A Solar 0 Sagittarius New Moon Ingress

The image above is a collage of multiple images, all of which are photos of Messier 8,

otherwise known as the Lagoon Nebula, which is located in the constellation of Sagittarius

(photo credit: Hubble Space Telescope, ESA, NASA, May 2011)
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So the Sun is changing signs (into Sagittarius) as a fairly typical (whatever that means) New Moon happens... and this is something we can all be pleased. Why, you ask? Well, because solar eclipses are a very specialized form of a New Moon, but they're still a New Moon - which means this is the next New Moon - the one after the eclipse.

And that marks the end of what has been a emotionally trying month filled with Scorpio lessons both on the necessity for conviction and the need to balance that against integrity... which, given Neptune's station chez Fomalhaut in the wake of said solar eclipse, suggested lacks of clarity and the need to look in one's own mirror.

But now some of that will change, if only in simple keeping with the Sun moving from the hot-and-cold fixations of Scorpio into the ‘let’s get something done’ (or going) of Sagittarius.

Mind you, Sagittarius has its quirks as well. It’s well known as a time of doing - and for some, overdoing. Or going overboard (hopefully not literally!). On the positive side Sagittarius expands. It pushes the boundaries (at least in theory) which is very much in keeping with Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius and - in mythic form - the ruler of Mount Olympus, peak of all knowing and knowledge.

Iris and Jupiter by Michel Corneille the Younger (1701) set against multiple images of

Messier 8 - the Lagoon Nebula - as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope

(photo credit: ESA, NASA, May 2011)
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Naturally located near the top of the horoscope wheel Sagittarius displays qualities of being ‘high’ enough up (or far enough along) in some process that perspectives are created. And tested - which is much in keeping with Sagittarius as the sign before Capricorn, Capricorn being the sign of achieving and achievements.

So under Sagittarius, we push, we press, we make waves...and whatever planet appears in Sagittarius (in transit or in your natal chart) describes how you will tend to press or push - and you’ll do it in terms or through the auspices of whatever house that Sagittarian planet resides in...or in the case of the transiting Sun, is transiting through.

As for Sagittarian tests, then tend to take us back to basic notions and choices past, present and postulated - all of which are the things of Sagittarius’ polarity sign, Gemini. Representing the thought, the idea we had to do ‘X’ (or XYZ, if you’re feeling plural, consecutive or excessively alphabetical) Gemini is all about what we learn and how what we learn sets us on a path. Under Gemini, we aim. We plan. And then (theoretically under Cancer, the next step in the zodiacal process), we begin to build towards our goal - that goal being Cancer’s opposition sign, Capricorn, land of success, achievement and worldly status.

So why is it that under Sagittarius...just as we’re pressing for the finish, the goal, the prize, that success...why is it that we end up stumbling over all the things which could hold us from our goal?

One could postulate that life wants us to be perfect when we get there.

Or one could figure that it’s as we near our goal that we become ‘visible’ to others and exposed to the world in a way we hadn’t been at all, drawing to us all the objections, critiques, suggestions and clamor which could (just possibly) keep us from our goal.

That’s the Sagittarius thing - and as I say this, if you have any planets in Sagittarius, I bet you’re saying to yourself ‘Oh...so that’s why....’, followed by a ‘so what do I do about it?’

For one, get conscious. Two, don’t fight - planets in Sagittarius (and objects in your natal 9th house) are things we are going to encounter as we try to achieve things. They may be just some detail you forget until the last minute, they may be something you couldn’t learn about your project until you put yourself or your effort ‘out there’ - that being the heart and soul of Sagittarius.

It’s not a secretive sign. Scorpio is secretive... or at least it can be, though once you get past keeping surprise parties and holiday presents under wraps, most other Scorpio secrets tend to reflect some sort of fear, which in typical Scorpio style tend to be projected on others.

Mostly in secret, of course - and sometimes at a level that it’s virtually ‘secret’ from the person doing the projecting.

The shift from Scorpio to Sagittarius began a few days ago as Venus entered Sagittarius. But this is very different. The Venusian effect - whatever it may be - is something we sense with any of our senses... we feel ourselves sensing it. So when Venus - an emblem of ‘creating results’ at every level (good, bad and otherwise) entered Sagittarius our sense of where we are in our own eyes in terms of where we want to go came to the surface.

But now life itself will seem to change gears. This change doesn’t have to be dramatic - although it can be, as Sagittarius has a reputation for the dramatic, the prolific, the supposition and taking of many a stand.

Sometimes we’re the audience among many under Sagittarius... and sometimes we’re having our say. 

Whatever happens, the good news is that we learn from it.

The worst of bad news?

That we may get ourselves in trouble. Not damagingly so, but some (Gemini) idea we started out now may need a little tweaking... a bit of retuning.

Or maybe we’ll just have to change our approach or tone.

Both images above are charts for the November New Moon, an event which in being only

some three hours after the Sun's Sagittarius ingress makes posting two charts in Aries

format (Aries charts being non-located and therefore lacking place-specific information) rather redundant.

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As a mutable sign, Sagittarius supports changes and shifts of attitude, position, clarity and understanding -all of which it does through interacting with others or information (hence the Sagittarian association with the law, education, the media and any form of travel). So from the time the Sun enters Sagittarius on November 22nd at 9:39 in the morning (UT/+0 time) until it reaches 0 Capricorn (the Capricorn Solstice) on December 21st at 23:04 (11:04 p.m.) UT/+0 time, life and our lives will all by turns be challenged, tempted and daunted by things - some of which we haven’t the glimmer of a concept of as yet.

Then there’s the fact that the Sun is arriving in Sagittarius with in square to Neptune in Pisces with Neptune still positioned at 4 Pisces (conjunct royal/fixed star Fomalhaut) - the degree Neptune only just went direct at (on November 16th, UT/+0).

Squares of every kind (or between any pair of objects or signs) are a form of internal challenge which asks that we take different ‘ingredients’ (external) or attributes (internal) in working with what we’re given, making of that something worthy despite all. In bringing together fire (Sagittarius) and water (Pisces) the metaphysical weather speaks of a chance for fog... and alternately, the emotional bath which - if and to the degree we are able to surrender ourselves to it - cleanses one’s spirit.

How that happens...? That’s about where 0 Sagittarius falls in each of our charts - and thus, given that Sagittarius is all about learning, changing, growing and course corrections we make or which are made for us to respond to.

What we do with that is up to us. But surely as we go about being we will reveal - most of all to ourselves - what our relationship is to what we are and (perhaps even more importantly at the moment) what we aren’t.

Moreover, since Black Moon Lilith is at 29 Leo in this picture, this is actually the New Moon being at the apex of a t-square, that most toe-stubbing of astrological figures which has us missing our mark time and time (and time) again until we recognize and begin to operate on the basis of a perspective which embraces the bigger - even biggest of big pictures, that being one which is absolutely and certainly not just about us...and here we would mean the individual or finite 'us.'

Black Moon Lilith always ups the ante. If you're thinking family going into this process, think town. If you're thinking town, think city. Or nation. Black Moon Lilith always feels personal. But it generally isn't...so think more generally - even generically.

Set against a background of multiple Messier 8 images (credit: ESA, NASA),

'Mercury, Herse and Aglauros' by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (1763)

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Where life shows us that we need to ‘re-think’ (or to put it in Aquarian Age terms, ‘reinvent’) ourselves or some portion of what/how we’re doing or being as we are, that will be what we will in the long run lose or benefit by - which is true for whenever the Sun transits through Sagittarius. But this year we have a very specially little quality going on... call it an astrological hat trick.

Technically, said hat trick goes like this... in astrological terms, Jupiter is about to go retrograde on the very same day that Saturn moves into (and through) 28 Scorpio 17, that being the degree and minute at which Saturn will station at come August 2015.

And that ties what happens now to what will happen down the line. We may not know how...though it would be natural for us to think we do know - humans do wax ever hopeful about such things! But to the Saturn point, being that Saturn is still in Scorpio, that suggests there are emotional lessons still in play.

Very much in play - and to be more specific, in long-term play.

(Mark your calendars.)

As for Jupiter's station, Jupiter begins its retrograde on December 8th (UT/+0) and the degree Jupiter will be stationing at is 22 Leo 37.

Leo is ruled by the Sun... and the Sun, at that moment will be passing through Jupiter’s first sign of rulership (Sagittarius), creating a self-feeding energetic known in astrology as ‘mutual reception.'

Mutual receptions can be wonderful. And this one is poised to do great things - providing that greatness manifests positively. Being that this is the Sun, Jupiter, Sagittarius and Leo we’re talking about, there are chances for brilliance and chances for arrogance or blindness which are virtually breathtaking in scale.

Either way, the mutual reception is a sign of heightened effect, most of all because we will become involved (or drawn in) by whatever this mutual reception symbolizes.

As for the 'breathtaking' part, the taking of that breath is compounded astrologically by the idea that Neptune (still conjunct Fomalhaut) is transiting Pisces - the sign Neptune rules and the sign Jupiter defines the testing ground for.

Think of it this way: if Sagittarius is about learning, Jupiter is the process of learning - or knowledge in the sense that we act and make choices based on what we know.

In Sagittarius, Jupiter is the energetic of the mind - thought... understanding... imagination... communications of lasting, wide-spread or expansive kinds.

And in Pisces? In Jupiter represents understanding emotions (and emotionality)...starting with our own. How well, and how conscious we are of our emotions is the Jovian relationship to Pisces, a relationship which is then ‘rewarded’ (given an outcome) under the astrological auspices of Neptune.

And that Neptunian auspice - as we have been discussing (if you missed the Neptune direct post, look there) - is currently conjunct royal and fixed star Fomalhaut, the symbol of success which is granted only and where our efforts, aims and methods are neither corrupted or corrosive.

Plus of course, they can’t be all about us - that’s the Neptune part, the ‘get your ego out of the way: think globally.’ Pisces is in some ways that ultimate emotional recognition all humans have which amounts to one thing: survival. And while Pisces will certainly allow us to waver on the brink of that void which is all about how we feel about our own mortality, Pisces is also all about the feeling of... and how we feel about the fact that we are but on of billions of humans which are but one life form on a planet which has and which will inevitably host billions upon billions of other life forms...

...and all this exists on a planet which is but one planet among countless objects in a solar system which itself is powered by but one star in a galaxy which is but one galaxy among the uncounted galactic objects in the known universe.

Yes, Pisces is about humility...often in the moments we least suspect and, if anyone were to ask us, in the forms we most don't want (which is how Neptune deactivates our ego).

And that points to various vulnerabilities - the 'ills' of Neptune, be they manifestations of emotional vulnerability or any other kind of ill, be it of the spirit, mind, epidemic or allergy aisle type... as well as all those ills which stretch, defile, ignore or which otherwise - purposefully or not - distort facts and truths or the Sagittarian need to express, be heard or otherwise search for whatever answers we need (starting with those about ourselves).

So it’s Jupiter which ties the Sagittarian esoteric and mental qualities to the Piscean feeling and out-of-body/being sense, and Jupiter will be moving into the degree of its upcoming station (22 Leo) on the date this post publishes, November 19th (that date and the ‘today’ part being give-or-take a time zone or two, depending on where you are).

And what is 22 Leo about? This is neither a personal degree nor a degree which has free rein to operate without some serious consideration of what is being gotten into - and with whom. Wanting to 'help' too much is also of concern now... and by 'now' we should think in terms of a period defined as being between the date this post publishes (November 19th) until December 27th, with this 'helping' concept being not just the common type of assistance (whatever form that takes) but also the need to push something along faster than it seems to be going at the moment.

Don't 'help' a process which is taking time because that's the time it takes for things to happen properly. That kind of help isn't helpful at the moment.  

To think of it all a slightly different way, Jupiter in Pisces form is rather akin to ‘water behind a dam’ where Jupiter in Leo is more like ‘planning a big debut.’

So...are you preparing to do something? Are you needing to get to something but something else has been getting in your way? Are you setting about something now which you are going to be working to build (like some authors we know, she says knowingly...)?

If so (she said, feeling a bit like a Madison Avenue ad text-as-voice-over person), this is your kind of energy providing you don’t go overboard (that being a classic Jupiter-type pitfall).

Particularly at this time of year, the best phrase to use might be ‘budget yourself,’ however that applies.

But back to whatever that is which is not yet ‘released’ or ‘made public’ (that Sagittarian thing) at some level...as the Sun (equaling the metaphysical ‘life force’) enters Sagittarius, that quality gets released. Things which have been entirely held back through the full extent of the Sun’s passage through Scorpio may take a bit of time to shake the kinks out - look for things to loosen up there once Mercury moves into Sagittarius on November 28th (UT/+0)... at which point not enough may swiftly become too much.

It’s always something, right? That’s why famous astrologers like the late Marion March say ‘there are no perfect charts,’ a sentiment which echoes old sayings like ‘there’s no time like the present’ and ‘the longest journey begins with a single step.’ But whatever inertia (ennui, etc.) which we have felt - or felt for others or our willingness (or need) to further our efforts - that will now begin... somewhat slowly at first... to melt away.

It has to. Fire melts things - and most of all in Sagittarius, it melts that resistance to ‘giving voice,’ whatever that may entail. In testing our own abilities to ‘say our peace’ and to ‘get the word out’ in our efforts to disseminate those thoughts and ideas we’re so convinced of.

That this particular ingress and the New Moon which follows about three hours later (12:33 in the afternoon UT/+0 is the moment of the New Moon) are both positioned conjunct asteroids Pax and Bali may speak to that which we are happy to do, simple intrinsic pleasures or a quality in life (or displayed by something or someone in life) which inspires us... or gets us to think or possibly voice our opinions.

Oh yes...those opinions. Particularly as/after Mercury moves into Sagittarius on the 28th, plan on plenty of them! Good, bad, questionable... to have Mercury and the Sun both in Sagittarius from the November 28th to December 17th (UT/+0) speaks to a multiplicity of many things.

The Arts of Industry as Applied to Peace (detail) by Frederic Leighton (1870-1872)

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And let’s also remember that the Sun’s ingress into Sagittarius, in occurring before the New Moon means the Moon is in late Scorpio...And you thought life was busy up until now? It’s enough to blow a mental circuit or two.

Asteroid Pax (from the Latin for ‘peace’) has some obvious meanings - to be at peace with something, to want peace with someone or in our world, and all those things apply. But beyond that, the astrological Pax also speaks to the nature of a process. So for instance, Pax well placed and aspected in a chart can speak to the smoothness or uninterrupted of a process - an assembly line, for instance. Or flow of goods, money, even people from one place to another. Pax can even apply to the grace of a dancer or things like ‘writer’s block’ (which I’ve never suffered from - surely you’ve noticed that by now, right?)... or your schedules running smoothly.

This is for many, a busy time of year. Work goes on (some work must go on regardless) and from now until...well, Orthodox Christmas in January, the calendar is a domino fall of festivals - and with Pax also arriving in Sagittarius as of the date this piece posts (November 19th) it is likely there will be hesitation (or lack of attention to something) which simply, maybe even naturally changes once the Sun enters Sagittarius on November 22nd.

As for Bali, Bali carries the traditional idea of ‘paradise’ which in more general terms refers to that which we are happy with or about - another good indicator that as the Sun enters Sagittarius with Bali also in zodiacal perspective, we can make everyone happy IF that’s what we intend to do.

And since Sagittarius is a public sign, it is the distance between that ‘everyone’ and the more self-directed ‘me’ thing which defines the amount and nature of the energy we are leaving out there to be adopted by others and (once added to their own energy) foisted upon us either directly or otherwise through life or worldly conditions.

Two last notions about this solar ingress/New Moon combination: it’s occurring as asteroid Fama goes retrograde at 28 Capricorn, a degree which is known for qualities of reliability which others value but which on the inside (to us) are more of a burden or annoyance. As for Fama itself, this is an asteroid I’ve seen virtually nothing written on - it came across my radar while I was searching for objects to represent famines... which it doesn’t do.

What it does appear to represent is the means by which something is accomplished. So the means one is working on, that quotient or some factor associated with it is now ‘coming back to us’ (the station-retrograde action).

That’s a ‘factor’ I’m sure we’ll enjoy.

(Maybe. Or maybe not.)

The other thing to note is that Chiron, that well-known you-can-only-learn-some-things-by-doing-them quotient is on station as the Sun (and Moon) enter Sagittarius.

Which is the next post.
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