Insights for Sagittarius
November 22
Sun enters Sagittarius 9:02 AM EST
Venus opposite Chiron
Sometimes we’re tourists, sometimes pilgrims. It’s easy and pointless to make a value judgment in either direction. Humans are journeyers on this planet, doing our walk-a-bouts throughout our lives. We gather experiences even if the journey doesn’t take us around the world. It takes us around our world, the one we imagine we live in. The point, if there is one, is the getting of wisdom: To learn and teach. We don’t all become great sages but we so somehow become good examples, or horrible warnings. We express wisdom or ignorance through our actions. It’s no fun watching men (mostly) with guns wreck the joint. But even this can make us wiser if we have the fortitude to allow it.
Venus and Chiron indicate how we might gain a bit of wisdom today. We have become bystanders to a tremendous amount of violence and misdirection of resources. We cannot turn toward and we must not turn away from the needs of children and families. And then there’s the Earth itself. What can one person do? It’s hard to say but somehow it is wisdom itself to understand that we too, not just A.I. are learning all the time. Question is, how that learning can make us wiser, not smarter.
As the Sun travels through Sagittarius this month it will square Saturn (coming right up) and, toward the end, square Neptune. It will also trine Chiron and partner with the Moon at Full and New. See below for specifics.
November 23
Sun square Saturn
No matter how much you do there will always be more to do. And then there is Saturn’s favorite wisdom: ‘If it’s in the way, it is the way’. Making the effort to tackle the task will develop muscle and make you stronger. Whether we like it or not some things just have to get done. First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.
November 24:
Mars enters Sagittarius
As the wars of the world drag on, traumatizing us all, astrologers pay close attention to Mars, the warrior. I could write a book about Mars: About how it isn’t actually only about ‘men’ although it does include men as a group: About how it is affiliated with the Moon (sect ruler; nocturnal) and therefore is clearly meant to serve the nourishment and sustaining of life, not to destroy it. Mars at its best might be found in the symbolism of the Green Man or the athlete. In our patriarchal world, over many, centuries Mars has been disconnected from this original bond with the Moon and encouraged to act on its own impulse (terrorist) or to take orders (soldier) from Death Dealers not Life Givers . Mars is energy, vitality, pure life force. In Sagittarius it can travel and/or aspire to athletic excellence. It can also be conscripted or inspired to fight the Holy War. War as a metaphor, even for spiritual growth, has outlived its usefulness. As Mars journeys through Sagittarius over the next six weeks give some thought to how your reactions become actions and who they actually serve. Whose orders do you take and why should you do their bidding? It’s way past time for the Universal Soldier to wake up.
November 25
Mars square Saturn
If you know who you serve, if you are willing to focus and discipline your instincts, to apply your energy to a worthy task, you won’t mind this square. If you’re more inclined to kick the cat or bellow at the wind or your beloved, you might go for a walk amongst the trees and seek out the wisdom of the Green Man. See if it’s possible to put all that energy in service to a good cause.
November 27
Full Moon: 04 degrees Gemini: 04:16 AM EST
Mercury square Neptune
The truth will out. We hope this is true. But today’s truth isn’t necessarily going to be supported by facts. There seem to be too many conflicting ones. We have grown used to manipulation, misdirection and misinformation traveling along the airways and we can pay a high price for our assumptions. In the here and now the task is to be still and listen. It’s the being still that supports something akin to truth. And whatever comes from stillness may take time to figure out. Truth is not always obvious from one person to another. It does the best it can to express through each of us in its own unique way.
December 1
Mercury enters Capricorn
Time to think about structure and efficiency. As Mercury travels through Capricorn engaging various planets, it will turn up different variations of this theme.
December 2
Mercury sextile Saturn
Somehow humans figured out how to build bridges, how to sink supports into the earth below the water and make a stable structure to hold some pretty heavy stuff. Imagine the journey from a rope bridge over a rushing river to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. There are other kinds of bridges too. The kind between people, peoples. A good day for building bridges.
December 3
Venus square Pluto
As Venus prepares to leave Libra she has one more task. It is to challenge the royal presence that has dominion in the underworld, which holds the things we can or won’t see, the things we have lost or will one day, inevitably lose. Pluto is best understood when it is laced with the notion of mercy. Mercy is the quality that makes the power of change and loss bearable. Venus has dominion in the realm of grace and beauty. What happens when beauty encounters mercy?
December 4
Venus enters Scorpio
If everything we love will eventually be lost, what really matters? All that Venus does while she is in Scorpio has this question at its core.
December 5
Venus trine Saturn
What matters most is what we do best? What we do most easily? What we do for love? Out of desire? If one life is all you get, who cares? But if that one life is a thread in a tapestry, a stitch in a knitted garment, a link in a chain then it all matters because we are interwoven in the fabric of time in ways we can’t know. Do what you must, and do it well.
December 06
Neptune stationary direct
Stations are like solstices for planets. It appears, from the perspective of Earth, that the planet is standing still, which of course it isn’t. Nothing stands still. Even a rock moves, albeit slowly. We might time a station for the length of time it inhabits the actual degree of the station: In this case from about November 13th – December 27th. Long enough to feel the undertow of the collective unconscious pulling us all into the next wave, about to break. Some will ride it, others will be tossed about. Some will dive beneath and encounter mystery and soul stirring beauty. And of course things and people will be washed away. It’s always like that, you say. This is true. The station simply encourages us to pay attention to this aspect of life.
December 07
Sun trine Chiron
Mercury trine Jupiter
If you’re looking for a leg up this could be the day. A positive attitude never hurts so long as it doesn’t deny a reality that requires some depth. It is quite possible to be positive as well as sensitive to the feelings and wounds of those around us not to mention within us. There is always lots to do. We can take out the trash, pay the bills, do the laundry. We can organize the office, finish the project and, most importantly, welcome the unexpected visitor at the door of our guest house.
December 09
Venus opposite Jupiter
There is no point to accumulating the most toys, unless of course you crave accumulation. That’s just another word for addiction. All is already lost (says Venus in Scorpio). Let this powerful truth inform your pleasure, if only for a moment here and there. It’s a generous offering to those of us who have some ease with the notion of time passing, change happening. Of course, time passes and things change anyway.
December 11
Mercury sextile Venus
As Venus and Mercury arrive at today, each having recently encountered Jupiter, they have something to say, something of beauty or profound wisdom (which is generally beautiful). It being the day before a New Moon it might be an excellent time to go deep into your flow, expect nothing and listen for the song inside: the one that was there at the beginning and remains after the end.
December 12
New Moon: 20 degrees Sagittarius: 06:32 PM EST
We all want to be right. To be wrong is akin to shame. Even so, it’s difficult to hear the word ‘righteous’ without immediately thinking ‘self-righteous’. Sagittarius invites con-artists as well as true wisdom teachers and seekers. There is an inclination in us to be conned (go figure). Maybe it’s because we want things to be easy and the easiest thing is to let someone else figure out what we should do, or who we should be, or how we should live. If you’re inclined toward an intention or an affirmation for this New Moon make it about discernment, the kind of honesty that inspires righteous, not self-righteous action.
December 13
MERCURY RETROGRADE! 2:09 AM
This Mercury retrograde period is a bit cosmic. The midpoint of the retrograde period lands on December 22 at the solstice point. We all know the story of the solstice, one version or another. It’s the birth of the light. The Sun, which has been sinking lower and lower in the sky, making the days shorter and shorter is miraculously born again into a slow and steady rise which will brighten the skies and bring another round of spring and then summer (even if it takes a while). Even folks who live near the equator celebrate the season. It’s an archetypal moment in the human psyche. What can we take from Mercury highlighting such a moment with a conjunction to the Sun ? Could it be that we need to bring as much awareness and understanding as we can gather to the New Year that will take shape as the days grow brighter? This brief moment of Mercury cazimi, as it sits at the heart of the Sun (which is the heart of the heart of our solar system) seems to be a powerful reminder to listen to the still, small voice within, the one that is easily blotted out by the relentless barrage of noise and distraction. To listen deeply at the solstice is to hear the animals speak, all of nature in fact. Capricorn reminds us or tries that we are part of nature. We benefit from her abundance and we suffer when she becomes sparse or damaged. It’s that simple. To acknowledge this is to settle down in our bodies even as we once again, celebrate the miracle of the birth of the light.
As Mercury entered the shadow of the retrograde it was and will be again, in Sagittarius. It will square Neptune and conjunct Mars (which will square Neptune later in December). These are uneasy aspects. As it moves into Capricorn it makes more favorable aspects: a sextile to Saturn and a trine to Jupiter. This retrograde period has two parts: Reminding us in Sagittarius that even if there is a sucker born every minute it doesn’t have to be us. While in Capricorn it shows us that when we align with the natural world, when we overcome the distracting chatter and allow that we are embodied beings, we benefit. As it leaves the shadow it will square Neptune and conjunct Mars once again before finding stability again in Capricorn. There is a heap of information as well as misinformation in this world. Be mindful. And once you make it through the ‘fire swamp’ of the square to Neptune, as January turns to February there are things to be done if we are to be good citizens of the natural world. Tell that to your politicians.
For the exact dates of the aspects you can check the insights below.
December 15
Mars trine Chiron
There is action and then there is right action. Buddha suggested right action as one of the eight cornerstones of happiness: do no harm, do not cheat, steal or lie, avoid sexual misconduct and help others to do the same. Like all truth this is simple, elegant and harder to implement in this world of ours than it ought to be. Today is a good one for a strong intuition regarding the wisest course of action. And it harm none.
December 16
Sun square Neptune
If it’s too good to be true, it is.
December 18
Mercury trine Jupiter
There are so many solutions to any given problem. There are so many problems. Time pressure invites panic. It’s not the last bus. It’s how your best is good enough.
December 21
Venus opposite Uranus
Mercury sextile Saturn
Winter Solstice… 10:27 PM
For most of this day we are on the threshold of one season ending and another beginning. A moment of transition. However you find yourself in relation to the next few weeks let there be time today, in the midst of flurries of activity to reflect on any thresholds in your own life. This might include your perception of how the tremendous trials and tribulations of 2023 have changed the way you see your place in the world. Surely our shopping habits are changing (Venus/Uranus). Maybe we respect our ability to decide for ourselves what we will and won’t buy.
