Sagittarius represents 'TRUTH' in the astrological lexicon.
When I was 20 years old, dear Uncle Pluto began to make a slow and steady conjunction with my North Node in Sagittarius, beginning an 'awakening to the numinous' and the start of 'real life'. The first 'hit' of this transit speaks to the archetype of Sagittarius... so I thought I would share. (Sag loves to spin a good tale).
I was in University... innocent, sweet, completely 'f-ked' up. Standing in my memory of this time is a moment, as I walked through the woods, when I was hit with a realization that punched me in the gut. Suddenly I had a knowing that I believed in... NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. I was empty. I had no opinions, no guiding principles. No TRUTH.
It was so shocking to realize that I was merely the accumulation of collective dreaming - television, pop-culture, magazines, family programming, friends, high school, books - and had nothing authentic or unique of my own.
This existential crisis sounds so impossible in these days of YouTube videos and self-help overwhelm... where everyone has an opinion about everything, and all offer a solution to what ails you. Instant wellness, for 3 payments of $49.99!!
But in 1995, I had no context for this feeling of, well, I guess it was emptiness. At first I POURED into academe - Women's Studies, Psychology, Literature, Poetry readings - hoping that by learning something 'higher' and pontificating about it, I would 'find' my truth. But as Pluto came closer and closer to conjunct, it led to a dramatic reveal that I had something authentic WITHIN ME - a truth all my own. A guiding light. An inner wisdom. A magical SELF that would fulfill my wildest fantasies and was everything I had ever wanted... and would forever more be so. Ad infinitum.
Though I didn't know it at that moment, this humbling little moment in the BC rain forest was my awakening to HIGHER TRUTH.
Pluto on NN Sagittarius.
Sagittarius is that part of of us that knows MORE is possible… wants to find IT. Sagittarius reaches out hungrily. GREEDILY, even. Toward whatever 'TRUTH' presents. Politics, social science, nomadic travel, religion, food, drugs, philosophy, adventure, spirituality... there are so many versions of 'truth' in the human story.
Sagittarius says: 'Surely there is something BEYOND the subjective... a higher law. Something alive in the Universe itself, real and beautiful. Some organic pattern that weaves itself into life, informing our narratives, assuring us we are partners in the unfolding of something... greater!!'
Jeffrey Wolf Green calls Sagittarius 'the archetype through which humanity has a need to explain its connection to the phenomenological nature of the universe and the world in which we live.'
The search for the Holy Grail.
‘You say you yearn for the Grail. You foolish man, I am grieved to hear that. For no man can ever win the Grail unless he is known in heaven.’
Wolfram von Eschenbach,Parzival
In Esoteric Astrology, Sagittarius represents the Intuition and Higher Mind, and the evolutionary step we take when we are ready to leave the realm of matter (Taurus/Scorpio) and move toward the Path of Discipleship - where we choose the 'soul' first and our personality second.
Alice Bailey describes Sagittarius by 5 esoteric principles:
1. Freedom or ONE-POINTEDNESS - the bow and arrow.
(Laser focused beam of mental intention, pointed straight at the Divine. Third eye activation as the 'apex' of the triangle, helping resolve the duality of Form.)
2. Human ambition giving way to Spiritual Aspiration. (Speaks for itself.)
3. A clear shaft of light which is the Intuitive and Focused Attitude of the pledged disciple.
(To me, this speaks of disciplined alignment with our central core axis, or column of light, which is our individuated connection to the divine. When in clear alignment with this central core, we are no longer 'pulled' into subjective desires that feed the pain body. To get into 'clear alignment', we do our work in Scorpio of dissolving all of the 'forms' we have created in our astral field - mental, emotional, physical. All of our addictions. Then we stand empty and ready to connect higher.)
4. The 'returning arrow of the Intuition'.
(When we reach 'up' in humble aspiration, the 'up' reaches back in intuition.. and intuition is what carries us forward to initiation in Capricorn.)
5. Idealism, which is the power to see the vision and direct one's course towards it.
(Looking 'beyond the naval', we are open to possibilities that impact the collective instead of just ourselves... our 'quest' becomes one of higher import).
She also teaches that, because 'THOUGHT IS POWER' and there is 'no direction apart from thought', so the passage into Sagittarius is important. By aligning with the 'thoughts' or mental activity of the HIGHER MIND and INTUITION, the REALITY we create reflects goodness, kindness, intelligence and benefit to the collective (vs. selfishness, hoarding, greed, lust, fear, mistrust, shame, etc.). This supports the harmonic balancing of energy distribution on the earth plane, so everyone has exactly what they need.
In essence, Sagittarius represents 'THE PATH'.
But at the end of the day, what is the actual TRUTH? There are as many stories as there are stars in the sky. So don't take Alice Bailey or Jeffrey Wolf Green or Sara Elise Musing's word for it. The only 'TRUTH' you will ever truly know is that which is within your SELF.
It is what you KNOW, it is what you ARE. You can not study it. You need to EXPERIENCE and LIVE IT.
And that is also the meaning of 'Sagittarius'. It is lived intelligence.
When the arrow is directed upward, the search ends... and the BEING begins.
So today... on this Sagittarius New Moon... I'm diving into the intimate dance with my higher nature, my body, my feelings, my mind. My own inner guidance system. My TRUTH.
(For another tale... I've been spending a lot of time with this relationship lately, cultivating conversation. And as Alice Bailey says, the more I humbly reach out, the more it reaches back. It is a captivating dance - limited only by the amount of love I am capable of opening to receive. This has been arising since summer, when I studied with Alan Oken, and lately has become a nightly practice... particularly as I awaken in the wee hours, floundering with mind. Instead of thinking myself to death, I FOCUS WITH ALL MY HEART on the tip of my 'arrow', pointing up... and just letting it be whatever it will be. This focus enables the opening of a column or hallway, between myself and higher presence. With my mental acuity, I guide the feeling all the way to my root, encompassing my whole body in a sense of spacious opening and connection. And within that hallway, a conversation occurs. Sometimes flashes of light, sometimes words, knowings. Sometimes imagery. I have realized that guidance is CONSTANT, perhaps the best companion I'll ever know, and it is up to ME to create the space.
Fascinating, to say the least. And challenging. Because it's hard to hold ONE POINTED FOCUS. It takes practice.)
So perhaps you will find yourself lying in bed tonight, insomniaced, flexing the muscle of your one-pointed-focus... making contact. Or perhaps you will just take this concept and see where it lands for you, and how. Create your own magic formula, based on your own inner wisdom. Your TRUTH.
And for a RITUAL, perhaps more clearly representative of the day we are in, it might be useful to envision alignment with something HIGHER in your life, something greater. A courageous vision for yourself, a lofty goal, a new adventure... and hold it in your site. Call it in.
Then note what comes up, and acknowledge whatever may be in the way. Ask your intuition 'is this block here for a purpose, or may I bypass it? What is in my highest good?'.
Note the information: Query back to spirit. Hold the 'new' vision, that comes when you check in, to see if what you are wanting is rightly aligned. And then send your arrow out into the dark, dark night. See it hit its mark. Manifestation, when in right alignment, rarely misses.
Tonight is the New Moon (in the wee hours ~ 2am, EST), so it is a perfect time to make a wish with your powerful thoughts (newly released from Mercury's retrograde) and one-pointed will.
Okay... That's my truth. What about yours?
