The cold deepens, and the days darken. The firework display of autumn leaves that lights of the forest canopy has diminished, now covering the forest floor in a blanket of pale yellows and faded crimsons, tarnished by grays and blacks. The power of the Sun is almost totally sapped, and even on this sunny, cloudless day on the east coast, the temperature will not break the threshold of 35 degrees.

In the buildup to and aftermath of Samhain or Hallowmas, the presence and attention of the spirits of the dead and spirits of the land was overpowering. You will notice that it has faded significantly in the past few days, and almost nothing remains of their presence now. Their gaze as you walk through the woods is no longer as pronounced.

Another vibe has taken the place of those spirits – a vibe of, surprisingly enough, joy and hope. A deep enthusiasm and confidence that flies in the face of the persistent darkening of the light and waning of the power of the Sun. The taciturn stoicism of Scorpio season has been replaced by an uplifted, buoyant optimism and delight.

Welcome to Sagittarius Season, when the heaviness and depression of autumn’s conclusion is overpowered by deep-seated hope, faith, and love.

Where does this inexplicable hope and optimism come from? After all, nothing about this period of the slow descent into darkness, the early sunsets and late sunrises with muted colors and an even more greatly muted Sun conveys a feeling of bliss and excitement.

It comes from the birth of the Sun at the winter equinox. This is a grand celestial event of the Sun reaching its darkest, lowest point in the sky, and then conquering the darkness and beginning a new cycle all over again. Sagittarius season prepares the way for Sol Renovatus – The great Sun God reborn. We have not reached the apex, but it is coming. There is a buildup to something big and exciting that captivates all of us.

People have spent Sagittarius Season preparing for the rebirth of the Sun since the dawn of recorded history. Many of the megaliths of paleolithic Europe and the Middle East are aligned with the Winter and Summer Solstices, and pagan peoples of almost every culture engaged in some kind of celebration of this event. In our own time, people generally begin decorating for Christmas - our own celebratory birth of the Sun - and entering into the “Christmas Spirit” around the time that the Sun moves into Sagittarius.

Astrologically speaking, much of the joy and hope that forms the background feeling for this period can be explained by Jupiter, the lord of Sagittarius. Jupiter performs the role of the divine counselor or pontiff to the Sun. Jupiter is not the king, but he is kingly and lordly, a steward for the throne of heaven and avid supporter of the true King. As such, Jupiter paves the way for the Sun on the final stretch of its journey towards rebirth. Jupiter gives the Sun encouragement, hope, and counsel.

As this happens in the sky, all of us feel the same effects of encouragement and an energetic uplift. This is a far cry from Mars, the lord of the previous Scorpio season. Gone is the preoccupation with death, emotional pain, triggers, and unconscious shadows. Now it’s time to celebrate and eagerly anticipate the rebirth of the Sun and the inevitable return of the light and warmth of Spring and Summer. In most western cultures, we celebrate this by bedecking our lives with lights and garlands of trees and plants classically sacred to Jupiter during this time.

For this reason, people born during this period that the Sun occupies Sagittarius tend to carry a very noticeably Jupiterian bearing: they are buoyant, happy, optimistic, and confidant. They may be feeling terrible deep down, but they don’t let that ruin the mood of people around them. They like to encourage and lift up those around them, and make natural leaders and guides, just like their patron Jupiter. We all get to experience a taste of this cosmic buoyancy and optimism for the next month.

Central to the Sagittarius is the trope of the conversion experience. You’re on the road to Damascus, you’re lost and confused, or you’re at rock bottom. You’re just like the Sun during this time of the year, at the lowest point in your life. Suddenly, you see the light and the Divine Appears. You get clarity. You go to the AA meeting.

You are deeply changed by this experience. You experienced divinity and it deeply transformed your life. You were objectively touched by something real. You saw Christ on the road to Damascus. And this gives the kind of confidence and faith that only a real encounter with divinity can provide. And generally speaking, Sagittarian individuals try and spread that confidence wherever they go. You would too if you literally saw Christ.

The great advantage to the Sagittarius season is that we all have the opportunity to be transformed and changed by the transforming of the Sun and the noetic rays of Jupiter. The great darkening of the world around us opens up opportunities for a real encounter with divinity. You can be truly transformed during this period and touched by profound realization of a spiritual truth. You just have to be willing to be changed.

Not everyone is going to see Christ or have some kind of visionary experience. Sometimes the transformation is slow and happens under the surface. But if I personally reflect and go over my journal entries for the last several Sag seasons, it is clear that I was always touched by some kind of grace and support from above.

Want to know what specifically you can expect during this period? Identify what house Sagittarius covers in your own natal chart, and then you will see which house and area of life will be most activated by this transit. If you are Aries rising, the Sun transits your 9th house of travel and higher study. It would be a good time to either begin or deepen spiritual practice, as your practices and studies will provide you will deeper-than-average insight. If you are Gemini rising, the Sun transits your 7th house of relationships. You may find your insight and spiritual transformation coming from one-on-one relationships.

Configurations of this Sagittarius Season

Fortunately, this Sagittarius period doesn’t feature any super challenging, crazy astrological phenomena. No planets are retrograde. The Mars-Saturn square is winding down. The Sun forms zero hard aspects (squares or oppositions) to any planet at all during this period. In fact, that dissipating Mars-Saturn square is the only real challenge, and we’re well past the peak with that one.

This means that 2021’s Sagittarius season will be relatively pain-free. Nothing will explode. Unless you are going through an extremely challenging time lord period or transit right now, chances are that your life will continue as normal without any serious upsets, and you don’t have anything to be worried about.

We are fortunate to have Jupiter, the lord of this sign, forming a sextile to the Sun from Aquarius during this period. This creates more opportunities to receive grace, wisdom, and teaching from above. The work that you do during this time will be more supported and productive. If you are a strong Sagittarian person, I would expect a lot of new insight and clarity to come your way, especially if you have a Sagittarius Sun.

The only other aspect the Sun forms to a planet (besides the Moon) during this period is a sextile to Saturn. When Saturn forms soft aspects, he tends to provide a healthy dose of realism and groundedness, and works to keep things from getting out of hand. He doesn’t supply structure per se, he just offers you more maturity and common-sense. His is the voice of the elder that serves as a very grounded check to whatever crazy, fanciful insights the youthful Sun may want to teach you. Don’t expect this season to be as fun as other periods where Saturn is not forming an aspect, but it will provide you with more realism, and ultimately be more effective.

Mercury goes cazimi on November 28th. This is…a little weird. When Mercury goes cazimi the Sun, you generally find that the power of the voice greatly increases. People speak more, express themselves more, and find a lot of mental clarity around topics they were considering. But Mercury is also in detriment in Sagittarius. This is like putting an atheist or a skeptic (mercury rules logic, reasoning, and non-emotive type things) in a room full of true believers. Mercury in Sagittarius can easily get overwhelmed and have trouble keeping details and information straight.

With Mercury in Sag, you often find people putting their foot in their mouth, saying things they regret, unintentionally rubbing people the wrong way, and becoming too preoccupied trying to find deeper connections and the understanding the big picture to a topic instead of taking time to understand the details. However, once they do get their thinking straight and ducks in a row, they can give some profound gems of truth and express insight that moves beyond the letter of the law into the spirit of the law. They can use their voice to greatly inspire and teach something that goes beyond reasoning. When Mercury goes cazimi, you can expect the volume on that sort of behavior to become turned up significantly

Preparation

If you have been following my instructions up until this point, then your body should be fairly acclimated and adjusted to the cold and changing seasons of Autumn. Now the focus shifts, and we need to begin getting a leg up on preparation for winter and the dead cold that it provides.

First off, your baseline magical practice is spending more time outside. I say this every month, and I am never going to stop saying it. If you really want to connect with something outside of yourself and begin the process of seeing and feeling astral magical energies, you need to leave the comfort of your own home.

Fun fact: many of the ancient astrologers and hermeticists teach that astrological effects happen on the earth after spirits from the stars begin interacting and influencing the spirits of the land and natural world. If you really want to experience the power of astral energies first-hand, you have to go outside. That’s where they are. Anything you get inside your personal living-box is second-hand from nature spirits who are carrying out the wills of astral spirits.

As we prepare for winter and the cold it brings, engage in very fiery physical practices can be very useful. Vigorous Sun Salutations and activating heart openers such as Wheel and Standing Bow will activate your inner fire and also open your heart to be touched by something divine - something we’ll all be hoping for in this Sag season.

Working with Jupiterian gemstones such as yellow topaz and yellow sapphire will also be greatly beneficial for you. Both of these have the ability to provide you with wisdom and clarity, while also energizing you to stay focused and activated during the remainder of this autumn season.

Finally, any astrological work with Jupiter will be well supported during this month, especially after the New moon on December 3rd.

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Own your power.

-Merlin