SAGITTARIUS NEW MOON
The last lunar cycle of 2024 is starting soon, on Saturday November 30th at 10:21pm Pacific Time. A new moon will take place when the Sun and Moon are conjunct at 9 degrees of Sagittarius.
I often hear that people find the astrological degrees confusing. They’re not something to worry much about if you’re a beginner still grasping the basic concepts of astrology. Degrees simply help you see where exactly in the sky this new moon is happening, and how it’ll impact your specific birth chart. You may know that there are 360 degrees in every circle, including astrology charts and the zodiac itself. When divided by the 12 signs, we get 30 degrees in each zodiac sign. So this new moon at 9 degrees will be happening approximately a third of the way through the sign of Sagittarius. If you have placements in your birth chart close to that area, this is an especially powerful new beginning for you.
Another way to see how this new moon will affect you specifically is to check what house of your birth chart 9 degrees of Sagittarius falls into. That house represents the area of your life that is most primed for a fresh start with this new moon. For example, it falls into my 7th house - so I’ll be thinking about refreshing my one-on-one relationships, and maybe even starting new ones.
For all of us, though, a new moon in the mutable fire sign of Sagittarius can help us shift and transform our energy. This is the sign of adventure and excitement, of shaking up stagnant routines and perspectives, of expanding our horizons and our beliefs. So it’s perfect for the fresh start of a new moon!
The new moon will form a trine to Mars in Leo, along with a T-square with Jupiter in Gemini & Saturn in Pisces.
We can get more information about the nature of this new beginning by examining the aspects, or relationships, that this new moon will be making to other planets. The new moon in Sagittarius will form a trine to Mars in the fellow fire sign of Leo. This creates a harmonious flow of energy, and helps the planet of action to fuel us in whatever we’re starting during this time.
The new moon will sit loosely opposite Jupiter in Gemini - and lucky Jupiter happens to be the planet that rules the sign of Sagittarius. This can help us to think big, especially in the mental air sign of Gemini. And Gemini’s ruler Mercury is currently in Sagittarius, helping these two opposite signs to better understand each other (in a phenomenon known as “mutual reception,” when two ruling planets are in each other’s signs). Gemini and Sagittarius both have to do with perception, knowledge and learning, but on different scales; Gemini and Mercury zoom in on the details, whereas Sagittarius and Jupiter zoom out to see the big picture. This new moon is an opportunity to recalibrate our focus, and the opposition with Jupiter gives an even more expansive vibe to the possibilities of this moment.
However, this new moon chart also contains a built-in reality check. Saturn is in Pisces, square to both Jupiter and the new moon, forming a T-square configuration. The square is a naturally more challenging aspect, and Saturn is the planet of boundaries and limitations. This T-square shows us that we can’t overinflate our expectations and results from this new moon without considering the reality of consequences. Saturn can help to ground us and keep things realistic - since a big shadow side of Sagittarius is overextension, irresponsibility, foolhardiness, and not looking before you leap.
Remember that Mercury is currently in retrograde, as well as Sagittarius’s ruler Jupiter. These retrogrades bring a lot of reflective energy that allow us to learn from the past, making use of our previous mistakes in order to grow. So this lunar cycle isn’t necessarily a huge time of making outward changes in our lives, as much as changing our minds and making internal progress on a more energetic or spiritual level. As we hunker down during the darkest portion of the year, what distant stars will we be able to glimpse in the inky black sky of the new moon?
