Sagittarius New Moon

“Darkness has temporarily enveloped the light. A time for gentle steps. The sage’s action is inaction.”

The 12/1 Sagittarius New Moon is imbued with the energy of news, manipulation, and the reversal of fortunes. Mercury retrograde may be dishing out a frenzied array of mixed messages this lunar cycle which has a real “hurry up and wait” vibe. Don’t get swept up and away by the noise – the correspondences tell us we should use this New Moon to practice quiet, centered observation.

The Tarot correspondences include Temperance (Sagittarius), Wheel of Fortune (Jupiter rules Sag), The Magician (Mercury rules Sag Decan 3), and the 8 and King of Wands. These cards tell a story of cycles of change, inspirational and bold leadership, manipulation, transforming one thing into another and fast and furious communication.

Sagittarius 10’s Sabian Symbol, “A golden haired ‘goddess of opportunity'”, is the culminating degree of the 5-degree Sabian Expression of “Training”, indicating that we’re integrating lessons on false gods, propaganda and distinguishing reality from theater. James Burgess says of this degree – “None manage to perfect their social skills fully, although the best of those who do rise in popularity, importance and repute – typically until their imperfections are revealed purposely and vindictively in order to bring them down. We must find our own way to deal with this inevitable aspect of group behavior.”

I Ching Hexagram 9 (Small Taming), Line 5 says the dark has overcome the light and that it’s a time for small, gentle actions to inspire others and return chaos to order. This line changes Hex9 to Hex26 (Great Taming), which also re-emphasizes that while we hold great power and potential, this time calls for restraint and training on how to tame our baser instincts so we may ultimately invest our power in a way that best advances humankind.

It may feel like a time to take action, but the lessons of this lunar cycle are in training, restraint, control, and reserving our energy for the right moment.