Happy Sagittarius New Moon! This is the time in the lunar calendar when we turn our attention to life’s bigger questions around faith, truth, and meaning. Sagittarius is also foreign travel, publishing, higher education, and the law. With that in mind, the new moon will be exact on December 18, 2017 at 1:30 am EST, 26 degrees Sagittarius. That’s 10:30 pm Los Angeles on December 17, 6:30 am London on December 18, and 5:30 pm in Sydney.
Sagittarius is well worn territory at this point. We’ve had three years of Saturn in Sagittarius, an era designed to get us to figure out what we believe in as well as the ethics and morals that shape how we live our lives and how we see the world. This new moon comes right on the heels of Saturn packing up and moving onto Capricorn on December 19. Which is to say that the energy of Saturn in Sagittarius will get one last hurrah, one last “what did you learn” until mid-January.
In a way it’s fitting. Mercury is retrograde during the new moon and we’ll be reviewing and revising as a result. The thing that’s rather critical about this new moon is that Saturn is at 29 Sagittarius, a degree that forces us to do better, to hold ourselves to a higher standard, and deal with all the times we didn’t do right by Sagittarius.
The coming lunar month will be a review of our choices, our opinions, and our beliefs. It will scrutinize our ethics as well as the work we’ve been doing since the start of 2015. It’s a heavy new moon, one that may feel like a reckoning.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Jupiter, the ruling planet of Sagittarius, is in Scorpio. We’re taking a deeper look at our shadow, our darkness, our shame. Jupiter in Scorpio has been a purge of our secrets, especially sexual transgressions and abuse. This coming lunar month, under the sharp eye of Saturn, will look further into the past so that we may all find healing.
Speaking of healing, the new moon will square Chiron, touching on our personal and collective psychic pain. With everything that’s going on in the world it’s easy to lose faith, to lose hope. In fact this suffering is like a knot that prevents energy from flowing in the fabric of your life. Don’t be afraid to work on this knot over the coming four weeks. Do it for everyone who suffers similarly, who struggles to see their way through these times, and do it with compassion for those who are faltering, those who have shown us their darkness.
Lastly, Jupiter is square the lunar nodes. This lunar month may bring events that define our path, that mark our lives. We’re at a threshold with Jupiter in Scorpio and we may see more secrets come tumbling out as a result. Scorpio, however, teaches us a powerful lesson, that the darkness on the outside is the darkness on the inside. Own your darkness and let it pour out of you like a release.