on sagittarius season

hello friends, and welcome to sagittarius season.

before we jump in, i'm deep into planning my courses and offerings for next year, and i'd love to get some insights from you! i've put together a simple survey to make space for what you're interested in, what you love about my work, and what is working for you, both in this newsletter and in my general offerings. (every question is optional, so even if you just want to share one note or question, that's completely fine.) have a course, workshop, or series you'd love to see from me? let me know right here:

just a few moments ago the sun moved into sagittarius, kicking off our season of mutable fire. mutability is a quality that is not just about flexibility and adaptability, but also about a willingness to engage with things that are not yet permanent. there's this joy and pleasure in finding or filling in the cracks, in exploring what is not yet known or finalized. and when we think about that quality blending with fire, there's a lot of wonder and delight and curiosity in the things that set us aflame.

with sagittarius, we are thinking about the different ways that our internal fires are stoked and fed, and honoring the truths that keep those flames burning bright.

in the order of the golden dawn correspondences, sagittarius is associated with the card of temperance, an alchemical archetype that trips a lot of people up. it's a five card, which puts it in the same constellation with the hierophant, along with the minor arcana fives and kings. tarot fives in general are cards of breakthroughs and adventure, of seeking freedom and pushing through old restrictions. it's a rebellious kind of energy, which is not a word that is typically found in the more buttoned-up rider-waite-smith style interpretations of the hierophant and temperance, of the minor arcana kings.

i personally see temperance as a call to balance the different needs and dreams and desires that live within us: an urging to celebrate our internal contradictions, and to delight in the things about us that we can't always explain but we completely understand anyway. to let our freak flags fly, to let our inner fires rage and burn, to delight in what makes us strange and special.

but let's go beyond temperance, and see what more we can find in the fiery, mutable heart of sagittarius.

sagittarius season begins in november, the 11th month, and ends in december, the 12th month, which gives us the numbers 11/2 and 12/3 to play with: the priestess and the empress, justice and the hanged one, judgement and the world. this is a dual energy of choice and abundance, playful discovery and powerful authenticity. together these numbers speak to the magic that lives between deciding what we want to do and actually doing the thing, the tension between either/or and both/and. this is asking questions, and testing things out, a willingness to experiment and explore and question, with less concern about something being right and more concern about it being real.

but what's the difference between something being accurate, and something feeling true? this is the perpetual tension of the gemini-sagittarius axis: information and conclusions, discovery and devotion, curiosity and zealotry. what do we know, and what do we believe?

in hellenistic astrology, sagittarius is the ninth sign of the zodiac, and is associated with the ninth house. and the number nine might initially feel like it has a really different energy the numbers two and three. but nine, associated with the hermit, is our philosopher and our humanitarian, a number that pushes us to question what matters and gives us space to explore what our role in that work is. nine is the final number in the numerological sequence, and serves as a culmination of our work, but also an emergence from our work, and a transformation through our work.

three and nine are both numbers that fall into the creation triad, a numerological technique that groups different digits together based on their function in the broader cycle. these are numbers that are about outward expression of internal work, bringing something forth and giving it shape. when we look at two, three, and nine together, we can think about how the choices we make are reflected in the actions we take, or how the information we engage with impacts the beliefs we embrace.

how do we recreate ourselves, alchemize ourselves, through cycles of change? how do we objectively pursue truth, without falling into the trap of confirmation bias?

three is not a number particularly concerned with perfection, but rather with expression itself. yet two wants to make an authentic decision, and nine is striving for something greater, something fulfilling. sagittarius is associated with adventure and freedom and truth-seeking — but there's also a shadow side, a tendency toward fanaticism or dogmatic perspectives that can happen when sagittarius feels that they have found a truth they can really sink their teeth into.

and appropriately for the season, we're seeing this shadow play out right now, in real time, around the world.

over the last month and a half, lot of people have been shaken to their core: not only physically but also philosophically, challenging what they have always believed to be true. my social media feeds are full of people who are starting to dig deeper into the history of the united states, learning just how much propaganda we've been fed for much of our lives, trying to find perspectives that weren't crafted solely by western media with a particular purpose in mind.

there is such a desire to understand in the air, paired with a renewed willingness to revolt against the status quo. we are simultaneously seeing people challenge what they previously believed, and seeing others stubbornly cling to their beliefs in spite of contradictory evidence. we are witnessing true zealotry, watching the impact of a group of powerful people who are so entrenched in their own perspective that they are unwilling to see any other.

remember that sagittarius is an energy that builds on scorpio: after rooting around in the darkness, sifting through the compost, asking hard questions, this is acting on the answers that are uncovered. at it's best, sagittarius isn't just about picking and choosing information that validates our claims – it's also about processing everything that we see (number two), synthesizing it into truth that we express (number three), and letting that truth transform us (number nine). some of our leaders are changing their tune based on our anger, and others are doubling down in spite of it. some people are asking hard questions, and others are doing everything possible to avoid hard answers.

i honestly don't know what's going to happen. but i do know that the energy of millions of people doing their own research, sharing information, raising their voices, getting organized, condemning governments, blocking ships and delivery vessels, confronting representatives, archiving footage, showing up to protests and sit-ins, boycotting companies, is all going towards something specific, something real, something transformative.

this is collective magic, and collective rage. we are using our gathered fire to forge a new tool, to uncover a truth that is not singular or simple. this is alchemy, sacred and strange, exploring contradictions and embracing new ideas. we are dreaming of a different future, adapting and questioning, seeking and finding, making and destroying.

and perhaps, if we stay the course, if we are able to keep learning and changing, we can create the kind of world so many are dreaming about: one of safety, and compassion, and care. one where everyone has what they need. one where genocide never happens again: not anywhere, not to anyone.

as we move into sagittarius season, remember not only the duality of temperance, but also the patient seeking of the priestess, the creative freedom of the empress, the expansive vision of the hermit. remember that belief and truth are not always the same, but that one can inspire the other, each with its own value and power as well as its own pitfalls.

what do you believe in, and how does that belief manifest in your daily life? what do you interrogate, and what do you take on faith? what happens when something you thought was true is revealed to be false, or only a portion of the truth?

and when are you willing to seek truth anyway, even if it rattles your soul?

wishing you a brave, truthful, and adventurous sagittarius season, friends.