Festive Feelings Sparkle the Heart
New Moon in Sagittarius brings philosophy and a path to light
We are full force into Sagittarius season — my favorite time of year! If you haven’t yet, it’s time to lighten up and find ways to celebrate or be in community. Sagittarius is the sign of optimism, humor, joyfulness, philosophy, travel…they have a zest for life and love to learn new things. Double Sagittarius sky means double that energy! No time for low energy, being depressed or looking at the bad side of life. But that doesn’t mean that life doesn’t still happen.
In the midst of life we are in death, and vice versa. Babies come in, elders go out and people who used to be here on this plane simply are not anymore. It’s a gut punch to miss someone who has passed on to the other side. It’s an interesting feeling to have during the festive, giddy holiday time.
I personally LOVE this time of year, I am a Sagittarius after all! My birthday is on December 14th. And I’ve always loved Christmas and decorating, lights and trees, parties and singing and cheer — and now that I live in Colorado, snow is always part of the equation! I’m sitting in the feelings, with what is. I can be both sad and giddy at the same time. Feeling the sting of missing someone, of being sad and grieving, while also wanting to put up lights and make cookies.
Sure, it’s personal to me but it’s also part of the archetype of Sagittarius — the great philosopher, big picture thinker, bringer of absolute truth, seeker of wisdom, lover of all cultures, eternal optimist with a dash of realism in accepting life AS IT IS instead of trying to control or change everything. Not an easy task but necessary for nervous system regulation.
You’ve probably heard a lot about that lately, regulating your nervous system. With the barrage of info that comes at us at max speed, there is no doubt (and plenty of evidence to prove) how detrimental information overload is to our individual and collective nervous systems. Think of us like numerous threads on a web, as the Native Americans refer to the Web of Life. One tug on a thread tugs the whole web. Imagine that on just a mental level — all the thoughts we think everyday, all the feelings we move through or avoid, all the reactions we have — we are not only affecting ourselves but reverberating that back out to the entire web, our Collective Humanity. When you regulate yourself through calming techniques/meditation/exercise/therapy, you add a dose of calm to the collective, to the web. You stay in control instead of being a reactionary mess.
The concept of the Observer, and how reality doesn’t exist until it is observed, is widely accepted in science thanks to numerous physicists. Not just through faith but with testable science it has been proven that we indeed have an effect on reality, on our experience — we bend and pull and affect all of the whole just as we do to our own lives. While they may be too scared to say it out right, what the scientists mean is — we humans create our reality, we think reality into existence through the witnessing of ourselves and others. I mean, that’s a lot of responsibility on our part, right, if we create our reality every moment with our thoughts, intentions and actions?
Well guess what, that’s the truth. I think it’s pretty amazing! Sure, we’re going to screw up, we are doing a great job of screwing up as a collective, but what an opportunity. What a gift, what power we actually have to pivot and adjust when we screw up. At least that’s how this optimistic Sagittarius sees it!
People walk around with zero awareness or embodiment of the experience of being alive. They have starving hearts with no idea how to fill that hole yet they keep doing the same things. People don’t want to think about “what it all means” until shit starts to happen, they have health scares or heavy circumstances with friends and family occur — or — when something amazing happens like the birth of a baby or some great accomplishment. That’s when the people who don’t want to feel all of a sudden ponder what life is all about, if even for just half a minute.
As a Sagittarius I always think about what we are, what this life is, why it is, why we are here, what the point of all of it is! I love thinking about this, doesn’t scare me at all, but I do understand that it can be scary for others. It’s actually scarier for me to NOT know things, to be in the dark. Yet as I’ve grown spiritually, I’ve also found comfort in not knowing exactly how everything works, of respecting that I come to understand things when I am ready to receive and carry the information.
There are so many gifts to being alive as a manifested human right here on Earth. To feel the wonder of a child when I look at twinkling holiday lights, snow coming down in the sunlight, when a wild animal crosses my path or a cute dog saunters by — to catch my breath and feel an inner gratitude to have this beautiful experience — whatever it is. You have this instant of knowing, of “WOW did this just happen,” and it’s so personal, a gift just for you from the Universe. Like a walking prayer, being in gratitude to every little happy moment — the goal is to try and expand that feeling, to acknowledge in the midst of suffering there is joy. In the midst of sorrow there is laughter. And, of course, it goes the other way, but that does not mean you have to be scared when good things happen — to wonder when the “other shoe is going to drop.”
That is worry and it’s a waste of energy. I do it, too, all the time. We all have those little voices that pick at us, the infinite voices our small ego comes up with to scare us, to sabotage our efforts and our attitude, to keep us small, to prevent us from breaking through to a bit more light so we can see that life has magic.
In the spirit of Sagittarius season, in the Season of Light, during this Festive time that is often very hard for many people because it amplifies what they are lacking — let us take a few moments this month to focus on what is good in the world, in our lives, the happy and positive things, the things that are going right. Instead of seeing all this light and joy and feeling bad if your life isn’t as great as someone else’s seems to be (the human trait of comparison), try to acknowledge what you admire about others without coveting it for yourself. Then notice what is pretty cool about YOU as well! Just as you may compare or feel inadequate around another person, I promise you there is someone out there who feels the same way about you!
We are designed to be thankful and grateful, and in that spirit we give to others who mean a lot to us, those we care about and love, and those less fortunate than ourselves. If you happen to be one of the less fortunate ones this year, this is your chance to receive kindness from others and feel grateful for it, remembering all the times you’ve been the giver. Now it’s your turn to let others be there for you.
Optimism in the face of grief is not easy, but I couldn’t live life without the notion that things can improve, that hope is real, that it’s always darkest before the dawn. Sure, I hurt, badly. I lost my next-door neighbor a few weeks ago. She was elderly but sharp as a tack (91.5 years old) and a lovely friend that my husband and I had grown close to. We miss her dearly, her house is so quiet. I used to walk her little dog. Her son came and took him back to California with him. Two losses, my heart feels the drop, the sadness. No it’s not like a super close member of my family dying, by any means, but the sadness, the quietness, the longing for something that is gone, deeply missing someone — is all there. It’s always hard to say goodbye even when you’ve only had a brief relationship with someone.
I hold that sadness in me just as I hold the excitement of my birthday and Christmas. Such a polarity yet part of the same, intricate, sublime tapestry of experience. The truth is death is scary and beautiful all at the same time. It is the common trait every, single human shares regardless of everything. We are all born and we all die. So because we are on this beautiful blue and green rock together and we’re all going to die eventually, perhaps we can recalibrate our perspective. Why not treat ourselves and others with more patience, compassion and grace (like we do with the little ones)? Ponder that, fellow philosophers!
A simple understanding of how we’re wired would certainly help. That’s why I love Astrology! It offers explanations on how we’re composed, our quirks, what makes us tick — so that we can accept ourselves, have more compassion and ultimately OWN who we are — and that acceptance allows us to acknowledge the areas where we are thriving and areas that require more growth. No one of us is exactly like the other. Even twins have differences in their birth charts!
Just knowing if your Sun sign is Fire, Earth, Air or Water can bring buckets of clarity to your life! Everything breaks down to the smallest nugget, and our Elemental makeup is a major part of how we give and receive energy in our day to day lives. That’s why I follow the Moon and the transits daily, to determine how to calibrate my expectations and to plan for a specific type of energy. To empower myself rather than be thrown around by the stars.
Sagittarius is Fire, the third Fire Sign of three (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), half human/half horse, with a rad bow and arrow to aim at the stars — at all possibilities! In honor of Fire, get moving, find the funny, do something to activate that inner child again, the part that giggles at stupid jokes or likes to do martial arts, boxing, working out, hiking, etc. Movement is Fire! Action is Fire! Silliness is Fire! Creativity is Fire!
Lean into the higher road of Sagittarius. Be your own philosopher, the one who looks at every side of the story and treats people with magnanimity. The one who points your arrows at lofty targets and hits them because you focus and plan instead of just letting your arrows fly to see where they land. Be the sage, the one who offers wisdom and comfort with no need for reciprocation or validation. The feeling of helping someone, that warmth of heart, is enough.
Ultimately we are being asked upon this Sagittarius New Moon to do things differently and truly accept all people regardless of (and in honor of) their cultural, ethnic, religious, political, social etc. values.
I refuse to let the theatre of the illusion, which feels so very real and is right in front of our faces, make me believe that we are doomed or that optimism if for suckers. Pessimism is for suckers, I say! Think about all the things we can’t see. There is so much good happening, solutions being discovered, people working for change. People are supporting their communities to bring in more light, happiness, joy, respect, kindness, compassion and decency. It may not be covered in mainstream media, but just look in your own town, good people are easy to find.
Embracing the Magic of Wisdom — New Moon in Sagittarius
We are upon the New Moon in Sagittarius as I type this — and New Moon means new beginnings. The New Moon phase will last from Dec. 12 - Dec. 14 and includes passage into Capricorn on the 13th. It is a New Moon in the Sign in which is starts, but the flavor of the next Sign is embedded into the energy. This double Sagittarius sky is filled with hope, compassion and a hunger for knowledge. Of course, there’s always the both/and of things so you know there’s an edge! Mercury Retrograde starts on Dec. 13 until Jan. 3 when he is direct again. Until the first few days of the New Year, expect the unexpected and slow down your mind while increasing your patience so you can avoid bigger delays and communication breakdowns.
On this New Moon, find faith in your humanity again. Before you plant those seeds, take more time to refine and ideate what you want for 2024. Keep it in a little jar, speak to how you want your seeds to be held until you plant them on January 3, 2024, after Mercury goes direct. Use this time the rest of this month while Mercury is retrograde to purify your intentions. So instead of casting your wishes just yet, use this New Moon energy to plan for the future, for what you want them to be, using these next three weeks to refine them. Nurture them, come back to them and prepare to cast them when Mercury goes direct again!
Dear New Moon,
May we embrace the wisdom of the sages during Sagittarius season
Let us honor our hearts by opening them to others, to optimism
and not letting the world take away our wonder.
May we find a small moments of joy and peace in our solitude
or in loud cacophonies with the ones we love.
Bring illumination to the illusion of lack and help us see expanded joy
Open our hearts, our minds, our souls to the Spirit of Light
Let us recall our purpose and live it in 2024!
I cultivate the seeds I wish to plant
Reviewing, remembering, resetting, refining
Pruning and curating just what I hope to become through this next year.
May this December bring me grand ideas and practical steps
I open myself to the Season of Wisdom and find new doors
Welcoming in the quiet of the coming Winter
I embrace the hope within to be reborn anew in the Light
I’ll be back to celebrate the Rebirth of Light on the upcoming Solstice and Yule. Embrace your inner optimist and philosopher this Sagittarius season, then you can get more methodical after the Solstice on the 22nd when we move into organized Capricorn. That’s when the days begin to get longer.
Happy New Moon!
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Images: Pixabay
Sparkling candlelight - Jeremy Kyejo
Star Lanterns - Ilo
AI Herbs on Book - Free Fun Art
Sagittarius glyph - Dorothe_Darkmoon_Art