a month of healing old wounds, or of putting the house in order, for another.

“Courage of the heart is not the absence of fear, but knowing what is worth it.”

If you reach December having dared to do something you care about, and having looked after the people beside you along the way, you will have made the most of what November has to offer.

Frequently asked questions