Sagittarius New Moon December 1

My favorite New Moon sign of the year. Sagittarius. Ruled by Jupiter, the Sagittarius vibe reminds us of the big picture, our destiny, our beliefs, our truth, and authenticity - and asks us to expand the current version of ourselves.

We are prompted to take risks and make choices that guide us toward our true north.

Mercury is retrograde now - how does this affect the new moon?

I believe this retrograde is a blessing during the Sagittarius new moon. This is because Sagittarius asks us to have a grand vision, not to get wrapped up in all of the tiny details - not yet.

Now is our time to dare to dream - and Mercury retrograde can’t touch that part of our deep soul. Mercury retrograde affects the details, the logical thinking brain. While we do need this part of our logical mind to put dreams into action, Mercury retrograde here asks us to sit in our dreams for a bit. Send them out into the universe, feel them, believe them. Fantasize. Hope. Grow in faith.

But there’s another retrograde in full swing - and that’s Jupiter itself. Jupiter goes retrograde every year - for four months. Nature has this beautiful balance - 8 months of expansion, and four months of review. This is a powerful time. While Mercury Retrograde brings communication snags, problems with technology and information sharing, Jupiter retrograde does not have the same negative effects. We are given grace and time to make necessary adjustments before the direct period begins again - this time in early February 2025.

Jupiter’s retrograde is Oct 9 to Feb. 4, 2025. During this time, we reflect on our spiritual beliefs, our morals, and personal philosophy - this is  ‘going inward’ of Jupiter’s energy. It doesn’t mean we won’t be dreaming and growing, but it does mean we may look deeper into ourselves as we go through that journey. We may feel drawn more to meditation or journaling, or analyzing our childhood - how we were brought up regarding spiritual beliefs and values. How are we different and how are we changing?

This doesn’t mean life stops or that you stop growing and living! Rather we’re granted energetic space to take some pause and check in with ourselves, our beliefs, and our life vision. 

Where are you headed?

Is anything going off track that needs adjustment?

How would you like 2025 to feel different?

Can you invest more time now in your spiritual well-being - filling up your energetic tank?

This is a re-fueling time for Jupiter’s forward motion in later winter.

The Sagittarius New Moon is the grand opening to the holiday season, blessing us with some fire energy (a welcome change from the watery, emotional energy of Scorpio) and helps us move forward. Think of the Archer, the symbol and archetype of Sagittarius. Always aiming forward.

Jupiter asks us to expand our curiosity and desire to learn, grow and evolve. 

Jupiter can also help expand our waistline! Yes, Jupiter expands everything it touches, and we may tend to overdo, overeat and overspend! Funny how that always hits us during the holiday season! The less we overdo, the less we have to over-correct in Capricorn season, post-Christmas.

Too much growth too fast can exhaust our nervous system. Too much travel, too much eating, too much of anything -  is often just - too much! So even though Jupiter is expansive, it can be exhausting if we are un-anchored, un-grounded, or expanding too quickly (relationships, businesses, etc)

The retrograde gives us time to be present, to enjoy what and who is with us now. This New Moon ushers in Sagittarius energy -  this is about 3-4 weeks of fun, bigger vision, some bigger spending - (we’re buying gifts right now, hello!)- generosity of spirit and joy. Everything has its season, so revel in the fun, food, and festivities. Just give yourself time to be alone, to be quiet, and to reflect. Maybe it’s time to pay more attention to your spiritual practice and spiritual gifts or to think about what you value most in life, where your time and energy are being spent - and what this holiday season means to you.

In the midst of it all, remember to dream and envision your next chapters. It won’t be long before we’re the New Year and the magic we want to manifest in 2025.

The Divine Threshold: Before the New Year

Ah, the space between. The liminal space…the cusp of the New Year of 2023. We haven't quite let go of the old and we have one foot stepping into the new.

The energy of this week has become a familiar one for me - a realization that I'm full of energy - looking forward to the new year, but yet still integrating the old. 

I've been doing a lot of writing and thinking about the liminal space; that space between two chapters -  the old and the new. It is a familiar and mysterious place. It is also commonly a space marked by astrological transitions throughout our life span. And it’s my favorite time to work with clients - the time we most need an anchor as we explore unchartered territories. Even our 3x per year Mercury Retrogrades, pre-New Moon phases and void moons, the pre-menstrual phase for women, are liminal spaces and pauses which ask us to reflect and be still. Nature and the universe in its wisdom, provides us with these times if we choose to honor them.

Liminal comes from the root Latin word ‘limen’ meaning ‘threshold’.  In ancient times across cultures, gods/goddesses and entities have presided over the liminal - or crossroads’ spaces. Janus is one such Roman God, and where we get the name of the month January. How fitting that this God represents our New Year and our first month. Persephone, who spent half of her life in the underworld and half on earth (bringing spring when she arrived)  and Hecate, who is the goddess of magic and crossroads - also represent the liminal space.

Our lives are a series of liminal spaces - the space between. Whether we instigate or desire change, or it happens TO us, there is the space  between what was and what is to become.

*graduating college and going out into the world

*pregnancy

*changing careers

*spiritual awakenings

*divorce

*death/grief

*health challenges

*crises of any kind

The list goes on.

It's easy to think that this is an ungrounded space -  the space we don't want to be in. It can be uncomfortable.

Ego rushes for control, for a place to stand on, for secure ground - but that's an illusion. In fact the liminal space is the richest space of our lives. It is not a valley nor is it a peak. It's somewhere in between. Sometimes we feel confused, even grasping for anything to make us feel safe. But what is safe? And what is control? The only thing we can really control is ourselves and the only person who can provide us safety is ourselves. So when we're spinning  between the two chapters  - the ‘what was before’ and the ‘what comes next’ the most power comes from the surrender to it. 

But what does surrender mean? And how do we do it?

Therein lies the greatest mystery and the greatest wisdom of the liminal space. it is in the non doing. it is in the crying to the heavens, to our gods, to the Divine…’I don't know what I'm doing, help me. All I know is I want things to be different and better, please show me.’

We often hear that the voice of spirit is still and small. Stillness is surrender. The willingness to not just hear but to listen, and to make space for the listening.

…and sometimes begging on our knees. I’ve been there. It is a dark and shadow yet richly beautiful place, when we give up control and ask for help. 

The most magical things are created from the liminal space -  the space of chaos and  the space of pure potential.

Something has ended and yet we feel nothing has yet begun. But it's in the non-beginning that the seeds are planted, the butterfly is away from the sun, in the darkness, in the depths of our soul, in its cocoon.

It’s learning to have the patience to let the beauty unveil itself. 

Just as in nature there are cycles of Letting Go and Beginning. And as far as I know, the leaves are not over worrying about when they will unfurl again, and the grass is not fretting about when it will be green again. 

And so let us be inspired by the nature around us. Let's just rest in this threshold space, giving ourselves permission to just be. Between this threshold between the old and the new, where the magic happens, let’s sit in gratitude, reflection, hope and divine trust.