We have just concluded Scorpio season - the time of honoring our ancestors and creating space to respect the powers of the shadow and the unknown. It is at Samhain that the Sun King dies; in his passing, the doorway to the realms of the ancestors and the dead was opened, and we had the opportunity to commune with the wisdom of those who have passed on. Indeed, amidst 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.

But now, 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 subtle energy has replaced those spirits – one of joy and hope. The Sun King who passed away at Samhain will be reborn again. And in the face of the persistent darkening of the light and waning of the power of the Sun, a deep enthusiasm and confidence in the inevitable rebirth and redemption of light begins to fill our hearts.

Sagittarius season is here - uplifted, buoyant optimism is replacing the taciturn stoicism of Scorpio season. The Sun will occupy this sign from November 21st at 2:56 pm eastern time until December 21st at 4:20 am eastern time.

This feeling of hope pervades the aethers because the Sun is rapidly approaching the moment of its rebirth at the winter solstice. This grand celestial event occurs as the Sun reaches its darkest, lowest point in the sky, and then conquers the darkness and and begins increasing in light again.

As the final sign of each season, the mutable signs begin the preparations for the next season that is to follow. Virgo season, for instance, prepared us for the beginning of autumn by setting our houses in order and gaining mastery over our material lives in preparation for the darker half of the year when physical groundedness matters the most. Sagittarius season prepares us for the winter solstice - the rebirth of the Sun and the incremental increase of daylight and warmth which ultimately carries us back into the seasons light warmth and light.

Cultures 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 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 ruler of Sagittarius associated with expansion, joy, spirituality, and abundance. Jupiter performs the role of the divine counselor or pontiff to the Sun. Jupiter is not the king, but he is a kingmaker. He plays Ben Kenobi to the Sun’s Luke Skywalker, or Gandalf to Aragon. As such, Jupiter paves the way for the Sun on the final stretch of its journey toward rebirth. Jupiter gives the Sun encouragement, hope, and counsel.

This season is a far cry from Mars, the lord of the previous Scorpio period. 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 exhort those around them, and naturally act as leaders and guides.

In Sagittarius season, we all have the opportunity to be transformed and changed by the rebirth of the Sun and the clarifying, generative rays of Jupiter. We collectively experience a taste of this cosmic buoyancy and optimism for the next month. 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 a profound realization of a spiritual truth.

Those innately positive, this period features a few challenging alignments that can cloud some of the joy of this season. For one, it mostly coincides with Mercury retrograding in Sagittarius. This is a very challenging position for Mercury to occupy. Mercury is in detriment in this sign, whose exuberant fires disorient Mercury and obstruct the detached objectivity required for clear logical analysis. Expect miscommunications and misunderstandings. Don’t blurt things out, don’t be unnecessarily brash; keep your inside thoughts inside, especially at Thanksgiving or any other time you are with family.

Like last year, this season features a square from Saturn in Pisces. Roadblocks and obstacles to achieving our desires are far more likely. Shadows will be very difficult to repress and keep under lock and key. Challenging circumstances will arise to trigger long-standing, deep-seated issues that we have been processing. Between this and the Mercury retrograde, you can expect lots of hurdles to overcome around this period.

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. Plant allies that open us up to our inner light, such as St. John’s Wort or Sweet Flag, are also good medicines for this period, and will help to stave off seasonal blues and melancholy.

If you 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.

Even with the difficult aspects of this period, the encounter with darkness and the diminishment of the light can lead us to a profound spiritual experience of the Divine. The shadows push us to connect with the light within. If you let it, this light can transform you from the inside out; open yourself up to the divine light within, and you’ll forever be changed.

-Merlin