New Moon in Sagittarius: Going to Extremes

Tuesday morning, November 29, brings the New Moon in Sagittarius. This New Moon comes at the beginning of a holiday season that celebrates new light coming into the world and the genial fire of Sagittarius is usually right there lighting candles. This year’s Sagittarian New Moon will feel a little different. This year, we need to include the shadow side of Sagittarius.

Sagittarius is the mutable Fire sign. Arriving at the end of autumn, Sag eases us into the wintry harshness of Capricorn. Ruled by generous Jupiter, Sagittarius is the sign of hospitality, of throwing open our doors to welcome friends, neighbors, and the stranger on the road. Sag is the sign of journeys and of institutions: higher education, religions, the law. Wishes for this New Moon might include travel, undertaking a new course of study, or publishing a book. All of these are possible.

Like anything else, Sagittarius has a shadow side. Sag can be bombastic, so certain he is in the right, he will talk over everyone else. This is one aspect of Sagittarian inflation. Jupiter makes everything bigger, including egos. Sag can also lead into burnout. When we become so sure our endless efforts are essential, that the project, family, or relationship will not survive without our constant work, we can exhaust ourselves and collapse.

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At this time of year, I often emphasize the positive aspects of Sagittarius. After all, it’s the holidays. Jupiter is like Dicken’s Ghost of Christmas Present: Bigger than life, generous, inclusive, and wanting the best for everyone. This year, I anticipate a mixture of light and shadow expressions of this sign. I’m also expecting that whatever we feel will be over the top. This New Moon feels like it’s going to extremes.

One reason for this is the sheer amount of Sagittarius in the chart. Take a look. The New Moon, Sun and Moon together, falls at 7 degrees, with the asteroid Juno (fairness and balance in relationships) also at 7. Then we have Saturn at 17 and Mercury at 25, bringing a lot of oomph into a sign that already likes to get really big.

Nothing succeeds like excess. – Oscar Wilde

The planets and points in this New Moon chart cluster around two major “hot spots.” Looking at these will help us focus in on why we’re likely to see oversized expressions at this New Moon.

The core of the New Moon is a T-square: The New Moon itself is squaring the Nodes of the Moon. So, we’re going to be looking at our path through this lifetime, collectively and individually.

The North Node, the future point and place of unfolding, is at 7 Virgo. We need to be very precise, very detail oriented, right now. We are creating what comes next. This calls for care, both the care of precision and the care of tending to the needs of others. Who is hungry? Who is homeless? How can we help? The shadow side of Virgo is anxiety: There is too much to do and not enough to do it with. Will someone take what is mine?

The South Node is in amorphous, confusing Pisces, conjunct Neptune, ruler of Pisces. I’ve written about this combo before, because we’ve been living with it a while. Pisces holds both deep spirituality and total delusion. How are we viewing the past? Are we looking back to a Golden Age that never existed? Or are we sifting the past to bring forward its best and most enduring values?

There are always, always things in the past we are deluded about. We never have the full picture, the complete understanding. What work needs to be done here?

With the Sag New Moon squaring these two, we are invited (pushed?) to extremes of experience and understanding. Where are we holding on to illusions that do more harm than good? Where do we need to get more fine-grained in our understanding? How do we take off the rose-colored glasses and provide real care to those around us?

If you have anything in and around 7 degrees of any sign, this New Moon is likely to feel more personal and possibly more intense for you.

The extreme self-centered attitude is the source of suffering. – The Dalai Lama

The second “hot spot” falls in and around 20 degrees. In Sagittarius, we see Saturn (boundaries and responsibility) at 17 and Mercury (thought and communication) at 25.

Thirty degrees away, we see Pluto at 15 and Venus at 20 Capricorn. Sitting next to Pluto in Saturn-ruled Capricorn is not a happy place for Venus. We may feel controlled or pushed in our relationships, finances, or creative expression. In the presence of this New Moon, we might fall into blame or longing for that wonderful past, instead of diving into whatever work is called for.

Sextiling Saturn and squaring Pluto, we find Jupiter (who rules this New Moon) at 16 Libra. Jupiter in Libra wants things to calm down, but might not choose the best way to help that happen. How often do we want to hear, “Let’s just wait and see. Give things a chance”? There is real peace to be found in the midst of chaos and Jupiter in Libra can help us find it. But the wrong words at the wrong time can also–here it is again–push us to extremes.

The real extremists in this chart are Uranus, Ceres, and Eris at 20, 21, and 22 Aries. Uranus and Eris are always ready to light something on fire. Ceres can be calm and peaceful, but when her children are threatened, watch out. Interestingly, these three are at the apex of an unusual aspect pattern with the New Moon.

Notice the triangle that points to Uranus et al. There are lots of blue lines going back toward the New Moon group, a blue line going to the North Node, and red lines (the squares) from the New Moon to the North Node. Those blue lines are sesquiquadrates, an 135 degree angle. The pattern is called Thor’s Hammer (I did not make this up).

This is a pushy, edgy pattern that can be described as powerful and out of control. With Uranus at its peak, that energy will be intense. Words like “dynamic” and “volatile” might be pertinent.

So what do we do with all of this during a New Moon which, after all, is a dark time?

We practice patience and discernment. That combination is one reason why this New Moon post appears so close to the New Moon. I’m having a hard time tracking all of this myself. So. Usually, I offer ideas for New Moon wishes and intentions. Then we’re ready, once the New Moon arrives, to makes those wishes and set those intentions.

This time, I suggest we choose an orientation, a place to look, and wait for the unexpected, extreme thing. Then we will know what to wish for.

Too much of a good thing can be wonderful. – Mae West

What does this look like? As always, see where this New Moon falls in your birth chart. How the New Moon touches your chart will tell you what areas of life (the Houses) and what aspects of your personality (the planets and points) are most likely to be affected. Pay attention to those areas tomorrow morning.

Next, we hold questions in our minds and hearts.

Where am I feeling overconfident, certain I am right? Where am I feeling exhausted and burnt out? What is triggering me? Where do I struggle to listen to other points of view? Conversely, where do I need to stop listening to delusion and take action? Where am I failing in generosity? Where do I need to pay attention to detail?

These questions sound contradictory, part of the challenge of this New Moon. We are pushed and pulled in different directions. It’s hard to know where to turn. So here is the real heart of this New Moon: What is our truth?

This New Moon in Sagittarius holds the potential of clarifying our deepest, core values. Sag is the sign of philosophy, which is not only something we read about, but something we live. In the midst of extremes, doing our best to discern what is accurate, we all need this gift of the heart, which is, knowing our truth.

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