Explore, discover, share . . .

Sagittarius is that aspect of us that aspires to being the most a human can be - and more! With this as its brief in life, it is ready to break from what has been, at a moment’s notice and travel off into the distance along untried paths. Up the mountain, we get a better view of the surrounding countryside; we can better see things in relation to each other, and get a line on which might be the best direction to follow. There is no responsibility to DO anything about anything - that’s Capricorn’s job, isn’t it! Sharing the insights is the most anyone can ask, surely! So that Sagittarius is free to go off after the next idea and see where it leads . . .

This New Moon in Sagittarius

In this New Moon chart there is a wealth of Sagittarius energy. The Sun and Moon at the beginning are making a smooth contact (trine) with Uranus in Aries, suggesting that our explorations are likely to be following personal desires, the discoveries likely to be innovative, and the sharing very brief, if at all - hopefully not too aggressive, but definitely each from our own unique perspective. And this planetary connection is at odds with the rest of the chart - so we need to ignore any sense of rejection by other people’s bid for freedom, nor blame ourselves as selfish when we find our own need for space.

Sorting and clearing our messes with detachment -

Venus in Sagittarius is a love of philosophising for its own sake, but its smooth connection with Taurean Jupiter, and also Aquarian Neptune, tells us that the exploration’s focus could be on discovering a practical solution to serve the whole of human kind and the planet. On the personal side, we are encouraged to seek solutions to our own awkward areas of life without losing touch with our friends. We may not get around to implementing the big solutions immediately, but we do need to make a note of them and be prepared to do the work when the time is right.

And right now the time is right for the first clearing of the decks (Mars in Virgo exactly trine Pluto in this chart). This is the moment for facing those corners where mess has accumulated, and discriminating between what is really necessary to keep for the future, what we want to keep from the past for our own reasons, and what can be happily thrown out. We tend to burden ourselves with stuff and then not look at it again. On checking, much is out of date, no longer relevant to the future that is unfolding, and we don’t feel the same connection to it anyway.

- and healing our body-mind relationship

Another area that always pays scrutiny is our health and how we organise our lives to include the needs of our beloved, and spiritually necessary, physical bodies (Mars in Virgo points at the way our body operates to produce the energy we need to deal with life). The beauty of this month’s arrangement is that whatever we do to amend or clear things is likely to have much more effect than usual, even to the extent of finding the transformative adjustments we have been seeking for years. (Pluto trine Jupiter trine Mars) So let’s go for it!

Freedom of thought versus factual limitation

The difficulty with this chart is that the work that needs to be done, that would serve us so well just now, looks to Sagittarius somewhat boring - sticking our heads into a trash-can and losing the bigger picture (Sun/Moon square Mars and square Neptune/Chiron). It may almost seem too much bother to do what would promote our health, or to change the furniture around to make the space we’ve been hankering for.

Attitudes that come from different perspectives (planets squaring each other) typically don’t quite understand what each other’s benefits are, and challenge each other for supremacy. The fact is that both are necessary for the fulfilment of the moment, so the challenge is to find a way of activating them both in the same cause. In this case, that cause is: to become more flexible about our physical foundations, so that we can move with any changes that affect us through these years.

It is the broader view that gives us balance, as we make the changes we ‘know’ we need for the sake of our relationship with our planet. And our piece of that planet is our own body, and our own home and possessions. To complete the circle, updating ourselves and our surroundings makes us more available to share our joyful discoveries with others in ways that support those who are struggling. We are learning to be uniquely ourselves while sharing this changing world.

Courage to be ruthless with ourselves - kindly

Perhaps we need to be feeling thoroughly detached, and possibly self-centred, to inhabit the inspirational viewpoint. Perhaps only from here can we bring ourselves to accept what needs to be implemented, because we may need to cut away ruthlessly at our own beliefs, which may call for changes in personal identity (Uranus in Aries). It could be a good time for discovering those beliefs that stop us doing what we know would help us. It is, after all, our relationship with the physical world - the people and things - that demonstrates our degree of wholeness, integrity and presence (Sun/Moon quincunx Jupiter in Taurus).

Having said all that, the next New Moon (on Pluto in Capricorn) could be the time for the implementation itself, when the needs are likely to become much more obvious to all.

Sagittarius inspires

Mercury in Sagittarius will be retrograde until 15 December - notes at the end of last month’s letter - and, in its movement to and fro, it passes over the vision of ‘rightness’ (North Node) three times. So we get a heightened opportunity to recognise and communicate about that ideal on three dates. The first was 14 November; the second, 2 December; and the last, 27 December. So notice what caught, and catches, your eye on these days, what inspires you, brings you a sense that ‘we can do this’, and ‘what fun this could be’. And you will be tuning in to what life has ‘in mind’ for this beautiful planet and all who sail in her!