Sagittarius New Moon

Sagittarius New Moon - Idealistic Determination

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

—Michael Corleone
The Godfather Part III

We move through an extraordinarily 'thick' atmosphere this week, filled with deeply idealistic aspirations and ambitions. But while the deep, emotional 'Waters' of the past series of Grand Water Trines may have receded, we are left with a dense fog. The increasing intensity of this week's Sagittarius-Pisces squares produces more 'intangibles' than any sort of clear sense of direction. The challenge is to maintain our balance and personal confidence in the face of an almost continuous swirl of confusing challenges and obstacles. Nonetheless, we do gain an extraordinary level of support to maintain our balance with the arrival of Mars into Capricorn at the beginning of the week. We can begin to feel the need to shift from the idealistic optimism of Sagittarius to Capricorn's practical demand for tangible progress. Mars in Capricorn can help us to make the necessary adjustments in order to prepare for the Winter Solstice coming at the beginning of next week when the commitment to our individual ambitions and ideals will be tested. But navigating this week's 'fog' is no simple feat. Integral to our understanding of the emotional, water trine journey of the past few weeks has been the motion of Mercury, which made three connections to the nearly complete Jupiter-Saturn trine as it retrograded back through Scorpio. Mercury, now in Sagittarius, emerges from the shadow of that last retrograde period (November 9-November 29) on Tuesday, carrying the weight of communicating our individual 'Big Picture' perspective — the lessons learned from the emotional 'deep dive'. The challenge is to take the 'leap of faith' needed to put our new intellectual insights to the test. However, it isn't easy for Mercury in Sagittarius to stay focused on the 'Big Picture' perspective while moving through this week's intensely confusing 'fog'. Friday's Sagittarius New Moon (5:43 PM PST 28° Sagittarius) brings forward our intense drive to bring meaning and purpose to the overwhelming emotional journey that we taken over the past few weeks. But our confidence is tested by a Venus-Saturn square while the New Moon's square to Neptune and quincunx to Uranus increases our uncertainty. Nonetheless, the determination to stake out an independent, individual position seems to be 'baked in' to this new waxing lunar cycle and won't be discarded easily, despite what may seem to be insurmountable opposition and continuous challenges. While the last lunar cycle emphasized our connections to others, the new lunar cycle is challenging us to connect to our own inner knowing — the 'still, small voice' of our intuition. The determined desire to break free of restrictions is overwhelming but we will have to 'dig deep' in order to maintain our individual confidence — the belief in ourselves — that is required in order to actually free ourselves from what is holding us back and emerge unscathed from this week's fog. It's easy to become sidetracked by unnecessary distractions and lose sight of our core intentions. Our response to the Sun's square to Neptune at the end of the week may bring an inclination towards 'martyrdom', individual confusion — or even outright despair. But keeping our individual confidence intact is crucial as we reach next week's Winter Solstice. The tests that we face with the Sun in Capricorn will reveal whether or not we can maintain the 'courage of our convictions' or succumb to a tempting escape into conformity — 'falling into line' and 'going along to get along'.

Idealism and strong intentions are likely on Sunday but lack the vitality for immediate follow-through. Even so, there are 'gems' of insight to be gleaned from meditation and quiet reflection. We are encouraged to sort through conflicting bits of information and perhaps seek alternative strategies on Monday. While we may not clearly see the value of our efforts, we should not doubt that support is coming. We find a surprising level of confidence emerging on Tuesday. Intuition is extremely helpful — a 'still small voice' encouraging us to 'keep going' despite any apparent obstacles or confusion. There is a level of calm or peace beginning to cut through the intense swirl of idealism on Wednesday. We need to pay close attention to any unexpected 'twists' that threaten to disrupt that peace. The stubbornness in Thursday's atmosphere may be rather surprising. We find support to balance empathy and appreciation for the perspectives of others with determined independence. There are likely to be any number of confusing, chaotic disruptions on Friday. The determined desire to break free of restrictions is overwhelming but we will have to 'dig deep' to maintain our individual confidence — the belief in ourselves — that is required to actually free ourselves from what is holding us back. Our belief in ourselves is challenged on Saturday but ambition and aspiration has begun to 'take root', at least enough to keep us engaged. Our response to the uncertainty is varied and may include some inclination towards 'martyrdom', individual confusion — or even outright despair.