Sagittarius New Moon: December 12th
The Sagittarius New Moon at 6:32PM ET on December 12, is an opportunity to close out the year with a tip of the hat for all that has (and hasn’t!) been. The Sun meets with the Moon at 20°40 Sagittarius, the start of the final decan, indicating the time has arrived to prepare to say goodbye to 2023. Mercury stations retrograde in Capricorn just hours later, in a trine with Jupiter in Taurus, indicating we’re not going far over at the start of 2024, but we’re doing deep.
Sagiattarius has a positive natural tendency to look at the bright side. As the nights grow increasingly long and cold in the Northern Hemisphere, we decorate with twinkling lights, hang symbols of hope, and engage in ritual traditions to feed the spirit. Our souls alight during Sagittarius season, and that enthusiasm is given a boost this year by Mars transit through Sagittarius from November 24-January 4. If you’re feeling more motivated to seek meaning in your mundane existence, start by making a list.
We contemplate gratitude during Sagittarius season, which is ruled by Jupiter, the giver of gifts and bringer of blessings. As the year draws to a close, we acknowledge the bounty we have received. Sagittarius takes a broad view; the grand swath of life can help us put things in their proper perspective. When we can see the tremendous amount of wins and contemplate the losses, we get relief from the never ending ride of fortune’s ups and down. Putting it all down on paper helps us to see the richness and complexity of life on Earth. It gives us hope to keep going to the end.
What has been is gone and will never return again. The Sagittarius New Moon in a square with Neptune at 24°54 Pisces invites us to release into the void everything we sought but did not find so that we can begin again at the Winter Solstice on December 21. Sagittarius has both mental and physical prowess and is always surveying the horizon for what’s possible and what’s next. The magic spark of inspiration we receive at the Sagittarius New Moon becomes the whispered wishes and hopes we toss into the cauldron at Yule.
Sagittarius is represented by the Archer who’s bow is always aimed at the fixed star, Antares, the heart of the Scorpion. One of the primary ambitions of Sag is to vanquish the more unsavory aspects of our character as part of the purification process to prepare for rebirth. The arrow glyph has a line on the lower portion of the shaft indicating the Sag struggle for where to direct its great powers. The answer is always to take an honest look at what we’d rather avoid. The description of the constellation provides a conceptualization of its contradictory nature:
“Within the Archer’s range is the Sagittarius stellar cloud, composed of millions of Suns. It is easily seen with the naked eye, for it is the brightest cloud in the milky way. Here can also be found giant nebulas and dark masses of cosmic dust which are so dense that they obscure the areas of space which lie beyond them (129).” Complete Astrology by Alan Oken
Take a moment on the Sagittarius New Moon to imagine a million Suns, like all the firing synapses in your nerves, beaming light and life into dark space. This is the spark of Divinity that causes motion with every breath and moves us forward incrementally towards our goals. Within us too are masses of dust that obscure our connection with Spirit, and seem so dense we could get lost in their whirling forever. Both coexist at once. The beauty of Sagittarius is not just containing the multitudes, but acknowledging the duality within the unity, and trying to live from both.
The square from Saturn in Pisces at the start of Sagittarius season amplified the tension between what we want and what's possible to achieve. Mars in Sag is invoking the active battle between the constructive and destructive forces of human nature. The divine qualities of love and peace that we seek to embody on earth, and tell stories about during the holiday season, and the survival based impulses of scarcity and domination we are striving to awaken from.
The Major Arcana tarot card for Sagittarius is Temperance, encouraging us to refine by releasing what is no longer serving and adding in new dynamic elements to elevate our existence in 2024. Temperance is about growing where we’re planted. The Archer loves to run but it's important to make sure we’re galloping towards something, rather than away.
Mars is quite ambitious in Sagittarius, giving us a nice boost of motivation as we head towards the longest night, but Jupiter in conservative, practical Taurus wants us to play it safe. We can believe in ourselves while staying grounded in reality. Buy the lottery ticket and believe in miracles, audition for the big part and trust your talent, but keep your day job until your ship comes in. This is not the time for unnecessary risks, no matter how beautifully things work out in absurd holiday movies. The challenge with this lunation is emotional sincerity. Yes, life is absurd, but that doesn’t make it a complete joke.
The Moon’s strength in Sagittarius is arousing optimism, but it can also reveal the ways we wish to be ideal and spiritually perfect. Evaluate your home life to see where your ethics and values could inform the allocation of responsibility. Notice where the mundane is tamping down your joy and adjust accordingly to make more room for silliness. Sagittarius can overlook messes too long, but sometimes it's better to let the dishes sit in the sink so you can enjoy a board game with kids or lively debate with friends.
Sagittarius is a gambling sign that doesn’t like to lose and will ignore inconvenient truths to maintain their world view. We’re only in danger when we get carried away. Those lessons aren’t over yet as Mercury is concluding its retrograde cycle in earth signs by straddling the divide between boring Capricorn and bonkers Sag. We explored the Sagittarius realms of possibility during Mercury’s transit from November 10-December 1. Mercury in Capricorn is practical and a little melancholy, focusing on our tremendous effort and what yielded from it, but we’re going to make some revisions to our practices in 2024.
Mercury entered its shadow on November 25, and stations retrograde at 2:09 AM on December 13 at 8°29 Capricorn. This is a shorter retrograde than others, but it will carry us to the end of the year and could significantly impact travel plans. Take the necessary precautions by leaving extra time and splurge on insurance so you have the option to reschedule as needed. The final week of Sag season is an opportunity to make peace with yourself, this imperfect year, and other people as much as possible before the Sun enters Capricorn. Bless the mess and then keep moving. There’s loads more to come just down the road.
Mercury reenters Sagittarius at 1:17 AM on December 23, and stations direct at 22°11 Sag on January 1, 2024. This is a moment of pause on New Year's Day as Mercury has no motion when it stations. We might find that things progress slowly and take significant time to develop in 2024. Patience is a virtue we’d do well to cultivate as Capricorn is slow moving but intends to last for the long haul.
Mercury returns to Capricorn on January 13, and passes its retrograde shadow at the start of Aquarius season on January 20. It is said that if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. Use the Mercury retrograde in Capricorn and Sagittarius to plan out dreams that will be worth pursuing all year long.