Tomorrow's New Moon - exact at 2:20am EST on December 7th - is like a little love bomb from the cosmos. This New Moon pairs with Jupiter and of course the Sun in the 9th sign of the zodiac - Sagittarius. The symbol for this mutable, fire sign is the archer - representative of its need to explore and for its far-seeing vision. Sagittarius is able to grasp the big picture and thinks the deep thoughts. This sign rules philosophy, global studies, international relations, politics, religion and truth seeking. The mission of Sagittarius is to discover the deeper meaning, the bigger picture. Not a fan of mundane details, this sign likes to explore, craves adventure and lifelong learning. Sagittarius is the quintessential student of life. The fire element is expressed through Sagittarius as upbeat, optimistic, jovial, warm-hearted, honest and spiritual.
This New Moon takes place just after Mercury's station direct (at 4:22pm EST on December 6th) - finally ending its 3.5 week retrograde phase. Mercury retrograde represents a time to look backwards, to review policies and procedures and to get quiet in order to consult with your intuition. When any planet stations (moving from forward to reverse motion or vice versa) it appears virtually motionless in the sky. It's a brief limbo period before the planet picks up speed - kind of like the small pause between an inhale and exhale. The effects of a planet can actually be felt strongly during a station. Watch for Mercury related themes today and take extra care with them - communication, travel, technology, social media and the like. Although Mercury direct can feel like a reason to celebrate, it's still in its retrograde shadow through December 24th. Before Mercury retrograded it was in the sign of Sagittarius. While retrograde it moved backwards through Sag - and now it's actually in Scorpio (the sign before Sagittarius.) The shadow phase represents the degrees that Mercury must travel forward through Scorpio and into Sagittarius to reach the degree where it initially retrograded. At that point we are officially out of the woods!
The New Moon in the sign of Sagittarius builds upon the Jupiter/Sun conjunction that we experienced on November 25th & 26th. Jupiter rules Sagittarius and will spend the next 11 months in its home sign. I see this year as a BIG, EXPANSIVE one for many people -especially if you are Sun or Rising sign Sag and/or have Jupiter in Sagittarius. Jupiter represents abundance, blessings, good luck, expansion and consciousness-raising. The New Moon adds some gasoline onto the fire that is already burning. This expansive energy takes us right into the New Year as almost all planets are now in direct motion. On December 9th, the asteroid Chiron will even conclude its retrograde phase (remember how I was calling it the Summer of Retrogade??) At times this past summer we had 7 planets all in reverse motion - aka a cluster fuck. We'll be starting the New Year with a really nice tail wind propelling us forward. Spend some time getting clear on what you want to create in 2019. Remember - thoughts become things :).
