News · Today’s sky
France’s student strike of 10 November: what Mars conjunct Jupiter in Leo says about a generation that persists
The Mon thème team8 min read
A megaphone passed from hand to hand, a chant everyone picks up without hesitating because they already know it. In Paris, this is the fourth time since 3 November. This Tuesday, 10 November 2026, the student strike led by university students and lycée pupils (the French equivalent of sixth-formers) spreads across the whole of France, alongside teachers and other state education staff. It comes the day after the government sat down with unions and employers for talks at Matignon, the prime minister’s office.
We are giving it today’s page because the sky tells the story of this double movement: a voice growing louder and a discussion starting again. Mars is catching up with Jupiter in the fire sign that wants to be seen, and Mars conjunct Jupiter in Leo will be exact on 16 November. At the same time, Mercury and Venus, both retrograde, are getting ready to turn forward again on 13 and 14 November. This is not a picture of one side against another, but of a collective mood in which drive and the search for balance answer each other.
The student strike in France: what is happening on 10 November?
The call comes from the education unions and from organisations representing lycée pupils and university students. The joint alliance of education unions launched it without waiting for the outcome of the talks on Monday 9 November, and that same evening it announced 49 rallies.
Marseille opens the day at 10.30am. Paris, Strasbourg, Toulouse and Lille follow at 2pm. In the capital, where the police authority has approved only one of the announced routes, the march follows on from those of 3, 5 and 7 November.
One detail gives the day its colour: unlike on 5 and 7 November, the wider alliance of unions from all sectors is not calling people out to march. This Tuesday belongs first to the pupils and the students.
Why does Mars conjunct Jupiter in Leo speak of young people who want to be seen?
Mars is the body that gets up and goes. Jupiter is what gives scale and a reason: conviction, the feeling of being in the right. Tradition sees their meeting as courage finding a cause, an energy that stops being solitary and goes looking for numbers.
Leo sets the tone. A fixed fire sign ruled by the Sun, it is linked to the fifth house, the house of what we create, what we bring into the world, and so of youth. Its demand is simple and stubborn: to be recognised, in full light, for what you carry. A fixed fire does not go out after the first blaze, which fits with marches that keep coming back.
The Moon adds its note for the day. At 1° Sagittarius, the sign of study and far horizons, it forms a trine to Neptune: the mood leans towards ideals, towards wanting to march for something bigger than yourself. That says nothing about what will come out of the day; it says in what spirit people go through it.
What changes with Mercury and Venus retrograde, direct on 13 and 14 November?
While Leo pushes people to show themselves, two planets are working the other way. Mercury is moving backwards at 6° Scorpio, square Pluto at 3° Aquarius. Venus is moving backwards at 23° Libra, its own sign, the sign of agreements and fair measure. A retrograde is not a blockage: it is a time for rereading.
Coming back four times to the same streets, saying it again, making it clearer: the very shape of these days looks like this sky. And the new moon of 9 November, at 16° Scorpio, opened a cycle on the very day of the Matignon talks, in a sign that is not satisfied with fine words.
This morning’s exact sextile from Venus to Mars is the gentlest thread in the picture: the one who seeks agreement holds out a hand to the one who acts. When Mercury turns direct on the 13th, then Venus on the 14th, the mood is one of exchanges that can start again on better-chosen terms.
- Mercury retrograde in Scorpio: you don’t just repeat yourself, you dig into what was never fully said.
- The square to Pluto: behind the words, the question of who has the power to decide.
- Venus retrograde in Libra: what seemed settled goes back on the table, in search of a fairer balance.
- Venus sextile Mars: firmness and the wish to get along can work together.
Why doesn’t everyone experience this sky in the same way?
What you have just read is a general mood: the sky as it is for everyone. But each of us receives it through our own birth chart, and those who feel it most strongly have a planet or an angle near the degrees where Mars and Jupiter stand. The aspect formed then tells you in what way.
Picture two natal Moons. One sits around the same degree of Taurus: the Leo pair touches it by a square, and these days may feel like impatience, a need for calm jostled by the restlessness all around. The other is around the same degree of Aries: the trine lets the energy flow without effort, like an urge to be bold that comes all by itself.
And with no natal planet near those degrees, the transit stays a background mood, something you pick up in the air without it stirring anything personal. That is why the same transit does not make everyone react alike, and it is not astrology getting it wrong.
- New moon at 16° Scorpio, on the day of the talks at Matignon, the French prime minister’s office: a cycle opens.
- Venus sextile Mars, exact in the morning; pupils, students and education staff march all over France.
- Mercury turns direct at 5° Scorpio: words that have been dug into can finally move forward.
- Venus turns direct at 22° Libra: the search for agreement gets moving again.
- Mars joins Jupiter in Leo, exact conjunction: the high point of the surge.
- Mars enters Virgo: the energy leaves the platform for detail and practical matters.
What this sky teaches
Today’s law
Being seen and being understood are two different acts, and you often have to come back to manage the second.
Leo gives the strength to stand in the light; the retrogrades give the patience to rephrase. This sky holds the two together, in the same week, as if to remind us that a statement is only complete once it has found its words and someone to hear them.
That is true for a generation and for each of us. Before 16 November, the momentum builds; around the 13th and 14th, speech and agreement find their forward direction again. The lever is knowing what you want recognised before you raise your voice, then checking that it really has been heard.
- What exactly do I want recognised when I raise my voice?
- Which conversation have I left unfinished, and what words would help me pick it up again?
- Where would my pride gain from teaming up with my sense of proportion?
And in your chart?
The mood described here applies to everyone, but your birth chart decides where it touches you. An example: if your natal Sun lies between 23° and 25° Leo, Mars and Jupiter pass exactly over it, and this conjunction is felt as intensity, an almost physical need to defend what matters to you. Look too at 22° to 23° Libra, where Venus comes to a standstill on 14 November, and 5° to 6° Scorpio, where Mercury sets off again on the 13th. Then find the house where those degrees fall: it points to the area of your life, work, friendships, home, where this sky invites you to speak up or to rebalance an agreement. That is where the news in the sky becomes your own.
And for you, precisely?
This text describes the sky for everyone; each of us lives it through our own chart. Calculate yours once (free, 30 seconds): on every Decoded page, this box will show you what this sky touches in you. With a free account, your chart stays saved.
See what this sky touches in me✦ The technical point
What is a Mars-Jupiter conjunction?
A conjunction happens when two planets, seen from Earth, occupy the same degree of the zodiac. Their functions no longer talk to each other from a distance: they merge. Here Mars, the faster of the two, is catching up with Jupiter. On 10 November it is at 23° Leo and Jupiter at 25° Leo: the two-degree gap, known as the orb, closes until the aspect is exact on 16 November. While the aspect is tightening it is called applying, and that is often when you feel it building. Mars brings action; Jupiter amplifies it and gives it meaning: boldness, confidence, a taste for doing things on a grand scale. In Leo, this takes the form of a generous, visible need to assert yourself. Its possible downside is excess; its best use is enthusiasm harnessed to a precise goal.
Frequently asked questions
What does Mars conjunct Jupiter in Leo mean on 16 November 2026?
Mars, action, joins Jupiter, expansion, in the sign of self-assertion: the conjunction is exact on 16 November 2026. It describes a mood of confidence, boldness and a need to be recognised, one that is readily lived in a group. Each person receives it according to what it touches in their birth chart.
When do Mercury and Venus go direct in November 2026?
Mercury turns direct on 13 November 2026 at 5° Scorpio, and Venus on 14 November at 22° Libra. These two stations close a period of rereading exchanges and agreements. The mood becomes more favourable to discussions picked up again on better-chosen terms.
Why is Leo associated with youth in astrology?
Leo, a fire sign ruled by the Sun, is linked to the fifth house, the house of creation, play and what we bring into the world. Tradition therefore places youth there, along with the drive to exist in your own right. Planets in Leo highlight the need for expression and recognition.