This is a forward-looking New Moon that invites us to let go of this year and focus on what we want to bring into our lives moving forward. Sagittarius helps us to see the growth potential in every situation we find ourselves in, reminding us that even the most gruelling of experiences has something profound to teach us if we are open and willing to learn and grow. This optimistic and adventurous sign encourages us to focus on our hearts desires and to keep the faith that we will attain them. This is an ideal Moon for setting positive intentions, with the faith that we will ultimately get what we so dearly wish for. However, it is important to be aware that sometimes while we think we know what we truly want, our Higher Self knows better! Sagittarius can help us to find and understand the deeper truth, beyond our conscious desires.
The Sun has been in Sagittarius since 22 November, which has had the potential to lighten the atmosphere somewhat, after the emotional intensity and soul searching of Scorpio season! Sagittarius helps us to see the absurdity of life and to laugh at ourselves and life itself, no matter how difficult it might be at times. It does help not to take things too seriously, that’s for sure! This is a challenging time of year for many, so a bit of Sagittarian humour is most welcome! It is also a sign of excess, and it certainly is easy to over-indulge at this time of year, especially as we have Venus and Jupiter opposing each other during this Moon! Venus does like pleasure, as does Jupiter in Taurus, the sign of the sensual delights!
Ultimately, however, Sagittarius can help us to find the truth, and with Mars also in Sagittarius right now we could also have the courage to recognise our deeper truth and to act on it. It gives us the courage of our convictions, the capacity to “walk our talk” and to shoot our arrow straight and true, aiming for the stars. We are encouraged to trust our gut, listen to our intuition and follow our hunches. Sagittarius invites us to keep the faith that no matter how hard the journey is at times, that we are ultimately being guided in the right direction, for our highest good. Quite often, the hardest of experiences give us the opportunity for our greatest growth, if we are open and willing to see. However, by no means does growth need to always be painful! We can choose growth and expansion, through our spiritual practice, healing work and the willingness to do the inner work and to step out of our comfort zone and expand our horizons.
Uranus is forming a nagging inconjunct to the Sun and Moon, which could prompt us to shift our perspective and see ourselves and “the truth” more clearly. Uranus can bring shocks, curve balls and wake up calls that jolt us into a state of greater awareness, clarity and insight. And once we see the truth it is hard to “unsee” it! This is the kind of Moon that could force us to be utterly true to ourselves, even if we would rather take the easy route! The presence of Uranus in so many of the Moons in recent times has been helping us to strip back layers of programming and conditioning that have built up over the course of our life, so that we can liberate, rediscover and reveal the initial, unique spark that we have always been, before life piled a whole lot of crap on top of it! Uranus can help us to remember who we really, truly are.
Neptune is also forming a challenging and dynamic square aspect to the Sun and Moon, which could make the truth a little hard to find! Neptune can bring illusion, fantasy, smoke screens, propaganda and even deception, obscuring the truth, which can be confusing and somewhat disillusioning. However, it can also call for us to turn inward to discover the deeper truth that lies beyond our conscious, rational comprehension. So often we have what we think is true for us versus what is going on at a deeper level. This could be a good Moon to sit down with some oracle cards, or the tarot, or to meditate and listen to what our higher self has to tell us, bypassing the rational, logical mind and opening us up to the subtle whispers of our intuitive mind.
This is helped by Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius, forming a helpful, supportive trine aspect to Mercury, which is standing stationary during this Moon, getting ready to go retrograde in the early hours of Thursday 14 December. This can help us to see the bigger picture, potentially helping us to put together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and gain a higher understanding of whatever we are currently contemplating. Mercury retrograde is a time when we are encouraged to give our rational, logical mind a bit of a rest and tune into our right-brained, intuitive, creative mind.
While Mercury is retrograde there can be a tendency to look back, as there is much to be gained from revisiting, reviewing, reflecting and going back over old ground to see what we might have missed the first time around. This could also be a good time to look back over this year and to reflect on what we have learned, although, with mercury in Capricorn, it is important not to focus on the hard parts, but also to recognise what we have gained and how we have grown. This Sagittarius Moon is encouraging us to take what we have learned and move forward with a hopeful step!
There is a lovely, helpful, supportive trine aspect between Chiron the Wounded Healer and Mars in Sagittarius during this Moon, exact on Friday 15 December. This can give us the courage, strength, inspiration and motivation to bring up some thorny issues that we might usually prefer not to face. It can help us to be brave, direct and honest, even if it hurts or makes us feel vulnerable. Mars in Sagittarius is not afraid of the truth and is happy to venture into uncharted territory, while Chiron in Aries can help us heal with honesty, openness, directness and candour. There is the potential for much healing to occur, through being willing to go to places we might usually shy away from. We are called to be brave sacred warriors of the truth! Those of us with personal planets or angles around 15°of a sign will feel the motivational, courageous, healing energy of Chiron and Mars most strongly.
The Sabian symbol for this Moon, at 21° Sagittarius, is a curious one: “A child and a dog wearing borrowed eyeglasses”, which Dane Rudyar describes as “The use of imagination and make-believe in anticipating higher stages of development. This rather peculiar symbol seems to imply here that by imitating features belonging to a level of consciousness as yet unreachable, the process of growth may be accelerated. Eyeglasses symbolise intellectual development; the chiefs of primitive tribes in some instances have sought to impress their people by wearing spectacles without glass, or Western hats – simply because these objects seemed characteristic of a race of superior people. This is similar to the process of growth by identification with a “Master” or guru. In a sense it is mere pretending or make-believe, yet by wearing the “mask” of a god the medicine man at the time becomes for all practical purposes the incarnation of the god. Growth is always a hierarchical process, even if the growing entity is not aware of it. This symbol suggests the value of LEARNING THROUGH IMITATION”.
This symbol makes me think of the square that Neptune is forming to the Sun and Moon, as it talks of imagination and make believe, which is most definitely Neptune’s domain! It could also mean that we must be careful that we are looking at whatever is going on through the right lenses, and not only seeing what we want to see. Neptune is the king of rose-tinted spectacles and fantasy over reality! Similarly, we must not pretend to know more than we know and must be aware that we may not be being shown the whole truth, as it could be obscured somehow.
This Moon can ultimately ignite our faith, hope and trust in the higher forces that guide our lives. It is quite possible that we will be looking back over this year with a certain amount of judgement, experiencing a bit of a reality check, as it has certainly had its challenges for many of us. However, Sagittarius calls for us to see the bigger picture and to maintain a positive focus on what could be, and what is possible moving forward. We could be called to shift our perspective somehow, so that we are better able to perceive the whole truth, which could be very liberating even if it is uncomfortable. Sometimes the actual truth of the matter is not at all what we were expecting! However, when the deeper truth is revealed, it can be so very liberating. “And the truth shall set you free”. We must be willing and brave enough to look past the layers of illusion, both personally and collectively, so that we can with greater clarity.
“I can see clearly now the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind,
It’s going to be a bright (bright) sunshiney day.”
Jimmy Cliff
Much Love
Amy
xoxo
For personal readings, my website: https://www.amybirdartandastrology.com/astrology.html
Painting: Sagittarius, by Dorina Costras