Insights for Sagittarius
November 21:
Sun enters Sagittarius: 2:56 PM EST
Sun sextile Pluto
There will always be travelers, wanderers and seekers, story tellers, grifters and change-artists, visionaries and those who cannot grow past the life stage of the young and the restless. What we often miss about Sagittarius is the melancholy. The split between the life of the party and the brooding introvert. This too is part of the Sagittarian landscape. All journeys eventually come upon the dark wood, the long night of soul searching, the fire swamp, the outrage of injustice. Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, the judge. Depending on circumstances and temperament Sagittarius can draw the blessing or the thunderbolt. Wisdom is the only cure. All journeys offer the getting of wisdom. We are pilgrims not tourists on this planet but it’s all to easy to forget this unless and until we come a cropper with unwanted or unexpected circumstance (a shooter, an earthquake, a cancelled flight, an election that doesn’t end the way you wanted). In a world that over emphasizes security, which hungers for power and is motivated by greed, Sagittarius is fettered and unfree. Definite cause for melancholy.
As the Sun sextiles Pluto right out of the gate you might consider that any opportunity to challenge your notions of freedom and security, power and acceptance of things as they are is a gift horse. Do not look it in the mouth…
This year as the Sun travels through Sagittarius it will sextile Pluto, trine Mars, square Saturn, conjunct Mercury (retrograde), oppose Jupiter and square Neptune. A busy month.
Read all about it below.
November 22
Venus sextile Saturn
What sustains you? How do you build things, values, choices into your life that enable you to continue? How does that effect the ability of others to do the same for themselves? In a world which devalues so many human resources these questions are worth some consideration.
November 25
Mercury stationary retrograde
Mercury retrograde, days before a New Moon paints a picture of Beginner’s Mind as it calls us to drop expectations of how bad or good things are and will be. For many of us a shadow has fallen over the world and our expectation is that nothing good can come of it. For others it’s the beginning of hope. Neither of these is true or false. Beginners mind means we don’t know anything and therefore can learn everything. Beginner’s mind allows us to see, to envision without fear or will controlling our vision. Mercury: trickster, ferry person between this world and other worlds as well as the god of our never-ending stream of thoughts needs a chill pill: at least for the next few weeks.
November 27
Sun trine Mars
Venus square Chiron
If you love somebody
Then that means you need somebody
And if you need somebody
That's what makes you weak
But if you know you're weak
And you know you need someone
O it's a funny thing
That's what makes you strong
Is strength found in our resistance or our vulnerability? Are we stronger when we are hard and rigid or when we are open or willing? Are hate and fear stronger than love? There is no answer of course; different situations require different kinds of strength. The wisdom is in our ability to infuse action with kindness, no matter. Sometimes wisdom feels like reaching for a star, that is pointy and out of reach. Nevertheless we keep reaching.
December 1
New Moon: 09 degrees Sagittarius: 01:21 AM EST
He said, she said, they said… The question isn’t, “What should I say?” There is no question. It’s more a matter of aligning yourself with the motion of it all. Can you dance?
We are all like the Fool in the tarot. We are travelers journeying through life, innocent, ignorant and constantly learning from our mistakes. Or not. A lot depends on if we are tourists or pilgrims. We are inclined to envision how, what and even where our learning should take place. But that is not always where the path takes us. Make an intention for the New Moon even as you wisely accept that it will unfold in ways you cannot see from here.
December 2
Mercury rx trine Chiron
Venus trine Uranus
Fire (Mercury/Chiron): Earth (Venus/Uranus). Whatever the miss-step or the miss-take of the moment might be, your task is to dance and know that you are dancing, like old Mr. Tambourine Man who ‘danced beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free’. Some of us have better balance and are more attuned to rhythm and rhyme than others but we are all equally engaged in the dance of life. No one sits on the sidelines. No matter what you think, you are alive in the world.
December 4
Mercury rx opposite Jupiter
Sun square Saturn
Venus sextile Neptune
Sometimes, maybe all the times, things don’t add up in the world of human emotion and projection. We miss-understand, we lose our keys, we send the email to the wrong person. It’s an uphill battle. We can’t hear ourselves think over the din of trying to get it right. Even so, there is something that tastes good or looks beautiful. Something that cuts through the relentless effort and confusion which reminds us that life is precious. We can choose to let it slip through the barriers and allow it to go straight for the soul.
December 5
Sun conjunct Mercury rx
The spirit of the times is a horse no one is riding with ease. Don’t kid yourself. Awareness comes straight from the heart. Let your mind marvel at the power and the courage of a heart that believes in possibility and potential but not in the folly of unending progress or perfection. Let the power of a song liberate your heart and move your body. Shake out the noise so you can hear the signal, get the message, honor the still, small and powerful voice of wisdom.
December 6
Mars stationery retrograde
Mercury square Saturn
We are the world and our path has come to a bend, a fork or maybe a barrier. Consider the last two months – what a ride we have had! What theme has emerged for you? What voice did you hear calling you to courage or love? What is incomplete and needs more of your engagement? What call have you tried to ignore that won’t go away? How has your passion been thwarted? If none of this registers then perhaps today is simply another brick in the wall. A way to pass the time of your life. But if your life is a creation, a work of art, you might consider what has been stirred up since early October. It will be with us for a while.
December 7
Venus enters Aquarius
Venus conjunct Pluto
Sun opposite Jupiter
Neptune stationary direct.
We have been through a lot. Pluto in Capricorn (2008 till November ‘24) showed us, that worship of the almighty dollar has created a strange world. Vandana Shiva, a brilliant, outspoken critic of that very system has made the point that capitalism has made capital (money) real and that by doing this we have made reality unreal, giving corporations personhood and making real people non-persons. Have we actually entered the Matrix?
Today reminds us that we have become more alien(ated) from one another as our digital connectivity has increased: More emails, less time around the dinner table, more stories, less time to read or listen to them. These are Age of Aquarius issues. What does it mean to be human? Humanitarian? What is the difference between information and knowledge? And of course, how can we get from here (the Age of Pisces) to there (the Age of Aquarius)? Some days, like today offer hints. Even when the way seems lost there is a story line which you are following. Sit for a bit. Really listen to the conversation. Invite your soul to listen with you. Even as the billionaires run the world for a while longer. Forever is a long time.
December 10
Sun trine Chiron
Who is your wise person? Who holds the candle and illuminates your way through the mystery? Maybe it isn’t even a person or a philosophy. Maybe it’s animal or vegetable or mineral. It might even be those rocks up in space, lit by the Sun, endlessly circling. Wisdom is where you find it.
December 12
Venus opposite Mars
It’s human to want more. But more what? Surely by now most of us know that more stuff is just more stuff. It’s not good for the kids or the planet to keep piling it on. Even gift wrapped junk is still junk in the end. How is desire unfolding within and around you? If ‘want’ challenges ‘need’ who comes out on top? How can your heart ennoble your true desires?
December 13
Venus sextile Mercury
A time for lofty thoughts and big ideas, the kind you can chew on all day and into the night. Turn away from information and trivial pursuits. Write a letter to Sophia, tell her what’s on your mind. Ask her for guidance along your path of wisdom.
December 15
Full Moon: 23 degrees Gemini: 04:01 AM EST
Mercury stationary direct
Sun sets. Moon rises. Earth turns and allows us to see it this way. What’s happening in the continuing story of your life? What might be around the next bend? Be the narrator. It’s a story worth telling. Who are the characters (even the ones in your head)? What kind of dialogue is your main character involved with (including your thought stream)? What’s the setting (flowers on the table? Aromas from the kitchen? Where are you?) What’s the sound track? And of course, what’s the back story, the one that brought you to this chapter? Will your protagonist keep on living out their conditioned responses or will they (you) surprise us all and live from a wiser, truer, chosen impulse? Even if you are confused by these things you can wonder at the vast, unfathomable expanse of possibility and how the flame never actually touches the candle.
December 18
Sun square Neptune
If your vision of how you thought it would be is confused, foggy, seems lost, then be lost, fogged and confused. Today’s not the day to figure it out. Just for today be the witness. It’s your story, after all.
December 19
Venus trine Jupiter
Having sat with confusion we are ready to end our sojourn through Sagittarius on a high note. It’s a curious world. We are like Alice as she ‘opened out like a large telescope’ and commented that things were getting ‘curiousier and curiousier’. Our world, the one we were born to, has changed and will not be going back. What could possibly make this interesting to you?
